RTHK: Iran sanctions 61 Americans, including Pompeo Iran has imposed sanctions on 61 more Americans, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for backing an Iranian dissident group, Tehran said on Saturday as months of talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal remained at an impasse. Others blacklisted by Iran's Foreign Ministry for voicing support for the exiled dissident group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) included Republican former President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House national security adviser John Bolton, Iranian state media reported. The sanctions, issued against dozens of Americans in the past on various grounds, let Iranian authorities seize any assets they hold in Iran. The steps, announced as Democratic US President Joe Biden wrapped up his trip to the Middle East, appear largely symbolic given the likely absence of such assets. Giuliani, Pompeo and Bolton, all Republicans, have been widely reported to have taken part in MEK events and voiced support for the group. Both Pompeo and Bolton served under Trump. Iran imposed sanctions on 51 Americans in January and another 24 in April. Iran's indirect talks with the United States on reviving the 2015 nuclear pact began in November in Vienna and continued in Qatar in June. But the negotiations have faced a months-long impasse. In 2018, Trump abandoned the deal, calling it too soft on Iran, and reimposed harsh US sanctions, spurring Tehran to breach nuclear limits in the pact. Biden's administration pledged to support all Americans despite any disagreements over politics or policy. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2022-07-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Chinese Academy of Sciences issues certificates to 65 new academicians Xinhua) 11:43, July 17, 2022 BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), one of the country's top academic institutions, has issued certificates to its 65 academicians who were elected in 2021. The new CAS academicians comprise 12 members in mathematics and physics, 11 in chemistry, 10 in life sciences and medical sciences, nine in earth sciences, 10 in information technical sciences and 13 in technological sciences, the academy said. Hou Jianguo, the CAS's president, said the new academicians should focus on sci-tech innovation and tackling key problems, and further enhance the sense of responsibility for achieving high-level self-reliance in science and technology. As China's top academic title in science and technology, being a CAS academician is a lifetime honor. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji) 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. has decided to cancel a recently increased quota of work permits for Palestinian labourers from in response to rocket attacks. The decision was announced by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians, on Saturday. "Hamas takes responsibility for everything that happens in the Strip," said the statement from COGAT. Earlier on Saturday, four rockets were fired into southern by militants in the Strip, with no casualties or damages reported. In response, Israeli fighter jets launched an airstrike in the Strip against what it said the Hamas military targets. The incident occurred hours after US President Joe Biden completed his visit to and the Palestinian territories, Xinhua news agency reported. The decision to increase the work permits was taken earlier in the week, as part of a series of gestures Israel made ahead of Biden's visit. Israel gives thousands of work permits to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, allowing them to work in Israel to make a living. The Hamas militant organisation has fought several conflicts with Israel since it ruled the Gaza Strip in 2007. Since then, Israel has imposed a strict blockade on the territory, which Hamas has vowed to break through violence. The Gaza Strip is considered one of the poorest territories in the world. --IANS int/khz/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) has delayed the enforcement of its policy that was set to go into effect from July 16, to ban commercial open source apps which had left developers worried. In its new Store policy, the company had said that developers must not attempt to profit from open-source or other that is otherwise generally available for free, nor be priced irrationally high relative to the features and functionality provided by your product. The announcement irked the developer community as it would hamper their efforts to monetise open source . Now, Giorgio Sardo who is General Manager Apps, Partners and Store at has said that the company is delaying this particular policy. "In listening to the dev community, we got feedback that it could be perceived differently than intended. We'll delay enforcement of that policy until we clarify the intent," Sardo said in a tweet. The policy change was first announced on June 16. Hayden Barnes, a senior engineering manager at open source giant Suse, tweeted that he was disappointed with the proposed policy change. "I am disappointed by the @MicrosoftStore policy change that prohibits selling open source software. The Store provides independent open source developers an opportunity to create sustainable projects by charging a reasonable amount there," he had posted. There are several examples of open source software sold in Microsoft's app store such as video editing software Shotcut and FTP clients such as WinSCP. --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.) North Macedonia has approved a French proposal that opens the way for negotiations to join the EU and overcome Bulgarian objections. There were 68 votes in favour of the proposal in the 120-member chamber, with the leftist coalition, which has 61 seats, getting the backing of small ethnic Albanian parties. Opposition lawmakers left the chamber in protest, abstaining from the vote. Protesters gathered again outside Parliament, as they have done every day for 10 days, but the protest ended peacefully. Under the proposal, announced by French President Emmanuel Macron last month, North Macedonia would commit to changing its constitution to recognise a Bulgarian minority, protect minority rights and banish hate speech, as Bulgaria, an EU member since 2007, has demanded. The deal would also unblock the start of negotiations for neighbouring Albania, another EU hopeful. Macron had stressed that the proposal doesn't question the official existence of a Macedonian language, but he had noted that, like all deals, it rests on compromises and on a balance. But revising the constitution may prove too high a hurdle, since that requires a two-thirds majority, or 80 votes. The main opposition party, the centre-right VMRO-DPMNE, and its allies, as well as a small leftist party, with 46 seats among them, have declared they will never agree to change the constitution. Later on Saturday, after a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski announced that North Macedonia will start accession talks with EU on July 19. With this, we conclude another objectively historical step for our country. We have a negotiating framework in which the Macedonian language and identity are protected, he said. The country's ruling coalition has backed the proposal as a reasonable compromise that doesn't endanger national interests or identity, while the opposition has denounced it a national betrayal that caves in to Bulgaria's questioning North Macedonia's history, language, identity, culture and heritage. The French proposal has also roiled Bulgaria, where Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has accepted it. His centrist government was toppled in a no-confidence vote on June 22 when allies described Petkov's willingness to lift the veto of North Macedonia into the EU as a national betrayal. EU and US leaders welcomed North Macedonia's decision to back the deal. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, called the parliament's vote "a crucial step for North Macedonia and the EU. Our future is together and we welcome you with open arms. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this decision comes at a critical moment for North Macedonia, the Western Balkans, and . A that includes all of the Western Balkans, including Albania and North Macedonia, will be stronger and more prosperous. Now is the time to build momentum, Blinken said in a statement. (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.) Sri Lankan protesters have vowed to continue their struggle for a complete change of the system by abolishing the presidency, as the popular uprising that ousted Gotabaya as president marked the 100th day on Sunday. The anti-government protest began on April 9 near the presidential office and has been continuing without a break. We will continue our fight till we achieve our goal for a complete change of the system," Father Jeewantha Peiris, a leading activist of the movement, said. This is a freedom struggle. We managed to send home an authoritarian President through people's power," Peiris said. Rajapaksa, 73, who fled to the Maldives on Wednesday and then landed in Singapore on Thursday, formally resigned on Friday, capping off a chaotic 72 hours in the crisis-hit nation that saw protesters storm many iconic buildings, including the President and the Prime Minister's residences here. Acting president Wickremesinghe appears to be their next target for the protesters and the campaign to oust him has already begun. On July 5, we issued an action plan. Foremost of that was removing Gotabaya and defeating Ranil Wickremesinghe and the regime," he said. We press for the abolition of the presidency to make it a true realisation of our action plan," he said. We do not fear the government," the protesters chanted in chorus. After occupying the three most important administrative buildings in the capital, the protesters vacated three of them other than the presidential office. The protest had seen violence since it began mid-April. Some elements with extremist political agendas have been blamed for arson attacks on the personal properties of Sri Lankan leaders. Wickremesinghe's private house suffered an arson attack the same day when fled the country. He is one of the four candidates who seek to succeed Rajapaksa in the vote in Parliament scheduled for July 20. Wickremesinghe, who is also the prime minister, on Friday pledged to maintain law and order after he was sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim president. He said that the armed forces have been given the powers and the freedom to deal with any acts of violence and sabotage. "I am one hundred per cent supportive of peaceful demonstrations. There is a difference between rioters and protesters," he had said. Wickremesinghe said the true protesters would not resort to unleashing violence. (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.) Almost half of the voters for the UK's governing believe will make a good Prime Minister, according to the results of a new opinion poll on Sunday. The Sunday Telegraph' reports that the JL Partners poll of more than 4,400 people found that 48 per cent of those who backed the Tories in the 2019 general election felt the British Indian former Chancellor would be a good Prime Minister. This is also the first poll that puts Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in second place, with 39 per cent backing her for Prime Minister and 33 per cent in favour of Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt. The survey comes as the race to elect Boris Johnson's successor as the next leader is narrowing down to these three main contenders, with former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Among those who have heard of Mordaunt, the overwhelming view is one of neutrality, James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners and a former Downing Street pollster, told the newspaper. Sunak invites strong opinions. One-third of voters think he would be good in the top job, one third do not. But in an unpopular field where every other candidate is in net-negative territory, this score draw makes him the public's favourite. He is particularly popular with the all-important 2019 Conservative voter, as the only candidate to have half approve of him, he said. Among all voters, the most popular policy priority was to turn the economy around, with addressing the National Health Service (NHS) backlog and restoring trust and integrity in public life coming second and third respectively. Cutting taxes, which has emerged as a central focus of all the debates so far, was the fourth priority, selected by 38 per cent of voters overall and 40 per cent of Conservative voters. The JL Partners poll, which also delved into the characteristics voters are seeking from a new leader, found that 19 per cent of Conservative supporters and 24 per cent of voters overall most wanted a leader who is truthful. The survey, carried out last week, puts the Opposition Labour Party 11 points ahead of the Conservatives, on 42 points to the Tories' 31. While the public chew over the economy, the NHS and public trust, Conservative MPs may have a much simpler question: who is the best candidate to hold their seat? On this evidence, the answer is Mr Sunak, added James Johnson. An MRP model, which maps survey results onto every seat in the country, found that, among all voters, Sunak had the highest net approval score in 76 per cent of the seats won by the Tories in the last general election over two years ago, compared to 19 per cent in which Tugendhat came out on top and five per cent in which Mordaunt had the best score. Sunak, 42, has topped the first two rounds of voting among Tory MPs last week and the next few rounds of voting in the coming week are set to narrow down the field further, with only two left in the race by Thursday. While Sunak is a clear favourite among the Tory MPs, some polling among the members who will have the final say has had Mordaunt in the lead. However, a survey overnight for the Conservative Home website of 850 Tory members put Badenoch in the lead on 31 per cent, with Truss second on 20 per cent, Mordaunt third on 18 per cent, Sunak fourth on 17 per cent and Tugendhat fifth on 10 per cent. Postal votes will be sent out to around 160,000 Tory party members who are eligible to vote and they will decide the eventual winner and new Prime Minister to be announced on September 5. Ex-chancellor makes a pitch to Brexiteers The leading contender to become the UKs next prime minister said he plans to make the most of the opportunities thrown up by shaking off the shackles of European Union regulation. Writing in the Telegraph , former Chancellor said that, if chosen to lead the Conservative party, he will have scrapped or reformed all of the EU law, red tape and bureaucracy that is still on our statute book and slowing economic growth in time for the next election. Bloomberg (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.) Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. 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Digital Editor Chhattisgarh minister TS Singh Deo on Sunday didn't attend the Congress legislature party meeting being held at the official residence of Chief Minister here. Singh Deo, locked in a turf war with Baghel, gave up one of the five portfolios held by him in the cabinet a day earlier. The meeting began after 7:30 PM to discuss the July 18 presidential poll and the state Assembly's monsoon session scheduled to begin on July 20, a party leader said. Singh Deo told PTI over the phone that he is in Ambikapur (Surguja district), his hometown and constituency, to attend pre-planned engagements and will not be able to take part in the CLP meeting. He, however, said he will arrive here on Monday to cast his vote for the presidential polls. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day ahead of the presidential polls, leader on Sunday found himself under attack from the BJP for making disparaging remarks about NDA's candidate Draupadi Murmu. The leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly was asked about his decision to support Yashwant Sinha, a former Union minister, and not Murmu who is tipped to become the first tribal woman to occupy the top post. "We do not want to install a statue inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Has anyone of you ever heard her (Murmu's) voice? She has not even addressed a press conference since her name was announced. At least we have all heard from Yashwant Sinha and have an idea of what he stands for," the former Bihar deputy CM said. In a stinging response, the BJP's state president Sanjay Jaiswal made a snide remark about Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, a former chief minister. " has seen in his own family how an uneducated housewife was placed on the highest seat of power, ignoring many seasoned leaders in the party," said Jaiswal, referring to Rabri Devi's sudden entry into in the late 1990s when she replaced husband Lalu Prasad who had to step down as chief minister after being charge-sheeted in the fodder scam. Jaiswal said Murmu was "a self-made woman" who rose from the ranks in and proved herself as a member of the Odisha assembly, which had once conferred upon her the award for the best MLA. "As the governor of Jharkhand, her tenure was exemplary and non-controversial. So much so that the state's Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is not a part of the NDA, is also supporting her. But perhaps cannot respect a self-made woman," said Jaiswal. He also accused Yadav of having brought ridicule upon Bihar by his utterances against Murmu and demanded an apology. "Maybe he will be forgiven. He keeps saying things which make no sense, as he did recently during the prime minister's visit," he quipped, referring to Yadav's speech at a centenary function of the assembly last week during which he had fumbled badly. (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.) Miffed over the pending clearance from the Centre for his proposed visit, Delhi Chief Minister on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister saying he has been waiting for the permission for over a month. Urging the prime minister to expedite the permission process so he could participate in the World Cities Summit and present his views, Kejriwal said his trip will bring pride to the nation. High Commissioner of Simon Wong had in June invited Kejriwal to World Cities Summit 2022 to be held in the first week of August. The Delhi chief minister has been asked to attend a programme on the first day. "With great sadness, I have to say that I have not yet received the permission to go to Singapore. It was nearly five weeks ago, on June 7, that I had written a letter seeking permission to go to Singapore but I haven't received a reply. It is not right to stop the chief minister of any state from visiting such an important event," read the letter written in Hindi. Kejriwal highlighted in the letter that former US president Donald Trump's wife Melania Trump had expressed her admiration for Delhi's education model and, "Every Indian had felt proud that day." Previously, former secretary general of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and former Norway prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, too, had visited the Mohalla Clinics here. "After visiting the Mohalla Clinics, they had said such a health model should be adopted by the entire world. It is a matter of pride for the country that the world is impressed with Delhi's education and healthcare model. "In Singapore, I will present the Delhi Model and tell them about the education, hospitals, Mohalla Clinics and free electricity scheme and the world's biggest leaders will applaud me. Then, every Indian's heart will swell with pride. My Singapore trip will increase the country's pride and honour," he said in the letter. Kejriwal noted there could be political differences between him and the prime minister, but said they will have to set aside their differences and present the nation's interests to the world. "When you were the Gujarat chief minister and denied a visa by America, the whole nation stood by you and condemned America's step. Today, when you are stopping a chief minister from going on such an important stage, it is against the interest of the nation," the letter said. Sources claimed that Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has not yet approved the file on Kejriwal's Singapore visit. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition parties on Sunday decided to field former Rajasthan governor and former Union minister as their joint candidate for the vice presidential election. Alva (80) would file her nomination papers on Tuesday, July 19 which is the last date for filing nominations for the August 6 election. The NDA has fielded West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar as its joint candidate for the post of . The decision to field Alva was taken at a meeting of opposition leaders of 17 parties at the residence of NCP supremo . "We have unanimously decided to field as our joint candidate for the post of Vice President," Pawar announced after the two-hour meeting. "Our collective thinking is Alva will file VP nomination on Tuesday," he added. He said a total of 17 parties have unanimously taken the decision to field her and with the support of Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, she will be the joint candidate of a total of 19 parties. "We are trying to contact Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Last time they supported our joint presidential candidate," he said, adding that even JMM is together with opposition parties in this election. Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut said, "We are all together in this election". Among the attendees were Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja and Binoy Viswam, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, DMK's T R Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, SP's Ram Gopal Yadav, MDMK's Vaiko and TRS' K Keshava Rao. The RJD's A D Singh, IMUL's E T Mohammed Basheer and Kerala Congress (M)'s Jose K. Mani were also present. We tried to contact West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee but she was busy in some conference. We also tried to contact Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He announced support (for Yashwant Sinha) a few days ago & will announce his support (for Margaret Alva) soon: NCP chief pic.twitter.com/EtVUvP1tHL ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2022 The numbers in the electoral college are firmly stacked in favour of the ruling NDA combine. Unlike the presidential election when the opposition camp had announced their nominee Yashwant Sinha ahead of NDA's Droupadi Murmu, leading to several non-BJP parties including even Congress allies Shiv Sena and the JMM veering towards Murmu, this time the like-minded parties wanted to wait for the announcement of the NDA candidate. The last date for filing of nominations for the VP election is July 19. Alva, 80, has a political career spanning over four decades during which she occupied several positions including a five-time Congress MP, a union minister and then governor. Her selection as the VP candidate comes ahead the 2023 Karnataka elections and signals the Opposition's urge to field a candidate described by AICC general secretary communication Jairam Ramesh as "representative of a diverse country". Alva had publicly alleged the "sale of Congress tickets in Karnataka" in 2008 when her son Nivedith's ticket claim was shot down by the then party in charge of the state. Alva had then openly questioned the denial of ticket to her son while wards of leaders in some other states had been accommodated. She was dropped at the time as AICC general secretary and also from the party's election committee but made a comeback later and retired as governor of Rajasthan in 2014. While she was always close to Sonia, her son Nikhil Alva also served in Rahul Gandhi's closest team of advisors when the latter was Congress President until his resignation after the party's May 2019 embarrassing loss. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 1974 at the age of 32 years and remained in the upper house for four terms until 1998. She won her first Lok Sabha election from Karnataka and served as a member of the 13th Lok Sabha. Alva was made Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 when she was just 42. Through her three decades in Parliament as MP and later minister, Alva piloted major legislative amendments on women's rights, reservation for women in local bodies, equal remuneration, marriage laws and Dowry Prohibition Amendment Act. Her first political setback came in 2004 when she lost the Lok Sabha election and was appointed adviser to the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, a body established to improve the levels of the legislative function of Parliament and state legislatures. Alva was also made AICC general secretary in charge of crucial states Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana. She also went on to become the first woman governor of Uttarakhand besides serving as governor of Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan. A little-known fact about Alva is that she was encouraged to enter by her father-in-law Joachim Alva and mother-in-law Violet Alva. Violet Alva and Joachim Alva both made it to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha respectively in 1952 from then Bombay State, making them the first couple to be elected together to Parliament. Margaret had married their son Niranjan in 1964 and went on to eventually join under the guidance of the then Karnataka chief minister Devaraj Urs, a close confidant of Indira Gandhi at the time. personally hails from a humble family of Mangalore where she was born a Catholic to PA Nazareth and Elizabeth who died when Alva was very young. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition leaders Sunday met at the residence of NCP chief here to discuss their joint vice presidential candidate for the August 6 poll, with the numbers strongly in favour of the ruling NDA. The meeting was attended by all major including the Congress, Shiv Sena, TMC, Left Front constituents, RJD, SP, and others. Among the attendees were Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja and Binoy Viswam, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, DMK's T R Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, SP's Ram Gopal Yadav, MDMK's Vaiko and TRS' K Keshava Rao. The RJD's A D Singh, IMUL's E T Mohammed Basheer and Kerala Congress (M)'s Jose K. Mani were also present. Unlike the presidential election when the opposition camp had announced Yashwant Sinha as their nominee ahead of NDA's Droupadi Murmu, leading to several non- parties including even Congress allies Shiv Sena and the JMM veering towards Murmu. This time the like-minded parties wanted to wait for the announcement of the NDA candidate. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has been fielded by the NDA. The announcement was made on Sunday evening. Dhankhar, a Jat leader from Rajasthan, could influence the electoral calculations in Rajasthan and Haryana which go to elections in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The last date for filing of nominations for the VP election is July 19. (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 on Saturday said rebel MLAs who had accompanied him to had spent tense moments as and when they watched TV news showing various happenings following their rebellion. Speaking at a meeting organised by rebel MLA Mangesh Kudalkar in suburban Kurla, Shinde said MLAs would get tense while watching the news from the hotel in where they were camping after leaving . Post the rebellion, Shiv Sainiks staged protests against the breakaway MLAs in various parts of Maharashtra, necessitating the deployment of additional police personnel outside the homes and offices of some of the legislators. "It was said that the MLAs were forcibly held in the hotel in contrary to the fact that they were free and enjoying themselves. The rebellion was not for power. They would get tense initially but later they felt relaxed," Shinde told a gathering. He reiterated that his rebellion was not aimed at seizing power but to take forward the ideals of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Hindutva, and ensuring the development of . Referring to some MLAs dancing in a hotel in Goa, where they had stayed before returning to Mumbai for the floor test, Shinde said it was normal as they were elated. A video of a few MLAs dancing in the hotel after Shinde was named as the chief minister had gone viral. "We were criticised for everything. But in Guwahati, we held on to our patience. We are staunch shiv sainiks and will not tolerate injustice. In Guwahati, we held meetings every day. Initially, we were tense but slowly our numbers grew, " Shinde recalled. (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 Supreme Court on July 20 will hear pleas filed by both factions of the pertaining to the political crisis. A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli will hear pleas on Wednesday filed by Uddhav Thackeray-led camp and Eknath Shinde camp. Earlier, the top court had asked the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of . It had asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Governor, to inform its direction to the newly-appointed Assembly Speaker. The order of the bench had come after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for camp, mentioned th matter for urgent listing of the pleas saying the matters were posted for July 11 but were not listed today. "The disqualification plea is listed tomorrow before the Speaker. Let there be no disqualification untill the matter is decided," Sibal had told the bench. The bench had said the matter will require constitution of bench and it will take some time to be listed. During the summer vacation, the top court had listed a number of petitions on Maharashtra political crisis on July 11. There are various petitions pending before the apex court filed by both the factions of . Uddhav Thackeray-led faction had approached the top court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari's decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government and also the Speaker's election and floor test. They had also challenged the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's action recognising the whip of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena. The plea said newly appointed Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognise whips nominated by Shinde as is still the head of Shiv Sena official party. Thackeray camp's Sunil Prabhu had filed plea seeking suspension from Maharashtra Assembly of new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending. Shinde group's challenged the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader, is also pending before the apex court. On June 29, the top court gave a go ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. Refusing to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30, the bench had issued notice on Prabhu's plea against floor test. After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn-in as the Chief Minister. On June 27, the top court had granted interim relief to Shinde and other rebel MLAs to file their reply on disqualification notices issued to them by Deputy Speaker by July 12, 5.30 pm. Earlier, Deputy Speaker had granted them time to file reply by June 27, 5.30 pm. (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.) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the party will support the opposition's Vice Presidential candidate . He added that for the Presidential poll, Sena will lend support to Droupadi Murmu out of "sentiment" as Murmu is a tribal woman and Maharashtra is largely tribal. While talking to ANI, Raut said, "Droupadi Murmu is a woman.. belongs to tribal society..Maharashtra is largely tribal..Many of our MPs and MLAs are tribals..There is a sentiment with Murmu..Our party leaders also have sentiments about Droupadi Murmu, that's why President of has spoken of supporting Murmu as a candidate, while will support as its Vice Presidential candidate." Earlier, soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Vice Presidential candidate, a meeting of Opposition parties was held to decide the opposition's candidate for Vice President. However, Trinamool Congress party supremo Mamata Banerjee and leaders from Aam Aadmi Party gave the meeting a miss. The leaders from 17 opposition parties including Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M), Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Shiv Sena, Congress, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), met at Pawar's residence and decided to announce as opposition's candidate for Vice Presidential election. "Mamata Banerjee was busy in an on-board meeting, due to which she could not attend the meeting, but I am in touch with her and the talk happened before today," said Pawar. Congress leader Malikarjun Kharge said, "Today the opposition candidates have been decided but Mamata Banerjee is busy in a meeting due to which the talks have not happened but Sharad Pawar is in touch with Mamataji." Among the attendees were Ram Gopal Yadav from Samajwadi Party, Sitaram Yechury from CPI(M), K.K from TRS in Sharad Pawar's house meeting. Keshava Rao, AD Singh from RJD, Sanjay Raut from Shiv Sena, Jairam Ramesh and Malikarjun Kharge from Congress, ET Mohammad Bashir from IUML, Vaiko from MDMK, TR Balu from DMK and Trichysiva from VCK attended the meeting. Thirumavalavan and Ravi Kumar, D Raja and Binoy Biswam from CPI and Jose K Mani from Kerala Congress(M), Conference's Farooq Abdullah were also present in the meeting. Earlier on Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar announced Margaret Alva as Vice Presidential candidate. While, on Saturday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the name of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Vice Presidential election. The last date for filing of nominations for the VP election is July 19. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the row over a new set of unparliamentary words, senior Congress leader Sunday said he would treat the list as indicative rather than definitive, and "speak normally" in the House and see whether it is applied in a "draconian manner" to stifle meaningful criticism. In an interview with PTI, Tharoor said the list is a compilation of words that have been deemed unparliamentary by various presiding officers in the last couple of years, and asserted that what will matter is how it is applied in practice. Some are regular words which feature in parliamentary debates all the time and it is possible they were expunged in a specific context that would not apply in other contexts, the former Union minister said. "In any case a ruling by one presiding officer is not necessarily binding on another. So I would treat this list as indicative rather than definitive, I would speak normally and see whether it is applied in a draconian manner to stifle meaningful criticism," Tharoor said. As always, implementation is the key, not the list itself, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram asserted. Asked about some seeing the list as a "gag order," Tharoor said it is not an instruction but an indication. "Expunging always takes place after unparliamentary words have been spoken and not in anticipation. So no one needs to feel gagged," he said. There has been massive Opposition uproar over certain words of common use being categorised as unparliamentary in a booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Use of terms like 'jumlajeevi', 'baal buddhi', 'Covid spreader' and 'Snoopgate' and even commonly used words like 'ashamed', 'abused, 'betrayed', 'corrupt', 'drama', 'hypocrisy' and 'incompetent' will henceforth be considered unparliamentary in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, according to the new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. After the outrage over the issue, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had stepped in and made it clear that no word has been banned from use in but will be expunged on a contextual basis. Asked about the circular by the Rajya Sabha secretariat stating that demonstrations, dharnas or religious ceremonies cannot be held in the precincts of House, Tharoor said there are many such rules, but the evolution of parliamentary practice in India has featured frequent violations of rules and disruptions, often preceded by slogan-shouting, demonstrations with placards and thronging the well of the House, all of which are explicitly prohibited. "Personally I have never been in favour of such behaviour but the Opposition, whichever party is in Opposition, often tends to feel the system does not give them a fair opportunity to raise their issues and so they resort to such conduct to make their point," he said. "We would all prefer debate to disruption but the government needs to step forward and offer innovative ways to allow the Opposition to set the agenda one day a week, for instance, as happens in other parliamentary democracies. Otherwise we will keep issuing such rules and they will keep getting violated," he said. A circular by the Rajya Sabha secretariat said demonstrations, dharnas or religious ceremonies cannot be held in the precincts of House. The circular drew ire from the Opposition, even as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla insisted that such notices had been issued for years. Tharoor also said there are several issues that the Opposition and the Congress would look to raise in this session such as seeking the withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme, stresses caused by unmitigated price rise, mounting unemployment, the collapse of the rupee driving up the prices of imports, the situation on the border with China and the impact on India of the war in Ukraine. "But will the government allow us to raise all these vital issues?" he said. Asked about the controversy surrounding the emblem installed atop the new Parliament building, Tharoor said he had not seen it with his own eyes yet. "If it has indeed been modified to make it look hostile and powerful rather than calm and benevolent, that would be a travesty," the Congress leader said. "But if the architects are able to demonstrate and prove that it's only a matter of perspective and they have been faithful to the original, we would have less cause to complain," he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) on Sunday met West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is set to be his successor, at a lunch he hosted for all governors and lieutenant governors here. The Secretariat shared on Twitter pictures of the two leaders who were seen exchanging pleasantries. The NDA had on Saturday named Dhankhar as its Vice Presidential candidate. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also present at the event hosted at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas. Opposition parties on Sunday decided to field former Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva as their joint candidate for the Vice Presidential election. The NDA has a clear edge over the opposition in the election where MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including the nominated ones, vote. The governors and LGs were in the capital to attend an official event on Saturday, and Naidu decided to host them for a lunch, officials said. Naidu's term ends on August 10 and a new will take over on August 11. The election for the Vice President's post will be held on August 6. (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.) Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party will support the NDA's nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar in the vice presidential poll, a party leader said Sunday. Vijaysai Reddy, the floor leader in Rajya Sabha, said the party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to support Dhankhar. "Jagan Mohan garu has decided to support NDA's vice president candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar as he is a farmer's son and hails from a backward community," Reddy told PTI. Dhankhar is a Jat by caste who are categorised among OBCs in Rajasthan, his home state. The NDA's Dhankhar is up against the joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, a former union minister, in the August 6 poll. The YSR Congress has already announced its support to NDA's president nominee Droupadi Murmu. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Joe Biden stated the Middle East accepts the US' leadership to stop the 'vacuum' from being filled by China or Russia, but Wang Wenbin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the US is very mistaken, and the KSA crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had already decided even before Biden's visit. US To Continue Leading in the Middle East The Thursday statement of Biden about leading the Arab states was countered by Beijing, which stated that no one controls the destiny of the region, not even America, reported RT. This trip would be the first by Biden to the Arabian Gulf this week that began in Israel, where he made a joint declaration with Prime Minister Yair Lapid that assured Jerusalem of US support to stop Tehran from building a nuke. In a moment of hubris after signing the Israeli accord, the president declared that the next leg, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Friday, would demonstrate US influence. Biden claimed that Donald Trump ignored the oil-rich region, and stressed that Jeddah and the heads of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would allow the US a chance to convince all nine Arab states, noted Naharnet. Furthermore, Biden clarified some issues could not be ignored and let the Arab states decide if they wanted to deal with China or Russia, stressing that it is western concerns over the Middle East. These oil-rich regions would not give an extra drop of oil to the US, suffering sanctions-related problems. Despite the use of pressure and alleged threats, that is what is supposed to be US diplomacy to bend non-western nations; to make pariahs of China and Russia, has only backfired. One example is major non-Arab oil producers have dismissed President Joe Biden despite the claims. Read Also: Donald Trump Children: What You Need to Know About the 5 Trump Kids The Arab League, composed of 22 independent states, chose their welfare and rebuffed the Biden administration and its satellites, not supporting sanctions and ignoring Ukraine. To make Washington aware it has no hold over them, the Kingdom's oil imports from Russia have doubled since the second quarter of this year, citing The Middle East Eye. KSA Seeks Chinese Help in Weapons Development In the meantime, the Kingdom's leaders reportedly requested Chinese assistance in developing ballistic missiles and indicated an interest in selling oil to China in yuan rather than dollars, mentioned CNN. Since 2016, Beijing has invested heavily in the Middle Eastern regions and forked out a whopping $29 billion compared to a measly $7 billion spent by the US. Other investments are 5G deals, spending $123 billion in infrastructure projects for the 2017 Belt and Road Initiative, according to the Arab Center. Biden did not mention the Abraham Accords negotiations of former President Donald Trump to secure no major armed conflict in four years. Last Friday, China said these states should not be forced or pressured to trade or accept deals against its will, especially their oil and gas that the west covets to rope in. Wang Wenbin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, stressed that the region needs stability and development, not deals or promises. China supports this region in solving its problems hand in hand. President Joe Biden stressed the Middle East has Washington to lead them, despite KSA buying more oil from Russia and asking for help with weapons development from China. Related Article: President Joe Biden Scheduled KSA Trip To Meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Draws Negative Reactions @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe After debuting its technology and its merits for everyday driving , Nissan Philippines has now revealed everything you need to know about i... A shocking poll indicates how Trump loyalists from GOP states want to leave the United States and disown the Democrat-led federal government as new development. Their governors and the Republicans feel it is time to ditch Washington, which has made things worse for the states. Trump Supporters Favor Secession From the US Supporters of former president Trump expressed in Yahoo how disappointed they are with the administration, so their red state is better off undergoing secession. This move is supported by residents of red states who mostly voted for Donald Trump in 2020 enough due to negative effects from the Federal Government. Trump loyalists in these GOP states showed 33% wanted their state to be independent of the Democrat-led federal government last Friday. In contrast, this number results from 29% against secession, while another 38% have no idea if they are for or against it. More are not keen or sure which is an important factor to consider, reported RT. When Americans were asked how their state would do after secession, 35% of Trump supporters believed it would be better off, compared to 30% who said it would be worse off, noted Mass News. The poll is the most recent example of how political and cultural divisiveness is breaking in America. According to a previous Yahoo/YouGov poll held in June, half of Americans think another civil war within their lifetime will end US democracy. Read Also: Emmanuel Macron Facts: Interesting Info You May Not Know About The French President The division widened even further with the US Supreme Court's decision last month that abortion isn't a protected constitutional right, leaving the contentious subject up to state politicians to determine. A little more than half of the states have already outlawed abortion or are on track to do so in the following weeks. Less Support for the Federal Government The poll shows that 92% of red state voters for Trump want their state government to have freedom from an oppressive Biden administration. Findings that even democrat voters who supported president Joe Biden in 2020 have buyer's remorse. Most trust their blue state government to do what's in their interest. The White House cannot reverse the crisis driving the US to oblivion at 15%. Big numbers like 56% agree that the president is out of his league in solving problems resolutely, and 27% think something can be done. Many Americans think the US future is grim, with 46% agreeing it will be downhill. A paltry 25% have a positive outlook. One segment of 37% say better days are gone, versus 31% saying it will improve. But some think that Trump and Biden need to allow someone else to run. With 28% that want another Trump return and 18% thinking his opponent should run. Trump loyalists from mostly GOP states don't want a Democrat-led federal government meddling in state affairs. Confusion rises as fostered by the presidency, and even Trump is seen as another problem of a divided nation. Related Article: Latest Poll Reveals Almost 90% of US Respondents Don't Like Where the Biden Administration Is Heading @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Drinking more than a small shot glass of beer a day could pose risks to health for men under the age of 40, a study suggests as researchers urged younger adults to steer clear of alcohol. And a safe daily limit for women aged 39 and under is the equivalent of two tablespoons worth of wine, or 100ml of beer, the research suggests. But those over 40 can toast their health with a drink or two, as academics found a small amount of alcohol can help ward off heart disease, stroke and diabetes among this age group. Researchers said young people face higher health risks from alcohol consumption than older adults. They called for stronger guidance to warn younger adults of the health dangers posed by drinking and said there should be tailored alcohol guidance to depend on a persons age and where they live in the world. Some 1.34 billion people are estimated to have consumed harmful amounts of alcohol in 2020, according to the analysis of drinking habits in 204 countries around the globe. The study, published in The Lancet, found that 59% of those who drank harmful amounts were people aged 15 to 39 for whom alcohol provides no health benefit and poses risks including injuries relating to drinking or car accidents, suicides or murders. And three quarters of harmful drinkers were men. Senior author Dr Emmanuela Gakidou, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washingtons School of Medicine in the US, said: Our message is simple: young people should not drink, but older people may benefit from drinking small amounts. While it may not be realistic to think young adults will abstain from drinking, we do think its important to communicate the latest evidence so that everyone can make informed decisions about their health. Researchers looked at the risk of alcohol consumption on 22 health outcomes, including injuries, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers using 2020 Global Burden of Disease data. Using this information the researchers were able to estimate how much alcohol a person can drink before taking on excess risk to their health compared with someone who does not drink any alcohol. With the hot weather, it can be tempting to enjoy a few more drinks. To keep your risk of alcohol-related harm low, its recommended: not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week spread units evenly over 3+ days have alcohol-free dayshttps://t.co/jNsFWsgfN0 pic.twitter.com/kAQm5xcZbX NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (@NHSSTW) July 13, 2022 They found that the level of alcohol that can be consumed without increasing health risks rises throughout a lifetime. This is driven by differences in the major causes of death and disease burden at different ages, the authors wrote. Any level of drinking leads to a higher probability of injuries, while small amounts of alcohol decrease the risk of some conditions prevalent in older ages, such as ischaemic heart disease and diabetes. Researchers deemed a standard drink as a 100ml glass of 13% wine or 375ml of 3.5% beer. They found: For men aged 15 to 39, the recommended amount of alcohol before risking health loss was just 0.136 of a standard drink. This equates to about 10ml of wine or two standard teaspoonfuls or 38ml of beer, the equivalent of a small shot glass. For women aged 15 to 39 the theoretical minimum risk exposure level was 0.273 drinks about a quarter of a standard drink per day. This is the equivalent of about two tablespoonfuls of wine or around 100ml of beer. For adults aged 40 and older without any underlying health conditions, drinking a small amount of alcohol was linked to some health benefits, such as reducing the risk of ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Among those aged 40 to 64, safe alcohol consumption levels ranged from about half a standard drink per day to almost two standard drinks. For those aged 65 and over the risks of health loss from alcohol consumption were reached after consuming a little more than three standard drinks a day. On average, the recommended alcohol intake for adults over the age of 40 remained low, peaking at 1.87 standard drinks per day, and after this the health risks increase with each drink. Lead author Dana Bryazka, researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washingtons School of Medicine, said: Even if a conservative approach is taken and the lowest level of safe consumption is used to set policy recommendations, this implies that the recommended level of alcohol consumption is still too high for younger populations. Our estimates, based on currently available evidence, support guidelines that differ by age and region. Understanding the variation in the level of alcohol consumption that minimises the risk of health loss for populations can aid in setting effective consumption guidelines, supporting alcohol control policies, monitoring progress in reducing harmful alcohol use, and designing public health risk messaging. Blog | Carter Center Pursues Mali Peace Agreement Action Jason Carter is chair of the Carter Center Board of Trustees. The pursuit of peace in Mali has been a long, bumpy, and winding road. But were staying on it in hopes of action being taken on the Mali Peace Agreement. For the last five years, The Carter Center has been the official Independent Observer of Malis 2015 peace agreement. Ambassador Bisa Williams has led this effort as the Centers special advisor on Mali. On May 4 and 5, 2022, I visited the capital city, Bamako, alongside fellow Carter Center Trustee C.D. Glin, Ambassador Williams, and John Goodman, associate director of the Carter Centers Conflict Resolution Program. The purpose of the trip was to meet with Col. Assimi Goita, the president of Malis transitional government, to urge him to reinvigorate the governments commitment to the peace agreement that halted Malis civil war. Malis Peace Process in May 2022 Cartoon Brew: Where did you first conceive of the idea for Cow and Chicken? Im fascinated by how singularly unconventional the show was in its time. David Feiss: It started with a bedtime story I told my daughter who was six at the time. I used to read her bedtime stories and one night, for whatever reason, I was too tired to read, but I just made up a story of Cow and Chicken. She liked it and the next morning I remembered it, so I drew it out in a 25-page childrens book and that was the beginning. I have the original story book that I drew out. Within a few weeks, I got a call from Hanna-Barbera saying that this new network, Cartoon Network, was looking for new ideas. They had a slate of 52 shorts they wanted to do. I went and I pitched some ideas, including Cow and Chicken, and that was the one they liked. Soon, I was working on the concept for a storyboard [that would become] the pilot. I changed it a bit from the story that I had told my daughter, kept the title, kept the basic dynamic, and then at some point added the Red Guy. How did the concept evolve from that first iteration to what you delivered from the pilot? Feiss: At first, I didnt have them as brother and sister. The concept was that they were friends, they went to school together, and they grew up together. Then they went apart, and they came back together at the end. But when I started coming up with an idea for a pilot, I realized I needed a little bit more drama than that. A little bit more silliness. And thats when I changed the dynamic, made them have parents that you only see their legs. And then I added the Red Guy, which to me was the key to the whole thing, adding that extra element of chaos. Since the Red Guy wasnt part of the original bedtime tale, where did he come from and was there any pushback about having a depiction of the devil in a show for kids? Feiss: When they said we want to do a Cow and Chicken pilot, and I started writing it and drawing it, I realized I needed something else. I had a dream about the Red Guy. I dreamed of this little red character, and I used a line for my dream in the pilot where he says, Hello, its me, the devil, I stand for all that is bad, also Im naked. That was in my dream. I woke up and I drew it out in storyboard panels, so I would remember it. The next day, I incorporated it into my story. For the pilot he was known as the Devil, but once it got green lit as a tv series, I was told you cant call him the devil, which was better because it was more fun just to have him as a generic Red Guy who also had names that were silly pertaining to the fact he had no pants on. Im glad that there was no further pushback beyond that. Feiss: Exactly. He was my favorite character because of how abstract he was. You had worked in animation for a long time before Cow and Chicken came around. Do you feel that the style of animation in this show was something that you were suppressing as you worked on other peoples projects? Feiss: Thats exactly right. Id basically had a sillier style through my teen years, and it was a struggle. I started working in animation at Hanna-Barbera at age 19, and I was learning to draw. Id done animation as a kid I made an 8mm film and thats how I got hired at Hanna Barbera, but it was a struggle to try to draw Fred Flintstone or Scooby-Doo. Those are tough. But for the most part, since Cow and Chicken Ive been allowed to basically do my style, even in other films that Ive worked on. Ive mostly done storyboards for the last 20 years and I do my own style. Its easier to do your own style as a storyboarder as opposed to do your own style as an animator. As an animator, your drawing is getting up on the screen and if youre drawing in your own style and its different than the style of the show, thats an issue. Did the conception of the I Am Weasel segments happen at the same time? Feiss: I did the pilot of Cow and Chicken, we tested it, and they said, We want to do a series. But then they said, We want do a half -hour format with two seven-minute Cow and Chickens and we want a new middle cartoon thats different than Cow and Chicken. They asked if I had any ideas. The title I Am Weasel came from the title of one of my favorite books growing up by a writer named Richard Matheson. He wrote, I Am Legend, which later became a Will Smith movie. I thought of this character who instead of being the classic weasel character, being sneaky and bad, was heroic. Hes still a weasel, but everybody loves him. And because of the dynamic of the song, Pop Goes the Weasel, about a monkey and a weasel, I wrote the monkey as the anti-weasel. I made the monkey insanely jealous. Plus, I made him a baboon, which I thought was even funnier than just a monkey because of the red butt, which kids always laugh about at the zoo. My kids would laugh at the butt on the baboon. We did the middle cartoon on the weasel during three seasons of Cow Chicken and then it spun off into its own half-hour series with three episodes per shows. Seems like Cartoon Network was open to almost anything back in those days Feiss: They were. It felt that way. They were a new network, and they were just trying to get noticed and wanted things that were different and fresh. In addition to the sibling dynamic that fuels the show, theres also the hilariously heroic figure of Super Cow. Was this idea in the storybook or did it come later? Feiss: That was another instant idea I had when doing the story for the pilot. I thoughts, Maybe this innocent cow has this alter ego, and she only speaks Spanish when shes this superhero. It just felt sillier. She could fly as Super Cow, but normally she cant fly and nobody else knows who her true identity is, but Chicken does. In fact, in the pilot, he gets captured by the Devil and brought down to hell and he calls his sister to help him. She goes, I cant help you, and he says, Send Super Cow. Then she gets the idea and comes back dressed like this superhero and flies down to hell and rescues her brother. All these characters are voiced by the same actor, Charlie Adler. How did you meet him? Was he perhaps already working on other shows at Cartoon Network? Feiss: I dont think he was working on other shows at Cartoon Network at that time. Probably the last thing he had done was Tiny Toons. He was Buster Bunny. But I had never met him before. When I did the Cow and Chicken pilot, I held auditions. They brought in a lot of people, maybe a hundred people to audition for all the different parts. Charlie Adler came in and auditioned for Cow, then he auditioned for Chicken, and then he auditioned for the Red Guy. After all was said and done, he was the best at all those characters. There was a little pushback from Cartoon Network. They thought, You need to have different people play different characters. I said, No, think of Mel Blanc. He did all the voices. This guy is the best. Everybody agreed. The funny thing about Charlie Adler is that he does those characters in order. He can have Cow talk to Chicken back and forth, and then the Red Guy will interject. He doesnt have to prepare for it. He just bursts into it. He separates those characters so clearly in his mind. He also plays the baboon and the weasel is Michael Dorn from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Was there a reason why you wanted two different actors for the protagonists in I Am Weasel? Feiss: For the weasel character I was thinking of a very large booming voice. My first thought was James Earl Jones, who was the voice of CNN at the time and Darth Vader. But Michael Dorn was recommended to me by Van Partible, who created another of the three original Cartoon Network shows, Johnny Bravo, and [whos] a good friend of mine. And I thought, My goodness, this voice is perfect. Michael came in and he got the joke. He loved doing Weasel and we did 79 episodes with him as Weasel. When the show ended in 1999, did you feel it had run its course or did you want to do more Cow and Chicken episodes? Feiss: I wanted to do more. I guess they felt like it was time to move on to other ideas. But I definitely still have more ideas for Cow, Chicken, and Weasel. I always was hoping that at some point that they would ask for more. But, as of yet, theyve not. Do you feel the show, with all its wonderful strangeness, could be made today? Feiss: I think it could. There are other films and shows out there that are even more abstract now. If it was made today, I would probably do it in cg, actually. Ive been working in cg quite a bit. I directed a film over at Sony, Open Season: Scared Silly, where I designed the characters that were done in cg and my character design seems to translate just fine. I would love to do Cow and Chicken in cg. Describe the process of creating the episodes with your crew from idea to execution? Feiss: I had a team of writers, but there was one writer in particular, Mike Ryan, who was my story editor. He and I would get together every week and wed go over ideas. The scripts for Cow and Chicken werent long scripts. They were two-page outlines, and it was up to the board artist to flesh it out. Thats how the process worked. Then the boards would come to me, and I would add panels or remove or whatever before recording. We then recorded from the storyboard. That was our real script. Were you ever tempted to show or create the faces or full bodies of Cow and Chickens parents? Feiss: No. Its funny, to this day people ask, What do they look like? There was one episode where there was a science project in the closet that Chicken or Cow pulls out and it shows the top parts of people with no legs. They are rifling through the closet, and they see this, Oh yeah, its that old science project. That was possibly what they wouldve looked like. But for the most part, they were just supposed to be legs. That was the joke that I put in from when I grew up watching Tom and Jerry where for some characters youd only see their legs or even Charlie Brown with the muffled voice [of the adults]. The animation of the forties would have just legs. I thought it would be funny if they were just legs. In the pilot, in the very last shot, you pull out and see that theyre just legs. They have no tops. But then later in the series, I never showed the top again. It was always just the legs. You would see them doing things with their feet, like pouring orange juice or writing a letter with their feet. As you were developing this show, were you in contact with any of the other animators making their own Cartoon Network projects or were you working in isolation? Feiss: It was for the most part in isolation, but I was living in Sacramento at the time. I was raising my kids up there, so I would commute down to L.A. two days a week. But I became friends with Van [Partible] and Genndy [Tartakovsky]. I didnt know Craig McCracken as well, but I knew him. Genndy, Van, and I had the first three Cartoon Network series [commissions from What A Cartoon! pilot program]. They did press interviews with all three of us together. Then during production, I would see what they were doing. Genndy actually ended up doing a storyboard on Cow and Chicken. I see Van from time to time. It was a unique time at the studio. What would you say made those early days at Cartoon Network and the first group of shows special? Feiss: For me personally, Id been in the industry for 15 years as an animator. Id been almost exclusively animating. This was the first opportunity to do my own thing. That was great. I was coming up with stories and drawing on ideas from my youth, things that I did as a kid and things my kids had done and things that Ive observed in the news. It was a real creative time, just constantly thinking of ideas. I lived in Sacramento, I would fly back and forth. I would have time on the flight to write and I wrote a lot. It was a real vital period. The other guys, both Genndy and Van are about 10 years younger than me. They were about 25 years old. Genndy had just gotten out of Calarts and Van from LMU [Loyola Marymount University]. Here were these young people in this situation, but they got run their own tv series. It was pretty vital and exciting for them too. Did you have an idea for a Cow and Chicken movie? In terms of theatrical feature films, Cartoon Network only ever made The Powerpuff Girls Movie and that didnt do well. I wondered if you ever thought about a movie idea for your characters. Feiss: Yes. When the series was coming to an end, Cartoon Network did say, If we wanted to do a movie, do you have an idea for that? Mike Ryan and I did come up with an idea. But I dont remember what it was about. It might have been about them traveling and looking for something. I dont remember exactly now. We had an outline for the film, but it never went farther than that. Twenty-five years on, I hope that you feel that this show is still remembered. Do you see the appreciation for Cow and Chicken when you attend conventions or animation events? Feiss: People in the United States know the show, but it seemed to be bigger in Latin America and in Europe. I was in Italy a few years back and I had a lot of Italian kids that just so fondly remembered it. I went to an animation conference in Mexico, and it was the same thing. People would get emotional about it, [telling me,] It was part of my childhood. It was a great feeling. I felt really honored and I did a lot of drawings for everybody, especially in Chile. I remember there was a line of a few hundred people. I spent about four hours doing drawings for them. Have you ever heard the show in other languages? Feiss: Ive heard it in Spanish and French and I remember with the pilot, they sent me a video cassette of the show in Mandarin. I was in Europe a few years ago and I ran into somebody who was the voice of the Red Guy in a country from the former Yugoslavia, I think it was Croatia. Sometimes Ill meet these actors who tell me, I dubbed that voice. When I was in Chile, I met the guy who had done one of the voices as well. For something that began as a bedtime story, its had an incredible run. Feiss: Its not lost on me, and Im honored. Its awesome that it does still play around the world. Photo: The Canadian Press B.C. Premier John Horgan listens during an announcement in Burnaby, B.C., Monday, May 30, 2022. The New Democrat Party in British Columbia says it will elect a new leader this December. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck The New Democrat Party in British Columbia says it will elect a new leader this December. A statement issued today says the campaign period will officially start Sunday. The party says voting will begin in November and the results will be announced on Dec. 3. This comes after Premier John Horgan announced late last month that he will not be seeking another term in the 2024 provincial election. Horgan said he will resign as leader in the fall, saying his second bout with cancer left him with little energy for the job. The party says it has appointed former cabinet minister Elizabeth Cull as its chief electoral officer to oversee the leadership race. It says the deadline to join as a party member to be eligible to vote in the leadership election is Sept. 4. Photo: The Canadian Press Reggie Daniels pays his respects a memorial at Robb Elementary School on June 9, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, but systemic failures created a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman who took 21 lives was finally confronted and killed, according to a report from investigators released Sunday. The nearly 80-page report was the first to criticize both state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in the South Texas town for the bewildering inaction by heavily armed officers as a gunman fired inside a fourth-grade classroom. At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety," the report said. The gunman fired approximately 142 rounds inside the building, and it is almost certain" that at least 100 shots came before any officer entered, according to the report. The report the most complete account yet of the hesitant and haphazard response to the May 24 massacre at at Robb Elementary School was written by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives and released to family members Sunday. According to the report, 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school. The overwhelming majority of those who responded were federal and state law enforcement. That included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials. Other than the attacker, the Committee did not find any villains in the course of its investigation, the report said. There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making. The report noted that many of the hundreds of law enforcement responders who rushed to the school were better trained and equipped than the school district police which the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state police force, previously faulted for not going into the room sooner. In this crisis, no responder seized the initiative to establish an incident command post," the report read. A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday. Family members of the victims in Uvalde received copies of the report Sunday before it was released to the public. Its a joke. Theyre a joke. Theyve got no business wearing a badge. None of them do, Vincent Salazar, grandfather of 11-year-old Layla Salazer, said Sunday. The report followed weeks of closed-door interviews with more than 40 people, including witnesses and law enforcement who were on the scene of the shooting. Flowers that had been piled high in the citys central square had been removed as of Sunday, leaving a few stuffed animal maps scattered around the fountains alongside photos of some of the children who were killed. No single officer has received as much scrutiny since the shooting as Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who resigned from his newly appointed seat on the City Council after the shooting. Arredondo told the committee he treated the shooters as barricaded subject," according to the report, and defended never treating the scene as an active-shooter situation because he did not have visual contact with the gunman. Arredondo also tried to find a key for the classrooms, but no one ever bothered to see if the doors were locked, according to the report. Arredondos search for a key consumed his attention and wasted precious time, delaying the breach of the classrooms," the report read. The report criticized as lackadaisical the approach of the hundreds of officers who surrounded the school and said that they should have recognized that Arredondo remaining in the school without reliable communication was inconsistent with him being the scene commander. The report concluded that some officers waited because they relied on bad information while others had enough information to know better. A nearly 80-minute hallway surveillance video published by the Austin American-Statesman this week publicly showed for the first time a hesitant and haphazard tactical response, which the head of Texas state police has condemned as a failure and some Uvalde residents have blasted as cowardly. Calls for police accountability have grown in Uvalde since the shooting. So far, only one officer from the scene of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history is known to be on leave. The report is the result of one of several investigations into the shooting, including another led by the Justice Department. A report earlier this month by tactical experts at Texas State University alleged that a Uvalde police officer had a chance to stop the gunman before he went inside the school armed with an AR-15. But in an example of the conflicting statements and disputed accounts since the shooting, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin has said that never happened. That report had been done at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which McLaughlin has increasingly criticized and accused of trying to minimize the role of its troopers during the massacre. Steve McCraw, the head of Texas DPS, has called the police response an abject failure. The committee didnt receive medical evidence to show that police breaching the classroom sooner would have saved live, but it concluded that it is plausible that some victims could have survived if they had not had to wait 73 additional minutes for rescue. Ahead of by-polls in 20 Punjab constituencies, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday urged the masses to think of the "economic disaster, corruption, patronage of mafias and destruction created in the name of change" during the Imran Khan-led PTI's tenure while casting their votes. Shehbaz said, "Pakistan has moved away from its destination during the tenure of PTI. You have to express it with your vote," reported Geo News. He urged people to reject politics of division, hatred, and chaos through the power of their vote. Lashing out at the PTI, the prime minister said Punjab was subjected to the worst governance during the last almost four years, adding that citizens were deprived of free medicines and students of scholarships, reported Geo News. He maintained that there was an open sale of government jobs, postings and transfers in the tenure of PTI. "Civic facilities were in shambles and lawlessness was at its peak during the Imran Khan-led government," the prime minister added. Over 4.5 million voters are exercising their democratic rights amid by-polls in 20 Punjab constituencies. Voting for by-elections on 20 provincial seats in Punjab began around 8 am on Sunday morning. It will continue till 5 pm without any interruption, reported Geo News. A total of 3,131 polling stations have been set up in the 20 constituencies, of which 676 have been declared "highly sensitive" while 1,194 have been declared "sensitive". The 20 seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) unseated 25 PTI dissident lawmakers on May 23 -- which included five lawmakers elected on reserved seats for women and minorities -- for voting against PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz in the Punjab chief minister's election. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that security is on high alert in all constituencies to ensure peace and security during the by-elections. He said that the civil and armed forces have been deputed in all relevant areas as per the Election Commission of Pakistan's request. The ECP has set up central and provincial control rooms to monitor the polling process in the province. The polling stations in the 20 constituencies have been witnessing a massive turnout of voters as young, elderly and persons with disabilities come to exercise their right to vote. The Punjab police can be seen assisting the elderly and disabled at polling stations. Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out between the PTI and PML-N workers during the polling process in Lahore's constituency PP-158. As a result, one of the PTI worker's sustained a head injury. Meanwhile, PML-N candidate Rana Ahsan Sharafat engaged in a heated argument with PTI leader Jamshed Iqbal Cheema. Punjab witnesses intense political activity today as make-or-break by-elections on 20 hotly-contested provincial constituencies take place. Political pundits are expecting a tough contest between PML-N and PTI in the by-polls that will decide who will become the next chief minister of the province. (ANI) Also Read: Sri Lanka's LoP Premadasa raises concern over Presidential polls One of the greatest honors of my funeral career was serving as the funeral director for Staff Sgt. David Allen Wyatt. It was seven years ago that he, along with three other Marines and one Navy Sailor, gave their lives for our great country. As I think back to the events of that day and the week that would follow leading up to the funeral, I simply cannot express the emotions I experienced alongside his grieving family. To bring Staff Sgt. Wyatt home from Dover Air Force Base, we traveled to Nashville in a motorcade that included the hearse, four limousines, and approximately 10 personal family vehicles. We were properly escorted by the Chattanooga Police Department as well as the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Few words were spoken in the limousine I was driving that carried his widow, son, daughter, and parents. Once we arrived at the airport, we received the welcome of royalty. The rain began to fall like I had never seen before. The son said it was the angels crying. As we approached the plane that carried the flag-draped casket and remains of Staff Sgt. Wyatt, it seemed as though time stood still. People curiously peered from the tiny windows of the airplane, and the large windows of the teminal began to fill with people standing at attention, a few with their hand over their heart. We escorted the family from the four limousines closer to the plane to witness the arrival of their hero. The flight crew meticulously and reverently positioned the casket for its removal from the plane. Waiting below were six perfectly uniformed Marines. The family watched from underneath umbrellas as the Honor Guard carried their fallen brother to the waiting hearse. Every step perfectly synchronized, and every motion perfectly formed. The heavy rain did not distract them from their honorable duty. Traveling back to Chattanooga, now with our hero, we noticed overhead, news crews in helicopters capturing live footage of the motorcade. Every overpass in Davidson and Rutherford counties held first responders waving flags and paying tribute to this Marine and his family. Arriving back at the funeral home, the Honor Guard placed the casket holding Staff Sgt. Wyatt inside the funeral parlor. Family members processed around the casket, each laying loving hands on the flag-draped casket welcoming him home. The Honor Guard stood watch the entire night and the following day leading up to the time for the funeral service which took place at the family's church. The choir loft held more than 100 Marines; the congregation held probably more than 500 which included numerous national and local dignitaries. His service was emotional, yet comforting; funny, yet reverent; and solemn, yet joyous. The minister, family members, and officers of the Marine Corp. reminiced about moments of David's life. While I was honored to be a witness of such an amazing celebration service, nothing could have prepared me for what followed. Once we descended the stairs of the church and the casket was once again honorably placed inside the hearse, the 15-mile procession to Chattanooga National Cemetery began. Lining the streets the entire route were thousands, upon thousands of people. A sea of red, white and blue covered the landscape. People waved flags, some cried, some cheered, and many veterans and active military members saluted. Soft sniffles came from inside the limo carrying the immediate family. My heart raced at such a sight. Some points along the way, people were close enough to touch the cars. People stood on the roofs of their cars, roofs of buildings, and some even on billboards to get a glimse of their hometown hero. I explained to the widow that this was the most honorable funeral of my career. I told her that even if I directed the service of a U.S. President, there would not be more honor bestowed than we were witnessing that day. As we passed the roadside memorial where the fallen five lost their lives, the procession came to a standstill in reverence to the place Staff Sgt. Wyatt lost his life. Wow. What a whirlwind of emotion! I could no longer contain myself. Uncontrollably, tears began to fall down my face at the thought of such sacrifice with such dignity. Arriving at the Cemetery, over 500 Boy/Eagle Scouts lined the streets waving flags honoring one of their own. Military Brass began making their way forward to pay respects. The family was seated for the committal service. Suddenly a 21-gun salute shattered the silence. Then the somber playing of "Taps" in the distance brought finality to the day. That day, I witnessed a community come together to honor one of their own. Until you have witnessed up-close the grief of a Marine's widow; until you hear her tell her children their dad was a hero protecting us from the evil men of the world; until you know first hand what it's like to look into the eyes of a grieving family and try to comfort where no reasonable explanation exists, don't talk to me about the petty disagreements you may have with this or any other administration. Because in the end, five amazing lives were senselessly taken from their families that day, and the fact of the matter is that the disrespect we are seeing today for our flag, our amazing Military, our veterans, our President, and most importantly our God is absolutely disgusting. I for one am tired of the negativity. Let's get back to loving God, family and country. I couldn't care less what you think of our President; what your political views are; or how you feel things should or should not be. For once, could we just agree that while evil may be present in the world, that scripture tells us, "Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in this world." Do you really think that the families of these fallen heroes need us to disrespect the country they fought and died for? This is OUR country, and instead of complaining, we as American citizens need to be on our faces praying to God for our President and ask Him to restore peace and unity within our own nation, as well as the world. Thank you Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt, Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist, Lance Cpl. Squire K. "Skip" Wells, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. "Tommy" Sullivan, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall S. Smith, as well as your families for your sacrifice. (Originally written in 2018) Ankara, a US ally, will not get F-35s but the last generation F-16s as part of a defense deal for the Turkish Air Force. This was made possible by dropping opposition to Finland and Sweden, but the deal might not get off without a hitch. Sources say that US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Robert Menendez might block the sale of the fighters via veto. Turkey To Purchase US F-16s The reason why the sale of the 4th Gen Fighter as a cheap purchase, which is the next fighter to the US F-15, will be denied to Ankara, reported Military Watch Magazine. The F-16 entered service in 1978 and is the backbone of the USAF, but it is too old, and the last units were bought in 2005, about 17 years back. The only buyers are the low-end air forces like Bahrain, Jordan, and Slovakia. Turkey lost a place in the F-35 program after it bought the Russian S-400 air defense systems that caused their ejection from the next-gen aircraft deal, noted Trump White House. Senator Robert Menendez gave harsh conditions to buy the cheap US fighter by saying to drop the S-400 systems and lessen relations with Russia. The US even told Erdogan to agree to an impossible demand to give the missile system to the US military or Ukraine; Washington wants to mar Turkey-Russia relations. Ankara Concentrates on US Equipment The bigger Israeli fleet has been reduced in size. It is expected to continue to do so when the planes are retired, making US ally Turkey the largest foreign operator of the F-16. Still, the obsolete variants are not the last generation F-16s. Read Also: Xi Jinping: 5 Things To Know About China's President Decreasing units of the US fighter could happen before 2030, compared to the F-15 Eagle used by the air forces of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, which has more premium equipment; that includes all aspects better than the late Falcon variants. F-16 variants in Turkish service are far from cutting edge; they have avionics that isn't well adapted for network-centric operations and mechanically scanned array radars that only offer rudimentary electronic warfare countermeasures and situational awareness, noted Air-Force Technology. The country is not getting F-35s like Greece and even upgraded variants of the F-16. Syria has the S-300 missile defense and better MiG-29SMT fighters with modern radars and advanced R-77 air-to-air missile, which disadvantages Turkey. Washington used the deal to combat this deficiency of their crucial air forces. This defense deal includes acquiring 40 F-16 Block 70/72 variants with modern EASA radars, also upgrading its current 80-strong fleet with the sensors and avionics of the Block70/72 jets. Modern AIM-120D air-to-air missile compatibility will also be added to enhanced models, giving Turkish air power a significant boost. An aging Fighting Falcon Washington has realized will not be a good option for the Eurofighter program or even for Russian fighters who have proven better. Another is to intentionally hobble the Turks with less capable fighters, instead of an F-35 will be an upper hand for the US. The US ally like Turkey stands shabby treatment by even making it to buy last generation F-16s that are inferior to the Su-35 or newer Russian fighters. Related Article: US Mulls Selling F-35s or F-15s If Egyptian Air Force Cancels Buying Su-35 Flankers From Russia @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mississippi-based entrepreneur Jasmine Davis from Big Brother 24 has begun telling stories about her life that many fans find unbelievable. As a result, they are starting to compare her to season 19s Raven Walton, who memorably frequently talked about her several alleged ailments. Jasmine Davis has claimed shes a natural blonde During Week 1, Jasmine Davis and Taylor Hale discussed shaving her legs, and Jasmine explained she doesnt shave one part because the hair is blonde. She then claimed shes naturally a blonde but dyes her black as she feels it looks healthier. However, the Houseguest insisted that she had blonde hair and blue eyes as a baby. https://twitter.com/CBSBigBrother/status/1546275601715265540 RELATED: Big Brother 24 Spoilers: Who Are the Week 2 Nominations? One Live Feed viewer quickly posted a baby picture she previously uploaded to Instagram, seemingly disproving her. A week later, in a conversation with Alyssa Snider, the Mississippi-based entrepreneur bonded over their shared experience of winning Homecoming Queen in high school. Jasmine continued the story, claiming that she fell off the float and her dad drug her on the grass, resulting in mud getting on her. She ended by noting it was an awesome night, even though she and her family also apparently became homeless the same day. Fans are comparing Jasmine to season 19s Raven Walton Most recently, again talking to Alyssa, the entrepreneur claimed Beyonce helped support her nail line business during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, fans proved she didnt receive a grant that Beyonce and the NAACP gave to small businesses. I was pulling some strings because I knew what was going on.-#BBRaven #BB19 pic.twitter.com/rCmmJFjAeK Big Brother (@CBSBigBrother) September 15, 2017 Additionally, Jasmine has claimed she was switched at birth and almost went home with someone else. However, her mother noticed, and she received a DNA test before going back with her family. Many viewers dont believe Jasmines tales, putting them on Twitter under the hashtag Jasmine Stories, and are accusing her of making them up, similar to season 19s Raven Walton. Many fans didnt believe Ravens several claims during BB19 Throughout her time in the Big Brother house, Raven shared her several ailments and injuries with the other Houseguests. However, many were so outlandish that several players and fans believed she made them up. She has revealed shes dying from two terminal diseases and, alongside her family, needs a new pacemaker every year. Raven has said she couldnt have kids because her uterus is too small, and she has endometriosis. According to the former Houseguest, she has had at least eight surgeries, died twice on the operating table, and says every nerve in her body, including her organs, is dying. She also claimed that she was scouted for the Olympics but shattered her growth plates around the same time and has an inverted spine. Additionally, Raven has named milk, chicken, and steak as things she cant eat, yet Live Feed viewers have caught her eating them several times on camera. Finally, the former Houseguest has claimed she only has a couple of years to live due to her many ailments. Fans are comparing Jasmine to Raven because of the unbelievable stories both Houseguests frequently share. Big Brother 24 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS. RELATED: Big Brother 24: Fans Are Accusing Daniel Durston of Making a Racially Charged Comment TL; DR: Ree Drummond has been married to her cattle rancher husband, Ladd Drummond, for more than 20 years. They live on a ranch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Ree Drummond shared what shes learned being an agricultural wife on her Pioneer Woman website. She said it involves a certain level of resignation. Ree Drummonds opening up about what shes learned as an agricultural wife. The Food Network stars been married to Ladd Drummond, her cattle rancher husband, since 1996. In that time shes learned a thing or two or three about living on the ranch. Ahead, discover what The Pioneer Woman host has learned. Spoiler: Its mostly about letting Ladd do his thing. Ree Drummond lives on a sprawling Oklahoma estate As seen on The Pioneer Woman, the cookbook author lives in what some might call the middle of nowhere. Theres no neighborhood or neighbors because of the Drummond ranchs size. It clocks in at a whopping 433,000 acres. Located in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, the Drummond ranch sits outside of town. The former food blogger can be seen driving dirt roads to downtown Pawhuska on her show. Although most of the time she stays nearby at the ranchs lodge where The Pioneer Woman is filmed. Originally a guesthouse, Drummond and her husband Ladd renovated the space years before the Food Network show premiered. Today, the Lodge is where The Pioneer Woman crew stays during filming. Its also a destination for fans with summer tours available. My walk this evening. pic.twitter.com/Z5AbjveKM3 Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman (@thepioneerwoman) July 6, 2020 The Pioneer Woman on being an agricultural wife to husband Ladd Drummond: It involves a certain level of resignation In a May 2022 Pioneer Woman blog post titled, Thelma and Louise I Mean Betsy and Ree!Drummond discussed the Kansas adventure she took with her sister Betsy Lee Smith. They met up with Ladd in Kansas while he and a burn crew burned pastureland. Drummond snapped a photo of Smith checking on Ladd as they sat in the car from a safe distance away. She went on to say shed been a little less concerned seeing him near the flames because of her many years as an agricultural wife. There are three things Ive learned in all the years of being an agricultural wife, Drummond began. The dude is gonna do what the dude is gonna do, she said. Additionally, he knows what hes doing since hes been doing it his whole life. And, lastly, Drummond said she embraces a Jesus take the wheel approach. Because if something goes wrong, I cant do anything about it anyway, she explained. Theres a certain level of resignation required in this role Im in! she concluded. The show (ranch) must go on. Wait for the bunny rabbit? pic.twitter.com/alNk49RfcJ Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman (@thepioneerwoman) March 27, 2020 Ree Drummond and Ladd Drummond spend time away from the ranch too There is always a lot to do at the Drummond ranch from the less romantic tasks such as installing a fence to caring for horses. However, that isnt to say Drummond and Ladd never take breaks. Most recently, in July 2022, the Pioneer Woman and her husband took a trip to Mexico. Drummond offered a glimpse of their getaway on Instagram. Along with a few photos the 53-year-old wrote in the caption they took a quick trip to Mexico for their good friends wedding. My husband looks good in lorts, doesnt he? (Ladd + Shorts = Lorts.) I bought him some flip flops but he doesnt like things between his toes, she added. And motulenos, btw?? Heaven. Thank you for listening! RELATED: Ree Drummond Had 1 Concern When Her Husband Ladd Suggested Lodge Tours If youre craving a curry meal, Food Network star Ree Drummond has exactly what you need in her Chicken Curry in a Hurry recipe. With potato, coconut milk, mango and, of course, chicken, The Pioneer Woman stars dish is the aromatic, elegant, and quick meal you want when that curry hankering hits you. Ree Drummond | Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Pioneer Woman Magazine Drummonds curry meal is a plate for the senses Her ready-in-a-snap curry calls for salted butter, minced garlic, diced onion, peeled and diced sweet potato, curry powder, coconut milk, chicken broth, honey, kosher salt, rotisserie chicken meat, cilantro leaves, hot sauce, lime juice, and diced mango. On her Pioneer Woman website, Drummond said of her similar meal, Trinidadian Curry Chicken, Oh, this was an absolute treat. There are so many things you can do to dress this upif Id had a jalapeno or two, I would have sliced them and added them in. if the mixture winds up being too salty, you can add in more tomatoes. If its bland, cook down the sauce a little more. The culinary stars chicken curry recipe is ready to serve quickly To get started on this speedy curry in a skillet, the Oklahoma resident says to cook the garlic, onion, and sweet potato in the butter. Add the curry powder, continuing to cook the mixture. The heat is lowered to medium and the milk and broth are stirred in, followed by the honey and salt. The chicken is nestled and coated in the sauce, which should be simmering and continue to do so for about three minutes. Remove it from the heat and stir in the cilantro, hot sauce, and lime juice. Drummond suggests serving with the mango cubes and lime wedges. Hows that for curry in a hurry? Get the complete recipe and reviews on Food Networks site. Reviewers were dazzled by Drummonds flavorful curry chicken With all the various flavors in this dish, its easy to see why home cooks were so wowed by the Food Network stars quick and impressive meal. One person urged others trying this dish to not skip the diced mango garnish: This was majorly delicious! So many levels of taste from sweet and then all of a sudden the taste of cilantro, then the final hint of spicy. I was tempted to not go to the effort of getting the mango for the finish, but my husband said, Well, if Ree put it there then we should do it. Im SO glad we did because it really added to the taste! Another reviewer confirmed that this meal really does come together super quickly: This is quick and easy! I add carrots and celery to the recipe and a little extra curry. Ive made this a few times now and it always comes out great. Ive served with either rice, naan bread, or bean thread (cellophane) noodles. Lastly, this home cook wrote, This was super easy and had tons of flavor, I also put it over rice. Loved the sweet potatoes, the combo of flavors was excellent. Added bonus, I already had all the ingredients to make it. Will be adding this to the rotation. RELATED: The Pioneer Woman: Ree Drummond Said Chickpea Curry Is Her Favorite Pantry Recipe After The Flash, Ezra Miller Will Be Too Radioactive to Hire in Hollywood, Redditors Say Plenty of stars have seen their careers tank following celebrity scandals. Theyve disappeared from the spotlight, never to be heard from again. Though Hollywood doesnt have an official blacklist, some scandals make certain celebs too radioactive to touch. Ezra Miller may have become one such persona non grata. But is the actors future as the Flash really in jeopardy? Ezra Miller has racked up a string of scandalous headlines Ezra Miller in a police booking photo on March 28, 2022, in Hilo, Hawaii | Hawaii Police Department via Getty Images Its probably tough to be a star without one or two questionable headlines popping up during your career. However, once your name becomes associated with nothing but scandal, your career is definitely headed for trouble. Ezra Miller appears to be headed in that direction. According to Deadline, Millers list of unflattering headlines just keeps growing. Looming at the top is the actors involvement with 18-year-old Tokata Iron Eyes. The teens parents say Miller began contacting their child when Tokata was only 12 years old. The actor is accused of grooming and brainwashing the teen and providing them with drugs and alcohol. Miller traveled with Tokata around the world, continually moving so their parents were unable to locate their child. Tokatas parents recently filed paperwork requesting an order of protection on the teens behalf. Miller recently deleted social media accounts, possibly in an effort to keep their location a secret. The actor had a well-documented history of alleged violence and instability before the scandal with Tokata. Miller was arrested in Hawaii for assault, disorderly conduct, and harassment this past March. Shortly after those incidents, a couple that Miller had been living with filed a restraining order against the actor. Miller allegedly threatened to bury them. The actor allegedly also stole a passport and wallet from the couple. In April 2020, a video surfaced showing what appears to be Miller choking a woman and throwing her to the ground. The alleged incident occurred at a venue in Iceland when the actor reportedly became annoyed with fans. These headlines paint a picture of an easily agitated person who seems to think they are above the law. Has Ezra Miller become too radioactive to hire in Hollywood? Fans recently took to Reddit to discuss Ezra Millers potential Hollywood downfall. The thread began as a discussion about actors that fans are tired of seeing in movies, and one Redditor added Miller to the list of undesirable actors. Pretty sure hes going to be blacklisted going forward, hes become too radioactive for any studio to handle just like Armie Hammer, Reddit user Brown_Panther- wrote. Call Me by Your Name star Armie Hammer was recently embroiled in controversies involving claims of sexual abuse and cannibalism. The allegations remain unproven, but Hammers acting career screeched to a halt. The Redditors comparison of Millers and Hammers careers might not be far off the mark, especially considering Millers multiple arrests and restraining orders filed against them. Most Redditors in the thread seemed to agree. Ezras a liability, one user wrote. No more acting career going forward. Another Miller follower shared their amazement over the situation: Its baffling. Imagine being that good looking AND that talented and still deciding to throw it all away. Another commenter wondered if Millers previous roles affected the actors personality: I also realized he played the sociopathic teen in We need to talk about Kevin, which makes me wonder if that movies casting director was just really good at picking up on dark tendencies or if perhaps playing a role like that, as protected as they could film it, had some negative effect. Although many people think Ezra Millers career is over, just as many believe the actor can make a comeback. I genuinely would put money on Miller eventually getting work from, like, some European auteur who wants to make some kind of bullshit anti-Cancel Culture/Look How Edgy And Dangerous I Am statement. It wont be for nearly the kind of money Miller was making before they went nuclear, but even so, work is work. Others think Hollywood studio execs will put a public relations spin on the situation if The Flash becomes a box-office hit after its anticipated June 2023 release. Hell be blacklisted unless Flash makes insane money, then theyll bring out the PR teams. The actor has a history of playing unstable characters As one of the Redditors mentioned, Ezra Miller has portrayed several unstable characters and played them well. In 2011, the actor portrayed a homicidal teen in We Need to Talk About Kevin. The psychological thriller details the childhood of Kevin (told from his mothers point of view), who has just committed a school shooting. Though not all of Millers roles have been quite as dark as that one, the actor often lands parts as slightly strange outsiders. IMDb mentions Millers critically acclaimed performance in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) as a misunderstood, bullied gay prankster. The character provided comedic relief and was a fan favorite. In the 2015 comedy Trainwreck, Miller portrayed a weird magazine intern with a dark, kinky side. That year was a busy one for the actor, as Miller also appeared in The Stanford Prison Experiment. The film was about a 1971 Stanford University study about the psychological effects of being a prison inmate or guard. The real study took a dark turn, having profound physical and psychological affects on the participants. People involved in the film were concerned the actors might have similar negative experiences. There was an inherent danger that we were all aware of, in terms of simulating a simulation and maybe falling into that M.C. Escher painting and probably getting stuck there, Miller said during a panel discussion (via The Guardian. I think to [director Kyle Patrick Alvarezs] credit, we were all vetted. I think there were some background checks. One has to wonder whether roles like those have scarred Miller. RELATED: Jurnee Smollett Says Its No Secret Her Family Is Heartbroken After Several Hardships in Recent Years Trisha Yearwood has always loved barbecued foods. This love of outdoor cooking is passed down from her family, who loved to cook and eat in the fresh air with family and friends. The Trishas Southern Kitchen star is a massive fan of this delicious chicken dish cooked atop a grill. Yearwood adds one secret ingredient and her late father Jacks secret recipe for barbecue sauce to create a taste explosion. Trisha Yearwood | Terry Wyatt/Getty Images Trisha Yearwood has fond memories of her father Jack grilling at home Yearwood recalled summer days when her father, Jack Yearwood, operated the grill at her Monetico, GA home. She told ABC News that these memories remain some of her happiest. My dad was the grill master, and he used to make barbecue chicken for the whole town of Monticello, Georgia, Yearwood shared. She recalled summer nights, especially the Fourth of July, where the family gathered with friends to enjoy some of Yearwoods favorite seasonal foods. These foods include corn on the cob, ribs, a favorite of Yearwoods late mother Gwen, and fresh, seasonal vegetables. Trisha Yearwoods chicken features one secret ingredient To make this summertime staple served at Yearwood and husband Garth Brooks Nashville home, you must prepare the chicken ahead of grilling. However, one secret step makes Yearwoods chicken perfect every time. This essential step is brining. For this recipe, the chicken pieces are placed in a large bowl or deep pot and covered with water. To this, add salt. Then, place the chicken in the refrigerator for at least six hours or overnight to tenderize and flavor the meat. Drain the chicken from its brine and pat dry when ready to cook. A tasty and zippy barbecue sauce completes the dish Yearwood features her father Jacks infamous barbecue sauce atop the poultry dish. This vinegar-based sauce has a zippy flavor that enhances the taste of the grilled chicken. This sauce includes cider vinegar, peanut oil, hot sauce, and black and cayenne pepper. Bring this sauce mixture to a boil, stir it well and remove it from the heat. Then, use it to baste the chicken on the grill over medium-low heat. Yearwood recommends basting the poultry with the sauce and cooking for an initial 30 minutes. Then, turn the chicken pieces over and cook, basting with the sauce again. Yearwoods secret for delicious chicken every time is to continue turning and basting the chicken every 10 minutes until cooked all the way through. The recipe for Trisha Yearwoods Barbecued Chicken is available on the Food Network website. Trishas Southern Kitchen airs Sundays at noon on The Food Network. RELATED: Trisha Yearwoods Comforting Buttermilk Rolls Are Just Like Her Mom Used to Make Bryan Newland, left, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, and Deb Haaland, right, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, listen a meeting to hear about the painful experiences of Native Americans who were sent to government-backed boarding schools designed to strip them of their cultural identities Saturday, July 9, 2022 in Anadarko, Okla. Native American tribal elders who were once students at government-backed Indian boarding schools testified Saturday about the hardships they endured, including beatings, whippings, sexual assaults, forced haircuts and painful nicknames. Former Diocese of London chief charged with $5.9 million fraud, money laundering A former Head of Operations at the Anglican Diocese of London has been charged with fraud and money laundering over the alleged disappearance of more than $5.9 million (5 million) from the organization between 2009 and 2019. Martin Sargeant, a 52-year-old man who was the head of operations of the London Diocesan Fund in London and Westminster has been charged with fraud that is historic in nature, said the Diocese of London, which is the group of Church of England organisations located in North London, in a statement. Sargeant left the Diocese, which comprises parishes, schools, chaplaincies, missional communities and other organizations, in 2019 after the new Bishop of London, the Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally, asked for his role to be reviewed. At the time there was no suspicion or evidence of criminality but, last year, the LDF made a report to the Action Fraud unit of the (Metropolitan) Police, and a serious incident report to the Charity Commission, after a parish raised concerns about funds they had not received, the diocese said. Mullally said the LDF worked tirelessly with the police over the past year The total sum of money involved is believed to be in the region of 5 million, affecting a number of different organisations. This appears to be a gross betrayal of trust for all those who knew and worked with this individual He [allegedly] exploited his position for personal gain, she continued. The diocese called the alleged fraud historic in nature, and clarified that it does not relate to Common Fund, Bishops costs, or the present day funding of parishes. Richard Perry, chair of the LDFs Audit and Risk Committee, said their priority has been to support the police investigation and to do all we can to secure the defrauded funds. Our independent auditors have also carried out an urgent review of our present-day financial controls, to confirm they are robust, Perry added. A second independent inquiry will report to the London Diocesan Funds trustees and look at what happened and how, and will make any further recommendations for the future, once the current case has been closed. A report released last week on the suicide of a priest from the diocese, Fr. Alan Griffin, also referred to Sargeant who had suggested that Griffin had used rent boys, which led to a year-long church investigation into unspecified allegations against Griffin, according to The Sunday Times. Those accusations had a significant impact on him, the report said. Griffin took his own life in 2020. The reviewer, Chris Hobson, wrote: It is abundantly clear that this individual [Martin Sargeant] was allowed to function with little accountability or supervision during the tenure of the former bishop [Lord Chartres], Church Times reported. Had such accountability and supervision been in place then many of the issues referred to in later interviews would have been resolved at the time they were allegedly taking place. This week in Christian history: Isaac Watts born, Tammy Faye Bakker dies, papal infallibility Throughout the extensive history of the Church, there have been numerous events of lasting significance. Each week brings anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs, memorable births and notable deaths. Some of the events drawn from over 2,000 years of history might be familiar, while other happenings might be previously unknown by most people. The following pages highlight anniversaries of memorable events that occurred this week in Christian history. They include the birth of Isaac Watts, the death of Tammy Faye Bakker, and the establishment of papal infallibility. 1 2 3 4 Next Pro-life researcher skeptical of Gallup poll showing rise in support for abortion A pro-life researcher is skeptical about a recent Gallup poll that reportedly found an overall increase in support for legal abortion, citing problems with the demographic breakdown. Last month, the United States Supreme Court upheld Mississippis 15-week abortion ban with its 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A recent Gallup poll conducted May 2-22 that assessed Americans' views on abortion purportedly found an increase in the number of people who identify as pro-choice. In a sample of more than 1,000 participants, Gallups data show that 55% of U.S. adults identify as pro-choice compared to 39% who identify as pro-life. Another 5% of U.S. adults said they had no opinion on the issue. Michael J. New, researcher and associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, noted in a piece for National Review that he doubted the poll's findings. New said most of the increase in support for legal abortion appears to have occurred among racial minorities, but this opinion seems too sudden, especially when compared to the lack of change one way or the other for white respondents. It makes little sense that the leak of the Dobbs decision would have a large impact on the views of racial minorities but only a marginal impact on the attitude of whites, New said in an emailed statement to The Christian Post. The poll found that only 10% of "people of color" thought abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. New wrote in his National Review article that previous Gallup polls had indicated that 23% of total Hispanic or non-white Americans said they believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. New expressed doubt that a 13% drop could have taken place while the overall attitudes of non-minorities on abortion appear to have stayed the same. He further explained that Gallup polls conducted between 2017 and 2019 found that 34% of Hispanics thought abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, adding that a decline of approximately 24 points in less than five years strains credulity. The pro-life researcher also noted that Gallup polls between 2018 and 2021 found that 16% of whites thought abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. He noted that the recent survey found little change in white respondents abortion attitudes. This new Gallup poll also has unusual findings regarding the abortion attitudes of low-income earners, New wrote. In Gallup polls between 2018 and 2021, 24% of those earning less than $40,000 a year said abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. But the latest poll finds that only 15 percent of those making less than $40,000 a year said the same. A nine-point drop over a short time period is surprising. New is asking Gallup to provide a detailed racial breakdown of the results of their 2022 abortion poll and that they consider commissioning another poll on abortion attitudes. Abortion has become an exceptionally salient political issue in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, the pro-life researcher wrote to CP. As such, accurate and detailed information about the abortion attitudes of key political demographics would certainly benefit activists, legislators, and the general public. Civil rights activist becomes first African American memorialized at National Statuary Hall Mary McLeod Bethune, a civil rights activist who passed away in 1955, became the first African-American honored at the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Wednesday. An 11-foot-tall marble statue of Bethune was unveiled at Statuary Hall, with the activist being one of two statues that represent the state of Florida. Nilda M. Comas of San Juan, Puerto Rico, sculpted the statue. Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona in 1904 and the National Council of Negro Women in 1935. She also served as the vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons. According to the Architect of the Capitol, the statue depicts Bethune wearing academic clothing, representing her efforts to advance education and her multiple honorary doctorates. The sculpture also holds a black marble rose crafted independently of the statue, meant to symbolize her interracial and international cooperation efforts. "She developed friendships with both First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, serving as a policy advisor to both," the Architect of the Capitol website explains. "As part of the U.S. delegation, she was the only Black woman at the 1945 founding conference of the United Nations." The Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church celebrated the statue installation, noting that Bethune was an active member of a Methodist church in D.C. "Bethune was one of the most brilliant and impactful leaders of the 20th century who saw challenges and always responded with strategic insight and enduring solutions," said Bishop LaTrelle Easterling in a statement. "Throughout 60 years of public service her contributions to education, women's and civil rights and equity transformed our nation and the world. Her intellectual prowess became the blueprint for the entire civil rights movement and contributed to The United Nations Charter." The Bethune statue replaced an earlier one of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, which was removed from Statuary Hall last year after the Florida legislature and Gov. Rick Scott approved the replacement in 2018. In recent years, some states have removed Confederate statues from Statuary Hall, with Virginia removing the Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. According to The Washington Post, there are still nine Confederate statues in the hall, including former Confederate States Vice President Alexander Stephens of Georgia and the former Confederate States President Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. In 2020, North Carolina greenlit the creation of a sculpture of the Rev. Billy Graham to replace the statue of former Gov. Charles Aycock, an avid segregationist. Last September, sculptor Chas Fagan told Spectrum News 1 that he is in the process of creating the Graham statue, which will be 7 feet tall and sit on a 3-foot-tall pedestal. White House claims Russian officials visited an airfield in Iran at least twice in recent weeks to inspect war drones it considers to purchase to use in its attack on Ukraine. The intelligence was made public by the Biden administration as President Joe Biden convened on Saturday with the leaders of the six Arab Gulf nations, as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq, for a regional conference. During his appearance at the summit that closed out a four-day Middle East visit, Biden reaffirmed the United States' commitment to the region and vowed that it "will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia, or Iran." Russian officials visited Iran twice in recent weeks to exhibit the military drones they plan to buy for their battle in Ukraine, according to satellite data publicly disclosed by the White House just hours before the Gulf Cooperation Council gathering. White House Claims Iran Prepares To Provide Sophisticated Drones to Russia Per a report from NPR, it might be possible for the administration to more effectively link the war's significance to the fears held by many Arab countries about Iran's nuclear ambitions and other shady behavior in the region if satellite images demonstrating Russian officials' visits to Kashan Airfield on June 8 and July 5 to inspect the drones are publicly revealed. According to a report from The Times of Israel, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan claimed that Iran is preparing to sell Russia hundreds of attack drones. In a statement, Sullivan claimed that the White House holds "information indicating that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs." Read Also: US Military Performs Successful Hypersonic Missile Test as Washington Gets Closer to Russia, China in New Arms Race The White House also released photos of the drones capable of carrying guided missiles, the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129, which were on the airstrip and in flight when a Russian delegation transport plane was parked. Ukraine extensively utilized armed drones in its fight against the invading Russians, who have not made acquiring such capabilities a priority until now. Iran Dismiss US Accusations In a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Friday, Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian refuted allegations that his country was supplying drones to Russia, labeling them "baseless." According to Amirabdollahian, the accusations by the White House before US President Joe Biden started his tour of the Middle East were part of a concerted campaign against Iran. Amirabdollahian said: "The fundamental and explicit stance of the Islamic republic in opposing war and supporting a stop to the war is not based on a double standard like some Western countries." The Iranian official also claimed that Tehran opposes the fighting in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine. The news also arises as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to visit Tehran on Tuesday for a trilateral meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to address the Syrian crisis. The leaders are anticipated to meet separately as well, and it is said that Putin will speak with Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran. Iran has expressed its desire to see an end to the war in Ukraine through diplomacy since it began in February, but it has refrained from criticizing Russia and instead has pointed the finger at NATO's expansion in Europe as the root of the crisis, per Al Jazeera. Related Article: Biden Claims the Middle East Acknowledges His Leadership; China Responds Accordingly @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Most Americans believe religious freedom is in decline; a third says Christians complain too much: poll More than half of all Americans say religious tolerance for Christians is on the decline, even as more than a third also believes Christians complain too much about how they are treated in society, a newly released Lifeway Research survey suggests. In a study of just over 1,000 Americans conducted last September, 54% said religious liberty in the United States is in decline, including around a quarter (24%) who strongly agree with that statement. Almost a third (32%) of respondents disagreed, while 14% said they weren't sure. An even greater percentage of Americans believe religious tolerance for Christians in America is in decline, with 59% agreeing that "Christians increasingly are confronted by intolerance in America today." Less than a quarter (24%) disagreed, and another 18% said they were unsure if intolerance for Christians is increasing in America. African Americans (68%) and white Americans (59%) were more likely to agree than people of other ethnicities (47%). Protestants (69%) and Catholics (59%) were most likely to agree that Christians are facing increasing intolerance. Fifty-three percent of respondents of other religions and 41% of religiously unaffiliated respondents said the same. Those who attend a worship service at least four times a month (64%) are more likely to believe religious liberty is on the decline in America than those who attend less than once a month (53%). The religiously unaffiliated, or "nones," were the least likely (40%) to agree religious liberty is on the decline. "Freedoms are not limitless," said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. "As some groups seek more freedom, it often encroaches on another's freedom. It's not surprising those who are more religiously active are the ones noticing reductions in religious freedom compared to those who don't practice religion." The survey also found an interesting corollary to the perceived decline in religious liberty: more than a third (36%) of all Americans say Christians in the U.S. "complain too much about how they are treated," including 14% who strongly agree. Nearly half (49%) of respondents disagreed, while another 15% weren't sure. Males (40%) were more likely to agree than women (32%) that Christians complain too much about how they are treated. Respondents over 65 were the most likely to disagree that Christians complain too much (64%). The survey found that those who hold Evangelical beliefs are more likely to disagree that Christians complain too much (61%) than those who don't have Evangelical beliefs (45%). The religiously unaffiliated (53%) were more likely to agree than either Protestants (27%) or Catholics (34%) that Christians complain too much. "Intolerance is about cultural pushback," McConnell said. "In the American marketplace of ideas, not all systems of thought are welcomed. The majority of all religions notice this pushback against Christians today." The survey was conducted online with over 1,005 respondents and has an error margin of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, with error margins being higher among subgroups. Quotas and slight weights were used to balance gender, age, region, ethnicity, education and religion to more accurately reflect the U.S. population. Christs return will generate joy and sorrow As surely as Jesus Christ walked on this planet, lived a sinless life, died a holy death, and rose from the dead on the third day, He will most definitely return to Earth just as He promised. Jesus told his disciples: In my Fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 14:2-3). Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wisely observed, The great doctrine of the second advent has in a sense fallen into disrepute because ofthis tendency on the part of some to be more interested in the how and the when of the second coming rather than in the fact of the second coming. George Sweeting wrote, Both the Old and New Testaments are full of promises about the return of Jesus Christ. Over 1,800 references appear in the Old Testamentand there are more than 300 references to the Lords return in the New Testament - one out of every thirty verses." For the Lord himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). Believers in Jesus Christ have an eternal home in Paradise. (Luke 23:39-43) Our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21). Is it well with your soul today? Are you on the narrow road to Heaven or the wide road to Hell? (Matthew 7:13,14) These two destinations in eternity are extreme and never-ending. Therefore, the return of Jesus Christ to Earth is no laughing matter. Are you taking it seriously, or writing it off as if your soul is not immortal and the Lord is not going to hold you accountable for your sins? The prophet Daniel wrote, Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). Albert Barnes was an American theologian and abolitionist who produced an extensive commentary on the Bible in the 1830s. He described the mood of his day: People believe in the doctrine of future punishment. Otherwise, there is no reason why they should be alarmed at his coming. Surely people would not dread his appearing if they really believed that all will be saved. In other words, many people who deliberately keep on sinning" experience only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God (Hebrews 10:27). Scripture declares: Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. (Revelation 1:7) Television cameras often allow us to witness intense grief in a courtroom when a defendant is found guilty, or when a convicted person is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Imagine the worldwide wailing when Jesus Christ returns! Those who rejected Him will suddenly become aware of their eternal sentence in Hell. This is why all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. Will you come to Christ today and trust the Lord to wash away your sins with the blood he shed for you on the cross? Jesus will save your soul right now if you will repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15). Are you living each day as though Jesus died yesterday, arose today, and is coming back tomorrow? The return of Jesus Christ will shake this planet and its people to the core. Therefore, Gods Word instructs believers: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:2,4). Believers joyfully await Christs return, whereas unbelievers are oblivious to what Christ accomplished on the cross. Some unbelievers live as though Heaven and Hell are make-believe, and as though Jesus Christ will not return to Earth like he promised. In the final chapter of the Bible Jesus stated, Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done (Revelation 22:12). You see, God always has the final word. Are you looking forward to Christs return? Or is your heart filled with dread at the thought of what currently awaits you throughout eternity? Unless you receive the forgiveness of your sins through faith in Christ, you will be sentenced to eternal punishment in the prison known as Hell with no possibility of parole. Do you see why your soul matters so much to God, and why the Lord wants you to come to Heaven when your body dies? (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9) David offered this expression of thanksgiving to God: You have made known to me the path of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11). Everlasting pleasures, or never-ending torment and agony. (Luke 16:19-31) Which path are you on today? There are only two destinations when man's soul leaves his body at the moment of his death. And what about your family and friends? If you dont attempt to reach them with the Gospel, who will? If Jesus returned to Earth today, would it make you joyful or sorrowful? Your sins can only be forgiven through faith in his blood (Romans 3:25) which was shed on the cross for you 2000 years ago. Come to Christ today as you turn away from sin and pray: Wash me Jesus with your precious blood." Are you ready for Christs return? Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31). Jesus said, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). The measure of a machine: Is LaMDA a person? In June 2022, Google suspended engineer Blake Lemoine from his work in artificial intelligence. Having previously assisted with a program called the Language Models for Dialog Applications (LaMDA), Lemoine was placed on leave after publishing confidential information about the project. Lemoine himself disputes this description, saying, All I talked to other people about was my conversations with a coworker. Complicating matters, that coworker is LaMDA itself. LaMDA is Googles latest conversation-generating artificial intelligence. If assigned virtually any identity such as, say, you are Tom Cruise, or you are secretly a squirrel it offers in-character conversation, patterning its responses on databases of real conversations and related information. Its dialogue is extremely sophisticated; LaMDA answers questions, composes poems, and expresses concern at being switched off. Lemoine claims that this behavior shows that LaMDA is a sentient person, and therefore not Googles property. The company, and many experts, disagree. The claim, however, points to a fundamental question: if a computer program was a person, how would one tell? Lemoines argument follows reasoning first introduced by Alan Turing, a father of AI and of computation in general. By 1950, Turing had observed a pattern in computational research. Skeptical observers would declare that only a thinking human could accomplish some task i.e., draw a picture, outwit another human, and so forth only to propose a new, more stringent requirement when a computer achieved the first. Turing proposed a broader metric for intelligence; if an AI could converse indistinguishably from ordinary humans, it should be believed capable of true thought. After all, humans cannot directly detect sentience in each other, and yet typically assume that the people they converse with are precisely that: people. Anyone fooled by a robo-caller can attest that even simple programs may briefly appear human, but the Turing Test as a whole remains a robust challenge. While LaMDAs breadth of interaction is astounding, the program still shows conversational seams. The AIs memory is limited in some substantial ways, and it is prone to insisting on obvious falsehoods its history as a school teacher, for example even when speaking to its own development team. While it often uses the right vocabulary, its arguments structure sometimes degenerates into nonsense. Still, these things might not be disqualifying. Human beings obviously lie or argue badly; most people would likely not question the self-awareness of another human who said the things that LaMDA does. Indeed, Lemoine argues that, by judging LaMDAs utterances differently from those of biological humans, observers exhibit hydrocarbon bigotry. More fundamentally, conversation alone is a poor way of measuring self-awareness. The most famous critic of Turings imitation game is the philosopher John Searle, who proposed a thought experiment called the Chinese Room. Searle imagined a sealed room; outside, a Chinese-language speaker composes messages and passes them in through a mail slot. Inside, a second participant receives the messages but cannot read them. With him in the room, though, are a stack of books defining a series of rules: If you see such-and-such Chinese characters, write this-and-that characters in response. Obediently, the man in the room does so, copying a reply and passing it back out. From the perspective of the Chinese speaker, the exchanges are a sensible conversation; from the perspective of the person inside, they are a meaningless exchange of symbols. Herein lies the flaw in conversation-based measures of intelligence. By definition, any computer program can be reduced to a series of input/output rules like the books in Searles imaginary room. An AI, then, simply follows its set of symbol-manipulation rules, forming words and sentences as instructed by the rules, without regard for semantics or comprehension. Any sense of meaning is thus imposed by the speaker outside the room: the human user. LaMDA, of course, does not have simple rules of the form Searle pictures; no database of canned replies could suffice for its purposes. But the programs operation is still ultimately reducible to a finite description of that form: given these symbols, take those actions. Indeed, a sufficiently motivated programmer could (very slowly) trace LaMDAs operation entirely with pencil and paper, with no computer required, and produce identical results. Where, then, is the purported artificial person? One might object that the same could be said of a human being. In principle, perhaps a dedicated biologist could trace every fluctuation of hormones and electricity in the brain, entirely describing its inputs and outputs. Doing so would not, presumably, deny that humans experience meaning. But this argument begs the question; it assumes that the mind is reducible to the brain, or more broadly, that human personhood reduces to physical properties. Indeed, the seeming inexplicability of consciousness in purely physical terms has earned a name in philosophy: the hard problem. Christianity may be well-positioned to offer a better answer. Most Christians have historically understood personhood to depend on more than physical traits or conversational capabilities; unborn infants, then, are persons, while artificial intelligences are not. A robust defense of this understanding might be attractive and, indeed, might offer valuable insight. Unfortunately, despite statements from groups like the Southern Baptists and the Roman Catholic Church, the Church as a whole has been sluggish to respond to the theological questions of AI. LaMDA is not a final endpoint, and coming years will likely see many more who share Lemoines convictions. Increasingly, the Churchs rising challenges share a common need for a rich anthropology: a biblical defense of what, precisely, it is to be human. From Bennifer to Benniforever. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were married Saturday in Las Vegas, the actress/pop star has confirmed. "We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient," she wrote in her newsletter, On the JLo, Sunday evening. "Last night we flew to Vegas, stood in line for a license with four other couples, all making the same journey to the wedding capital of the world. Behind us two men held hands and held each other. In front of us, a young couple who made the three hour drive from Victorville on their daughter's second birthday - all of us wanting the same thing - for the world to recognize us as partners and to declare our love to the world through the ancient and nearly universal symbol of marriage." She detailed the wedding: her in a dress from an old movie, him in a jacket, barely making it to a small white wedding chapel, taking photos together in a pink Cadillac convertible once driven by Elvis. "Stick around long enough and maybe you'll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at twelve thirty in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through, with your kids and the one you'll spend forever with," she concluded. "Love is a great thing, maybe the best of things-and worth waiting for." It was signed "With Love, Mrs. Jennifer Lynn Affleck." News of the wedding emerged Sunday afternoon with the posting of a Clark County, Nev., marriage license bearing the names Benjamin Geza Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. It also bears that new name: Jennifer Affleck. ("Why not Ben Lopez????" asked Jezebel.) The license was proof enough for news to spread quickly among entertainment outlets of marriage for the famous duo, who announced their engagement in April. But the legal union has been a long time coming. The pair originally met in the early 2000s on the set of "Gigli," which, for film critics, was essentially a movie version of clay pigeons. They soon became engaged. While the movie became a box-office punchline, "Bennifer" became a cultural phenomenon. People were obsessed - and heartbroken when they canceled their 2003 wedding. The couple rekindled their romance in 2021 as divorced parents, to the world's continued fascination. Lopez, 52, has been married three times - to Ojani Noa, Cris Judd and Marc Anthony, and has 14-year-old twins; Affleck, 49, was married to actress Jennifer Garner, whom he divorced in 2018. They have three children. When the couple got back together, The Post's Emily Yahr wrote of the feelings it stirred up in longtime fans: "Looking back, the cultural phenomenon that was 'Bennifer' really did feel like an all-consuming, inescapable storm. The couple could barely go anywhere without being photographed. The lead-up to their ultimately canceled 2003 wedding was described by one news outlet as 'a week of media frenzy worthy of D-Day.' As actress Mindy Kaling - who parodied Affleck in her breakout stage production - reminisced in her first book, 'Bennifer was so big it was as though two people had never been in love before, and they had discovered it.'" So imagine everyone's delight when Bennifer reemerged from the gloaming after Lopez split with fiance Alex Rodriguez. Lopez announced the (re)engagement in her newsletter and described Affleck's proposal. "Did you ever imagine your biggest dream could come true?" she wrote, according to People. "Saturday night while at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got on one knee and proposed. I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying hard to get my head around the fact that after 20 years this was happening all over again, I was quite literally speechless and he said, 'is that a yes?' I said YES of course that's a YES." She later told the magazine: "It's a beautiful outcome that this has happened in this way at this time in our lives where we can really appreciate and celebrate each other and respect each other. We always did, but we have even more of an appreciation because we know that life can take you in different directions." This go-round, it seems as if the couple went through with it. Second time's the charm, as Affleck suggested in a Wall Street Journal magazine profile in December. "I've had second chances in my career. I've had second chances as a human being. Life is difficult, and we are always failing and hopefully learning from those failures," Affleck said. "The one thing you really need to avail yourself of the opportunities provided from that growth is the second chance. I've definitely tried to take advantage of that. I haven't always been successful, but in cases in which I have, they've turned out to be the defining aspects of my life." Mexico is often considered one of the most beautiful countries in the world, with its wide range of landscapes, history and the cultures that form the basis of what the country is contributing to that. In addition, it is well known for its artistry and generations of traditions that are still practiced today. The 18th annual Sister City Festival at Sames Auto Arena is a slice of that world, brought to residents and visitors without the need for travel tickets or a tour of Mexico. It is also a small getaway for residents who may want to enjoy some Mexican food straight from Aguascalientes, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon and more. Between the first and the 18th celebration, much has changed for the festival. In 2002, it saw 48 vendors, and it was held at the former civic center a year afterwards. In 2005, there were 97 booths, and in 2006, 120 exhibits led to some overflowing into an outdoor tent. Since 2010, the now-named Sames Auto Arena facility became the site for the festival to host the growing number of vendors. That year, Elia Tovar Olvera traveled from San Miguel Allende, and she has been bringing her wares to the Sister City Festival every year since. Her booth showcased numerous handmade items including metalwork, ceramic, woodwork items and more. One coveted item was the volcanic stone molcahete, which she said is one way to step up the flavor of any sauce when compared to an electric blender. Olvera said the volcanic stone enhances the properties of herbs that bring out the flavor and encouraged everyone to learn the ways of the molcahete in lieu of a blender. Aside from her numerous cooking tools, a figure of Dia de los Muertos Frida Kahlo stood tall in the middle of her booth. This stood as a colorful focal point that showed off more and more of Olveras items. Juan Gabriel Aguilera Delgadillo from Aguascalientes said he and his wife traveled to the festival to show off their handmade leather and stitched goods. These included satchels, sandals, keychains and other accessories. For over eight years, the couple has worked on embroidering using Pita fiber that results in intricate designs on their finished goods. Showing off his wifes work, a leather sandal was adorned with a flower design. Delgadillo emphasized the fact that there was no start or endpoint in the design, showing that it was handcrafted. He believes the dedication in creating the handcrafted items ultimately leads to a greater appreciation for the goods made, by both the creator and the shopper. In 2019, over 25,000 attendees were recorded during the three-day event, with the Laredo Convention and Visitors Bureau expecting to either meet or break that record in 2022. Aileen Ramos, Director of the CVB, said the initial line at the door in the morning was a strong sign of the increased demand for the festival. Furthermore, the upbeat energy was on display as residents sat to watch the "Danza de los Viejitos" eat from the booths, shop for a new outfit or a home decoration. Attendee and renowned personality Sammy the House was walking through the aisles, mesmerized by the work on display and the crafts made in front of his eyes. He lauded the accessibility to the event, as parking, entry and browsing were free. An example of browsing was a woodworker who using his hands and feet created a wooden molinillo in the middle of the festival. These handcrafted items are a staple of the festival and Mexican culture, and they are a component of why both Sammy and his wife visit the festival each year. I really like Mexican candy. I really, really like Mexican candy. I probably should stay away from them, he said. I like a lot of the Dia de los Muertos stuff. I like a lot of the indigenous stuff. I like to see stuff from the motherland, stuff that comes directly from the motherland. This gentleman was here working with his feet and his hands, it was cool to see that. It's cool that these things arent lost. He also encouraged locals to get out of the house and visit the festival for its cultural, social and historical roots. Sammy the House added that it's important to remember those who have constantly worked with their hands and continue to create their art through the modern times of machination and assembly-line work. These people have work ethic, they are making things -- real nice things -- and this is stuff that you would be like, Oh this is cute, I saw it online. Nah, you got to see this from the people that make it, he said. WASHINGTON (AP) On restoring access to abortion, President Joe Biden says his hands are tied without more Democratic senators. Declaring a public health emergency on the matter has downsides, his aides say. And as for gun violence, Biden has been clear about the limits of what he can do on his own. Theres a Constitution, Biden said from the South Lawn in late May. I cant dictate this stuff. Throughout this century, presidents have often pushed aggressively to extend the boundaries of executive power. Biden talks more about its limits. When it comes to the thorniest issues confronting his administration, the instinct from Biden and his White House is often to speak about what he cannot do, citing constraints imposed by the courts or insufficient support in a Congress controlled by his own party though barely. He injects a heavy dose of reality in speaking to an increasingly restive Democratic base, which has demanded action on issues such as abortion and voting rights before the November elections. White House officials and the president's allies say that approach typifies a leader who has always promised to be honest with Americans, including about how expansive his powers really are. But Biden's realpolitik tendencies are colliding with an activist base agitating for a more aggressive party leader both in tone and substance. Although candidate Biden sold himself as the person who best knew the ways of Washington, he nonetheless is hamstrung by the same obstacles that have bedeviled his predecessors. I think that if you hesitate from important actions like this just because of a legal challenge, then you would do nothing, said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., who has been pressing for more administrative actions on abortion. People all across the country are expecting us the leaders to do something. Bidens cautionary approach could be to protect himself if the White House falls short like Democrats did in negotiating a party-line spending package centered on the social safety net and climate provisions. That sweeping effort had been steadily thwarted due to resistance from two moderate Democrats, one of them West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who on Thursday scuttled for the time being a scaled-back effort that focused on climate and taxes. That development prompted calls from Democratic senators for Biden to unilaterally declare a climate emergency. In a statement Friday while in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Biden pledged to take strong executive action to meet this moment on climate. But in recent weeks, that gap between yes, we can and no, we cant has been most glaring on abortion. Since the Supreme Court last month overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling from 1973 with its constitutional protections for abortion, the White House has come under considerable pressure to try to maintain access to abortion in conservative states that are set to outlaw the procedure. For instance, advocates have implored Biden to look into establishing abortion clinics on federal lands. They have asked the administration to help transport women seeking abortions to a state that offers the procedure. And Democratic lawmakers are pressing the White House to declare a public health emergency. Without rejecting the ideas completely, White House aides have expressed skepticism about such requests. And even as he signed an executive order last week to begin addressing the issue, Biden had one clear, consistent message: that he could not do this on his own, shifting attention to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The only way we can secure a womans right to choose and the balance that existed is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law, Biden said shortly after the court struck down Roe. No executive action from the president can do that. Shortly after declaring that the filibuster a Senate rule that requires 60 votes for most legislation to advance should not apply for abortion and privacy measures, Biden acknowledged during a meeting with Democratic governors that his newfound position would not make a difference, at least not right away. The filibuster should not stand in the way of us being able to do that, Biden said of writing the protections of Roe into federal law. But right now, we dont have the votes in the Senate to change the filibuster." Biden, who served for 36 years in the Senate, is an institutionalist to his core and has tried to operate under the constraints of those institutions unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, who repeatedly pushed the boundaries of executive power. But some advocates don't want to hear from Biden about what he cant do. Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and executive director of the group We Testify, which advocates for women who have had abortions, said the administration should proceed with a public health emergency even if it's eventually blocked by the courts. It tells those people who need abortions that the president is trying to help them, and that the thing thats stopping him is the court, not himself, or his own projections on what could possibly happen, she said, later adding: The fact that hes an institutionalist and cannot look around and see the institutions around him are crumbling is the problem. Democratic lawmakers have also continued to prod senior administration officials behind the scenes. In a virtual meeting this past week, Chu urged Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, to have the administration enact a public health emergency. Proponents of the idea say it would unlock certain powers and resources to not only expand access to abortion but to protect doctors who provide them. Though Becerra did not rule out the idea, he told Chu and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus that the administration had two main questions: How would the administration replenish money for the public health emergency fund and what would this move actually accomplish? The skepticism has not deterred Democratic lawmakers. But some of the most ardent proponents of expansive executive actions on abortion have similarly cautioned their voters and activists to be realistic. Its unrealistic to think that they have the power and the authority to protect access to abortion services in every part of this country because of what the Supreme Court has done," said Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. In one sense, the recent success on gun s was a validation of Bidens art-of-the-possible approach, advocates say. Rather than promising what he could not achieve, Biden instead spoke of his limitations and cautioned that any substantive changes would require the support of at least 10 Senate Republicans a goal that seemed implausible at the start. That culminated this past week with a ceremony marking the signing of the first substantial gun restrictions into law in roughly three decades. I think that the president has struck the absolute right balance, said John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety. Concerns about the limitations on Bidens executive powers arent mere hypotheticals. His administrations efforts to tame the coronavirus pandemic, for example, were repeatedly foiled by the courts, including a requirement to wear masks on mass transit and a vaccination mandate for companies with at least 100 workers. Then-President Barack Obama sounded similar warnings when confronted by immigration activists urging him to use his power to issue a deportation reprieve for millions of young immigrants who did not have legal status in the U.S. Obama in 2012 unilaterally enacted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which is still standing today. Two years later, Obama more fully embraced the pen-and-phone strategy, signaling to Congress that he would not hesitate to use executive orders if lawmakers continued to imperil his domestic agenda. Nobody thinks hes got a magic wand here. Folks understand there are limitations, said Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director of the Indivisible Project. What they want to see is him treating this like the crisis it is for folks in red states losing access to abortion. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LONDON (AP) The candidates to become the next British prime minister burnished their right-wing credentials Sunday, as they looked to remain in the race to succeed Boris Johnson. Many of the five remaining hopefuls highlighted issues linked to Brexit and immigration as they attempted to woo fellow Conservative lawmakers ahead of a third round of voting on Monday, when another contender will drop out. Even though the eventual winner will automatically become prime minister, the contenders must appeal to a narrow constituency of party members, who tend to be whiter, older and more right-wing than the general public. The candidates face a series of votes from lawmakers this week, who will narrow down the field to two, before facing a runoff among an estimated 180,000 Conservative Party members. Writing in Britains Sunday Telegraph newspaper, the former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, who is the frontrunner among Conservative lawmakers, pledged to tear up European Union laws as Britain beds down its position outside the bloc. Appealing to the pro-Brexit party vote, Sunak wrote that he will have scrapped or reformed all of the EU law, red tape and bureaucracy that is still on our statute book and slowing economic growth by the time of the next election if he becomes the next prime minister. Meanwhile, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, who became a surprise frontrunner and bookmaker favorite last week, was forced to challenge accusations that she had pushed through a policy to end the requirement for trans people to obtain a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they could legally change gender when she was equalities minister in Theresa Mays government. She told the BBCs Sunday Morning program that she had managed a consultation with health care professionals but no policy had been developed while she was in the job. Despite the demographics of the members, the race to succeed Johnson has been called the most diverse for a British prime minister. Sunak and Kemi Badenoch, a former equalities minister, are both non-white, while three of the remaining five contenders are women. Badenoch, whose parents are from Nigeria, remains little known. But she has seen her star rise after her public showing in a television debate Friday, and led a poll of party members by the ConservativeHome website on Sunday. She would be the first Black prime minister and, at 42, the youngest in more than 250 years. Despite her background, she has made immigration control a key pillar of her political pitch, pledging Sunday to do whatever it takes to deal with the small boats issue. More than 14,000 migrants have made the 20-mile journey to Britain across the English channel from France so far this year. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, is touting her international experience, as Britains top diplomat and a former trade secretary, and is vowing to take a tough line with the European Union in post-Brexit trade spats. The final candidate, Tom Tugendhat, trails his colleagues after the second round of voting. But he is making a virtue of having never sat in Boris Johnsons government. He is calling for a clean start after the months of scandals that eventually saw Johnson signal his resignation. Privacy and civil rights advocates are pushing back on criticisms from California officials that a federal privacy bill would weaken protections in the state, arguing that the bipartisan measure recently unveiled in Washington is even stronger than California's landmark law. California Democrats for years have warned congressional colleagues that any attempts to dilute or override the California Consumer Privacy Act would meet stiff opposition. "California's bill is the best. Why would we want to preempt it?" Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told me in February 2019. How a federal privacy law would intersect with a growing number of state laws has been a major sticking point for talks in Congress. Now as lawmakers consider a landmark privacy bill - the American Data Privacy and Protection Act - that would preempt conflicting state rules, the issue is again gaining attention. As Bloomberg Government reported, the California Privacy Protection Agency recently expressed concerns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that the bill "would hurt Californians" by limiting state legislators and regulators from boosting protections. The issue has also been raised by California lawmakers and more broadly by top House Democrats. But those fears aren't shared by several Washington, D.C.-based privacy advocates. A memo comparing the measures prepared by three prominent nonprofits and shared with The Technology 202 argues that the federal bill's consumer protections are equal to or better than the California law in a vast majority of areas. Alan Butler, executive director of the privacy group EPIC, said that the federal bill (ADPPA) would be more effective in minimizing how much data companies can collect from consumers, has stronger guardrails around sensitive data and, notably, contains a section on civil rights. "ADPPA is basically much clearer on the obligations of companies to limit the extent of their processing, the collection . . . and transfer of data to a specific list of permissible purposes," he said. David Brody, managing attorney for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the bill also gives consumers a more robust mechanism to bring lawsuits against violators, whereas the so-called private right of action under the California law is limited to data breaches. "One of the biggest and most obvious reasons why the federal bill is better is because it actually has a private right of action," he said. The bill also covers a "broader" array of entities and is "more protective" when it comes to children's and teens' data, according to the memo, which EPIC and the Lawyers' Committee compiled along with the Center for Democracy and Technology. (CDT receives funding from tech companies including Google, Apple and Twitter.) Still, questions about the legislation's language around state preemption and private right of action are expected to be a focus next week as the House Energy & Commerce Committee looks to mark up and advance the bill to the chamber floor. It would mark the first time a so-called comprehensive consumer privacy bill has made it out of committee on Capitol Hill, a historic feat. But it faces major hurdles in the Senate. Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has said the enforcement mechanism of her colleagues' bill is too weak. One key aspect of California's law could prove contentious on Capitol Hill: It contains language blocking state legislators from weakening its protections. While ADPPA may be stronger than California's law in the eyes of some privacy advocates, members of the California delegation may still be reluctant to pass a federal law that could be watered down by another Congress, unlike the California Consumer Privacy Act. Another is that by overriding California's law, it could severely weaken the power of the state's newly created regulator, the California Privacy Protection Agency. Butler said he hopes it's an issue lawmakers on Capitol Hill can address as they debate their bill. "This is an issue that I think it's really important to resolve in ADPPA, but I don't think it's an issue that's . . . a fundamental structural flaw," he said. Former president Donald Trump did "nothing" to stop the riot at the Capitol as it was unfolding on Jan. 6, 2021, and new witnesses will fill in the gaps in Trump's activities that day when the House select committee investigating the attack holds its next hearing, members of the bipartisan panel said Sunday. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who is scheduled to lead the prime-time hearing on Thursday, said the session "is going to open people's eyes in a big way" as they examine Trump's actions in detail over the hours the Capitol was overrun by a mob seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden's electoral college win. "We have filled in the blanks," Kinzinger said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday. Trump "didn't do very much but gleefully watch television during this time frame." Kinzinger, one of two GOP members of the bipartisan panel who has come under regular attacks from Trump for his role on the committee, implored his fellow Republicans to watch the next hearing with an open mind and ask themselves: "Is this the kind of strong leader you really think you deserve?" Late Friday, the committee took the unusual step of subpoenaing the Secret Service after reports the agency erased text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, after the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General had requested them. Committee members said they expect to receive the text messages by Tuesday. "An agency that was such a key part of a critical event in our history, one would assume they had done everything possible to preserve those records," Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said on CNN's "State of the Union." "As far as digital records and text messages, not being an I.T. expert, but I do understand there's a lot of things that can be done, a lot of forensic analysis and recouping of data." Previous hearings have focused on Trump's efforts to pressure the Justice Department, state officials and his own vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 election; Trump's own rampage as he was prevented from traveling to the Capitol with his supporters that day; and the ties between the Trump White House and violent extremist groups that were part of the attack. But so far, the committee has publicized little about what Trump was doing during the Capitol riot, after he had returned to the White House. The hearing on Thursday will be the final one in the first series, but committee members said there could be more hearings later in the year. "If we get information that the American people need to know, we may end up bringing more hearings at that time, too," Kinzinger said. Committee members said Sunday that Trump didn't intervene in the 187 minutes between when he left his "Stop the Steal" rally on the Ellipse that day to when he at last tweeted out a video at 4:17 p.m. telling his supporters to leave the Capitol. "It's pretty simple: He was doing nothing to actually stop the riot," Luria said. "We will go through pretty much minute by minute during that time frame, from the time he left the stage at the Ellipse, came back to the White House, and really sat in the White House, in the dining room, with his advisers urging him continuously to take action, to take more action," Luria added. Luria also referenced the now-infamous tweet sent at 2:24 p.m. that day accusing Vice President Mike Pence of not having "the courage to do what should have been done," further inflaming the situation. Asked if Trump's inaction would constitute a crime, Luria said that Trump should have understood what action looked like in a time of crisis as the nation's commander in chief. "He is the only person in the Constitution whose duty is explicitly laid out to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed," said Luria, a military veteran. "I look at it as a dereliction of duty." Both Luria and Kinzinger said the committee is continuing to seek and receive new information every day about the Jan. 6 attack. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said on ABC's "This Week" that the committee plans to publish a final report later this year. "This investigation is very much ongoing. The fact that series of hearings is going to be concluded this Thursday doesn't mean that our investigation is over," Lofgren said. "Frankly, if the president's supporters had not engaged in frivolous litigation for months on end, we would be farther along than we are," Lofgren said. Kinzinger also once again defended Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, who testified last month that she was told Trump lunged at his Secret Service detail in anger while inside the presidential limousine because they wouldn't drive him to the Capitol. Anonymous sources have since disputed her testimony, but Kinzinger said the committee was still working on speaking to those who were in the presidential limo at the time and that any statements would have to be made under oath. "We have every reason to believe that what Cassidy Hutchinson said, at least from what she said she heard, because she wasn't in the limo - never said she was," Kinzinger said. "She was told this. We fully believe that she is a credible witness and her allegations are quite explosive." - - - The Washington Post's Joanna Slater and Ariana Eunjung Cha contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) Beautiful and serene in a crown of white flowers, 4-year-old Liza Dmytrieva, who was killed by a Russian missile strike, was buried Sunday in central Ukraine as an Orthodox priest burst into tears and told weeping relatives that evil cannot win. Liza, who had Down syndrome, was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when Russian missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, far from the front lines. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys ages 7 and 8, and more than 200 were wounded, including Liza's mother. Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you, Lizas grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, said, caressing Liza as she lay in an open coffin with flowers and teddy bears in Vinnytsia's 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral. Liza's father, Artem Dmytriev, stood silent, tears flowing down his face. Lizas mother, 33-year-old Iryna Dmytrieva, remained in an intensive care unit in grave condition. The family didn't tell her that Liza was being buried Sunday, fearing it could affect her condition. Your mommy didnt even see how beautiful you are today, Dmytryshyna said, weeping. Helena Sydorenko, a longtime family friend, said Liza's mother invested a lot of effort in socializing Liza. She wanted her kid to have a full life, Sydorenko added. When the war started, Dmytrieva and her family fled Kyiv, the capital, for Vinnytsia, a city 270 kilometers (167 miles) to the southwest, which until Thursday was considered relatively safe. Shortly before the explosion, Dmytrieva had posted a video on social media showing her daughter straining to reach the handlebars to push her own stroller, happily walking through Vinnytsia, wearing a denim jacket and white pants, her hair decorated with a barrette. After the Russian missile strike, Ukraines emergency services shared photos showing her lifeless body on the ground next to her blood-stained stroller. Ukraine's first lady remembered how cheerful and happy the little girl was when she met her. The videos and photos have gone viral, the latest images from the brutal war in Ukraine to horrify the world. Liza's closest relatives sat on both sides of the coffin, and many more crowded Vinnytsia's Orthodox cathedral to pay their last tributes to the girl. I didnt know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm, Orthodox priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, bursting into tears. Because every burial is grief for each of us. We are losing our brothers and sisters." He paused and continued in a trembling voice: We know that evil cannot win. Later, at a windswept cemetery, relatives and friends bid farewell to Liza under gray skies. You loved this song very much, you danced every day. This song sounds for you now," Dmytrushyna, Liza's grandmother, said. The song was Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow, which has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine after Russias invasion. Its suffering and despair. There is no forgiveness for them, said Ilona, another family friend. A 7-year-old boy killed in the same Russian airstrike was also buried Sunday along with his mother in a village near Vinnytsia. They were at a medical center when the missiles hit the building. Another young boy slain in the same airstrike is to be buried in Vinnytsia on Monday. ___ Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine A bipartisan bill aimed to reduce the cost of imported baby formula was unanimously approved by the US House in response to the ongoing crisis of infant formula supply. Democratic Reps. Suzan DelBene of Washington and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon filed HR 8351, also known as the "Formula Act," which would temporarily eliminate tariffs on imported infant formula until the end of the year. According to Blumenauer's office, tariffs on baby formula imported from nations without a free trade agreement with the US raise the price of the product for customers by an average of 27%. In a statement on Friday, DelBene said: "This legislation will help alleviate this crisis by lowering the price of imported baby formula from safe and trusted partners abroad while our domestic production catches up." By a vote of 421-2, the House approved the bill, which will now be considered by the Senate, as reported by CNN. The bill is the House's most recent legislation to alleviate newborn formula scarcity. Ensuring Infant Formula for Poor Families In May, President Joe Biden signed the Baby Formula Act into law following its passage in Congress. The law ensures that, in the case of a public health emergency or supply chain issues, such as a product recall, low-income families would still be able to use their WIC benefits to continue purchasing infant formula. The federal aid program is known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Read Also: US Intelligence Claims Russian Officials Visited Iran To Check Out Drones For Ukraine War; Tehran Calls It 'Baseless' A bill that would have given the US Food and Drug Administration $28 million in emergency financing to cope with the shortage was also approved by the Democratic-led House in May. The Senate is gridlocked on the bill. Earlier this year, the lengthy closure of a significant US infant formula mill in Sturgis, Michigan, contributed to the scarcity of baby formula. After a separate three-week suspension brought on by flooding from strong storms, the plant resumed operations on July 1. Supply Shortage, Prices To Ease in the Coming Weeks On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration made plans to assist foreign manufacturers who have shipped supplies to the United States to fill the gap in supply and get long-term permission to market their infant formula in the country. The agency will provide a way for baby formula producers temporarily selling in the United States to meet existing regulatory requirements to stay on the market, providing consumers with more choices and making supplies more resilient against current and future shortages. The FDA will also host meetings and provide producers with a single point of contact to work through the regulatory system to increase the efficiency of the application process, according to NPR. The massive infant formula plant by Abbott Laboratories in Sturgis, Michigan, began production last week after being shut down in June due to flooding and heavy rainfall. That happened just two weeks after it had started again after being shut down in February following an FDA investigation that discovered contamination at the factory, as per a report from The Guardian. According to Abbott spokesman John Koval, the facility resumed production of EleCare, specialized formula for infants with severe digestive issues and food allergies, on July 1. Related Article: House To Vote Bills To Ensure Abortion Access Despite Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade Reversal @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. OSCEOLA COUNTY When Lake County Sheriff Rich Martin received a call from the emergency management director of Osceola County, he was in his car within minutes to help find a missing child. "We went over there and tried to help the best we could," Martin said. "Fortunately we found him safe and sound." The missing boy was a 2-year-old who walked away from his home in LeRoy. Over a dozen law enforcement agencies united within 10 minutes to help find the missing child. From Osceola County Sheriff Mark Cool's perspective, it was an amazing sight to see several forces quickly unite to return the child to their family. He said it was an overwhelming amount of support, and it reminded him of his purpose. "You know why you do what you do," when something like this happens, Cool said. "This was something you can't wait around," Martin said. "There's a window where we need to get on it and do a successful search." "Everyone has a family," Cool said. "This was almost the best case scenario, to be able to reunite these parents with their son," he said. Cool said you "cant describe" how the parents felt when their child was missing, and there were tears of joy upon the reunion. The parents, naturally, were ecstatic. "It was amazing sight," Cool said. The search included two K9 units, one of which came from the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office and was handled by a deputy, a line-grid search of the wild area surrounding the property involving members of the community, and drones. A person who lived locally saw the incident command center the Osceola County police had set up in the roadway, and offered to put his drone in the air to assist with the search. "Our first K9 was deployed and a minute later we had a drone in the air. That was a God moment, if you will, for him to be there within minutes and have a drone up," Cool explained. Many of those involved in the search, including Martin, as well as Cool's unit, went home feeling good that they were able to assist this family. "That was a great feeling for me, I know that, and my guys expressed that to me. It was a great feeling to be a part of that," Cool said. Martin shared this sentiment, also saying "half the time" they don't believe in borders at the Lake County Sheriff's Office and many other law enforcement agencies and fire departments across the Osceola County area. "Its always a good experience working with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office," Martin said. "Anyone who needs help, if theyre in another county or not, well bring further assistance when we can. I personally went out there because I know the relationship that we have," he said. In addition to Martin and the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office's K-9 team, personnel who assisted in the search included the Meceola Central Dispatch, LeRoy Fire, Evart Fire, Lincoln Fire, Reed City Fire, Luther Fire, Hersey Fire, Evart Police Department, Osceola County EMS, Victim Services, Big Rapids Township (Drone Team), Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State Police, Osceola County Emergency Management Department and Osceola County CERT team. Cool wants people to thank all the agencies involved, and said the good outcome of the search wouldn't have been possible without them. "It would have been about five people out there trying to do this," Cool said, if all these agencies didn't provide their assistance. With the flashlight from her smartphone, Renee Iron Hawk peered into the dust-covered glass and wood cabinets inside a small, dark museum in Barre, Massachusetts. She and a handful of other American Indians looked at pairs of beaded moccasins, a dozen ceremonial pipes and a few cradleboards, used by women to carry infants on their backs. The items are among as many as 200 artifacts that were stolen from the bodies of the 250 Lakota men, women and children slaughtered by the U.S. Army in 1890 during the Wounded Knee massacre in South Dakota. They'd ended up in an obscure museum attached to a public library in a rural town 70 miles from Boston. "Going through those cabinets, looking at these items of our people with the light from our phones, it was just something deep to me," Iron Hawk said. "It felt like the breath went out of me. I had to sit down and rest. I had to say a prayer." How a collection from one of history's worst atrocities against American Indians ended up in Barre is almost as painful as the memory of the massacre. Some of the items were sold by gravediggers to Frank Root, a traveling shoe salesman from Barre, who used them as part of his Wild West roadshow before he donated them in 1892 to the town's museum, where they've stayed for more than a century. They are among the more than 780,000 burial items and possessions of Native Americans held in museums or other institutions as of September 2021, according to a report to Congress. "It's a stolen collection," Iron Hawk said of the Barre objects. "Just like they stole our lands; it's the same." Now she, her husband, Manny, and their group, HAWK 1890 - which stands for Heartbeat at Wounded Knee and includes American Indians whose relatives were slain in or survived the massacre - have launched an effort to have the items returned to their tribes, the Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne River Sioux. Earlier this year, they seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough. But the deal they struck this spring with officials from the Barre Museum Association has stalled, leaving the Indians fearing a repeat of the country's long history of broken promises to Native Americans. Museum officials insist that is not the case but also say they must follow protocols to ensure that the objects are returned properly. The delays have frustrated the Indians. Without those items in their tribal homelands, Manny Iron Hawk said, they believe their ancestors are in limbo. "For our way of life, when somebody makes their journey to the other side, their spirit has to go and be released," said Manny, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River tribe and a great-great-grandson of a man killed at Wounded Knee. "That didn't happen for these ancestors." He said their items and objects need to be brought back "so we can do the proper ceremony and their spirits can take that journey to the other side. They need to come home." American Indians were struggling to survive in the years leading up to Wounded Knee. The huge herds of buffalo on which they depended were gone. They had been forced off their lands and onto reservations. They had suffered devastating losses in battle and betrayals when the United States broke treaties it had signed with them. A census record from 1890 showed "Indians were vanishing," according to Jim Adams, a senior historian with the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. Their suffering fueled a revival of the "Ghost Dance," a spiritual movement embraced by some American Indians who believed it would make the White men disappear, resurrect dead Indians and bring back the buffalo herds. In 1890, the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment was sent with the largest deployment of federal troops since the end of the Civil War to stop the rise of the Ghost Dance. Soldiers tried to arrest Sitting Bull, one of the most renowned Lakota chiefs. Instead, an altercation broke out, and Sitting Bull was shot and killed at the Standing Rock reservation. Fearing more violence, another chief, Big Foot, a leader of the Minneconjou Lakota, went to Wounded Knee and set up camp near a creek, Adams said. On Dec. 29, the U.S. Army surrounded the group at Wounded Knee Creek. Accounts of what happened next vary. Adams and some other historians say the soldiers demanded that the Indians surrender their weapons. They say that most complied but that one Lakota was reluctant to give up his rifle. Suddenly, a rifle went off, and the soldiers started shooting, at times using rapid-fire Hotchkiss guns. The Lakotas fought back, but most of them had already given up their weapons. "It was a straight-up massacre," Adams said. The soldiers pursued some of the survivors for up to five miles in the snow and killed them. Some historians put the number of Indians slain closer to 400, rather than the 250 cited by other sources. Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, an Army commander during the Indian wars, wrote in an 1891 letter, "I have never heard of a more brutal, coldblooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee." "Women with little children on their backs, and small children powder-burned by the men who killed them being so near as to burn the flesh and clothing with the powder of their guns, and nursing babies with five bullet holes through them." At least three dozen soldiers were killed, and another 20 were later awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at Wounded Knee. In 1990, Congress issued a formal apology for the massacre and expressed "deep regret," but it offered no reparations for the massacre. That same year, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, requiring museums and institutions that receive federal funding to return any American Indian remains or objects to their rightful owners. But the law has loopholes, and regaining possession of items can sometimes involve long, expensive legal battles. "Native Americans are the last group of people who have to fight for the right to have claims to things that are theirs," said Valerie J. Grussing, the executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. "That's outrageous." For decades, Lakotas tried to get some of the stolen items back from the Barre Museum but got little response. Then, in 2000, Leonard Little Finger - an Oglala Lakota and a descendant of Chief Big Foot - successfully lobbied the Barre Museum to return a lock of the chief's hair after proving through a tribal court that he was related to him. Little Finger said in a 2010 letter to the National Park Service that Ann E. Meilus - the president of the Barre Museum Association's board - had called him in 2007 asking for advice because activist groups were "demanding the return" of the Wounded Knee items. He met with her and the museum board in Barre, and they discussed donating items to the Journey Museum in Rapid City, S.D. But Meilus said in an interview that Journey officials wanted the "whole collection, not just the items from Wounded Knee," which the board was not willing to grant. "We felt that was not the proper thing to do because we had other tribes come, and they blessed the museum, and they really liked the way the museum presented the items, so we felt that we would be dishonoring the other tribes," Meilus said. Still, many in the Wounded Knee descendants group wanted to pursue getting the items returned. "We knew stuff had been stored, or sold, or traded and in some cases stolen. It all mostly just gradually disappeared," said Wendell Yellow Bull, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota whose great-grandfather, Joseph Horn Cloud, survived Wounded Knee at 16 years old. This year, a Vermont-based activist contacted Oglala Lakota leaders to help push for the return of the objects. In April, Manny and Renee Iron Hawk, along with Chief Henry Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota Nation, flew more than 1,800 miles to Boston. They had been invited to see the items and meet with officials from the Barre Museum Association. They were accompanied by a few other American Indians from tribes in the Massachusetts area: the Nipmuc and the Wampanoags. When they arrived, the Iron Hawks said, they'd barely gotten out of their cars when a representative of the museum association board met them in the parking lot and told them what seemed like good news: The board had held a brief meeting before they arrived and taken a vote. They'd decided to return the items. Manny and his wife said they were surprised and a bit skeptical. "I really didn't believe it," Manny said. Still, they tried to stay optimistic. Before they went into the building, the American Indians performed a ritual - they smudged those who were there by lighting some sage, letting it burn and wafting the scent and smoke over their heads. It was meant as a symbol to "start things in a good way," Manny said. "To clear the heart, mind and soul and clear the air before we were to go in and see these special items from our ancestors." They then said a prayer in Lakota to the Creator, asking that the items "of our relatives will come home soon," Manny said. The Indians met with about six museum association board members, most of whom are White. The board members had questions: Where would the Indians store the items? Would they be damaged? Would they be sold? Renee Iron Hawk said she found their inquiries insulting. The board members also set a few stipulations. They wanted to hire an expert to do an inventory and check the authenticity of the items - work that the Iron Hawks and other Indians in their group think is unnecessary. After they ate some sandwiches, the Native Americans were allowed to view the items. They were told not to take pictures - a museum policy - and not to touch anything, because items probably had been treated with arsenic to preserve them. About half a dozen Indians, a curator and a few museum officials stepped inside the small, dark room where the items sat in closed and, in some cases, locked cabinets. One case held several pairs of suede leggings and a few pairs of children's moccasins. Another contained a few medicine pouches and several breast plates made of shell bones. A headdress with feathers hung in one. Beaded pouches shaped like turtles and salamanders with dried umbilical cords of Indian babies tucked inside lay in one case. "You could tell the leather, the beadwork and the designs were of Lakotas," said Renee Iron Hawk. "There was no doubt they were ours. They came from our people." Yet another cabinet held a ghost shirt, worn to protect men at war from harm. After roughly 45 minutes of looking at the objects, the Iron Hawks left the museum. Again, they smudged, and then they attended a town hall meeting that had been set up for their visit. About 100 Barre residents showed up. Manny Iron Hawk shared a story that his mother had told him about Wounded Knee. Every time she told it, she'd cry. His great-grandmother, Alice Ghost Horse-War Bonnet, was 10 during the attack, he said. "Men and women took up weapons, and when the shooting started, she was running with her mother holding her hand," he said. "They were told, 'Run, run. The cavalry is coming to get you. They're coming to hunt you and kill you.' " Alice survived, but her father, Ghost Horse, and her teenage brother were slain. "All of that is carried on in these items from that killing field," Manny explained. "It's a trauma, a historical trauma, that we still carry today." After the meeting, Manny said, a few residents approached him and expressed support for the return of the objects. Others said they were surprised to know the town had such items. Once back in South Dakota, the Iron Hawks and their supporters said they expected to hear from the museum board about the logistics of getting the items back. But they didn't. Meilus, the museum board's president, said in late June that the association had received a grant to test the items for arsenic. She said the board wanted to ensure an inventory and analysis of the items was done to ensure that they were authentic and had come from Wounded Knee. Root, the man who donated the items to the museum, was known for buying artifacts as he traveled and using them in his roadshow, according to Meilus, so she said she thinks that some of the items in the museum's collection may not belong to Lakotas. She said she thinks the items are from 30 tribes across the country. Meilus and the board also want the HAWK 1890 members to get formal resolutions passed by their respective tribal councils so the transfer of the Wounded Knee items has broader support than "just a group of individuals who is making this request." Meilus said she favors repatriating the items to the tribes because, "if you meet the people, they are still in a great deal of pain. It's multigenerational pain, and if we can help them, the Oglala Sioux people, get closure, I'm all for it." But the Native Americans view the museum association's bureaucratic demands as delaying tactics. "They said they were going to give them back verbally," Manny said. "Now they seem to have changed their mind and gone back on their word about returning them to us." "We're used to that as natives," he said. "People haven't kept their word to us for centuries." Still, Renee said, the tribe will get the items back, even if doing so takes years. "We have a spiritual belief that's strong, and we believe our relatives are going to help us. "We will get them home." - - - Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report. SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) A South Carolina woman under police suspicion for months has now been charged with the murder of her onetime boyfriend. Local news outlets report Jessica Marie Stachan, 28, was charged Friday with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Sheriff's investigators say she killed Devantae Griffin. He was reported missing on March 30 and his was body was found in a shallow grave near Spartanburg in late April. Strachan was already in jail when the new charges were brought, and it's unclear if she has a lawyer. A circuit judge will consider bail at a later date. Investigators had initially charged Strachan with obstruction of justice. She aroused suspicion after investigators sought to interview her a second time, believing her statements misleading, only to find she had left for Florida without telling them. Deputies charged her with obstruction in part because she took Griffin's phone with her. Strachan was arrested in Miami and sent back to Spartanburg, where she was allowed to leave jail on house arrest. Strachan was then arrested April 29 for violating terms of her release. A second person had been named as a person of interest, but has not been charged. Investigators said Griffins blood was found throughout Strachans home. The Spartanburg County Coroners Office ruled his death as a homicide. Griffins family was in the courtroom Saturday. To know that Ill never see him again really hurts, Griffins mother, Felicia Griffin, told WSPA-TV. He didnt deserve to be thrown away like trash. STAMFORD An executive vice president for Mastercard will lead the board of directors for Stamford-based relief organization Americares, the organization recently announced. Susan Grossman was recently elected chair of the board and succeeds Jerry Leamon, who had been chair of the board since 2015. Her three-year term began July 1. Grossman, a resident of Ridgewood, N.J., resident, has been a member of the Americares board since 2019. I am delighted and honored to serve as the next board chair of this world-class organization, Grossman said, in a press release from Americares. Ive had the opportunity to travel with Americares to see their life-changing health programs for people affected by poverty or disaster firsthand and have seen the importance their work makes in peoples lives every day. I look forward to helping the organization continue to grow to ensure even more families have access to quality health care. Grossmans current role with Mastercard is as executive vice president of marketing services. Previously, she served as executive vice president of retail and commerce for the company. She holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing from Northeastern University and a bachelors degree in communications from Boston College. Susan has been an active Americares supporter for many years and a board member for the past three, working tirelessly to raise awareness around our health programs and traveling with us to see that work firsthand, said Americares President and CEO Christine Squires, in the press release. We are thrilled to have her take on this leadership role as we continue to build on the tremendous work Jerry led over the past seven years to save lives and improve health for people affected by poverty and disaster. Americares is a humanitarian organization that provides support and relief to areas preparing for and recovering from disasters. Since it began 40 years ago, the organization Americares has provided more than $20 billion in aid to 164 countries, including the United States. The Americares Board of Directors oversees all aspects of the organizations health programs, including its disaster response work and support for 4,000 under-resourced hospitals and health clinics around the world. It has been an honor to serve as the organizations board chair and a great privilege to get to know and work with such a dedicated and talented group of individuals improving health in communities around the world, Leamon said, in the press release. I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to seeing Americares reach even greater levels of success under Susans direction. ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The United Arab Emirates has sentenced an American citizen and the former lawyer of Jamal Khashoggi the dissident Saudi journalist who was killed at Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul in 2018 to three years in prison on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. The lawyer, U.S. citizen Asim Ghafoor, was also ordered to pay a fine of $816,748 stemming from his in absentia conviction, the UAEs state-run WAM news agency reported late Saturday, adding that he would be deported after completing his sentence. Earlier this year, many Connecticut residents were introduced to the concept of No Mow May, where people held off on mowing their lawns early in the season for the benefit of pollinators, specifically bees, which are under growing environmental pressure. It had the side benefit of letting people get out of a weekly chore. We could now be headed for No Mow July or a Slow Mow August, but for entirely different reasons. The grass isnt doing much growing as a result of drought conditions spreading around the state. On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont asked state residents to conserve water, citing a lack of precipitation that has led to worsening conditions. We must begin early steps now to mitigate the potential for harm should the drought become prolonged, the governor said. The steps are just voluntary for now, with officials asking residents to cut outdoor irrigation, delay plans to put in new lawns and fix leaky plumbing. Connecticut is currently in Stage 2 of a drought plan, and if conditions continue, water restrictions could get more severe as supplies fall short. Though hot weather has arrived in Connecticut, we havent yet seen a prolonged heat wave. That could be coming soon, as late July and August typically marks the hottest temperatures of the year. Whatever problems were facing now could be just the first sign of trouble. Its not an uncommon scenario the state has been in State 2 conditions five times this century, with the worst drought in recent years coming in 2020. But its something that we should expect to happen more frequently in years to come. Every model predicts that climate concerns will only grow, and that the time to take action to limit the worst effects of climate change is immediately. Would that the U.S. Senate shared such concerns. President Joe Biden came into office vowing to tackle emissions and climate change as a central part of his agenda, but a 50-50 split in the Senate means every piece of legislation is subject to individual senators whims. As a result, much of that agenda has been stalled, and in recent days the climate plans appeared to take a severe blow. With control of Washington up for grabs in November, this could be the last chance for years to take on a growing crisis. This is about far more than warming temperatures, though thats certainly in the forecast. There will be more extreme storms, more frequent natural disasters, higher highs and lower lows. The equilibrium weve counted on for centuries is becoming upended, and human activities are to blame. Its not too late to change course. Weve been seeing regular signs of the ongoing cataclysm for years now. Flooded subways in New York City, mudslides in California, 50 inches of rain from a single storm in Houston. Its only a matter of time before such extremes come to Connecticut again. Weve been warned, countless times. Today the threat is a drought that the state can likely muddle its way through. The next challenge may not be so easy to navigate. WFO BUFFALO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 17, 2022 _____ SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Buffalo NY 443 PM EDT Sun Jul 17 2022 ...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of west central Wyoming and southeastern Erie Counties through 545 PM EDT... At 442 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Hamburg, moving northeast at 20 mph. HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Locations impacted include... Buffalo, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Lackawanna, Depew, Lancaster, Hamburg, East Aurora, Williamsville, Elma, Boston, Eden, Marilla, Springville, Colden, Orchard Park, Blasdell, Woodlawn Beach State Park, Derby and East Concord. This includes Interstate 90 between exits 57A and 52, and near exit 49. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building. Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. 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. This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio stations and available television stations for additional information and possible warnings from the National Weather Service. LAT...LON 4269 7903 4301 7868 4270 7826 4248 7871 4247 7874 TIME...MOT...LOC 2042Z 234DEG 17KT 4265 7890 MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form By Caitlin Johnstone July 16, 2022: Information Clearing House -- " Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, and Chris Hedges have lent their expertise to the subject of the war in Ukraine with some recent comments that help bring some much-needed clarity to an often confusing and always contentious issue. Here they are: Ive spent my career working in the mainstream, and Ive covered probably seven, eight, nine shooting wars; Ive never seen coverage so utterly consumed by a tsunami of jingoism, and of manipulative jingoism as this one. ~ John Pilger This comment comes from a recent interview with the legendary Australian journalist by the South China Morning Post, and it says so much about the information ecosystem we now find ourselves floundering around trying to understand things in. From the earliest days of the invasion it was clear that the western world was being smashed with a deluge of propaganda unlike anything weve ever seen before. In the first full month of the conflict, American network TV stations gave more coverage to the war in Ukraine than any other war that the US has been directly involved in, including Iraq and Vietnam. Literal Iraq war architects were some of the first pundits sought out for analysis of the conflict by the mainstream press, and calls for insane escalations against Russia succeeded in pushing the Overton window of acceptable debate in the direction of warmongering extremism and away from support for diplomatic solutions. Reader financed- No Advertising - No Government Grants - No Algorithm - This Is Independent Get Our Free Newsletter And this was all easily piped into mainstream consciousness because the way had been lubricated by years of Russia hysterica resulting from the mass scale psychological operation known as Russiagate. Americas most dangerous confrontation in generations just so happens to have been preceded by years of media-generated panic about that very same country, despite the Ukraine invasion having ostensibly nothing whatsoever to do with the conspiracy theory that the Kremlin had infiltrated the highest levels of the US government. Heckin heck of a coincidence right there, buddy boy. Its quite interesting that in American discourse, it is almost obligatory to refer to the invasion as the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Look it up on Google, you will find hundreds of thousands of hits. Of course, it was provoked. Otherwise they wouldnt refer to it all the time as an unprovoked invasion. ~ Noam Chomsky This quote, from an interview last month with Ramzy Baroud, is self-evidently true and should be pointed out more often. People dont go adding the same gratuitous adjectives and modifiers to something over and over again unless theyre trying to manipulate how its perceived. If your neighbor always referred to his wife as my wife who I definitely never beat, youd immediately become suspicious because thats not how normal people talk about normal things. We dont say round Earth or the Holocaust that totally happened, we just say the words, because their basic nature is not seriously in dispute and weve got nothing invested in manipulating or obfuscating peoples understanding about them. The need of the political/media class to continually bleat this phrase unprovoked invasion over and over again is itself a confession that they know theyre not telling the whole truth. Its the imperial propaganda version of this classic tweet: A bride with two friends asked a Thunder Bay police officer guarding the scene of a Marina Park death for a photo with his cruiser. He obliged, setting off a round of criticism based on the belief he was disrespecting the victim whose body was removed a day earlier. There may be solutions for foreign nationals to overcome criminal and medical inadmissibility to Canada. How to overcome inadmissibility to Canada There may be solutions for foreign nationals to overcome criminal and medical inadmissibility to Canada. How to overcome inadmissibility to Canada There may be solutions for foreign nationals to overcome criminal and medical inadmissibility to Canada. How to overcome inadmissibility to Canada There may be solutions for foreign nationals to overcome criminal and medical inadmissibility to Canada. Julia Hornstein Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Canada welcomes millions of visitors, tourists, workers, students and immigrants each year. Nevertheless, Canada has admissibility requirements that each foreign national must meet before they are allowed to enter the country. Such requirements include passing a criminal background check and undergoing medical examinations. Schedule a Free Legal Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm Criminal Inadmissibility If you are a foreign national who has been arrested or convicted of a criminal offence, you may be considered criminally inadmissible to Canada. Foreign convictions and arrests are compared to Canadian laws and standards when determining an individuals criminal inadmissibility and an equivalent is found under the Criminal Code of Canada. If your offense is equivalent to a summary offense and it is your only criminal conviction, you may be considered admissible to Canada and will not require permission to enter the country. If the offense is equivalent to an indictable offence, which is defined as serious criminality, you may be considered inadmissible to Canada and will require permission to enter the country. What an individual must do to overcome inadmissibility will depend on the classification of the offence (serious versus non-serious) and the time that has elapsed since the completion of a sentence (includes probation, fines, etc.). The three main ways to overcome inadmissibility to Canada are: A Temporary Resident Permit application A Criminal Rehabilitation application A Legal Opinion Letter Temporary Resident Permit Application A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) is an option for an individual considered criminally inadmissible as it grants temporary access to Canada for a certain period of time. A TRP is used in situations where a traveler has a valid reason for entering into Canada and the benefits of their entry outweigh any risks to Canadian society. A TRP application can be granted for up to three years, depending on the reason of entry. A person can apply for a TRP at any point and does not require the completion of a criminal sentence. Criminal Rehabilitation Application The Canadian Government offers the opportunity to submit a criminal rehabilitation application to permanently clear your past criminal history for the purposes of entering Canada. The criminal rehabilitation application is a one-time solution that does not require renewal. Upon receiving approval for criminal rehabilitation, an individual is no longer considered inadmissible and would not require a TRP for entry into Canada. In order be eligible for criminal rehabilitation, you must meet the following criteria: Must have committed an act outside of Canada that would be equivalent to an offence under the Canadian Criminal Code, Must have been convicted of or admitted to committing the act, and Five years must have passed since the sentence has been completed. This includes jail time, fines, community service or probation. Legal Opinion Letter The legal opinion letter, which is drafted by a Canadian immigration lawyer, will explain the consequences of a conviction for the Canadian immigration purposes. It will refer to relevant sections of Canadian law to help the official decide how to respond to charges and how different outcomes (conviction, sentencing, etc.) would affect their ability to come to Canada. The letter can even suggest alternate infractions that would not render the individual inadmissible to Canada. The effects of inadmissibility can have severe effects on employment as well as ability to see family members in Canada, so the letter can appeal to a judges compassion and be taken into consideration when deciding on an outcome. Medical Inadmissibility Every applicant for a Canadian immigration visa is required to undergo a medical examination. These examinations are usually standard physical exams but may include prior medical records and mental state examinations. An applicant may be found medically inadmissible if: They have a medical condition that may reasonably be expected to endanger the health or safety of the Canadian population, or Their admission to Canada may reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on Canadas public health and social services The medical officer must consider the nature, severity and probable duration of any health impairment from which the applicant is suffering in order to determine medical inadmissibility. Upon a finding of medical inadmissibility, it is possible to seek legal remedy by demonstrating that the applicant will not exceed the estimated average costs of medical treatment in Canada, or that there are a humanitarian and compassionate considerations that should warrant an exception in their case. Similar to criminal inadmissibility, for temporary stays in Canada, an applicant who does not meet the medical admissibility requirements may apply for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) to overcome medical inadmissibility and enter Canada. Schedule a Free Legal Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm CIC News All Rights Reserved. Discover your Canadian immigration options at CanadaVisa.com. Ireland has long been a technology powerhouse, with deep roots in hardware engineering, computer science, and IT support. This is largely due to the Irish Development Agencys efforts to make the country a regional hub for American and global companies seeking direct access to the European market, of which Ireland is a member, as well as to a highly educated talent pool from Irelands universities, which successive governments invested in to help the country of 5 million go beyond its agrarian roots into a more cosmopolitan status. Smaller scale in Ireland but same IT challenges Irelands small population about the same as New Zealand or as the US San Francisco Bay Area means that organisations tend to be on the small side, so the CIO role is less common and the head of ICT role more common. In the public sector, CIOs are generally only found in the larger organisations. In the private sector, CIOs are also usually found in the larger organisations but that can differ depending on the sector, said Liam Stewart, head of ICT at the Oifig na nOibreacha Poibli, or Office of Public Works, in Dublin. But titles can be misleading. The difference between a head of ICT and a CIO role is not all that clear, as many heads of ICT are often de facto CIOs, Stewart noted. The internationalisation of Irish IT Ireland is in the Common Travel Arrangement with the UK, which allows free travel and work rights between the two countries, similar to what Ireland enjoys with fellow European Union members. Its also fairly easy for Irish professionals to go to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, as well as for citizens there to go to Ireland. Large Irish diasporas also make it easy for the Irish to work in the US and for Irish companies to recruit in the US, though the US is stingier about work permits. And, of course, English is a native language in Ireland, in addition to Irish Gaelic. All of that makes it easy for foreigners to come to Ireland, and for the Irish to work elsewhere. The emphasis on Irish call centres over the last 20 to 30 years has done more than provide jobs, said Rob ODonohue, a global Gartner analyst based in Ireland. These call centres serve English-speaking countries all over the world, and non-English-speaking ones as well. This brings in foreign staff in addition to the Irish ones, helping diversify Ireland. The rise of multinationals only accelerated that cosmopolitan shift. As a result, IT in Ireland has a very heavy proportion of jobs at technology firms, from Dell to Amazon, Intel to Apple. In that way, Ireland is akin to the US tech centres of the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Austin, Texas. Gartner notes that nine of the 10 largest global firms have centres in Ireland. That skews the demand to product engineers, software engineers, hardware engineers, and similar builder roles, largely bifurcating IT into the tech-provider and organisational-user domains. Irelands strong investment in university research, often in association with major tech providers, has helped keep Irish IT talent at the forefront of emerging technologies, ODonohue said. When the cloud came out 10 or 12 years ago, EMC was at the forefront of the private cloud and partnered with [Irish] unis on the first cloud masters. When cutting-edge tech like big data, blockchain, quantum computing, and AI emerged, Irish universities and major tech firms joined forces to pioneer aspects of those fields in the country, he said. Outside the tech firms, Ireland hosts centres for nine of the 10 largest global businesses (from financial services to manufacturing), Gartner reports. And although the tech-vendor community is concentrated in Dublin, IT is hardly confined to Dublin, despite its population advantage, ODonohue said. Irelands second city, Cork, is its fastest-growing city and a centre for the pharmaceutical industry. Limerick has a strong R&D base, while Galway has emerged as a centre for software development, he said. Hiring dynamics for Irish IT Given the border permeability for workers, you might think that Ireland risks a brain drain given the high demand for IT skills. But thus far, Ireland is faring well in the competition for talent, even given the ease its citizens can work elsewhere. An affordable cost of living (especially if youre willing to commute to Dublin or Cork from a nearby village), an open, cosmopolitan, and friendly culture, a willingness to do business, a talent pool long familiar with working with multinationals and peoples of other cultures, and a young, vibrant population (half the population is under 35 years of age) all have made Ireland attractive for both native Irish and foreigners, Gartners ODonohue said. Ireland did lose IT jobs to London and Australia in 2008 during the financial crisis, he said, but thats been reversed, and today Ireland is generally an attractor of IT talent. ODonohue said that Ireland is probably in a better position than many other countries when it comes to finding IT talent, though it its an employees market, a competitive market, where individuals can hop around a bit. As in most countries, public sector CIOs face a more difficult path in hiring, said Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblis Stewart. Staff recruitment in the public sector has to go through a rigorous screening process. The public sector is in competition with the private sector for the best ICT talent but is not generally willing to pay the high salaries on offer in private companies. As a result, most public sector bodies now outsource a lot of ICT services (such as the service desk) as they dont have the skills within the organisation. Local businesses not just government agencies despite offering pensions also can struggle to find ICT employees in Ireland, said Gartners ODonohue. Its more challenging for nonglobal companies to attract talent because of the high salaries paid by American and other multinational tech firms. Still, he sees some shifting as the workforce ages. People have had more of a realisation of whats important to them, so while you can get a 25% increase at a tech company, [theres also an attraction in] the flexibility or enjoyment of a government role or working with smaller company with greater purpose and deeper connection with the work. And saner hours, too. ODonohue does wonder how the COVID-19 pandemic will ultimately affect IT jobs in Ireland. The shift to remote work caused by the pandemic has allowed workers to live outside the increasingly expensive Dublin, as companies have had to stop insisting on people working in a specific location. But that shift to remote work may also let many IT jobs, and perhaps Irish workers, drift outside of Ireland, because they can now work in inexpensive and more relaxed parts of the UK and other countries remotely, not just in Ireland. D&I in Irish IT When it comes to diversity and inclusion in IT, ODonohue said the issue in Ireland is more about being conscious of inclusion in hiring and management, not so much about redressing past discrimination. As the country doesnt have a history of being a coloniser or a slaveholder, many of the racial dynamics at play in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand dont apply. Instead, the focus is on active inclusion of everyone, to balance out the tendency of all people to think first of their families, neighbours, and other close contacts, he said; that is, to expose and correct unconscious bias. Were generally a very inclusive type of people, but we need to be more vigorous, he said. But Ireland does struggle with attracting more women into IT roles, ODonohue said. The data hes seen suggests that Irelands proportion of women IT workers is at about the same 25% to 30% level seen in other Western countries. Lack of women in IT is a global problem. The issue seems to start very early and is first broadly evident in education the majority of women are not going down the STEM route, ODonohue said. Irish society needs to try to change that, he said, and also help provide women better opportunity to return to work after having children. As elsewhere, women who do come into Irish IT tend to be found more in product and process management and less in hard-core tech such as engineering, so the pipeline is uneven even where it exists. Brexit is (so far) a non-issue for Irish IT Britains recent rocky divorce from the European Union has caused some financial services and fintech firms to move from London to Ireland, as well as to other EU countries, ODonohue noted. Despite the resulting increase in demand for IT skills, he sees the shift as a net positive for both IT employees and overall technical skill development in Ireland. In the public sector, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblis Stewart has seen no strong effects due to Brexit so far. There were some supply chain issues initially but they didnt last long. But he cautions that the long-term impact of Brexit on Irish IT remains unclear: It should be borne in mind that Brexit has largely coincided with COVID-19, with many people working from home, so we really havent had the experience of a proper year yet. Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access By Common Dreams staff Longtime Republican official John Bolton admitted during a televised interview Tuesday that he has helped plan coups outside of the United States. Bolton, who served as former President Donald Trump's national security adviser, appeared on CNN to discuss the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. After Bolton claimed that Trump's lies about the 2020 presidential election that provoked last year's Capitol attack were not part of "a carefully planned coup d'etat aimed at the Constitution," host Jake Tapper said that "I don't know that I agree with you, to be fair, with all due respect. One doesn't have to be brilliant to attempt a coup." Bolton responded that "I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coups d'etat, not here, but, you know, other places, it takes a lot of work. And that's not what he did." Tapper followed up on coup comments, and Boltonwho also held roles in the administrations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bushinitially said that "I'm not gonna get into the specifics." Bolton then pointed out that in his recently released book, he wrote about the failed effort to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in 2019. The Trump administration notably backed opposition leader Juan Guaido. However, as reporters and otherssuch as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) were quick to highlight, Bolton has a long history of supporting such efforts. As HuffPost detailed Tuesday: In 2004, while Bolton was serving in the State Department, the U.S. faced allegations of backing the overthrow of Haiti's president. A former French ambassador told The New York Times this year that the U.S. and France had "effectively orchestrated" the coup. Bolton has a long history of advocating for coups and supporting regime change plots. He advocated for regime change in Iraq ahead of a war he helped orchestrate and said in 2018 that the United States should overthrow the government of Iran. Critics of Bolton shared a range of reactions on social media. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch tweeted that "I've been investigating U.S. imperialism for decades, and...he...just...blurted...it...out." "America in one clip," More Perfect Union's Jordan Zakarin said of the interview, describing Bolton as "a bloodthirsty right-wing war hawk" who was given a platform to "brazenly admit to secret war crimes without worrying about any consequences whatsoever." NEW MEXICO Feud over beleaguered Rio Grande nears settlement ALBUQUERQUE The fight between Texas and New Mexico over the management of one of the longest rivers in North America could be nearing an end as a date to resume the trial has been put off pending negotiations aimed at settling the years-long case before the U.S. Supreme Court. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced on July 5 that a special master appointed by the court cleared the way for ongoing negotiations and set a date in July for a status update. The Supreme Court would have to approve any agreement reached by the states. In the case of an impasse, the trial would continue later this year. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office did not immediately respond to questions about the negotiations or a possible settlement. The battle over the Rio Grande has become a multimillion-dollar case in a region where water supplies are dwindling due to increased demand along with drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change. The river through stretches of New Mexico marked record low flows again this year, resulting in some farmers voluntarily fallowing fields to help the state meet downstream obligations mandated by water-sharing compacts that date back decades. Texas has argued that groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico is reducing the river's flow and cutting into how much water makes it across the border. New Mexico argues that it has been shorted on its share of the river. A robust start to the monsoon season has given the Rio Grande somewhat of a reprieve after state and federal water managers had warned that stretches of the river closer to Albuquerque would likely go dry this summer as New Mexico's mega-drought continues. Large Texas abortion provider will relocate to state ALBUQUERQUE One of the largest abortion providers in Texas is planning to move its operations to New Mexico and another provider that offers tele-health services related to abortion and reproductive health care is expanding its footprint in the state. Austin-based Whole Woman's Health began winding down its Texas operations after a July 1 ruling by the Texas Supreme Court forced an end to abortions in that state. Now, the provider wants to establish a new clinic in a New Mexico city near the state line to provide first and second trimester abortions. Home to a Democratic-led legislature and governor, New Mexico recently took an extra step to protect providers and patients from out-of-state prosecutions. It's likely to continue to experience a steady influx of people seeking abortions from neighboring states with more restrictive abortion laws. Whole Woman's Health has started a fundraising effort to help with the costs of moving equipment and supplies from Texas to New Mexico and for the purchase of a building to serve as its new home. Officials with Mississippi's only abortion clinic also have plans to relocate to southern New Mexico and the tele-health provider Choix, based in San Francisco, announced Wednesday that it is now licensed to operate in New Mexico and plans to serve all states where abortion care remains legal by the end of 2023. New Mexico lawmakers last year repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, thus ensuring access to abortion even after the federal court rolled back guarantees. NAVAJO NATION Marriage equality once again proposed in tribal bill FARMINGTON Months after withdrawing legislation that proposed the Navajo Nation recognize marriage equality through repealing and amending tribal laws, a new bill is bringing back that recommendation. The legislation seeks to end the ban on same-sex marriage under the Dine Marriage Act and repeal the section of the Navajo Nation Council resolution from 2005 that forbids couples of the same gender from marrying on the tribal land or having their marriage recognized. Delegate Eugene Tso recently introduced the legislation. It is now eligible for consideration by four standing committees, then the Navajo Nation Council in its summer session. That session starts July 18, but it is uncertain whether the bill will complete the legislative process by then. Tso, who represents Chinle Chapter in Arizona and is not seeking reelection this year, said he does not want the matter to be a referendum or be sidelined by delegates through a work session. "We should understand that we're changing. We're no longer back in the '40s, '30s or '20s, we're going forward. The LGBTQ, they like to enjoy life too," Tso said. ARIZONA Prison sought for official in ballot harvesting case YUMA Prosecutors are seeking a one-year prison sentence for a school board member in southern Arizona for illegally collecting four early ballots during the 2020 primary election. But if probation is imposed instead, prosecutors said the judge should then enforce a provision of Guillermina Fuentes' plea deal that bars her from holding public office while on probation. Fuentes and another woman, Alma Juarez, were scheduled to be sentenced July 7 on a ballot abuse conviction in Yuma, but the hearing has been postponed until Sept. 1. Authorities say Fuentes and Juarez participated in "ballot harvesting, a practice once used by both political parties to boost turnout that was made illegal by a 2016 state law that barred anyone but a family member or caregiver from returning early ballots for another person. It's the only case filed so far by the state attorney general under the law, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last year. Authorities say Fuentes, a former San Luis mayor, ran a sophisticated operation using her status in Democratic politics in the Arizona border city to persuade voters to let her gather and, in some cases, fill out their ballots. But the crime she admitted in court last month does not involve filling out ballots or any broader efforts. In a statement, Anne Chapman, an attorney representing Fuentes, said her client had requested a hearing before her sentencing to present mitigating evidence because the request for her to serve a year in prison was clearly excessive. Fuentes and Juarez each pleaded guilty to a charge of ballot abuse, acknowledging they collected early ballots for people who weren't family members, didn't live with them or weren't receiving care from them. Fuentes' conviction is a felony punishable by as little as probation or as much as two years in prison. Juarez's conviction is a misdemeanor, and under her plea agreement, if she has cooperated as promised she will be sentenced to probation and prosecutors will not seek jail time. MONTANA 76 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned NEW YORK The fossilized skeleton of a T. rex relative that roamed the earth about 76 million years ago will be auctioned in New York this month, Sotheby's announced July 5. The Gorgosaurus skeleton will highlight Sotheby's natural history auction on July 28, the auction house said. The Gorgosaurus was an apex carnivore that lived in what is now the western United States and Canada during the late Cretaceous Period. It predated its relative the Tyrannosaurus rex by 10 million years. The specimen being sold was discovered in 2018 in the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana, Sotheby's said. It measures nearly 10 feet tall and 22 feet long. All of the other known Gorgosaurus skeletons are in museum collections, making this one the only specimen available for private ownership, the auction house said. Sotheby's presale estimate for the fossil is $5 million to $8 million. Would you like to receive our news updates? Signup today! Sign up to receive notifications when a new Columbia Gorge News e-Edition is published. Error! There was an error processing your request. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Gorge Social Information from the News and our advertisers (Want to add your business to this to this feed?) 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. War with Iran The United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel, responsible for military fiascos, hundreds of thousands of deaths and innumerable war crimes in the Middle East, are now plotting to attack Iran. By Chris Hedges July 16, 2022: Information Clearing House -- The United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia are plotting a war with Iran. The 2015 Iranian nuclear arms accord, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Donald Trump sabotaged, does not look like it will be revived. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is reviewing options to attack if Teheran looks poised to obtain a nuclear weapon and Israel, which opposes U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, carries out military strikes. During his visit to Israel, Biden assured Prime Minister Yair Lapid that the U.S. is prepared to use all elements of its national power, including military force, to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Saudi Arabia, Israel and the U.S. function as a troika in the Middle East. The Israeli government has built a close alliance with Saudi Arabia, which produced 15 of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attacks and has been a prolific sponsor of international terrorism, supporting Salafi jihadism, the basis of al-Qaeda, and such groups as the Afghanistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Al-Nusra Front. The three countries worked in tandem to back the 2013 military coup in Egypt, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew its first democratically elected government. He has imprisoned tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists and human rights defenders, on politically motivated charges. The Sisi regime collaborates with Israel by keeping its common border with Gaza closed to Palestinians, trapping them in the Gaza strip, one of the most densely populated and impoverished places on earth. Israel, the only nuclear power in the Middle East, has conducted an ongoing campaign of covert attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and nuclear scientists. Four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated, presumably by Israel, between 2010 and 2012. In July 2020, a fire, attributed to an Israeli bomb, damaged Irans Natanz nuclear site. In November 2020, Israel used remote control machine guns to assassinate Irans top nuclear scientist. In January 2020, the United States assassinated Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Irans elite Quds Force, along with nine other people including a key figure in the anti-ISIS coalition, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. It used an MQ-9 Reaper to fire missiles into his convoy, near Baghdads airport. If similar attacks had been carried out by Iranian operatives inside Israel, it would have triggered a war. Only Irans decision not to retaliate, beyond lobbing about a dozen ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq, prevented a conflagration. On July 7, Iran informed The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it is using IR-6 centrifuges with "modified subheaders. The declared purpose of the enrichment process at its underground facility at Fordow is to create uranium isotope enriched up to 20 percentfar below the 90 percent enrichment levels necessary to create weapons-grade uranium. Under the JCPOA agreement, enrichment levels were capped at 3.67 percent. Israel has allocated $1.5 billion for a potential strike against Iran and, during the first week of June, held large-scale military exercises, including one over the Mediterranean and in the Red Sea, in preparation to attack Iranian nuclear sites using dozens of fighter aircraft, including Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets. The 2016 Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Barack Obama provides a 10-year, $38 billion military package for Israel. Israel and its lobby in the U.S. are working to scuttle negotiations with Iran to monitor its nuclear program. The preparation for war mirrors the Israeli pressure on the U.S. to invade Iraq, one of the worst strategic decisions in U.S. history. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in testimony before the British Iraq war commission, offered this account of his discussions with George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas in April 2002: As I recall that discussion, it was less to do with specifics about what we were going to do on Iraq or, indeed, the Middle East, because the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time. I think, in fact, I remember, actually, there may have been conversations that we had even with Israelis, the two of us, whilst we were there. So that was a major part of all this. Saudi Arabia, which seeks to dominate the Arab world, severed ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters following Riyadhs execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Saudi Arabia, with Chinese help, has built a plant to process uranium ore and acquired ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia signed a series of letters in 2017 with the U.S. to purchase weapons totaling $110 billion immediately, and $ 350 billion over the next decade. A war with Iran would be a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. It would spread swiftly throughout the region. The Shiites across the Middle East would see an attack on Iran as a religious war against Shiism. The two million Shiites in Saudi Arabia, concentrated in the oil-rich Eastern province; the Shiite majority in Iraq; and the Shiite communities in Bahrain, Pakistan and Turkey would join the fight against the U.S. and Israel. Iran would use its Chinese-supplied anti-ship missiles, rocket and bomb-equipped speedboats and submarines, mines, drones and coastal artillery to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, the corridor for 20 percent of the worlds oil and liquified gas supply. Oil production facilities in the Persian Gulf would be sabotaged. Iranian oil, which makes up 13 percent of the worlds energy supply, would be taken off the market. Oil would jump to over $500 a barrel and perhaps, as the conflict drags on, to over $750 a barrel. Our petroleum-based economy, already reeling under rising prices because of the sanctions on Russia, would grind to a halt. Israel would be hit by Iranian Shahab-3 ballistic missiles. Hezbollahs store of Iranian-supplied rockets that allegedly can reach any part of Israel, including Israels nuclear plant at Dimona, would also be deployed. Strikes by Iran and its allies on Israel, as well as on American military installations in the region, would leave hundreds, maybe thousands, dead. In 2002, the U.S. military conducted its most elaborate war game ever, costing over $ 250 million. Known as the Millennium Challenge, the exercise was between a Blue Force (the U.S.) and the Red Force (widely considered as a stand-in for Iran). It was meant to validate Americas modern, joint-service war-fighting concepts. It did the opposite. The Red Force, led by retired Marine lieutenant general Paul Van Riper, conducted a swarm of kamikaze suicide boat attacks and destroyed 16 U.S. warships in under 20 minutes. When the war game was reset, it was rigged in favor of the Blue Force. The Blue Force was given access to experimental technology including that which doesnt exist such as airborne laser weapons. Meanwhile, the Red Force was told they werent allowed to shoot down the Blue Teams aircraft, had to keep their offensive weapons in the open and could not use chemical weapons. Even then, the Blue Force could not achieve all of its objectives as Riper unleashed a guerrilla insurgency on the occupying forces. Why shouldnt Joe Biden be feted by the murderous regime of Saudi Arabia and the apartheid state of Israel? He and the U.S. have as much blood on their hands as they do. Yes, in 2018 the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the assassination and dismemberment of my friend and colleague Jamal Khashoggi. Yes, Israel assassinated Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. But Washington has more than matched the crimes carried out by Israel and the Saudis, including against journalists. The imprisonment of Julian Assange who released the collateral murder video showing U.S. helicopter pilots laughing as they shot to death two Reuters journalists and a group of civilians in Iraq in 2007 is designed to destroy Assange psychologically and physically. The corpses of civilians, including children, piled up by Israel and Saudi Arabia, who do much of their killing in Gaza and Yemen with U.S. weapons, dont come close to the hundreds of thousands of dead we have left behind in the two decades of warfare we have perpetrated in the Middle East. In 1991, a U.S.-led coalition destroyed much of Iraqs civilian infrastructure, including water treatment facilities resulting in sewage contaminating the countrys drinking water. Then followed years of U.S., U.K. and French airstrikes enforcing a No Fly Zone along with crushing sanctions they imposed via the U.N. From 1991 to 1998, these sanctions alone were estimated to have killed 100,000 to 227,000 Iraqi children under the age of five, although the exact figures have been the subject of much dispute. The U.S. Shock and Awe bombing campaign of Iraqi urban centers during its subsequent invasion of Iraq in 2003 dropped 3,000 bombs on civilian areas, killing over 7,000 noncombatants in the first two months of the war. By one estimate, the U.S. has been responsible for directly or indirectly killing nearly 20 million people since the end of the Second World War. Israel and Saudi Arabia are gangster states. But so is the United States. There are few of them, Biden, reacting to Democratic lawmakers who have criticized Israels treatment of the Palestinians, told Israel's Channel 12 news. I think they're wrong. I think they're making a mistake. Israel is a democracy. Israel is our ally. Israel is a friend and I make no apologies. The angst about Bidens not holding the Saudis and the Israelis to account on this visit is risible, as if we have any credibility left that allows us to arbitrate between right and wrong. The idea that Biden and the U.S. are brokers for peace was eviscerated long ago. The U.S. offers shameless support for Israels right-wing government, including vetoing U.N. resolutions that censor Israel. It refuses to condition aid on a respect for human rights even as Israel launches repeated murderous assaults against the civilian population in Gaza, labels Palestinian NGOs as terror groups, expands illegal Jewish-only settlements, carries out aggressive housing evictions of Palestinian families and mistreats Palestinian and Arab-American citizens at points of entry and within the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The idea that we represent and promote virtue illustrates the self-delusion that accompanies our moral and physical degeneration. The rest of the world, which recoils in repugnance at whom we have become, does not take us seriously. They fear our bombs. But fear is not respect. They no longer envy our hedonistic mass culture, tarnished by mass shootings, social inequality, the decay of our infrastructure, dysfunction and a Grand Guignol-style of politics that has turned civil and political discourse into a tawdry burlesque. America is a grim joke, one about to be made worse when the Christian fascists, bigots and conspiracy theorists take control of the Congress in the fall, and I expect, the presidency two years later. The U.S., along with Israel, makes war on Muslims who, with an estimated 1.9 billion adherents, comprise nearly 25 percent of the world population. We have turned many in the Muslim world into our enemies. The Muslim world does not hate us for our values. It hates our hypocrisy. It hates our racism, our refusal to honor their political aspirations, our lethal attacks and military occupations and our crippling sanctions. Muslims express the rage felt by Guatemalans, Cubans, Congolese, Brazilians, Argentines, Indonesians, Panamanians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Filipinos, North and South Koreans, Chileans, Nicaraguans and Salvadorans those Frantz Fanon called the wretched of the earth. They too were slaughtered by our high-tech military machine and subjugated, humiliated, forced to accept U.S. hegemony and killed in our clandestine torture centers or by CIA-backed assassins. No one is held accountable. The CIA blocked all investigations into its torture program, including destroying videotape evidence of interrogations involving torture and classifying nearly all of the 6,900-page report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that examined the CIAs post-9/11 program of detention, torture and other abuse of detainees. Biden goes to Saudi Arabia and Israel as a supplicant. As a presidential candidate, he called Saudi Arabia a pariah and vowed to make it pay the price for Khashoggis murder. But with the rising price of oil, Biden is whitewashing the murder, along with the humanitarian disaster the Saudis have caused in Yemen, imploring the Saudis to increase output, a plea Prince Salman has rejected. Similarly, Biden is weak in Israel, powerless against the expansion of Jewish settlements and assaults on Palestinians, and unwilling to move the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem, a move by the Trump administration that violates international law. Bidens staff was reduced to pleading with the Israelis not to embarrass him as they did during his 2010 visit as vice president. During his 2010 visit, Israel announced it was building 1,600 new Jewish-only houses in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. The Obama White House angrily condemned the substance and timing of the announcement. How can the U.S. bar Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from a summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and embrace the Saudi regime and the Israeli aparatheid state? How can it decry the war crimes of Russia and unleash industrial violence on the Mulism world? How can it plead for the 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, and ignore the Palestinians? How can it justify another preemptive war, this time against Iran? The duplicity is not lost on most of the world. They know who we are. They know that in our eyes they are unworthy. Our inevitable demise on the world stage is cheered by the majority of the planet. The tragedy is that, as we go down, we are determined to take so many others down with us. Nearly 47,000 current and past students of Australias Deakin University are on the lookout for identity theft after a high-profile SMS phishing incident that highlights the challenges that even the best-prepared institutions face from malicious actors. The Deakin breach, which was detailed by university technical staff just days after it happened, occurred after a single staff members credentials were compromised allowing an unauthorised person to log onto a bulk-SMS messaging service used to communicate results and other data to students. That person apparently downloaded the entire database of 46,980 student details including name, ID, mobile number, email address, and special comments including recent unit results. They then used the service to launch a smishing attack that targeted 9,997 students with a SMS message claiming that they owed customs fees on a parcel. When tapped, the included link sent students to a page that collected personal details, including credit card numbers. The attack is significant not only for the number of students affected, but because it happened without the compromise of any Deakin systems and the breach of just one staff members credentials bringing to life the bon mot that cybersecurity defenders have to get security right all the time, but an attacker only has to get it right once. Even as Deakin students reach out to national identity and cyber support service IDCARE to monitor for potential identity theft stemming from the breach, the university reminded students that it will never ask for payment via SMS. Malicious attacks are becoming more common place, and more difficult for individuals to detect. However, we must all remain vigilant, said Deakin in a statement. We will continue to take an educative and proactive approach to cybersecurity and continue to strengthen our systems to prevent future incidents, Deakin said. How Australia is doubling down on the fight against scams SMS scams remain a favoured tool of scammers even as telcos tighten the screws to stop them ever reaching their intended targets. Telstra, for one, recently announced that its newly launched SMS blocking service had stopped 185 million malicious texts since going live in April which equates to more than 1,400 malicious SMSs blocked every minute and its scam call blocking feature has blocked over 200 million scam calls since its debut a year ago. Despite that companys efforts, however, SMS scams are proving persistent and increasingly effective, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions (ACCC) ScamWatch statistics have shown. Whereas ScamWatch registered $10.1 million in losses from 67,180 reported SMS scams delivered during 2021, the first half of 2022 had seen 32,700 reports of losses to SMS scams worth $9.1 million nearly as much as was lost during the whole of last year. Average losses per reported incident had nearly doubled, from $150 last year to $278 for the first half of this year. Scams have become far more expensive during 2022 overall, with 12.4% of ScamWatch reports confirming financial losses of $295 million in the first half of the year compared to 8.9% and $323 million in losses during the whole of 2021. True losses are even higher, the ACCC recently announced, with analysis of over 560,000 reports through ScamWatch and other services confirming that Australians lost over $2 billion to scams last year. And while many of those scams are sent scattershot to random mobile numbers, the modus operandi of the Deakin hacker stands out because of their abuse of an otherwise legitimate communications channel and the theft of identity data compounding whatever financial bounty they were able to reap. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recorded 32 separate data breaches involving educational institutions during the first half of 2022 ranking the education sector fifth alongside insurance with phishing attacks enabling compromised credentials contributing to 32% of the 464 breaches notified overall. Education providers were generally the fastest of all sectors to identify and report incidents, with 91% detecting incidents and notifying the OAIC within 30 days, while education was the only sector where there were more breaches due to human error (24) than malicious or criminal attack (7). When cybercriminals do attack, however, the results can be devastating because the high number of individuals in university communities makes them ripe for targeting by such attacks, Varonis APJ vice president Scott Leach warned. Australias educational sector is routinely targeted by hackers, who know just how much valuable personal data lies within education providers databases and the immense disruption they can cause to the public by shutting down systems, Leach said in a statement. Universities have hundreds or even thousands of users, and with such a wide attack surface, attackers need to get only one victim to click on a malicious link. To prevent increasingly malicious and sophisticated cyberattacks, education providers need to be proactive rather than reactive, he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Monkeypox should be a manageable pandemic. A close relative of the already eradicated smallpox, there have been vaccines for monkeypox manufactured for years. The virus is currently largely confined to a specific population that could be inoculated against the virus, thereby controlling the spread, though some experts fear that might not be the case for long. A 2003 monkeypox outbreak infected only 71 people in the United States before being contained. There are currently 11,689 confirmed cases globally, 1,470 cases in the U.S., 11 of those so far in Connecticut. So, why is monkeypox vaccine so difficult to obtain? State Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said the problem is one of supply. She has been unable to give away the vaccine she can obtain, and has not yet been given the vaccine people want. There are people whove said, New York has this clinic and Massachusetts has that clinic, and we are working towards that type of model should we need it, she said. The problem is, we didnt have cases for longer, so we didnt we didnt have vaccine that we could do that. New York and Massachusetts had cases before us, so they could implement that earlier based on this federal allocation. There are two vaccines available for monkeypox: Jynneos and ACAM2000. As Paulo Verardi explained, the two vaccines are very different. Developed originally to combat smallpox, ACAM2000 is a live-attenuated vaccine, containing a weakened form of the virus itself. You will get it and actually youll get a big lesion, said Verardi, a University of Connecticut virologist specializing in pox viruses. Thats the one that we mostly have in our stockpile right now. The U.S. Food and Drug Administrations fact sheet on ACAM2000 warns that health complications can occur after receiving the vaccine. And ACAM2000 creates a risk of transmission. The FDA wrote that serious health problems, including those that are life-threatening, can also occur in unvaccinated people who are accidentally infected by someone who has recently received the vaccine. If you get vaccinated with this virus, you should not be engaging in behaviors for two weeks that could transmit this virus to somebody else, Juthani said. Any health care providers who distribute ACAM2000 vaccines must themselves be vaccinated, which means they must knowingly be injected with smallpox. For that reason, very few health care providers and academics are traditionally vaccinated against pox viruses. Researchers like myself, some health care workers, and people in the military that are deployed overseas, they are required to get vaccinations, Verardi said. Juthani said there was always one person in the state public health lab who had been vaccinated with ACAM2000 because we needed to have somebody who had that. The Jynneos vaccine also contains live virus, but it is considered to be far safer because it does not actually replicate. That vaccine, Juthani said, is in far shorter supply. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said at the beginning of the month that they would be ordering an additional 2.5 million doses of the safer Jynneos, in addition tot he 500,000 doses that were already on hand. Of the 132,074 Jynneos doses that have been distributed nationwide, Connecticut has received just 30. Compare that to ACAM2000, of which the federal strategic stockpile is in possession of 100 million doses, according to an ABC report citing CDC sources. Juthani been asking health care workers and clinics if theyd like the state to order ACAM200. Shes had few takers, if any. There is more ACAM2000 available, Juthani said. We have been polling people and saying do you want it? I dont want to withhold it from anybody. Let us know. Do you want it? Nobodys asking for it. The stakes are high. Experts worry what could happen if and when the monkeypox virus is allowed to spread uncontrolled. Currently, the virus is not causing many deaths, but that could change. Zika was thought to be a very mild infection, said Yale researcher Nathan Grubaugh. When we first found that in Brazil, it was kind of a meh thing. Well, when it causes millions of infections, and all of a sudden this rare phenotype of causing birth defects is revealed, now it becomes something really dangerous. Its not only that the virus will evolve or adapt, but its currently impacting a very specific community, predominantly men who sleep with men. If its allowed to expand unchecked outside that population into other populations, there is no telling the result. What happens when this starts getting into kids? Grubaugh asked. Theres a lot of different things that could potentially happen. Juthani is aware of those concerns, and wants to avoid those possibilities. So she offers the vaccine she has. Im continuing to ask, Do you want ACAM2000? Ive got limited Jynneos, were giving it out as best we can. You want it? You want ACAM2000? Let us know providers. You want it in your clinic? Let us know You want to get vaccinated? Let us know. Please do, because I can order it if we want ACAM2000, she said. But do no harm. Im very reticent to do something in the name of prevention that ends up causing more harm than good. So, that is the balance that were trying to weigh. ELLINGTON A New Britain woman was arrested Sunday for allegedly smashing car windows with a tire iron and striking a police officer with a car while speeding away from the scene, state police said. Veronica Allen, 26, was taken into custody after troopers stationed at Troop C in Tolland responded around 4:20 a.m. to a reported disturbance at a residence on Cindy Road, the agency said in a news release. The troopers encountered an individual when they arrived later identified as Allen who had used a tire iron to smash the windows out of several vehicles parked in the homes driveway, state police said. State police said Allen ignored the troopers directions and fled the scene in a black Honda Civic. As she drove away, the cars open passenger-side door struck a trooper, pushed them to the ground and dragged them a short distance, the release said. Allen then backed the Honda into a troopers patrol vehicle, resulting in minor damage, before driving off at a high rate of speed, state police said. The injured trooper, officials said, was brought to Johnson Memorial Hospital by ambulance where they were treated and then released. Officials later located Allen's vehicle parked on a street across from her residence in New Britain. Troopers and New Britain police then took Allen into custody and brought her to Hartford where she was processed. Allen was charged with assaulting a public safety officer, two counts of third-degree criminal mischief, two counts of second-degree breach of peace, two counts of second-degree threatening, disobeying an officer, interfering with an officer, evading responsibility, unsafe backing, improper use of marker plate and driving without insurance. Allen is being held on a $110,000 bond, police said. She is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Monday. richard.chumney@hearstmediact.com Erdogan, Putin to meet in Iran over Turkish military plan in Syria, grain exports from Ukraine Xinhua) 13:27, July 17, 2022 ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye's plans for another military operation in northern Syria and a possible grain corridor from Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea are high on the agenda of an upcoming meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Iran, experts said. A trilateral summit scheduled for July 19 in Iran's capital Tehran will bring together Erdogan, Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as the leaders of the guarantor countries of the Astana Process which was initiated in 2017 for peace in Syria. The potential new Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria, particularly Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas, against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) may again draw criticism from Moscow which is against any military operation by the Turkish army in Syria, Serkan Demirtas, a Turkish foreign policy analyst, told Xinhua. However, the conflict with Ukraine seems to have diverted much of Russia's attention away from Syria, paving the way for Iran and Turkiye to expand their influence in the region, Demirtas said. The Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016, Operation Olive Branch in 2018, Operation Peace Spring in 2019, and Operation Spring Shield in 2020 in northern Syria in order to create a YPG-free zone along its border within the neighboring country. Turkey sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for over 30 years, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people. The vital Tehran summit will also see the first in-person meeting between Erdogan and Putin since the Ukrainian crisis broke out in late February, Demirtas noted. According to the Turkish analyst, Erdogan has two Ukraine-related objectives for the meeting: first and foremost, to create a grain corridor from Ukrainian ports to prevent a global food crisis, and then to convince Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet in Turkiye to end the conflict. "Erdogan will also be the first NATO country leader to meet Putin" since the Ukrainian crisis, Demirtas said. At a meeting of military delegations in Istanbul on Wednesday, Russia, Turkiye, Ukraine and the United Nations reached a consensus on some issues regarding grain exports from Ukraine, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Kerim Has, a Moscow-based analyst on Russian-Turkish relations, said he expects further developments on the grain exports issue after the upcoming meeting between Erdogan and Putin in Tehran. Noting increased trade cooperation between Moscow and Ankara since the crisis, Has said Turkiye has not imposed sanctions on Russia despite international pressure. "Russia's need for Turkiye in the economic and commercial field has increased a lot. As Western companies leave the Russian market, they are replaced by Turkish companies. Turkiye's strategic importance has increased in Russia's foreign economic relations," he explained. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji) "Alienoid" director Choi Dong-hoon / Courtesy of Caper Film By Kwak Yeon-soo Director Choi Dong-hoon's latest sci-fi action fantasy "Alienoid" is a mixture of Hollywood superhero blockbuster and Asian martial arts film. Set in two different worlds of the 14th and 21st centuries that cross paths when a time-traveling portal opens, the epic film combines Taoist "magic" with science fiction elements, like aliens and spaceships. The director, whose previous films "The Thieves" (2012) and "Assassination" (2015) each attracted over 10 million admissions, explained that his new film was greatly inspired by Samgukyusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), a collection of folktales mainly from the Korea's Three Kingdoms: Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje. "I've always been fascinated by Korea's ancient myths and folktales, which are entertaining and filled with supernatural creatures. I think infusing Korean sentiment and cultural traits into the sci-fi film makes it more interesting. I hope 'Korean magic' appeals to foreign audiences as well," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. "Alienoid" centers on Taoists in the late Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) who try to obtain a mysterious sword, and humans in the present day who try to hunt down an alien prisoner confined to a human's body. The director uses parallel universes to tell a twisty story and introduces traditional cultural artifacts such as a danyusemun-gyeong a bronze mirror in the film. Actress Kim Tae-ri in a scene from the film, "Alienoid" / Courtesy of CJ ENM ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) Work has begun to renovate a northeast Mississippi federal courthouse long plagued by mold. WTVA-TV reports interior demolition began last week at the Thomas G. Abernethy Federal Building in Aberdeen. The U.S. General Services Administration announced in 2020 that it would spend $24.3 million to fix the building's problems. That came after the GSA ordered the Tennessee Valley Authority to halt a $12 million replacement of the building's climate control systems when it was found that the project wouldn't reduce energy use enough to pay for itself over 20 years. Judges and clerks left the building in 2017 when it was found to be uninhabitable. The Aberdeen post office has continued to operate on the bottom floor. Some federal court offices are temporarily located in Amory. Aberdeen Mayor Charles Scott says most changes will be inside the 1973 building because the exterior has historic protection. Officials hope to reopen the federal court in April 2024. City officials had feared that the court could permanently relocate from Aberdeen. A separate bankruptcy courthouse on Aberdeen's outskirts opened in 2005. Officials credit U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, normally stationed in Aberdeen, with helping fight for funding. Besides replacing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, plans also call for repairing the building's envelope, upgrading fire protection, and removing mold and lead paint. The federal government is also building a new courthouse in Greenville. A Korea Development Bank (KDB) flag stands at the main gate of the state-run lender's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, in this photo taken in 2016. Korea Times file By Yi Whan-woo The newly-appointed head of Korea Development Bank (KDB) carried out the first personnel reshuffle since he took office last month, in what is seen as a bid to strengthen his grip over the state-run lender amid strong opposition from unionized workers. According to sources familiar with the matter, Sunday, KDB Chairman Kang Seog-hoon replaced some executives in the reshuffle that took place, Friday. "The size of the reshuffle was as usual in previous years," a source said. The latest reshuffle came amid strong protest from KDB union members that has continued for more than a month protesting Kang's appointment. Unionized workers have opposed the selection of Kang, a former university professor who was President Yoon Suk-yeol's economic advisor. The union members claim Kang's selection was a "parachute appointment" to implement the president's controversial pledge to move KDB's headquarters from Seoul to Busan. Parachute appointments refer to the practice of bringing in people with political or business connections to fill a position. Yoon came up with the relocation plan in the name of balanced regional development. But the unionized workers argue the relocation plan will only hamper the nation's goal of nurturing the financial industry that is heavily concentrated in Seoul. Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at the state-run lender's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 21. The ceremony was held 14 days after his appointment because KDB unionists protested the appointment and barred him from entering his office. Korea Times file Every time the Prince of Wales puts his foot in it something that even his greatest supporters would not deny he occasionally does it prompts speculation about the Succession. Hes been King-in-waiting for too long; hes too old-fashioned and set in his ways; the monarchy needs new blood; why not skip straight to Prince William. And so on. Luckily for the Prince, he has a secret weapon. Someone who cuts through all the pomp and circumstance, who understands not only the world around him, but also what makes him tick. Someone who knows how to handle his foibles and who softens his rather stiff persona. A wise head whose breezy charm and charisma perfectly complement his circumspection. And who will ensure that, whatever happens to the Royal Family over the next few years, he, Charles, will have the courage and confidence of his decisions. That someone is his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. Today, she celebrates her 75th birthday in the company of her family, a woman at the absolute peak of her powers. Luckily for the Prince, he has a secret weapon. Someone who cuts through all the pomp and circumstance, who understands not only the world around him, but also what makes him tick. Someone who knows how to handle his foibles and who softens his rather stiff persona Over the past 17 years, since she and Prince Charles married in 2005, she has slowly but surely, and with great patience and humility, rebuilt her own story. From being the wicked Jezebel who destroyed a marriage, a woman reviled by the late Princess Dianas legions of fans, she has, through sheer hard work, dedication and a quiet sense of duty, recast herself as a Royal consort every bit as crucial to the safeguarding of the royal brand as the late Duke of Edinburgh or the Duchess of Cambridge. And she has done all this by simply being herself. No spin, no games, no simpering media interviews. Just her straightforward, confident, unapologetic self. Through her openness, her self-deprecating humour, her sense of mischief, undimmed by age, she has finally shown the whole world what Prince Charles always saw in her, and why, ultimately, he could never forsake her. Her most attractive characteristic is her authenticity. She never tries to be something shes not, never compromises her values or behaviour for the sake of convenience. And its this inability to be anything other than true to herself that is so attractive in her. Its not just a question of confidence. Its also, in a world where trust in public figures seems to be at an all-time low, just very refreshing. Her little joke the other day where she started a speech with Ladies and Gentlemen, if Im allowed to call you that perfectly encapsulates that attitude. As does her loathing of mobile phones, and her worries about children seeing stuff they shouldnt online. At the same time she is not confused by the modern world, or scared of it. Shes perfectly happy to embrace the internet where necessary, such as her reading room on Instagram, which boasts 142,000 followers. She is also not afraid to put in the hours. She must have known, when she married Prince Charles, that she had a mountain to climb in order to rewrite her narrative. And climb it she has, step by step, day in, day out, come rain or shine, good or bad, happy or sad. Thats something to respect. Unlike the Duchess of Sussex who demanded the instant adoration of the public and the Royal Family, spouting lofty pronouncements but never underpinning them with concrete action, and running for the hills of California the second the going got even slightly tough the Duchess of Cornwall stuck in there. If she now sits highly in the estimation of the Queen and the public, its because shes earned it. What a woman. And what a lucky man Prince Charles is. With Camilla by his side he will, when his time comes, be the best King he can possibly be. I know he knows this, but it bears repeating. Happy birthday, Maam. When I read that Joanna Lumley had been made a Dame, I was shocked. I just assumed she already was one! Joannas an icon and a great dame When I read that Joanna Lumley had been made a Dame, I was shocked. I just assumed she already was one! With so many mediocrities making it on to these honours lists, it beggars belief that someone of her iconic status has had to wait this long. Admittedly it is very hot, and admittedly were not used to this sort of thing in the UK. But do water companies really have to insult our intelligence by telling us not to overfill paddling pools? I think we can work that one out for ourselves. Especially when they spend most of their time filling our rivers and seas with sewage. Phil a sight for sore eyes Phillip Schofield delighted his fans by posting a photo of himself with an eye patch, following surgery for incredibly frustrating floaters. I feel for the poor fellow. Ive been blind as a bat all my life, being hopelessly short-sighted (minus 8.0) as well as astigmatic and now, joy of joys, also long-sighted (I didnt think it was possible to be both at the same time, but it is). Over the years, my Mrs Magoo tendencies have landed me in a fair few scraps. I once jumped into an empty swimming pool, believing it to be full of water. And the other day, having removed my lenses, I accidentally brushed my teeth with my sons athletes foot cream. Maybe its time I finally made that appointment... So farewell Ivana Trump, bouffant-haired queen of the greed is good Eighties. Its rather poignant that she was on her way to the hairdresser when she fell down the stairs. In death, as in life, always never knowingly under-groomed. Rarely have I seen anything so embarrassing as the sight of the female Love Island contestants reacting this week to the news that a new hunk was about to enter the villa. They ran around in their thongs, turning cartwheels and screeching like baboons on heat. Maybe next time they should just cut to the chase and get David Attenborough to do the voice-over. J K Rowling has offered her support to the parents of a severely disabled 16-year-old girl who were told their daughter no longer had the right to same-sex intimate care. That meant she might have to submit to a male member of staff for help with going to the toilet and menstruation. All in the name of diversity. In what world is humiliating a vulnerable young girl in this way not to mention exposing her to potential abuse a sign of progress? Flemings rules are smashing Ian Flemings 13 rules for life, jotted down in a notebook 60 years ago, reveal much about the man who created James Bond. Some have a ring of truth, such as Avoid people who call you Old Boy, and all politicians. Others hark back to a different era: Cut down on your drink when your eyes get red and on your smoking when your breath feels short. Dont worry about cirrhosis of the liver or cancer. My favourite is this pearl of wisdom: Never eat scrambled eggs unless you make them yourself. Never was a truer word spoken. The thing that most struck me about the first of the Tory leadership debates (apart from Krishnan Guru-Murthys intergalactic ego) was that the candidates the audience of alleged floating voters most warmed to Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat were the ones with the least support from the parliamentary party. It simply highlights the gaping chasm between what ordinary people think and what short-sighted, self-interested MPs in Westminster want. I have always said we have a duty to deliver on our promises to the British people. I am proud so many people across our party and great country came out to support my campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party. But now is the time to be hard-headed about the best way forward. We face tough times ahead, including the hardest economic climate in any generation. We need a leader who can be trusted to deliver. I have worked closely with Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch but the fact is they cannot both be in the final two. We need to back the one who can make it: Liz can, Kemi cannot. Liz is undeniably better placed to unite the party and fight for the things that all three of us believe. 'We face tough times ahead, including the hardest economic climate in any generation. We need a leader who can be trusted to deliver.' At this critical moment, our common beliefs must come before the ambitions of any one of us. I respect the right of those colleagues who still support Kemi. To them, I would just say this: Liz is ready now to be Prime Minister. She wont need to learn on the job. And the job is hard and needs to be done properly. The party has had a difficult six years and stability is urgently and swiftly needed. Im also impressed by the range and depth of Lizs backing. She has supporters from Ed Argar and James Heappey to Steve Baker and Iain Duncan Smith. Colleagues have seen and approved of her record in office, and that is very telling. Liz has given me a personal guarantee that shell do what it takes to end the appalling human misery of the illegal Channel crossings. She understands the need to stop the criminal gangs who exploit immigrants and to deliver on the promise of the British people to control immigration. This was one of the key issues of my campaign and I am grateful for the assurance. I was very pleased when I heard that Liz wanted to cut taxes from day one and to reverse Aprils National Insurance increase to help people with the cost of living. But its also encouraging that Liz wants to keep corporation tax competitive so we can attract business and investment into Britain. 'Liz is undeniably better placed to unite the party and fight for the things that all three of us believe.' Its amazing that we still need to argue the case for low taxes, but Liz doesnt tire of doing so. She has consistently made the argument for lower rates. Liz recognises that the Government has no money of its own, but only what is collected from individuals and businesses. As Conservatives, we know that you cant tax your way into prosperity and we know that its good for everyone when responsible businesses succeed. We simply cant go into the next General Election with a historically high tax burden, or reduce rates at the last minute as a pre-election stunt. We need to face up to the economic crisis facing the West. But we also need to address how a warped belief in identity politics misleads and distorts public debate in this country. In 2014, I was pleased to help found Michaela Community School alongside Katharine Birbalsingh and chaired it for four years. Michaela instils the highest of standards in pupils regardless of race, and rejects the idea that Britain is fundamentally racist. Liz gets this vision and she appointed Katharine to chair the Social Mobility Commission, the body that monitors social mobility in the UK. This demonstrates her understanding of how important it is to proactively take on the hard Left. 'Liz knows what a woman is. From personal experience, Liz has consistently and sincerely been on the right side of the argument in opposing identity politics.' They try to rank us based on our race, skin colour or gender, but we know their ideology is just old-fashioned racism in pseudo-academic clothing. Schools and universities should be places of open debate, not a hot-bed of Critical Race Theory. Liz knows what a woman is. From personal experience, Liz has consistently and sincerely been on the right side of the argument in opposing identity politics. I have always been able to rely upon her to stand up for the truth and the facts however unpopular or unfashionable it may have been at the time. The best placed candidate to deliver on our priorities is clearly Liz Truss. Its vital that we honour our election-winning manifesto: that we cut taxes, deal with the people smugglers and stamp out the poison of identity politics. She is determined to do all of this. Liz has the vision, the experience, and the boundless energy to pick up the torch of liberty that is so often dropped by British politicians. She will deliver on the manifesto and the peoples priorities and that way we can avoid an early General Election. Together, the whole party can be strong and united under Lizs leadership. I look forward to playing my part in helping us level up the country in a Conservative way, and to win the fight for freedom. The more the Tory leadership contenders try to demonstrate that they dont come from privileged backgrounds, the more ridiculous it gets. While Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss are forced to trot out lines about being grammar school kids, poor Tom Tugendhat has the handicap of being an old boy of one of the top public schools, St Pauls. Its really quite something listening to all the Oxbridge and public school-educated TV interviewers spitting out accusations about the candidates education as if they are accusing them of paedophilia. Rishi Sunak is contending with a double whammy of privileges. His principal albatross is having been head boy at Winchester (another top public school). While Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss are forced to trot out lines about being grammar school kids, poor Tom Tugendhat has the handicap of being an old boy of one of the top public schools, St Pauls Theres a small amount of damage limitation in the fact that he attended as a scholarship boy of immigrant parents. But he went on to marry Akshata Murthy, the multi-millionaire daughter of one of Indias most fabulously wealthy men. In years past, Rishis backstory might have been considered inspirational. A perfect demonstration that a weedy-looking child of Indian descent can climb to the top of the tree in this country. Not now. Which is why any parent entertaining the notion that their child would stand a better chance of being World King (as Boris Johnson aspired to be) if they can get them into a top private school must be thinking again. Rishi Sunak is contending with a double whammy of privileges. His principal albatross is having been head boy at Winchester (another top public school) Certainly, I am wondering whether it was necessary to pay the enormous Westminster School fees I did for years. I imagined it was a place with wonderful teachers where my child would to learn how to learn and how to use that knowledge. Westminster is the alma mater of political thinkers including Nigel Lawson, Tony Benn, Nick Clegg and John Russell, the Whig Prime Minister. But by the time my son got there, it had lost any claim to encourage political opinions he was nearly expelled by his uninspiring headmaster for taking part in the student tuition fees marches of the time. Fortunately for both him and me, my son has never had political aspirations. So the scar of such an eminent public school education isnt as damaging as it might be. The race to prove you havent benefited from privilege is not only happening in politics. But right now its turning out to be one of the more ludicrous factors in deciding who is going to lead this country. Liz and Kemi cant give heels the boot I feel a smidgin of sympathy for the female Tory leadership candidates who have chosen in this heatwave to squeeze themselves into body-hugging dresses and high heels as if theyre lining up in Alan Sugars boardroom on the The Apprentice. Kemi and Suella in blue, Liz trussed up in red. I find that hot weather makes me hoard water like a camel, requiring the loosest clothes, which are generally hugely unflattering. Flowing dresses and flip-flops, however, are not really an option when youre under the lenses of the countrys media. Is Gary worth more than fearless Lyse? THE annual release of BBC salaries always provides hours of bathtime fun. Gosh, is Gary Lineker really worth more than a million pounds a year? Is Lyse Doucet, who has been risking her life to bring news from Ukraine, worth less than a fifth of the money the Match Of The Day presenter gets? And how do we feel about the 5,000 pay rise for Question Time host Fiona Bruce? Im sure there would be equally fascinating and ludicrous inequalities if other institutions were to make public their employees pay. After all, while the desire to make money is something that motivates many of us, as a nation we like nothing more than to criticise those who achieve it. Even if they have been state-educated like the top two names on the BBCs list, Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball. Childbirth guru who pushed us all Catherine Hill, who died recently, was a fashionable childbirth guru in the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently gave the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge personal antenatal classes. For those of us who paid for our weekly gathering all those years ago, she was a reassuring guide through the nerve-racking later days of pregnancy. In her small, glass-sided Chiswick conservatory, we learnt how to huff and puff in labour and crucially what (and what not) to expect from our partners. During my days at Vogue magazine, time off to cross the city for classes by this benign Jean Brodie was never questioned. Unlike Miss Brodies students in Muriel Sparks brilliant novel, Catherine Hills girls were not hers for life. But we do have a nostalgic fondness for each other. Although I cant claim to have become firm friends with any of my classmates, when we run into each other we are all eager to know how the new-born babies we brought in in their car seats to introduce to each other are getting on 27 years later. Airlines perfect the last-minute letdown We were due to travel to Athens at the end of August for a wedding. But surprise, surprise, the flight has been cancelled. Looking at rebooking options, I was amazed to see how many flights there were from Heathrow to Athens on the same day. Surely thats the problem: there are just too many flights in the first place. Isnt the solution to shrink the schedules, rather than cause pandemonium by cancelling flights on an ad hoc basis? It sounds like common sense to stop travellers booking seats on flights that may never take off. But airlines are so terrified of having to give up their prized landing slots at Heathrow that theyd rather offer the flight, take our cash and let us down at the last minute. A French favourite crosses the Channel PETANQUE, long the cherished game of French provincial town squares, has become newly popular on this side of the Channel. As a recent convert, Im here to say it beats mindfulness as a relaxation technique. On a summer evening under the trees, the plop of the boules on the sandy pitch just needs the clicking of cicadas to give you that holiday feeling. President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee arrive in Madrid, Spain, on June 27 for the NATO Summit. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon S. Korea looks to Europe in bid to cut dependency on China By Kim Bo-eun HONG KONG An apparent shift in the external economic policy of South Korea's new government has put the brakes on a number of efforts in Russia and China that were initiated under the previous administration. And while the shift also reflects developing situations such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the abrupt sea change that has occurred with the leadership change has come at the cost of government funds, time and effort. Under the previous administration of Moon Jae-in, an ambitious plan was drawn up to build a power grid spanning South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and Mongolia. The idea was for countries in northeast Asia with high energy demand to be able to access wind and solar power, along with natural gas, from the resource-abundant easternmost parts of Siberia and Mongolia. Possibilities were discussed at the 2017 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, which was attended by the heads of state of Russia, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia. The plan had support from both the demand and supply sides, as it met their needs. Former President Moon Jae-in delivers a keynote speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sept. 7, 2017. Yonhap Government-level exchanges between South Korea and China had also taken place to explore possibilities of economic cooperation with China's northeastern province of Liaoning that borders North Korea. This was part of Moon's "New Northern Policy" seeking strengthened economic ties with Russia and Central Asian countries, as well as north-eastern China. The previous administration launched a presidential committee for the initiative in 2017, which aimed to build foundations to collaborate with North Korea and Russia for logistics, explore possibilities of a free-trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and look into opportunities in China's overseas infrastructure project known as the Belt and Road Initiative, according to the government policy website. The EAEU is composed of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Such plans were put on hold as relations with North Korea soured under the latter years of the Moon administration. But they have now been entirely derailed, due to dim prospects of improving ties under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration that takes a hardline stance toward North Korea. The outbreak of the Kremlin-led war in Ukraine in March, and Korea joining sanctions on Russia, also played a part. "The northeast Asia power-grid plan definitely lost its drive," a South Korean government source said, while also conceding that policy changes are inevitable, given the five-year term of Korea's president. The Moon administration pushed for a number of economic initiatives in Russia and China, which have derailed under the Yoon administration. gettyimagesbank Round two in the leadership debates and was anyone watching? My sense is possibly not, since 7pm on one of the sunniest evenings of the year is generally when people tend to be barbecuing sausages and drinking beer, not watching five Tory MPs arguing in a sweltering studio. Still, here we were, and here they were, primed and ready to go. Julie Etchingham presiding, a much less egotistical and ultimately more constructive host than Channel 4s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who seemed more concerned with showing the world how clever he was than getting the best out of the candidates. Etchinghams approach was rather more congenial, and ultimately more productive. This time it was Liz brightening up the studio, in scarlet perhaps a gentle nod to her socialist roots, which she later referenced. Penny, by contrast, was demonstrating her true blue credentials by wearing a blue satin shirt that didnt quite deliver under the spotlight. The others were more businesslike: No nonsense dressing for a no-nonsense debate. Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss taking part in Britain's Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate, a head-to-head debate between Conservative party leadership candidates Unlike Channel 4, there was no hostile live audience, and no opportunities for the candidates to engage and win over individuals. This played slightly to Tom Tugendhats disadvantage, since he had been the one last time who had garnered the most applause. But if they thought they were going to avoid the mudslinging, they were wrong. After a round of general questions, the candidates were forced to turn on each other, as Etchingham asked each one to challenge a rival on a specific policy point. A pretty ruthless tactic on the part of ITV, but it did nevertheless spark the debate into life. Rishi took the brunt of this. Why hadnt he listened to worries from within his team about Covid fraud, asked Kemi Badenoch; did he think we should still be doing business with China, Liz Truss wanted to know? Poor man, one almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Elsewhere, Liz put in a much better performance than last time. She seemed much more animated, much more engaged, even though her finger jabbing sometimes felt a little over-zealous. The trouble with Truss is that although much of what she says makes a lot of sense, and many of her assertions about the economy, about her record in office are valid, she just speaks in this rather odd staccato monotone which somehow makes it hard to follow what shes saying. This was something she later acknowledged, admitting that she was not the slickest presenter, but that with much frantic gesticulating she got things done. This was her mantra throughout and she stuck doggedly to it. Badenoch too remained closely on-brand, pushing the pragmatic politician line. When she was at the Treasury, she said, in response to a question about immediate help for the cost of living crisis, there were never any easy options, just difficult option a, terrible option b, mad option c. There was quite a bit of flair there, and she seemed more relaxed and confident than last time, perhaps emboldened by recent positive polling. Her replies also came across as natural rather than over-rehearsed, a positive improvement. Conservative leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt speaks during Britain's Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate Mordaunt, by contrast, seemed a little baity. She referred several times to her general brilliance, and said this was the reason so many people were briefing against her. She would unite a government of all the talents, she explained, somewhat testily, adding that one of her selling points was the quality of her team. A team that, if reports are right, would put David Davis as home secretary and Andrea Leadsom as chancellor. In answer to the question who would have Boris Johnson in their Cabinet, not one candidate put their hand up. Given that, with the exception of Tugendhat, none of them would be where they are today without his patronage, that seemed quite harsh. How quickly people forget in politics. Badenoch stood up for him: He delivered on Brexit and the vaccines, and stood up to Putin. When Tugendhat scoffed, she flashed her mettle: Talking is easy what did he know about taking tough decisions? Interestingly, Rishi was at his best on a personal question: Defending the attacks on his wifes money. He was proud of his parents-in-law, he explained, who had started their business from nothing and built all their wealth from scratch. That, he added, was something that as a Conservative he fully supported. It added a nice human dimension to someone who can often seem out of touch. All in all, as with the first debate, no clear winner. Rishi stood his ground, Truss made headway, Kemi grew in confidence and Mordaunt just seemed awfully cross with everyone. As for Tugendhat, without the live audience interaction and the opportunity to flash that charm, he seemed a little flat. The final question was this: If you win the leadership, will you seek a fresh mandate and call a general election? A resounding no from all present. At least Brenda from Bristol will be happy. A hair hack that started in the remote hills of Guangxi province in China is now trending on TikTok as a hair growth hack. One TikTok user is even claiming her hair 'grew two inches in one month after use'. Social media fans are making their own version of the ancient recipe, which is fermented rice water - using a few spoons of rice and some regular tap water, and then combining the two in a spray bottle. Stored in a cheap spray bottle, the solution is then either left to ferment, or used right away - either as a hair mask or an after wash rinse. Scroll down for video The remote Chinese village in the Guangxi province has become a hit on TikTok, with images of the women who use the fermented rice mixture to enhance their hair appearing in reels on the social media site Slide me Before and after: This TikTok user claims the cheap hair trick has given her two inches of growth in just one month - on average hair grows 1/4 to 1/2 an inch a month Locals use rice water to wash their hair - a secret for them to keep locks healthy, smooth and shiny The women of Huanglo village in China, are real-life Rapunzels, with their jet black hair reaching as long as 2.1 metres (6.8 feet). For centuries, the women have rinsed their hair with rice water used for cooking, coiling their locks around their head in a protective style to soak up the mixture. There are 600 members of the tribe in the total made up of 78 families. Most of the women's hair hangs down to their ankles with 60 members of the tribe with hair longer than three feet. The longest hair in the village is seven feet long. 51-year-old Pan Jifeng is one of the tribe who has kept to the tradition of only cutting her hair once in her life. According to Pan, the secret has been passed down by generation to generation for local women keep their long locks healthy and shiny - and now TikTok has shared it with the world. She said villagers would keep the water they use to wash glutinous rice, then wash their hair with it. She told reporters about the tribe's traditions, saying: 'We do not cut our hair from birth. The 50p hack that could give you lust-worthy locks without the celebrity price tag has gone viral on social media Success? One woman seems very impressed with the rice water hack and this video has amassed thousands of views 'When we reach the age of 18, we get out first haircut as part of a coming of age ceremony which signifies that the girl is now an adult and can marry. While some of it may be down to genetics, TikTok users say they've had hair growth success using the mixture. TikTok user @moniquemrapier has a how-to video called: 'The right way to make rice water for EXTREME hair growth'. She recommends putting one cup of rice into a clean jar and adding a cup of water and shaking until milky. Then leave the concoction at room temperature for 24 hours. The video has 179.6K likes and 4K shares. The milky liquid leftover from cooking rice contains vitamin E, which is said to aid hair growth and add shine to even the dullest of tresses. @yamihanna has shown her progress on TikTok which has seen her hair grow from 28 inches to 30 inches at the back - after a month of using rice water. On average hair grows 1/4 to 1/2 an inch a month. She used #ricewaterhairchallenge on her clip. @wiglife2020 posts her own solution where she adds orange peel to the rice water mixture and seems amazed by her hair growth. She even shows clips of the women from Huanglo village brandishing their record worthy locks, wearing traditional dress. Female members of the Yao ethnic group in China cut their hair once in their lives right before marriage How do they get their hair so shiny? Women wash their hair using glutinous rice and water from the nearby river Hair growth: The facts Lots of online fads claim hair growth can happen quickly or overnight with the use oils, lotions and even bananas. Everyone's hair grows at different rates and diet plays a large factor, say experts. Well known luxury hair brand Keratese says 'Keeping your hair and scalp clean is crucial to healthy hair growth but keep the water warm as hot water can dry out your scalp and strands.' The brand also says: 'First, it's worth understanding how hair grows. There are four different phases. During the anagen phase the hair grows, next there is the catagen phase, during which the hair growth stabilizes. 'The length of these phases is determined by your genetics, which is why some people can grow their hair down to their waist while others struggle to get past their shoulders.' Advertisement However some other users are questioning whether the homemade hack is worth it. @abbeyyung has posted a video called 'signs you are using too much rice water'. She asks 'Is your hair brittle or breaking off more than normal? Or does it look more dull?' One commenter said 'Rice water is a no for low porosity hair.' According to site healthline 'Hair porosity is a term that's used to describe how well your hair is able to absorb and retain moisture and oils. 'If you have low porosity hair, it means the structure of your hair doesn't easily allow moisture to be absorbed into your hair shaft. This can make it harder for water to saturate your hair when it's washed.' Pricier options include products such as Mimosu Rice Water Shampoo and Conditioner 2 in 1 Fermented Rice Water which is sold on Amazon for 14.99 or Kiehl's Rice and Wheat Volumising Shampoo for 26. Many have claimed success with this particular trend, and some 'swear by it' for longer hair, radiant skin or helping to fill in a receding scalp. K-beauty guru and blogger Alicia Yoon states that rice is a big beauty ingredient in Korean beauty culture for a youthful complexion. However an unpleasant side effect of using rice water can be the smell. Bustle writer Courtney Leiva said 'I noticed that my rice water started to smell a little bit sour come day six. 'But despite the nauseating smell, Yoon says the slightly sour odor is caused by the natural fermentation of rice water, which supposedly can treat your complexion to necessary antioxidants and anti-aging benefits. 'When you leave your rice water at room temperature for a couple days or so, the scent will become more sour,' says Yoon. 'When fermented, there's a more concentrated amount of antioxidants and is used by many beauty brands for its anti-aging properties.' How long can you stand on one leg? And, more importantly, so long as youre not planning a career as a gymnast/yoga teacher, does it even matter? Well, yes it does. Because if you can do ten seconds of the flamingo test one foot tucked behind your calf, arms by your sides, without falling over youre more likely to have a long and healthy life ahead. Thats according to a new study by Bristol Medical School, which found that people aged 51 to 75 who failed the flamingo test had an 84 per cent higher chance of dying within seven years of starting the study than those who aced it. So if good balance is the secret to a long life, should we do a balance workout in the same way that we run to boost our cardio or lift weights to increase strength? The answer from the experts is a resounding yes. Balance is a life skill in itself falls are the second biggest cause of accidental death, says Dawn Skelton, professor of ageing and health at Glasgow Caledonian University. If you improve your balance, it wont necessarily stop you falling but it can help prevent a stumble becoming a serious fall. If you can do ten seconds of the flamingo test one foot tucked behind your calf, arms by your sides, without falling over youre more likely to have a long and healthy life ahead Good balance means youre more likely to be physically active overall, meaning youre less likely to get cancer or to die of a heart attack or stroke. If you have poor balance and arent confident in movement, you wont be as active, says Professor Skelton. So the effects of being sedentary high blood sugar, excess weight, thinner bones will kick in. Balance may look effortless, but its so complicated that we are the only mammals to have evolved the skill of walking on two legs, never mind standing on one. Our love of handheld electronic devices doesnt help: many of us now default to forward head posture, where the weight of our tilted head on a craned neck pulls us forwards towards a fall. Balance engages many different variables in the human body, says GP Dr Johanna Ward. It involves a carefully orchestrated coordination between the vestibular system in the inner ear, the nervous system, the brain and the eyes. Poor balance can be a sign that theres something wrong in the brain, adds Professor Skelton. People with dementia or whove had strokes have worse balance than their peers as a result of different parts of the brain being damaged. If youve read this far, youve probably just done the flamingo test. If you found it easy, dont get smug. If you are under 60 and healthy, you should be able to do it with your eyes closed, says Professor Skelton. In your 60s, five to ten seconds is good, and when you get into your 70s if you can stand on one leg with your eyes closed, youre doing well. Dont just stand on one leg do it while counting backwards or cleaning your teeth One of the best ways to improve your balance is, perhaps unsurprisingly, to balance. But even if youre a super flamingo now, dont get complacent. As the professor says, Its only going to get worse with age. As well as losing up to three per cent of our muscle strength a year during the menopause, we get a lot more fat infiltration into the muscle, meaning that muscles dont respond as quickly. If you start to trip, youve got to have fast reactions. Bear in mind too that our peripheral vision narrows as we get older, meaning that the brain has less information from our environment to prepare us for a fall so get your eyes tested regularly. If you struggled, dont panic. Balance is something that we can all learn (see right). If youve had a cold or an ear infection, it may affect the vestibular system. Dehydration, urinary tract infections, certain medications and even wearing the wrong glasses can make you more unsteady, as can taking painkillers. Foot and ankle health are key too. Balance relies on proprioceptive feedback (knowing where you are in your space through sensors in your feet, ankles, knees and hips). Swollen ankles will hamper the messaging to the rest of your body, while bunions or hard skin mean your feet will be less able to read the floor. When it comes to footwear, opt for thin-soled plimsolls over thick trainers. Good balance also has mental health benefits. As yoga teacher and doctor Andrew McGonigle explains, it can make you more socially confident. If we get knocked by someone in a crowd, we are more able to come back to equilibrium. It makes you feel more robust. So if youre having trouble standing on one leg, check out these easy daily balancing acts (right) that will help you channel your inner flamingo. The award-winning actor, 67, tells Tom Parker Bowles about his passion for all things British, mastering a French classic and the Japanese delicacy that was too much for him Our whole family always sat down together at the table for dinner. It was my grandfather, grandmother, mother, sister and me. My dad wasnt around, but that was our time when we would talk. Gordon, my grandfather, would challenge me as to what I had learnt in school that day. Hed been an engineer at the University of California, Berkeley when he was young a very clever man, and he liked learning. Actor Kelsey Grammer speaks to Tom Parker Bowles about his life in food The award-winning actor, 67, speaks about his passion for all things British My grandmothers leg of lamb is still one of my favourite meals. She was a pretty good cook of standard American cuisine and had the Joy of Cooking on her bedside table. Its a book I still have around somewhere. She did great stuff, mostly meat and potatoes, but with really nice twists on it. Moms packed lunches for school were not big on variety. I had a packed lunch every day and for a week or so it would be only peanut butter and jelly [jam]. And then Id say something like, Hey mom, you know, how about maybe a bologna sandwich once in a while? So then I had bologna sandwiches for about a month. And then Id say again, Hey, maybe we can try salami, and then for the better part of a semester, it would be salami. But there was always some thought put into it shed include some olives or cocktail onions because I liked those. We would only go out to dinner once in a while. As my grandad was a retired colonel we lived close to Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey, and would eat at the Officers Club. Thats where I was introduced to escargots, which I love to this day. I can cook them quite well, too I thought that was a dish I should master. My wifes brother will wrestle me to the ground for a bar of Cadburys Whole Nut As a student at The Juilliard School in New York in the 70s I survived on a scoop of tuna fish salad smothered in yellow mustard. That was pretty much my meal for the day. I was a typical penniless hungry student and had a meal card for the cafeteria, but the food there really wasnt very impressive. The first time you see a craft service table [where they serve the food and drink on a movie set] you hear angelic voices singing in the background. Subsequently you dive in and for the first year or two that means you gain a bit of weight, but then you become more disciplined and manage to steer clear. We had a guy named Jimmy on the set of Cheers [who ran the craft service table] he was quite good. Sadly, Covid has pretty much killed it off. I dont know why. I think they just looked for a way to cut it out of the budget. Kelsey was introduced to snails at his grandfathers club in Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey. He still loves them My wife Kayte is a genius in the kitchen. So skilled, and she can do anything from vegan to a classic English roast, from a full English breakfast to huevos rancheros and Indian. I recently said to a friend that if youd like good Indian food in Los Angeles, the only place to find it is my house. I think Marmite is pretty great. I know its odd but I was introduced to it years ago by a great actress called Trish Connolly. She had it in her fridge when I worked with her in San Diego I tried it and thought, Oh, this is kind of interesting.' I ate a bad oyster once years ago, and it took me ten years to get over it. Im OK with them again now, but there is another [meal] thats a bridge too far. I remember once asking the chef at a Japanese restaurant to have what he typically eats. He brought out this really quite smelly and sticky stuff that looked like human sick. Now I like smelly cheeses and all that, but this was natto, or fermented soybeans. It was not my thing at all. When in London, Kelsey loves afternoon tea at Claridges. He says that Nobu is also a family favourite I love British chocolate especially Cadburys Whole Nut. Kayte is originally from Hartlepool and she introduced me to it. We get it from a website called The British Corner Shop. Her brother knows when our orders arrive and will wrestle me to the ground for a bar! He comes by and grabs a couple then heads off. She also orders Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. My favourite restaurants are all in London. Wolfgang Pucks Cut on Park Lane is probably my favourite steakhouse anywhere. In Mayfair, I love Scotts, as it is always good and reliable and Kayte loves [Indian restaurant] Jamavar. Oh, and of course, tea at Claridges is not to be missed, neither is their roast Christmas dinner. Nobu is also a family favourite my kids [Kelsey has seven from his four marriages] really love the yellowtail jalapeno. They eat it like polar bears just grab a hold of it, throw it down their throat. Six very expensive orders gone in about two minutes! Steak is my favourite comfort food. I like it charred medium, a little on the rare side. I love steak tartare, but if Im going to do steak at home I want to know its cooked. My final dinner would be a cheeseburger. Always. Just fantastic. And after that, it would be steak. A perfect steak is hard to find. Customers have branded a pet personalisation product website a 'scam' after waiting months for orders that never arrive, while it's 'impossible' to get refunds. Cashing in on the demand for personalised pet products in the wake of soaring pet ownership during the pandemic, Kadonimo offers items such as mugs, keyrings, sockas and doormats with cats' and dogs' names and photos. The website promises that residents of the US, UK and Australia will receive orders within less than 10 business days. However, customers have reported waiting as long as six months, and have taken to social media and TrustPilot to air their frustration after being 'ignored' by customer services. Rather than being a unique business Kadonimo is believed to be among the rising number of dropshipping sites - meaning it's just the middle man placing orders with the manufacturer, which leaves customers at a loss if they're not fulfilled. The website has been created using Shopify, a platform that allows anyone to easily set up an online selling business. Kadonimo has failed to respond to repeated request for comment from MailOnline. Customers have branded pet personalisation product website Kadomino a 'scam' after waiting months for orders that never arrive, while it's 'impossible' to get refunds. One disgruntled customer told MailOnline they had ordered a doormat in March, and the order confirmation said it would take just over a week to arrive. A few weeks later, it still hadn't shown up and Kadonimo and tracking information said that it was still being packed and had not been dispatched. Kadonimo said there was an error with the tracking information, and that it had been shipped. A few weeks later they apologised and said the parcel was 'with logistics' A customer was repeatedly told that the mat they ordered in March 2022 has been shipped, but the tracking information said that it's still being packed and hasn't even been dispatched Then, they said the matter had been escalated, but it's been more than four months and the pacakge has not arrived and Kadonimo will not provide any clear information or respond to requests for a refund. Tracking information has not been updated since the beginning of March and still shows the order as being 'packed' and not yet dispatched. TrustPilot has been flooded with similar reviews from disgruntled customers. One wrote: 'Scammers, stay away from them. They still haven't replied to any of my emails. I still haven't received my order or a refund. They just disappeared with my money.' Another customer from the US, who also branded the company a scam, said they were waiting on their order from March and similarly gets no response after asking for a refund. 'Do not order anything, you will lose your money,' they said. Customers have taken to Trustpilot in their dozens to complain that they've not received their orders, but are not getting answers from customer services And one reviewer said they had been waiting since December 2021 for their order and still has not received the product. The company has sites in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the US, Switzerland and the UK. But it is based in Belgium and uses websites hosted by Canada-based Shopify, which provides the technology and framework for independent sellers to set up online stores. It received a huge bookst during the Covid-19 pandemic when people turned to setting up online businesses to make money, and Shopify's affordable service was a popular choice for entrepreneurs who couldn't afford to build their own websites. However, in December 2020, research by e-commerce authentication service Fakespot found that nearly 21 per cent of Shopify stores pose a risk to customers. Nearly 26,000 of the 124,000 Shopify stores it analysed were 'related to fraudulent practices' such as counterfeit goods or brand infringements. Shopify is also useful for dropshipping, a practice whereby the online store is effectively acting as a middle man who sells products without ever keeping them in stock. When an order is placed via a website hostd by Shopify or a marketplace such as eBay, the dropshipper buys the product from a manufacturer at wholesale price and has it shipped directly to the customer. This means the dropshipping company makes a profit on the sale without ever touching the product. While savvy entrepreneurs can make huge amounts of money, there is no quality control and no guarantee for the customer if the manufacturer messes up. Kadonimo's exact products are available on other websites such as Etsy and thepawfecthouse.com, indicating that they are not unique and the brand is a middleman placing orders from a manufacturer. You should never skip 'awkward' conversations about money early on in a relationship, experts say, or it will only lead to heartbreak later. Finance power couple Brooke and Leighton Roberts, both 35, have been having frank conversations about their financial goals since they started dating. And they must have done something right as they now own a thriving investment portfolio and have forged lucrative careers helping others do the same with their business, Sharesies. The Wellington-based parents-of-two told FEMAIL having shared long-term financial goals is key to a successful relationship. Finance power couple Brooke and Leighton Roberts, both 35, have been having frank conversations about their financial goals since they started dating And having those conversations early can stop any anxiety or resentment building as well as help couples build a better future based on a shared dream. 'A huge amount of stress in relationships come about because of financial mis-alignment,' Leighton said. 'If a relationship doesn't work out then the pain of having those conversations early will be less than the pain of not having them.' Brooke added: 'Money enabled opportunities, so it is important to look at your goals early and often, considering the things you want in your future like travel, study or building a business.' And the first date is the best place to start. 'In terms of conversations implicitly you can learn a lot about people's financial behaviours on the first date, while explicit conversations will come later.' The couple, who have been married for five years and together for eight, still remember the courting process and understand it is expensive. Transitioning from 'dating' to real life can be hard - but Brooke explains securing the relationship as a short-term investment. 'It is natural for those short and medium term goals to change. When you meet someone new you invest more time and money into that new relationship,' Brooke said. Brooke says it is important for people to share long-term goals and this can only be done if both parties are willing to talk about finances Once that investment has come off it is time to look toward the next, and ensure both people's short and medium term goals are pointing to the same long-term goal. 'That's when you have to have the conversation ... now we are together how does that change our financial goals.' 'It is hard to start these conversations so you have to think strategically, talk about what you want to achieve in your life together, whether you want to buy a house or retire early,' Leighton said. 'Then you have to talk about the way you both work with money and how you can use that to achieve the goals you set together.' A common goal can help both people focus, even if they aren't matched as spenders or savers. 'It doesn't matter which way you lean, be it spender or saver, because you can create new habits and this is easier when you have a collective goal,' Brooke said. Poll Are you comfortable talking about finances in your relationships? Yes, it is important! No, it is awkward! Yes, but I don't do it in the first three months! I think you should wait until you move in together. Are you comfortable talking about finances in your relationships? Yes, it is important! 17 votes No, it is awkward! 5 votes Yes, but I don't do it in the first three months! 14 votes I think you should wait until you move in together. 7 votes Now share your opinion And it makes it easier to bring up more awkward conversations including if one part of the couple is blowing the budget. 'If my partner was spending too much money in the first month of the relationship I probably wouldn't say anything, but after making goals you can have that chat,' Leighton said. Brooke and Leighton studied finance together and worked in the industry when they got together. This made talking about money matters more natural to them than their peers. 'We had big money conversations early, after using our super to invest,' Brooke said. But they weren't immune to awkward moments. 'In those first months it can be weird, with weekends away and not knowing if you were sharing costs,' Leighton said. 'I owed Brooke money for a while there. It can be hard to ask if someone is paying you back for things in those early moments. There are often no malicious motives behind these moments but they are awkward.' Now there are none. And when they do have differing short term and medium term goals they are happy to talk about it. 'Shying away from those conversations can be damaging, they are an important part of a relationship,' they said. 'It is also important to be flexible and live your life, have the coffee out together, and know that some times - like now - are going to be harder.' Leighton revealed awkward money chats he and Brooke avoided in the start of their relationship - but insists they pushed through and talked about it often They were young when they met and an investment opportunity opened up early - so their finances have been tied together for a long time. And while they don't know what it is like to have assets when meeting a partner Leighton believes people should be 'all in'. Brooke agree and says being all-in can and should include having their own financial freedom. Whether it be a small slush fund or individual savings the important thing is the conversation that comes first. The couple are excited for Gen Y and Gen Z, who have grown up with financial advice at their fingertips. 'We know when it comes to money time is key - they can start making these decision earlier which is great for them in the long term.' The Roberts say the long game is important but should never suck the fun out of living. Kevin Rudd's wife Therese Rein has made a cool $3million profit on her beachside investment property in Noosa after selling it to Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart. Rein purchased the two-storey property in September, 2021 for $6.75million before selling it to Rinehart in March for $9.75million. The profit is equal to $500,000 for every month the title was held by the self-made business woman's company, Osprey Venture 1. Therese Rein has made $3million profit on this Noosa home after owning it for just six months Therese Rein, pictured here with her husband and former prime minister, Kevin Rudd, owned the property for six months before selling it to Gina Rinehart The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home is typical of neighbouring properties, with ocean views and a track from the backyard to Sunshine Beach. The property comes with an approved DA for a new residence Designed by Teeland Architects. It was purchased by Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting subsidiary, BV Investments on March 28, a month after the company purchased a vacant block just three doors down. The home is typical of those in the area - and was in the same family for almost 40 years before being sold off in 2020 It features two-bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as an ocean view There is a DA approved on the land which could see the home replaced with something much more modern The $9.75million property has been sold three times since June 2020, after being held by the same family for close to 40 years. In 1980 the original owners paid just $145,000 for the beachside block and sold it for $4.2million in June 2020. The next owners decided to sell the property after just 15 months, netting a $2.5million profit when Rein snapped it up. The home has a private track which leads to Sunshine Beach - a popular surfing spot Rinehart's investment company has bought three properties in Sunshine Beach this year, including the vacant block. The 512-square-metre block is directly on the beach, and was valued at just $4.2million in June, $7million short of its sale price. Rinehart also snapped up a three-bedroom home 'five minutes down the road', setting her back $21.5million. The home is close to Therese Rein's $17million beachfront home, which she shares with husband Kevin Rudd. Hotel bookings have seen a boost in sales this week - with guests lured by the promise of air conditioning. As the Met Office issues a warning of extreme heat, hotels have begun to cash in from those desperate to avoid the heat. Temperatures on Monday are expected to soar to over 40 degrees in some parts of the country - smashing previous records. Scroll down for video Brits are resorting to booking up hotel rooms with air con as a way to cope with the extreme heat Many Brits are struggling to sleep in the extreme heat - even with windows wide open The booking website, Hotels.com, is offering its 30,000 followers the chance to win a one-night stay with air con. While Adrian Darling, 40, a product owner, has booked a Premier Inn hotel in Bedford for Monday and Tuesday costing 210 so he and and his young family can escape the soaring heat. 'We were a bit concerned about how hot our house would get. We have three young children and a baby under one month old,' said Mr Darling. A spokesman for Premier Inn said: 'There is high demand for all our rooms at the moment.' However, they added it was difficult to say whether this was specifically related to the heatwave or down to some other reason. Meanwhile, Brits were posting about their plans to escape the heat on social media. Chris Blackmore, @_chrisblackmore, wrote, 'About 10 mins away from booking a hotel so I can sleep with air con.' Many Brits have begun posting about their plans to escape the heat Some are booking into the Premier Inn hotel chain in a bid to be able to sleep at night in the cool Others are complaining that hotels were cranking up their prices due to surging demand for air con Another wrote, 'Booking into the Premier Inn as we speak for a few days of air con.' While Nick from London, at @bluemoonstar, tweeted, 'Anyone in London want to go halves on a hotel with aircon Mon and Tues night?!' Meanwhile, Michelle Shaughnessy @Michellesfunny complained that hotels were cashing in on the high demand and hiking their prices. She tweeted, 'Booked a dodgy 2 star hotel behind some train tracks for the upcoming London heatwave because every semi nice place with air con has tripled (at minimum) their prices for the two hottest days of the year.' The heatwave is affecting all areas of the country - from North Yorks to East Anglia Temperatures in the east of the country are expected to rise to over 40 degrees Some were just musing the idea of booking a hotel room - and hadn't actually done it yet But others had clearly taken the plunge and decided to book a room before they are all snapped up Others who already had bookings have been trying to ensure their rooms have air con Meanwhile, those who have air conditioning at work were also posting decidedly smug messages. On Twitter, Jess, at @jess_xray, an advanced practitioner at interventional radiology, wrote, in Liverpool, tweeted, 'How many will seek refuge in radiology on Monday?' - with a link to the forecast. This radiologist of Liverpool was decidedly smug about having air con in her hospital unit Festivals don't usually advertise that they have air conditioning - but they do now While events scheduled to take place were also advertising their cool credentials. The Refract Festival in Manchester, for instance, advertised its air conditioning alongside its other acts. It isn't just humans seeking out air con either. On Twitter, the owner of Miss Bella of Cardiff, posted a photo of her cockapoo at @missybellarose, saying, 'First day on Twitter. Shopping with the ladies.' Others posted photos of their dogs lying in the coolest spot in the house, while some companies advertised their air conditioned kennels. This cockapoo of Cardiff was taken for her daily walk not around a park but around air conditioned shops This English pooch was also catching some zzzzs under some air con The final straw was a fight over a messy living room which resulted in author Alison James and her daughter, Olivia, then 23, yanking one anothers hair in fury. Alisons horrified younger daughter, Florence, 21, home from university for Easter, had to pull them apart, and, at the end of a few days of frosty silence, Olivia was told, in no uncertain terms, that it was time to move out to pack her bags and find a place of her own. By then, Olivia had been living, rent free, with her parents in Chiswick, West London, for nearly three years. Shed moved back home straight after finishing a degree in fashion buying and merchandising at Manchester University, in 2018 and never left. Rather shockingly for those of us who hit our 20s in the 1990s or earlier, shes one of nearly two-thirds of childless single adults aged 20-34 in the UK, who have either never left home or have moved back in with their parents an increase of a third over just the past decade. Alison James (right) reveals why she told her daughter Olivia (left) to move out of the family home after a big argument over cleaning I love Olivia dearly, says her mother, Alison, 58. However, as two adult women living under the same roof, we clashed constantly were both quite shouty and flare up easily and Id told her countless times before this incident that she needed to move out. Once wed both apologised and calmed down enough to have a civilised conversation, I said she couldnt put it off any longer, she had to start looking for a place immediately, and to speak to friends who might be interested in a house share. Stiff rents, rising student fees and an intensely competitive jobs market for graduates post-Covid have all made moving back home after university more attractive than ever. And more than half of all graduates do it, according to research by the London School of Economics. But what happens when parents dont want their boomerangs back? I never imagined it would come to this when my daughters, and their elder brother [Charles, 28], left home for university, says Alison. Then, I felt bereft. It was the end of an era, despite all the stresses of raising teenagers. But, like anything, you get used to the new reality. When they come back for the holidays, its nice partly because you know its for a finite period. Its when the trunks and boxes get shipped home for good after final exams, however, that the strain can start to show. Id be in my dressing gown and a strange bloke would wander in When Olivia moved back in indefinitely, it was hugely disruptive. The fridge was constantly stripped bare of food. Because I refused to do her laundry, shed run out of clothes and then use the washing machine constantly for two days but not hang up anything to dry properly, which meant it ended up smelling and she had to wash it all again, says Alison. Telling your child to move out is not something you could ever envisage doing when theyre three, she adds. But then you dont imagine theyll still be living at home when theyre 23 either. Forget the emotional upheaval of the empty nest its the ambivalent feelings provoked by the fledglings return that really creates family tension, says expert Celia Dodd, author of a new book, All Grown Up, Nurturing Relationships With Adult Children. Most kids take it for granted that if theres enough room in the house, theyll be welcomed back with open arms, says Celia. And many have no idea their parents have reservations about relinquishing their empty nest freedom. Olivia says she was taken aback at first and admits it was hurtful. After calling round friends, Olivia found three to share with her, and in April 2021, they moved into a four-bedroom terrace in Stoke Newington, North-East London Indeed, research from the London School of Economics, she says, concluded that when adult children returned home after apparently leaving for good, it caused a noticeable decline in parents quality of life. Lots of parents, even if they hate to admit it, are keen to get on with their own lives. After years of childrearing, its natural to want to do your own thing and explore a direction beyond the family. Their biggest complaint, according to the LSE research, is that children want to be treated as adults, but dont behave like adults when it comes to domestic stuff. Most parents, of course, hope their child will move out without needing to be asked, although Ive heard of parents who waited so long that they gave up and moved out themselves, says Celia. Shes bossy and thought it was her right to police my behaviour It was all very different three or four decades ago. Alison, who is married to photographer, Francis, 67, left home to study history at Londons Goldsmiths University in the 1980s when she was 19, and says it never crossed her mind to move back into her childhood home in a small market town in Lincolnshire. That, she concedes, was partly down to the fact that rents were much cheaper back then she paid just 12 a week for a room in a shared house in London, something she could easily cover with her wages from various temporary jobs before starting her career as a non-fiction writer in her late 20s. By contrast, Olivia says she and her friends never considered not returning to their family homes after finishing their degrees, largely because renting in London now sets you back more than 700 a month. Remembering to let Mum and Dad know what time Id be home, or being told to tidy my bedroom, was hard at first after having shared with friends for three years at university, she says. But Id missed lots of things living in a clean house, our cocker spaniel, Mums spaghetti bolognese so I liked being back. Alison says that she loves Olivia dearly but admits that two grown women living in the same house is not easy and the atmosphere could turn volatile That final argument started because Mum had told me to tidy the living room and I said: Whats the point, no ones coming over? which made her really mad, though I probably grabbed her hair first. Of course, I regretted it afterwards. I love my mum, but I think living back at home, after three years of relative independence as a student, brought out the rebellious teenager in me. Celia Dodd cites one study which found that daughters were much more likely than sons to say that living at home made them feel like a child, and Alison agrees that being back in the nest full-time infantalised her daughter. When asked to clean her bedroom, for example, shed retort: When are you going to tidy yours? Doting: Alison with baby Olivia. After time apart the mother and daughter duo have gotten over their differences Both mum and daughter are lively and opinionated and you can see why, out of the family of five, theyd be the ones to clash. A few days after the hair-pulling incident, however, they sat down around the dinner table at the familys four-bedroom terrace for a serious chat. Alison told Olivia she was going to have to grow up and move out and offered to help her look for somewhere. So keen was she for Olivia to move out, she suggested that she and Francis would pay the deposit on a flat plus the first months rent. How to cope when your kids come back By Celia Dodd, author of All Grown Up: Nurturing Relationships With Adult Children (14.99, Bloomsbury) 1. Dont make assumptions about how your partner feels about an adult child moving back. Mothers and fathers often have conflicting views about their child returning and how long they should stay. Sharing a home with adult children will have an impact on you as a couple. One of the huge benefits of an empty nest is that parents have more time and emotional space to give their relationship the attention it badly needs after the childrearing years. Its not just about sex, but there is usually an impact in the bedroom. A lot of couples feel inhibited when their adult kids are in the house and women in particular can find it hard to switch from mother to loving partner. 2. Give adult children an idea of the bills theyd have to pay if they left home, from regular utility bills to paying to fix a blocked drain. Allow adult children to be as self-sufficient as possible under the same roof. They need to take on the tedious everyday tasks they would have to do if they lived elsewhere. Thats not just about housework, but helping to sort out council tax admin and dealing with a power cut or finding a plumber. The other side of the coin is the freedom to come and go, while respecting others in the household. 3. Dont let the arrangement drift. When adult offspring have their sights set on finding their own place, and are taking steps to make that happen, they feel less frustrated about living back at home and wont feel their life has stalled. If theres not much sign of them doing that, and they seem almost too content with home comforts, you may need to give them a nudge. 4. Agree on a flexible moving out date and review it periodically. That way, both sides know where they stand and get plenty of warning that change is on the horizon. Its tough for parents if a child suddenly announces theyre moving out next week, even if you are relieved. Equally, parents should be upfront about any future plans they have to take in a lodger, move or rent the house to go travelling. Its fair enough simply to say you think the times approaching when you both should move in a new direction. 5. If all else fails, go away for a fortnight and leave them to it! Advertisement Olivia says she was taken aback at first and admits it was hurtful. Alison says her daughters visible sadness made her sad, too, but she wouldnt back down. After calling round friends, Olivia found three to share with her, and in April 2021, they moved into a four-bedroom terrace in Stoke Newington, North-East London. So how did things reach such a tricky stage where a loving mother orders her daughter to go? When Olivia moved back home in the summer of 2018, Alison and her husband envisaged it being a temporary arrangement, which is why they didnt charge her rent. And when Olivia got work as a fashion buyer for Topshop, in late 2019, they expected her to start thinking about moving out. However, thanks to lockdown five months later, and Topshops demise which followed shortly afterwards, Olivia found herself out of work and living on 61-aweek Jobseekers allowance. The relationship between mother and daughter quickly became somewhat strained. My husband travels a lot for work and, since the children moved out, Id got used to not having to cook a family meal, says Alison. But Olivia likes a proper dinner in the evening so she would insist on making something from the Ottolenghi cookbook, using every pan and utensil we own. Then, because shed cooked, shed expect me to clear up the mess she left in the kitchen. Shes bossy and thought it was her right to police all my behaviour, snapping at me: What are you doing that for? Stop pulling that face! Stop moaning at me!. Olivia, however, has a rather different take on events. In the early stages of the pandemic, companies werent hiring, but, even though I was applying for whatever came up, Mum kept implying I wasnt making enough effort to find a job and move out, she says. I couldnt understand why she was heaping extra pressure on me to leave home when I needed that stability until I was on my feet. I remember storming out of the house after one row and, with everywhere closed due to lockdown, the only thing I could do was walk the streets for two hours. It was the end of 2020, before Olivia secured another job, as a buyer for a major fashion company, and Alison made no secret of the fact she thought this would be a good time for her daughter to find a place of her own. The irony is that Ive always loved spending time with Olivia, but being under the same roof was not healthy for our relationship, Alison says. We were constantly picking holes in one another. Theres a good reason children are meant to grow up and live independent adult lives. If she was out late, Id worry and want her to tell me when shed be back, whereas when she was in Manchester, she was out of sight out of mind, like my other children, which is much healthier at that age. The pandemic made dating anyone new difficult, but there was the odd morning when Id be in the kitchen in my dressing gown and a strange bloke would wander in. Im not prudish, or judgmental, but Id think: These living arrangements are not good for her or me. Dad Francis didnt clash with Olivia in the same way as her mum, and would often act as mediator. Nonetheless, when they finally loaded up their daughters worldly goods into the van her father had hired, Alison admits to feeling sad and noticed Olivia was a bit wobbly. I was very upset about leaving, admits Olivia. Living at home was just very easy, I didnt have to think about anything, and I actually liked seeing my parents, whom I get on well with, every day. But now Ive moved out, I realise its the best thing Ive ever done. I dont have to answer to anyone, I dont have to tidy my room, or sneak men in or out in the mornings. I plan my own dinners for the week ahead and dont have to tell anyone where I am or what time Ill be back. We had a hair-pulling row over a messy living room that was the final straw The only downside is financial, as my rent has just gone up to 720 a month, including bills, so I cant afford to go out with friends for dinner or drinks, or buy lots of clothes, like I could when I was living at home. While Alison and Olivia can both be volatile, neither is prone to sulking or bearing grudges for long, and they now have a wonderful mother-daughter relationship, meeting up most weeks for theatre, cinema or restaurant trips. Mum said recently: We get on a lot better now, have you noticed? Olivia says. I replied: Yes, I have. She said: I think its because were not living together, and I told her: I think youre right. Even mothers and adult children who love one others company can have too much of a good thing. A few weeks ago, I commented on Ewan McGregors divorce. The actor had spoken about the toll the split from his wife had taken on his family, describing it as a bomb going off and how they are still healing from the fallout. I wrote that much of the way adults conduct themselves with regard to divorce these days makes me furious, because it is people like me doctors, teachers, social workers who see the utter devastation affairs, family discord and divorce bring about. I waited for a backlash from furious divorcees. Instead, I was surprised by how many people contacted me to say, Thank goodness someone is saying this. Finally, someone is giving the alternative view to the idea that divorce is just some minor family mishap, a blip that can be swept under the carpet so the adults can get on with their separate lives. One teacher wrote to me and told me how, in her experience, it was the number one cause of problems in children. Dr Max Pemberton commented on Ewan McGregors (pictured with ex wife Eve Mavrakis) divorce and the pain it causes for the whole family - he waited for a backlash from furious divorcees Please write about this subject every week until people start to listen, she asked. Another wrote: No parent wants to accept it, but divorce wrecks childrens lives. So I make no apology for returning to the subject this week. This time, its Ioan Gruffudds divorce from Alice Evans thats making headlines, as the two play out their psycho drama and drag their children into it, with Ioan now accusing Alice of briefing them against him. Ioan, in his court paperwork seeking joint custody, seems to try to make out that he is the victim in the split. Sorry, but no. Ioan Gruffudd (left) with his girlfriend Bianca Wallace (right). Ioan recently divorced Alice Evans. He recently accused Evans of turning his children against him It might be an acrimonious divorce, but you are not the victim here the children are. They have had no choice whatsoever in the matter. Of course, I accept that in the days before divorce was quite so common, many people were trapped in miserable marriages. But with so many couples now going their separate ways, the misery has simply been handed on to the children. Its they who suffer the most when their homes are shattered. At least in most instances the adults who once grinned and bore unhappy marriages had made the choice to marry in the first place. Children have no say over their circumstances. They are powerless and utterly blameless. Dr Max Pemberton (pictured) says that it is time that society accepts the devastation that divorce brings Yet they are suffering enormously as a result of societys shifting perception of divorce something once considered shameful, now the answer to any difficulty or strife in a relationship. I know this isnt what people want to hear, but not wanting to hear something doesnt make it untrue. It is not only the process of divorce that negatively effects children its also what happens after the divorce, when the ink has long dried on the decree absolute. Its then that parents attempt to assemble a new life for themselves as single people, free to date whomever they choose. Ioan Gruffudds divorce from Alice Evans (pictured) is making headlines, as the two play out their drama and drag their children into it I do not doubt that divorce can make individuals feel fragile and alone and that setting up another stable, loving home with someone else can be good for the children involved indeed, the evidence actually supports this. But time and again I have seen parents grown adults ignore the instability they bring into their childrens lives by going through a string of transient relationships. It makes me seethe with anger. Psychologists make the distinction between child instability and childhood harshness. The latter means low income or socioeconomic status how poor a family is. The former, on the other hand, refers to the number of relocations a child has endured, whether the parents are divorced, whether they have a stable father figure. Every single piece of research shows that childhood instability is the biggest factor affecting mental health and, surprisingly, childhood harshness actually has little impact. If anything, it has been shown to contribute to higher levels of empathy later in life. A well-known 2012 study showed that childhood instability was linked to addiction and mental illness, while childhood harshness was not associated with these at all. A rich teenager brought up in a divorced family is more likely to become a drug addict than a poor teenager brought up in a stable home. Children are paying the biggest price for divorce their mental health. Its a heresy in modern times to suggest that anyone might actually have to sacrifice their own comfort, happiness or immediate emotional satisfaction for the sake of another even if that other person is their own child but that is sometimes what is needed if youre grown-up. Its high time we, as a society, accept the devastation that divorce wreaks on childrens mental health and stop being so utterly selfish. My failsafe hangover cure... The tablet, called Myrkl, which you take before drinking, helps to break down alcohol in the gut before it is absorbed into the blood stream Theres been much publicity around a new supplement which claims to reduce hangovers. The tablet, called Myrkl, which you take before drinking, helps to break down alcohol in the gut before it is absorbed into the blood stream. Presumably, the intensity of your hangover is reduced because your body has absorbed less alcohol than youve actually drunk. The supplement, which costs 30 for 30 pills, has proved so popular it sold out ahead of its UK launch last week. But theres a perfectly effective and cheaper option: willpower. A few years ago in A&E, I heard a nurse say something similar to an intoxicated patient who was on a drip. They asked for medication to help their hangover. She replied: A sure-fire way to avoid a hangover is not to get rat-a***d in the first place. Works every time. Women are twice as likely as men to worry about life after Covid, a study shows. Is this any surprise? The reality is, when it comes to caring for families, women still bear the brunt of the work. I see this often its almost always the daughters who look after elderly parents, on top of children, jobs and housework. I was always wary of jumping on the mindfulness bandwagon. In mental health, we frequently see fads hailed as a panacea, only to discover they arent quite what they were cracked up to be. They might still be helpful, but theres rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. While Ive trained in mindfulness, practised it myself and led classes in it at a day hospital, I feel it has limitations. Not everyone can live in the moment. Sometimes peoples mental state is too overwhelmed. Despite this, mindfulness was rolled out to schools as part of a trial in 2019. Now, the study of more than 28,000 children aged 11 to 14 has found the majority dont like it and, it concludes, mindfulness training should not be in schools. Ditch the mindfulness and bring back old-fashioned hobbies, I say. DR MAX PRESCRIBES... INSPIRING HIV SERIES Aids: The Unheard Tapes (BBC) features the real voices of Aids sufferers from the 1980s and 1990s. Pictured: Hugo Bolton Aids: The Unheard Tapes (BBC) features the real voices of Aids sufferers from the 1980s and 1990s. The audio clips are brought to life by actors who lip-sync the words (including Hugo Bolton). It also has interviews with those who worked during the crisis. Its haunting many of the voices are of people who didnt survive but its also a reminder of how quickly medicine responded, and the incredible advances in treating HIV. Former Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong speaks during a National Assembly meeting in this March 28 photo. Korea Times file Former Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong rejected allegations Sunday that South Korea sent two North Korean fishermen back to their homeland in 2019 after North Korea requested their repatriation first. Chung made the remark in a statement issued via Rep. Yoon Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), stressing that South Korea first asked the North if it was willing to accept the two fishermen before deporting them. The statement came after a newspaper report alleged that the North informed the then presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, that a fishing boat carrying North Koreans was heading to South Korea and the notification could be seen as an order for the South to capture and repatriate them. "No request was received from North Korea that the brutal criminals be repatriated," Chung said in the statement. "But we sounded out North Korea's intentions because we need to check the willingness of the counterpart nation first in case of deportation." Chung served as the chief of the presidential National Security Office at the time. The chance to buy a house for just 1 was too good to turn down but it came with a few catches. The property snapped up by Maxine Sharples was part derelict, infested with rats and had holes in the roof, rotten windows and a tree growing inside. But after two years of blood, sweat and tears, she has transformed the Victorian terrace into her dream home for less than 60,000 and finally moved in. Maxine Sharples transformed the Victorian terrace into her dream home for less than 60,000 The 35-year-old is the last resident to move into their 1 home as part of a regeneration project by Liverpool City Council. Launched in 2013, it offered 130 derelict houses to locals for 1 on condition they renovated the properties and did not sell for at least five years. Thousands applied including Miss Sharples, a university project manager and yoga teacher. Heavy lifting: Miss Sharples gets to work Derelict: How house looked at start of two-year project Bright idea: The renovated Victorian terrace She had a vision of flipping the house upside down to create a light, plant-filled home. Internal walls and ceilings were taken out to create an open plan, double-height kitchen with living space upstairs. Skylights were put in the roof and the two bedrooms and bathroom were shifted downstairs. 'It is a really, really amazing transformation,' said Miss Sharples. 'It has been a long and arduous journey. There was a point last year when I was just fed up of cowboy builders and I had to take a break. There have certainly been a lot of tears, but it is definitely worth it now I am able to move in.' Switch: The bathroom was moved to ground floor Daunting: Inside the run-down property during renovation To save money, she lived in a camper van or stayed with friends. Miss Sharples also took on some of the tasks herself during lockdown, stripping the house down to bare brick and using YouTube to learn how to mix concrete and lay bricks and underfloor heating. Her home in the Wavertree area is now worth more than double what she paid to transform it. But money's not everything. Miss Sharples said: 'I can finally settle into a house that I brought back to life.' A young consultant who started her own fashion label inspired by 90s vintage clothing has turned over more than $100,000 in two years despite being diagnosed with a 'life-threatening' autoimmune disease. Rachel Quach, from Canberra, launched RQ The Label at the age of 24 while working full-time in risk consulting. A year later during Covid lockdowns, doctors told Rachel she had a rare condition called aplastic anemia where the immune system starts attacking the blood cells. The now 27-year-old recalls feeling fatigued, struggled exercising and experienced headaches and bruising in the weeks prior to the devastating news but was not sure why. 'I just thought I was tired or unfit, the symptoms were really mild,' Rachel told FEMAIL. While spending three months recovering from treatment in hospital, she continued working on the label by organising a photoshoot and keeping up with customer orders. Scroll down for video Rachel Quach (pictured), from Canberra, Australia, launched RQ The Label in August 2020 while working full-time. A year later in during Covid lockdowns, Rachel received the devastating news from doctors she has a 'rare' serious condition called aplastic anemia The now 27-year-old recalls feeling fatigued, struggled exercising and experienced headaches and bruising in the weeks prior to the prognosis but was not sure why. 'I just thought I was tired or unfit, the symptoms were really mild,' Rachel told FEMAIL Rachel is a self-taught fashion designer with a background in business and marketing who says she's passionate about her 'side hustle' (pictured: model wearing RQ The Label corset top) Rachel is a self-taught fashion designer with a background in business and marketing who says she's passionate about her 'side hustle'. She invested between $40,000-$50,000 to start the business venture and has always adored vintage fashion. At the moment the brand itself has launched a range of corsets inspired by '90s shapes and fabrics'. Rachel was sent to the emergency room where she waited hours before being taken to a ward with a sign above it that read 'cancer services'. 'I couldn't believe it, then a specialist told me I likely either have leukaemia or an autoimmune disease,' she said In early August 2021 Rachel's GP took a blood test then called her a few days later to discuss the results, leaving her feeling concerned. 'I drove to the doctor and the headache started coming back again, then he sent me straight to the emergency room where I waited for a few hours to see a doctor,' she said. 'I couldn't process anything, at first I was in denial that it was anything serious.' At around 2am the doctor asked a few basic questions then took her to another section if the ward with a sign above it that read 'cancer services'. 'I couldn't believe it, then a specialist told me I likely either have leukaemia or an autoimmune disease,' she said. The cause of the disease remains unknown and Rachel doesn't have any family history of cancer, but believes stress was a factor. 'I've always been a stressed person; I always try put in 100 per cent into my work, my business and try to succeed,' she said. Rachel was then put on a treatment for four days known as anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), which she said 'suppresses immune system' so it doesn't continue to attack the white blood cells What causes autoimmune disease? An autoimmune disease is a condition in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your body The immune system normally guards against germs like bacteria and viruses. When it senses these foreign invaders, it sends out an army of fighter cells to attack them Normally, the immune system can tell the difference between foreign cells and your own cells In an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakes part of your body, like your joints or skin, as foreign. It releases proteins called autoantibodies that attack healthy cells Doctors don't know exactly what causes the immune-system misfire. Yet some people are more likely to get an autoimmune disease than others Source: Healthline Advertisement Rachel was then put on a treatment for four days known as anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), which she said 'suppresses immune system' so it doesn't continue to attack the white blood cells. 'My body quickly felt the effects of the treatment - I couldn't walk a few steps without feeling out of breath,' she said, then spent three months in hospital recovering. 'It was confronting because I was in the ward with leukaemia patient and I was the youngest one there. 'The worst part was not knowing when or if I would recover.' Rachel's boyfriend was managing orders while she was in hospital, and thankfully her body has recovered well but remains on medication until at least February 2023. Rachel's boyfriend was managing orders while she was in hospital, and thankfully her body has recovered well but remains on medication until at least February 2023 While she maintained a fit and healthy lifestyle before, Rachel ensures she exercises daily, gets eight hours of sleep a night and eats organic food. And her business is thriving, with another collection soon to launch online The experience has taught Rachel to prioritise both her mental and physical health and gradually over time she's been able to regain her strength. 'I didn't realise how weak I had become until I left the hospital and felt tired walking down the stairs - I guess lying in bed for three months will do that to you,' she said. While she maintained a fit and healthy lifestyle before, Rachel ensures she exercises daily, gets eight hours of sleep a night and eats organic food. And her business is thriving, with another collection soon to launch online. The brand has also gained a strong Instagram following of more than 13,000 people. I am active, fit and healthy but, in February, I started having a heart flutter and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Since then I have been on blood-thinning tablets. Weirdly, my pulse seems to have returned to normal. Shall I stop treatment? Atrial fibrillation, also known as AF, is a common heart-rhythm problem in which the beating pattern becomes very fast and irregular. There are several different types of the condition. One, called paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, features sporadic periods of irregular heartbeats which last just a few days but keep recurring. There's also what's known as continuous atrial fibrillation, which never goes away without treatment. Atrial fibrillation, also known as AF, is a common heart-rhythm problem in which the beating pattern becomes very fast and irregular. There are several different types of the condition. (File image) Most people with atrial fibrillation also have another problem, including high blood pressure, a history of heart attack or a lifelong heart condition. Some have other health problems like diabetes or a bad infection. Drinking a lot of caffeine or alcohol also increases the risk of atrial fibrillation. The condition is serious because the erratic pulsating of the heart increases the risk of life-threatening blood clots and strokes. And those who suffer short bouts of this are just as likely to suffer these complications as those with continuous atrial fibrillation. Doctors treat the condition by controlling blood pressure and preventing clots using blood-thinning medication so patients should definitely keep taking the tablets. My 79-year-old wife has suffered urinary tract infections for the past two years. Antibiotics have helped ease the discomfort but do not get rid of the problem. She has HRT patches too, which I've read are supposed to help with problems like this. Can anything else be done? Urinary tract infections are incredibly common especially in elderly people. But it is really important that patients see a GP if they think they have an infection, because there might be other factors that are causing the symptoms. When patients develop a urinary tract infection, they feel the need to go to the toilet often, and suffer burning or soreness when urinating. Sometimes they notice a strong smell in the toilet, or that the water they pass is cloudy. A GP will perform something called a dipstick test to spot the infection. But there are other, more detailed tests which involve sending a sample off to a lab to find out exactly which bacteria is the issue. Doctors have to know the type of bacteria that are lurking around so they know which antibiotics to prescribe. But recurrent symptoms that seem to be a urinary tract infection may be due to something else. Crucially, it could be a sign of ovarian and other gynaecological cancers. The bladder sits very close to the womb and other organs. A problem with these organs can irritate the bladder, causing UTI-like symptoms. An ultrasound scan of the pelvis area would give a good indication of potential problems with these organs, as well as the bladder and kidneys. Changes after the menopause can cause symptoms similar to a UTI, mostly because a lack of oestrogen makes the tissues in the intimate area dry and irritated. If the issue is recurrent infections, doctors may suggest preventative antibiotics. This involves taking a daily low dose on a long-term basis, and has been proven to be highly effective. Can statins cause prickly heat rash? Ever since my husband started taking atorvastatin in September 2019, he's suffered extreme severe prickly heat. It happens every time we go abroad nothing soothes it. Prickly heat rash is a very uncomfortable reaction to very hot climates. It is caused by excessive sweating: sweat gets trapped in the glands under the skin, triggering small, raised, itchy spots. But it is not to be confused with another, similar condition called polymorphic light eruption. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR DR ELLIE? Email DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk or write to Health, The Mail on Sunday, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT. Dr Ellie can only answer in a general context and cannot respond to individual cases, or give personal replies. If you have a health concern, always consult your own GP. Advertisement This problem is caused by the skin's reaction to sunlight causing an itchy, burning rash. There are key differences. Polymorphic light eruption results from sunlight itself rather than just heat. It also causes blisters, burning or patches of raised pink or red spots. The reaction happens when sufferers haven't been exposed to sunlight in a long while, and symptoms can get worse in further sunlight. After a while, the skin of people with polymorphic light eruption becomes resistant to the sun patients find they can stay out for longer. But the affected areas of skin can become hard, and these patches can be difficult to get rid of. Patients can avoid it by covering the areas prone to rashes with loose-covering clothing and a good sun cream. Using an SPF50 sun block with a high UV-protection rating is important. Dermatologists recommend cream, steroid pills or antihistamines to stop the itchy, burning feeling. Specialists may also suggest increasing your resistance to the sun at home before travelling. This involves being in the sunshine for short periods every summer to build up tolerance. Drugs including statins can cause photosensitivity and reactions of the skin in the sun. This may be the case if the reaction appeared shortly after the course of drugs began but it can be difficult to pinpoint a direct trigger. Ditch silly ideas and get serious, Mr Khan Earlier this year London Mayor Sadiq Khan (above) toured California to, among other things, explore if London should follow its lead in legalising cannabis I am sick of politicians using taxpayers' money to fund silly public health ideas. Earlier this year London Mayor Sadiq Khan toured California to, among other things, explore if London should follow its lead in legalising cannabis. Now he wants to investigate potential benefits of decriminalising the drug. Last week it was revealed this five-day trip cost 35,000. Nearly 3,000 of that went on business-class flights. I could have given him an answer for free: no, we shouldn't legalise cannabis. Colleagues are already reporting an increase in young patients suffering mental health problems due to smoking too much dope. Plenty of evidence shows links between psychosis and frequent cannabis use, and doctors in California are warning about an impending crisis in weed-related complications as detailed in MoS deputy health editor Eve Simmons's recent report from LA. Perhaps that 35k could have been invested in recruiting more doctors and nurses, or cracking down on knife crime on London's streets serious public health ideas. Advertisement A dirty grill is yucky but safe Last month I warned of the dangers of food poisoning during barbecue season with cases of meat contamination rife. Now some readers have written to ask me about another potential risk: dirty grills. It seems you are concerned that bacteria lurking on the racks can cause similar infections. While they may be offputting, dirty grill racks don't pose the same risk of food poisoning as meat that isn't cooked properly. Any bacteria lurking on racks will be killed off instantly by the hot flames. The problem lies with meat contaminated with bacteria that doesn't get hot enough to destroy the bugs. While we're back on the subject, here's another tip: try not to dip meat raw or cooked in dips and marinades. It can easily lead to a host of bugs making their way across the entire spread. Radiotherapy for brain cancer is less risky than thought, a new study suggests. The treatment involves 'zapping' tumours with high-energy radiation which kills cancer cells. But this can also damage healthy tissue and, in rare cases, raise the risk of another cancer developing. But researchers at the University of Birmingham found the risk of it causing a second brain cancer is eight times lower than once believed. The study compared 3,679 patients with benign brain tumours who were given either radiotherapy or an alternative treatment. Over 20 years, secondary tumours occurred in four per cent of those who had undergone radiotherapy and 2.1 per cent who had an alternative treatment. The university's Dr Niki Karavitaki said: 'Although there is an increased risk, it is small.' Radiotherapy for brain cancer is less risky than thought, a new study suggests. The treatment involves 'zapping' tumours with high-energy radiation which kills cancer cells Heart warning in fatty thighs Having fatty thighs could be a sign you're at higher risk of heart failure in the future. Researchers took the thigh-fat measurements of 2,300 study participants and followed their health outcomes over 12 years. Analysis showed that those with the most thigh fat were a third more likely to develop heart failure than those with leaner thighs. Being overweight raises the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease where fatty deposits accumulate in the arteries, causing blockages. Patients may also develop type 2 diabetes. Having fatty thighs could be a sign you're at higher risk of heart failure in the future Scientists have made a model of a human heart using living cells and it beats just like the real thing. Measuring a single millimetre long and half that in diameter, the tiny model is of a human left ventricle the chamber of the heart that pumps freshly oxygenated blood into the aorta. The researchers implanted heart cells from a rat into a flexible plastic scaffold. Once the cells started to grow together, the scientists rolled the scaffold into a cone shape. Remarkably, the ventricle started beating after five days and can pump blood like a real heart. The team published their findings in the journal Advanced Biology and say models like this could be used to study the effects of drugs without testing them on animals. Internet searches for diabetes throw up dangerous misinformation, according to a new study. Researchers at the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) discovered that one in five internet searches relating to the chronic condition leads to inaccurate material. In one case, the top result was an advert for an organisation that aims to wean diabetes patients off medication which can be dangerous without supervision from a doctor. Professor Andrew Boulton of the IDF said: 'It's extremely concerning that so much misinformation is being spread online.' A blood test that can help prevent stroke victims from having another attack is now being offered on the NHS in a move that experts say will save lives. The test picks up genetic clues that show if patients will not respond to standard treatment allowing doctors to switch them on to more effective drugs. Experts say that roughly 25,000 Britons fall into this category, and until now it has been impossible to identify them. It comes three months after The Mail on Sunday published details of a major report calling for widespread use of the genetic tests, which experts say could prevent tens of thousands of strokes and heart attacks every year. A blood test that can help prevent stroke victims from having another attack is now being offered on the NHS in a move that experts say will save lives. (File image) Dr Alex Doney, a stroke specialist at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, the first UK NHS unit to offer the test, says: 'Genetic testing for stroke patients will save lives. 'For years, we've treated stroke patients on a one-size-fits-all basis, meaning people with completely different genetic make-ups receive exactly the same dose of the same drug. Yet we know that for many patients, the current drugs work no better than taking a placebo.' While the test is being used across 33 NHS hospitals in Scotland, the UK health watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is reviewing it for more widespread use. There are some 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK. The attacks the most common cause of disability happen when there are problems with the blood supply to the brain. There are two types. The most common is ischaemic stroke, where the blood supply is stopped due to a blood clot. These account for about nine in ten strokes. It comes three months after The Mail on Sunday published details of a major report calling for widespread use of the genetic tests, which experts say could prevent tens of thousands of strokes and heart attacks every year. (Picture posed by model) The other is a haemorrhagic stroke, which happens when there is a bleed on the brain because a weakened blood vessel that supplies the organ has ruptured. This can happen for a number of reasons, including injury to the head, abnormalities in the blood vessels and bleeding disorders. Most sufferers must take daily blood-thinning medication to prevent another stroke. The most common, for ischaemic strokes, is clopidogrel, which stops small blood cells called platelets from sticking together dramatically reducing the risk of clots. But in about a quarter of patients, clopidogrel does not work because they lack enzymes in the liver needed to process it. Those in this group are missing a gene called CYP219, which carries instructions for making the crucial enzymes. Now, NHS patients in Tayside are being given a blood test to spot this genetic mutation. Costing 22 per patient, it is carried out in a matter of minutes shortly after patients arrive at hospital, and clots have been identified. Samples are analysed at a laboratory and results come back within a week. Patients with the genetic mutation are offered alternative blood-thinning medicines, such as dipyridamole, which are equally as effective. Tailoring drugs to a patient's genetic profile is known medically as pharmacogenomics, and experts say there is potential to make a huge difference in many areas of medicine. Dr Doney says: 'This is the first step towards much broader implementation of this kind of precision medicine. The technology is now so advanced and so cheap to use that it's now no longer a question of if we should use genetic tests to improve healthcare, but how we should implement it.' Ronald Chimiak, 68, from Dundee, was one of the first UK patients to have the DNA test, days after suffering a stroke in May. It left the grandfather-of-three without movement in his left arm, and with slurred speech and a drooping left side to his face. He says: 'I know a few people who have had strokes and they've not been the same afterwards. I was worried about going the same way.' While in hospital, the part-time church volunteer was given the DNA test, which revealed he would not respond to clopidogrel. So he was prescribed another anti-platelet drug called ticagrelor and is now well on his way to recovery. He says: 'I can move my arm normally again, my speech has returned and the droop on my face has disappeared. If you looked at me, you'd never have thought I'd had a stroke.' Weird science: 'Toxic lady' made hospital staff ill Medics in a Californian hospital began fainting, choking and suffering muscle spasms after treating a female patient who became known as 'the toxic lady'. Gloria Ramirez died of cervical cancer, but not before 28 staff fell ill. An investigation revealed that she had self-medicated with dimethyl sulfoxide, a solvent used in pain-relief creams. It was believed the solvent reacted with oxygen and electric-shock treatment given to Ramirez, producing a poisonous gas called dimethyl sulfate, and that staff inhaled the gas she emitted, causing their disturbing symptoms. Medics in a Californian hospital began fainting, choking and suffering muscle spasms after treating a female patient who became known as 'the toxic lady'. Gloria Ramirez (above) died of cervical cancer, but not before 28 staff fell ill An operation that dates from the days of the pharaohs could save thousands who suffer brain injuries every year. It involves making a hole in the skull to ease swelling and pressure on the brain in a similar procedure to one used by ancient Egyptians as a religious ritual. A new study has found that patients who have the surgery, called a decompressive craniectomy, are a fifth more likely to survive than those given standard medication. Professor Peter Hutchinson, a consultant neurosurgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, who led on the study, said: 'Without any doubt, the operation can save lives.' An operation that dates from the days of the pharaohs could save thousands who suffer brain injuries every year. It involves making a hole in the skull to ease swelling and pressure on the brain in a similar procedure to one used by ancient Egyptians as a religious ritual Some 160,000 Britons are admitted to hospital each year with brain injuries, often caused by traffic collisions and falls. When the brain is injured, fluid can collect inside the skull, causing pressure that can restrict the blood supply. Eventually brain cells begin to die, causing memory loss, paralysis and even death. Patients are usually treated with drugs, but if these don't work, doctors may opt for a procedure called a ventriculostomy, in which a tube is inserted through a hole made in the skull to drain excess fluid. Some 160,000 Britons are admitted to hospital each year with brain injuries, often caused by traffic collisions and falls In a craniectomy, a larger 5in hole is made in the back of the skull and part of the membrane surrounding the brain is removed, instantly reducing pressure. The skin is then stitched back over the hole. Once the injury has healed, the hole in the skull is covered with a titanium plate. Previous research suggested that decompressive craniectomy carries a high risk of leaving patients disabled, but in a new study of 408 patients, published in the journal JAMA Neurology, patients who underwent craniectomy were 21 per cent more likely to survive for two years than those treated with drugs, and were more likely to make a good recovery. Russell Ramplin, 42, from Ipswich, had a craniectomy in 2020 after a motorbike crash. He has since made a near full recovery and earlier this year he had the missing section of his skull replaced with a titanium plate at Addenbrooke's. He says: 'I'm back on my feet again. I've got a job, a place to live and I've got no pain. 'It saved my life. I'm sure it could save others.' Let's hope that the new PM, whoever he or she turns out to be, listens to the business and financial community more closely than the current incumbent has done. That is not a comment on Brexit, or on the tax debate that is dividing the candidates, and it is certainly not a call for the Government to do everything that the commercial lobbyists want. It is plea for the new Government to think about the financial consequences of its decisions, rather than airily assuming that the private sector can cope. Changing of the guard: The race is underway to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson Stand back and think about economic policies. They fall into three main groups. There is fiscal policy, the whole tax and spend side of things, and an enormous amount of attention is paid to that. There is monetary policy, subcontracted to the Bank of England but with the Government ultimately on the hook when things go wrong. It is the taxpayer that has to bail out the banks or pay the higher interest on the national debt if rates go up. And there are a vast range of things that governments do in regulation and legislating that affect the economy. These are lumped together as structural policies. Most of the debate is about the first two, and not nearly enough about the third. But how? Last weekend, this newspaper carried some thoughtful comments from business leaders. Marks & Spencer chairman, Archie Norman, himself a former Tory MP, called for a post-Brexit reset 'a long-term plan for productivity and competitiveness'. John Allan, chairman at both Tesco and Barratt Developments, said much the same. A reset 'is long overdue and hopefully now a possibility'. He wanted the Government to set out 'a comprehensive strategy that it is willing to commit to for the long term'. I can see the need for a reset of policy and the attraction of longer-term thinking. And I'd urge the new Government to work far more closely with business leaders. But I would also urge caution. Those long-term plans have to be right. Germany made the long-term plan to rely on Russian gas, shutting down its nuclear power stations and building more pipelines to get the gas in. That does not look very bright now. Or you could point to failures of business planning, including in companies such as M&S and Tesco. M&S shares are down 56 per cent in the past five years. And Tesco's failed effort between 2007 and 2013 to build its Fresh & Easy brand in America is a classic study of how careful, detailed planning can go catastrophically wrong. It cost shareholders $2billion (1.7billion) to extract Tesco from the US. That is not to blame the current chairs, both of whom are making a decent fist of trying to pull those companies round. It is rather to focus attention on a different aspect of what the Government should do. It needs a reset certainly, but not so much in strategy, rather in attitude. The UK is in the middle of two economic transitions. One is the shift of trading relations away from Europe and towards the rest of the world, the other the shift to new technologies. Governments need to foster both. They need enormous attention to detail. In the case of the first the task is not so much to sign deals with other trading blocs, though that is helpful. It is more a question of looking at why exporters are meeting headwinds, why domestic producers are finding it tough to increase market share, how we help importers diversify away from Europe to cheaper suppliers elsewhere and so on. Are we taking advantage of regulatory freedoms, or are we creating new regulations that place an additional administrative burden on business? Customers pay for that admin in higher prices. As a twist to the point about regulation, that is the concern of small and medium-sized enterprises. Big business can hire professionals to cope. Small ones can't. So regulation actually helps big business at the expense of small fry. The second transition is ultimately even more important than the shift of trade. We have to build the businesses of the future, but no one knows what those businesses will be. The UK does not do badly by European standards in business start-ups, but we do not do as well as the US. So we need a Government that will listen to everyone, to universities, to would-be entrepreneurs, to investors the whole, complex, chaotic world of the market economy. And then, bit by bit, take what it is hearing, and think of the business implications of everything it does. Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below. Apology: Emma Stott, from tech provider Chess ICT C.M. writes: Chess ICT Ltd, a large phone and broadband provider, used my direct debit to take money from my bank account for services I had not requested or agreed to. It introduced a fraud monitoring service that requires the customer to opt out rather than opt in, and assumes that silence constitutes acceptance. I believe this is against the law, but Chess ICT appears to have applied it to all its customers. Tony Hetherington replies: What you have described is inertia selling. A business tells the customer it will provide a service and collect payment unless the customer cancels the service, which, of course, the customer never ordered in the first place. Under a succession of laws going back to the 1970s, inertia selling has pretty much been wiped out as unlawful. But there is a loophole, and it is quite a big one. The law only fully protects ordinary consumers, and not businesses. You and your wife run a bed-and-breakfast business, so you are fair game. Emma Stott, who heads customer services at Chess ICT, explained that this is why the company used an opt-out system when it launched its fraud monitor service, which she says has been a huge success, saving hundreds of business customers hundreds of thousands of pounds. The service was offered free for the first three months, after which charges kicked in. But she added: 'As there has clearly been some form of miscommunication, we can only apologise and offer a full credit for the fraud monitoring service of 98.26 plus VAT.' Chess ICT is topping this up with a 50 ex-gratia payment. I have to admit that it is years since I last received any complaint about inertia selling, so it has been startling to find that anyone in business even the smallest self-employed trader working from a back bedroom can find themselves without legal protection. Yet this is exactly the situation. Sylvia Rook, an expert on fair trading laws with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, told me: 'It makes no difference if the business is large or small. The law looks at whether the goods or services are used principally by a business or by a consumer.' And she explained that the original 1971 law banning inertia selling does protect businesses when unsolicited goods are supplied, but this protection does not apply to unsolicited services. All the various laws and regulations that have come into force since 1971 have, in any event, only applied to consumers, leaving businesses out in the cold. The huge growth in the number of people who work for themselves, often from home, has left millions exposed to inertia selling deals, which unlike the service from Chess ICT are little more than very expensive scams. Whoever ends up with whichever Government job over the next several weeks, I suggest they look urgently at this before a loophole turns into a costly scandal. What became of my 20,420 from HSBC? M.W. writes: HSBC has failed to transfer 20,420 from an account I closed into my new account with a different bank. Should HSBC compensate me and reimburse me for the time my funds have been beyond my control? HSBC has failed to transfer 20,420 from an account M.W. closed into his new account with a different bank Tony Hetherington replies: You opened an account with the fledgling Starling Bank, and HSBC confirmed in writing that your euros worth about 17,300 had been transferred. More than three weeks later, HSBC emailed you, saying the transfer had bounced. You complained and, after a further seven weeks, HSBC said it had made the transfer again. However, a fortnight later the money had still not arrived in your Starling account. HSBC then said it had transferred 19,000, followed by a separate transfer of almost 900, leaving 63 unaccounted for. The bank told me: 'The incorrect details were provided by the customer for the transaction, but we communicated in error that a further payment had been issued.' You have told me that you disagree, and that your branch gave you a six-page form for the transfer, which you completed, but HSBC later claimed it only had four pages. When Starling first returned your money, HSBC had already closed your account, so it simply landed in one of the bank's own holding accounts, and in pounds, not euros. This whole process has taken several months. HSBC offered 250 to make up for the delays, but this included the remaining 63 and, you say, barely covered losses made in changes from euros to sterling and then back to euros. You have now complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the hope of a better decision. Infuriating cost of calling taxman A.G. writes: Are others experiencing, like me, a wait of up to an hour on the phone to reach a real person at Revenue & Customs? As it is not a free number, we are paying a huge amount just to wait in a queue. The Revenue has an annoying system that makes you listen to automated messages, a robot asks you the nature of your enquiry, then repeats it back to you, then repeats your National Insurance number, and then cuts you off as the revenue is too busy to take your call. A.G. waited up to an hour on the phone to reach a real person at Revenue & Customs Tony Hetherington replies: You are not alone. Your letter will strike a chord with anyone who has tried to make an enquiry about their income tax. Once upon a time, you could walk into any local tax office and make an enquiry at the counter. Today, this is impossible and you have to think twice before wasting time and money on a phone call. The taxman uses 0300 numbers which charge up to 10p a minute from a landline and up to 40p a minute from a mobile. Revenue officials tell me none of this money goes to them, and all of it goes to the network provider. They are recruiting extra staff for their helplines and, they say, have cut the average waiting time to just over 12 minutes. All I can say from personal experience is that some callers must have been very lucky. My own calls have had me listening over and over again to the infuriating message telling me the answer to my question might well be found by looking at the Revenue's website. It is tempting to scream 'Liar!' back at the robot. Could the taxman not play this message just once or twice rather than indefinitely? A spokesperson told me: 'These messages are not something we have plans to change.' And it dares to call us 'customers' nowadays instead of 'taxpayers'. If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned. In a new series, we answer YOUR burning money questions... I used to have an EHIC in case I needed medical help when on holiday in Europe. Now we have left the European Union, what has the EHIC been replaced by and how do I get one? SW, Lincolnshire. Ruth Jackson-Kirby replies: The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) afforded British travellers free medical treatment when travelling in Europe. Since January last year, British citizens can no longer apply for one. All change: The European Health Insurance Card has been replaced by the Global Health Insurance Card The good news is that the EHIC has been replaced by the new Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). And if you still have an EHIC you can use it until it expires. The GHIC entitles you to the same free treatment that locals receive in state-run hospitals and GP surgeries in Europe. You should get free emergency treatment and care in an accident and emergency department in most countries. You also won't usually have to pay for treatment for pre-existing medical conditions and maternity care unless you have gone abroad to give birth. If needed, you should also get free oxygen and kidney dialysis in most places. However, state healthcare is not free in all European countries, so there is no guarantee a GHIC will get you the treatment you need for free. Ceri McMillan, travel insurance spokesperson for comparison website Go Compare, says: 'Many countries don't have a free healthcare service as we do in the UK. If private healthcare is your only option, a GHIC will not cover this.' You should therefore still take out travel insurance for trips in Europe, even if you have a GHIC. That way, you are covered if you need private care or need to be flown home. McMillan adds: 'Travel insurance is still needed for eventualities such as cancellations, disruptions, and if anything happens to your luggage or personal belongings.' Also, don't be fooled by the name of the GHIC: it does not cover you all around the globe. It covers you in the 27 member countries of the European Union, but not the non-EU countries that the EHIC covered, which were Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican don't accept the GHIC or the EHIC. However, the UK does have reciprocal healthcare agreements with a few other countries including Australia and New Zealand, and Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. This means that you can use your GHIC to access free state medical care in these countries. However, make sure you read up on the agreement before you travel to any of them, so you know exactly what you are covered for. You can apply for a GHIC for free on the NHS website at nhs.uk/usingthe-nhs/healthcare-abroad/ apply-for-a-free-uk-global-healthinsurance-card-ghic. If you cannot apply online you can phone 0191 218 1999 for assistance. Make sure you apply for a GHIC directly via the NHS website. There are a number of third-party websites that try to charge you to apply for one and they are often made to look similar to the official website, so beware. You should never have to pay for a GHIC. To apply for the card, you'll need to provide your National Insurance number, and, in some cases, you may be asked for your NHS number. You will also be asked for your full name, address and date of birth. You can find your NI number on a payslip or letters about your pension or benefits. If you don't have your NHS number, you can look it up at nhs.uk/nhs-services/onlineservices/find-nhs-number. GHICs last for five years and if you lose yours you can apply for a replacement online at NHS.uk. Finally, don't forget to take your GHIC with you when you travel, and print out details of your travel insurance. You will need to show both to medical staff when seeking treatment and to make an insurance claim. It is also worth taking a photo of your GHIC and emailing it to yourself so you have a copy should you lose it while abroad. If you do forget your GHIC and need medical assistance while you are in an EU country, you can apply for a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) via the NHS Overseas Healthcare Services. Go to: nhsbsa.nhs.uk/contact-us/ overseas-healthcare-services-contact-us. Someone else can apply for a PRC on your behalf if necessary. According to the NHS it is taking longer than usual to process new GHIC applications. It advises that if you need emergency treatment while abroad and have not yet received a card, you should apply for a PRC. Will 653 million be enough to keep the wolves from Aston Martin's door? The Mail on Sunday revealed in January that the luxury car marque might have to ask share investors for fresh funds for a fourth time. But in response to that story, a spokesperson for Aston Martin said: 'Aston Martin Lagonda has no requirement or plans to raise additional funds.' Driving a hard bargain: Aston Martin said it wants to carry out a rights issue and placing totalling 653m Then in an about turn, Aston Martin said last week it wants to carry out a rights issue and placing totalling 653 million backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Mercedes-Benz and Lawrence Stroll's investment vehicle. James Congdon, who runs the Quest research unit at broker Canaccord Genuity, said: 'The quantum of money being raised this time means Aston Martin have bought themselves a bit of time, maybe two to three years. 'But it is still basically burning through cash and has a load of debt. If there is a real recession Aston Martin might have to raise money again in three years.' IAG climbing short positions table British Airways' owner International Airlines Group is creeping up the leaderboard for London-listed companies with short positions placed against them. According to Shortracker.com, 4.8 per cent of IAG shares are on loan, making it the eighth most shorted stock. Amid IAG's summer woes, do the hedge funds scent further bad news for the shares? IAG had to raise 2.75billion via a rights issue in July 2020 and some wags claim it may soon have to tap shareholders for fresh funds. FirstGroup offer sour for Robert Tchenguiz A 1.2billion-plus cash offer for bus and rail operator FirstGroup is likely to leave Robert Tchenguiz with a sour taste. During the March 2020 stockmarket rout, the tycoon's stockbrokers closed out his near 100million punt on FirstGroup, sending the shares as low as 32p. Since then his brokers have been chasing him for money they claim he owes on the investment in FirstGroup that went wrong. Now gossips claim FirstGroup could soon be on the receiving end of a 150p-a-share cash bid from infrastructure investor I Squared Capital and that the bid could be unveiled as early as next week because it has a 'put up or shut up' deadline. If only the colourful tycoon had managed to keep hold of his 100million bet on FirstGroup! Frisson of excitement around Ted Baker Rumours began to circulate around the ailing fashion brand that it might be close to concluding its sale process with a formal offer for the company. Authentic Brands, the owner of Reebok, and US-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners have previously been reported to have given up their respective pursuits of Ted Baker. Now, the talk is that a US-based private equity house has shown a strong interest in buying the company and may be close to tabling a formal offer at 130p a share. Whether, though, that potential offer comes from Sycamore Partners or another American buy-out house remains to be seen. People wait to receive a COVID-19 test at a screening center in Songpa District, Seoul, Sunday, amid the spread of the omicron subvariant. Yonhap South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 40,000 on Sunday due to the spread of a highly contagious new omicron subvariant despite fewer tests over the weekend. The country reported 40,342 new COVID-19 infections, including 305 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,761,757, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's figure is slightly down from 41,310 cases a day earlier. But it marked the highest figure for a Sunday since April 24 when the caseload reached 64,696. The country has seen a marked increase in infections from end-June due to the spread of the omicron subvariant BA.5. amid eased virus curbs. The daily count hit over 10,000 on June 29 for the first time in about three weeks before jumping to over 20,000 on July 9 and then above 40,000 on Wednesday. The infection tally on Thursday and Friday stood at 39,186 and 38,882, respectively. The KDCA reported 14 deaths from the virus Sunday, putting the death toll at 24,742. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients was 71, up from the previous day's 70. The country has entered a new virus wave, ending a downward trend from the peak of more than 620,000 in mid-March, but the daily infections could surge to over 200,000 next month, the health agency said. To stem the spread of the BA.5 subvariant, the government said Wednesday it will expand eligibility for the fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot to people aged 50 and older, as well as people aged 18 and older who have underlying health conditions. The fourth COVID-19 vaccine shots will be made available for the newly added people Monday, the KDCA said. Currently, people aged 60 and older and people who have an immune disorder are eligible for the fourth vaccine dose. The move comes as the nation is facing another resurgence of the virus, driven by the highly contagious mutation of the omicron strain BA.5, which is known to be more contagious and better able to escape immunity compared with earlier versions. By the end of this month, the government plans to expand the number of "one-stop" COVID-19 treatment centers, where people can take virus tests, get in-person medical care services and receive antiviral drugs, to 10,000 from the current 6,338. The BA.5 subvariant accounted for 35 percent of the country's total COVID-19 cases in the second week of July, up from 28.2 percent a week earlier, the KDCA said. (Yonhap) The former chief executive of British Airways owner IAG has slammed the boss of Heathrow airport for his failure to cope with a surge in demand this summer, describing the situation as 'farcical'. Willie Walsh told The Mail on Sunday he has no sympathy for airport chief John Holland-Kaye as holidaymakers prepare to jet off for their summer breaks. He said the airport 'should have been better prepared' and 'clearly can't cope' with the rise in demand. Flying into trouble: Willie Walsh said the airport 'should have been better prepared' and 'clearly can't cope' with the rise in demand Walsh stopped short of calling for top bosses at the debt-laden airport to be sacked over the crisis. But he added: 'If we are in the same position next year, then without question people should be fired.' He made his comments amid calls for Holland-Kaye to find a better solution to the issue. He has been given an ultimatum by the Department for Transport to draw up a 'credible' plan to end the continuing travel trouble. But the condemnation by Walsh, one of the most powerful figures in the industry and who now represents a group of the world's largest airlines, will pile further pressure on Holland-Kaye and the airport's foreign investors. Heathrow last week told airlines to stop selling tickets for summer and imposed a new daily limit of 100,000 passengers until September. It said the cuts would keep service at an acceptable level as long queues, baggage delays and cancellations have left the airport in chaos. Walsh who runs IATA which represents hundreds of airlines including British Airways, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic told the MoS: 'I think they should have been better prepared. It is farcical imposing these restrictions at the last minute on airlines when in many cases they have sold tickets. It is a terrible way of doing business.' Walsh also backed up comments by the Civil Aviation Authority that Heathrow investors the Spanish giant Ferrovial and the Qatar Investment Authority may now need to stump up cash. 'The shareholders are extremely rich,' he said. 'They have done extremely well out of Heathrow. I think there is a strong case that has been made that, if Heathrow's balance sheet needs to be repaired, the first place it should go now is to its shareholders.' The world's largest airline Emirates has also criticised the passenger cap, describing the dire situation at the airport as 'Airmaggedon'. Holland-Kaye said the unprecedented measure was vital after '40 years of passenger growth in just four months' with some of its critical functions still 'significantly under-resourced'. On Friday, he was told by Ministers to say how he would solve Heathrow's issues, particularly security screening and helping disabled passengers. Disruption is set to continue at Heathrow this week as staff at one of the airport's key refuelling companies prepare for a three-day strike which will affect major airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Delta and KLM. It is understood many in the industry are speculating Holland-Kaye is running out of time to solve the crisis. The problems have shifted focus to the airport group's stretched balance sheet. The Mail on Sunday has found that Heathrow's parent company paid no corporation tax in five of the last ten years of its operation. An investigation into its finances over the past decade show the airport paid out roughly 10billion in 'finance costs' largely to service its vast 15billion debt. Such payments can significantly reduce profit at indebted companies and, therefore, count as corporation tax liabilities. At the same time it paid dividends of about 4billion. Analysis of Heathrow's company filings reveal that Holland-Kaye was paid almost 10million since 2018, with his pay rising by 700,000 to 1.5million last year. A Heathrow spokesman said the firm is 'one of the largest taxpayers in the UK, contributing 210million of tax in 2021'. It said its tax contribution over the past six years 'exceeds 1.7billion' including 762million in business rates. But MP Ruth Cadbury, who is on the Parliamentary Transport Committee, said Heathrow's finances 'need looking at'. She said: 'You can be a company in debt, pay your shareholders and the taxpayers get nothing. Yet ordinary people are having to face a National Insurance rise. That is shocking.' Walsh added that Heathrow's 'mindset was all driven around economic regulation and not looking after the customer'. Telecom giants Vodafone Group and Three are considering a merger of their UK divisions, according to City sources. The combination would be a joint venture with ownership split equally between the two groups, the sources said. It would bring together the third and fourth largest mobile network operators in the UK behind BT's EE and Virgin Media O2. It's good to talk: Vodafone had revenue of 6.6billion last year, while Three UK's revenue stood at 2.5billion Three UK's Hong Kong owner, CK Hutchison, would likely inject a lump sum of cash into the venture, in part due to its smaller size, the sources said. It is understood a merger between the pair was due to be announced at Vodafone's full-year results in May but the process has been delayed. Vodafone had revenue of 6.6billion last year, while Three UK's revenue stood at 2.5billion. Speculation that Vodafone is considering a partnership with Three UK has been ongoing since Europe's largest activist investor, Cevian Capital, emerged with a stake in the group earlier this year. Cevian has called for mergers and acquisitions in key markets, including the UK, to improve Vodafone's ailing share price. Vodafone chief executive Nick Read last year said he was in favour of consolidation in the UK. Hutchison has been keen to offload Three UK for a while, having struggled to generate returns on the investment, City sources said. One said its owners may even close the business if a solution is not found. He added that telecoms firms already had sizeable energy bills and the recent rise in energy costs will have piled further pressure on Three UK's financial performance and it is 'feeling the squeeze'. Industry watchers are hoping for the UK Competition and Markets Authority to follow the European Union's lead in allowing telecom mergers. A merger of Vodafone and Three in the UK would mean the number of dominant players would be reduced from four to three. But City lawyers are doubtful the CMA would clear any deal, saying its outlook on mergers has not changed since the attempted linkup of O2 and Three UK, when it expressed 'serious' concerns to the European Commission about the impact on UK consumers. Analysts at Assembly Research expect prices would be 'top of mind' for the CMA when assessing any merger or partnership between Three and Vodafone, 'particularly given the cost of living crisis'. Vodafone, Hutchison and Three UK were contacted for comment. Perhaps it is understandable that the French-Moroccan billionaire stalking BT was, until recently, unknown to most Britons. One of the most powerful businessmen in France and regarded by some as an ally of President Emmanuel Macron, Patrick Drahi had built up his sprawling empire while barely troubling the UK. But in the past year he has exploded on to the scene, ruffling feathers not only in the telecoms industry and stock market, but with senior figures in Whitehall. Last week, Ministers extended an investigation into his interest in BT, already under way for seven weeks. That is unlikely to trouble a man so clearly used to biding his time. Plugged in: Patrick Drahi is now the biggest single shareholder in BT Drahi, worth an estimated 5billion, has spent three decades building up his vast network of companies across France, Israel, Luxembourg and beyond. The Mail on Sunday can this weekend reveal his entrepreneurial endeavours stretch back to the early 1990s when he was awarded a mandate for the launch of a cable network in Beijing. He slowly built his expertise, first advising European cable firm UPC on its acquisitions strategy, then creating his company, Altice, in 2001. But analysis of his business journey suggests it has only been in the past decade that his group reached a significant global scale. At first largely limited to France, Altice has in more recent years used the availability of cheap debt to snap up rivals in Europe and the US to build the $11.7billion (10billion) behemoth of today. Not much is publicly known about Drahi, who also owns auctioneer Sotheby's. But in France he remains a significant influence. He has stakes in venerable Left-wing daily Liberation, co-founded in 1973 by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, and magazine L'Express. He has also been described as a 'friend' of Macron. Drahi's firm was also forced to respond to reports in 2016 linking him to the Panama Papers a giant leak of private financial information on offshore holdings with the telecoms mogul's people issuing a fierce rebuttal of any wrongdoing at the time. Other analysis also shows how Drahi's vast business empire has spawned firms in other tax-friendly vicinities such as Luxembourg and Guernsey. Again, there is no suggestion of impropriety. But there is growing interest in his activities ever since Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed an investigation into Drahi's stake in BT. Ally: Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte The group, formerly known as British Telecom, provides the UK with its internet and telecom services through its fibre infrastructure company Openreach, as well as owning mobile network EE and providing security software. It also provides service contracts across Government departments and it is understood to be used by Britain's security forces. Altice Europe increased its stake in BT from 12.1 per cent, first declared just over a year ago, to 18 per cent in mid-December, making it the single biggest shareholder. At that stage Drahi said he did not plan to buy the business outright. But his interest has sparked widespread speculation that he may still launch an 18billion takeover of the national asset, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. A Government source said BT, Britain's largest telecommunications provider, is the 'exact kind of critical infrastructure' that national security legislation is meant to protect. It is not yet clear what issues are being investigated by officials, but it is understood intelligence is being shared across different ministerial departments. Only last week the investigation was extended amid reports the Government had requested more information about the situation piquing interest. It is almost certain the Government would intervene in any takeover attempt. The most drastic outcome could even include Kwarteng forcing Drahi to sell his existing shares, City sources suggested. The billionaire has a reputation for slashing costs. He was once described by the Financial Times as the 'king of cost cutting'. The newspaper said suppliers to SFR were asked for big discounts after he bought the French telecoms giant. It is unclear if concerns about such strategies, or the potential use of debt in any acquisition of BT, form part of the Government's worries. One City lawyer described the purpose of the investigation as a 'mystery', but said the recent delay means there 'must have been some issues it wants to work through'. The lawyer said: 'Altice's chief executive doesn't have the best reputation for cost cutting and shedding jobs'. Carl Murdock-Smith, a telecoms analyst at Berenberg Bank, expressed similar observations, adding that Drahi's 'love of leverage' using debt to buy companies was self-evident. He said: 'That can make you rich when it works, but is it the approach for a strategic national asset?' Sources said the Government might impose conditions on Drahi keeping his existing stake. At the very least, he has found himself on the Government's radar and he is likely to remain there until his long-term intentions become abundantly clear. TikTok has ordered London staff back to the office for a minimum of two days a week to 'inspire creativity' and make the business 'stronger'. The social media giant emailed employees encouraging them to attend the office three days a week with a minimum of two days on site required, after some staff spent the past two years working remotely. 'We believe that face-to-face interaction can inspire creativity and creates irreplaceable value,' the email said. Finger on the pulse: TikTok emailed employees encouraging them to attend the office three days a week with a minimum of two days on site required It added: 'Spending time together helps build mutual understanding and trust, which makes us a closer team and a stronger business. We want to balance the need to bring our people together while offering flexibility that respects team and employee needs.' Employees have been told to make the change this month, with some granted a period of grace until September before they have to complete the move. It is understood the approach may vary across teams and exceptions to the two-day rule may be made according to the demands of different jobs and individual circumstances. Other big tech firms have already begun to make the shift. Google required employees to be in the office at least three days a week from April. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told The Wall Street Journal: 'I think we can be more purposeful about the time they're in, making sure group meetings, collaboration, creative brainstorming, or community building happens then.' But he added many staff will continue to 'enjoy the flexibility of working from home a couple [of] days [a] week, spending time in another city for part of the year, or even moving there permanently.' A majestic, pillared branch of Bank of Scotland has stood proudly on Forres high street for 168 years. Bank of Scotland and its predecessor Caledonian Bank have served generation after generation of residents and small firms in the north Scotland town. Like so many rural bank branches across the UK, the Forres branch was until last week at the core of its community. But at 3pm on Monday, as the clock tower bell chimed three times, the door shut for business for the last time. Tearful staff and customers said their final farewells. A dozen cards with messages such as 'Sorry to see you go' adorned the counter. Tragedy: Michael Fassbender, left, in the 2015 movie Macbeth and, above, the Forres site where a bank has stood for the last 168 years The closure means there is now not a single bank branch in Forres. Its small business owners and 12,000 residents will have to travel 12 miles to the nearest branch, which is in Elgin. Those without a car will need to pay 8.50 to get there on the irregular train service. Forres is the setting for Shakespeare's play Macbeth, so locals are well versed in double-dealings and bloody plots. But even they have been shocked at the betrayal of the banks that were part of their community for so long. Forres, 25 miles east of Inverness on the Moray Firth, is one of hundreds of communities being abandoned by banks as branches are shut in their droves. Campaigners warn that banks are dashing to get out of town before new rules kick in that will make it harder for them to do so. They fear that amid the upheaval of a new Prime Minister, the introduction of new regulations could take even longer, triggering even more branch closures. Derek French, a former bank executive and founder of the Campaign for Community Banking Services, says: 'Banks are understandably falling over themselves to get out of town before regulations are introduced to stop them fleeing. 'I fear at this rate, by the time rules are introduced it will be far too late for many there must be a stop to all closures with immediate effect.' Experts fear the number of closures could accelerate in the second half of the year with more than 500 closing in total throughout 2022. Already Lloyds has announced it is axing at least 88 branches this year including some under its Bank of Scotland and Halifax brands. Barclays is shutting more than 130 while HSBC is to cut at least 69. TSB is shutting 70 branches, and Santander and NatWest also plan to wield the bank axe. The Mail on Sunday has long campaigned for legislation to protect access to cash and banking services in all communities. As many as 5.4million people in the UK rely on cash for their day-today needs, including the most vulnerable in society. After years of campaigning by The Mail on Sunday and consumer groups, the Government finally announced plans in May to introduce rules to stop the last bank in town from quitting a community without a full consultation. The new rules are part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which is due to go before Parliament this year. But, the plight of Forres is a perfect example of the harm being done while we wait for the regulations to kick in. There are around 200 more towns like Forres at risk of losing their last bank branch. Conservative Moray MP, Douglas Ross, says that Bank of Scotland's departure from his constituency town of Forres is 'totally unacceptable and a dereliction of duty to local customers'. He says: 'This closure beggars belief. Many customers particularly the elderly and vulnerable rely on this bank. Broadband is not reliable around Moray and online services are just no substitute for a face-to-face service.' Residents who do not wish to travel will have to rely on basic banking services at the Post Office, positioned at the back of the local Spar mini-market where queues can snake out the door. Many come simply to withdraw cash, a service that will be even more in demand now that Bank of Scotland is also removing its ATM machine. Lloyds justifies the Forres closure by claiming branch usage has fallen by more than half in five years, with many customers now preferring to bank online. Usage fell by a fifth over the last year. But at nearby Macbeth's Butchers and Game Dealers, butcher Karen Logan shakes her head in disbelief at its excuses. The 48-year-old says: 'This bank has been at the heart of our town for more than a century and always been really busy. As a business customer this closure is distressing. 'All this talk of everyone wanting to go digital and bank online is utter rubbish it is just a front for a greedy cost-cutting drive.' Opposite the Bank of Scotland branch is The Bike Bothy shop owned by Kevin Riddoch, who is disappointed the bank has not adapted with the times, unlike his bike shop that has gone almost all-electric in the past couple of years. Kevin says: 'Why could the bank not explore the shared banking hub idea as other communities have adopted? Surely a thriving town like ours would be perfect for such an idea. There was no consultation or other solutions explored it simply decided to shut up shop.' Shared banking hubs were heralded as one solution to bank branch closures. Five high street banks share one outlet and offer basic banking services to all of their customers. The banks NatWest, Santander, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays also offer more extensive services to their customers, each on a different day of the week. Anger: Karen Logan of Macbeth's Butchers and Game Dealers in Forres cannot believe the bank has closed However, the shared hubs roll-out has been mired by delays. So far only two have opened, in Rochford, Essex, and Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire. A further five hubs were due to be opened this year, but plans appear to have stalled. These were for Acton, West London; Brixham, Devon; Carnoustie, Angus; Knaresborough, North Yorkshire; and Syston in Leicestershire. It was announced earlier this year further shared bank hubs will open in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire; Cottingham in Yorkshire; as well as Troon in South Ayrshire. Cash machine network Link is being charged with finding locations for potential future shared bank branches. It, too, is still waiting for legislation to be finalised. John Howells, chief executive of Link, says: 'Cash remains popular. We still expect legislation to be published soon that places the Financial Conduct Authority in charge of access to cash and makes Link responsible for helping to protect communities.' As well as requesting a shared banking hub, communities without access to cash can also ask that Link installs a free-to-use ATM. The 100th was installed last week. Cash campaigner and chair of the Access to Cash Action Group, Natalie Ceeney, adds: 'We are fighting for freedom of choice giving everyone the right to choose cash in addition to other payment methods is vital. Many are dependent on cash for budgeting and with the cost-of-living squeeze they are highly dependent on access to cash.' Back in Forres, resident and estate agent Rebecca Garner fears bank closures can rip the heart out of communities and leave some of the grandest central buildings abandoned. The 32-year-old says: 'Such closures are a huge loss to the spirit of communities. Boarding up buildings in the centre of town and leaving them empty for sometimes years can turn a bustling high street into a ghost town. 'It is wrong banks can close without showing a shred of social responsibility towards the community they served.' Three doors down from the Forres Bank of Scotland is the old Clydesdale, which shut in 2015 after more than 100 years serving the community. The dilapidated boarded-up front is a reflection of how the newly closed neighbour might soon look. A TSB shut earlier this year is also now boarded up. Sadly, it is a bleak future facing many high streets unless action is taken immediately to stop such closures. A worker at a Vietnamese restaurant was allegedly kidnapped in a car and assaulted by his female boss after being 'caught with his fingers in the till'. The family-run Mama Hong's at Lane Cove on Sydney's lower north shore where the alleged abduction took place is now set to reopen after four months - and is looking to hire new employees. The actions of the staff member who was allegedly taken to an unknown location and assaulted before being dumped in a park are still being investigated by police. Restaurant co-owner Ann Ngo, 37, and two other employees including the father of her children have been charged with kidnapping and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company. Ann Ngo, co-owner of Mama Hong's Vietnamese restaurant at Lane Cove on Sydney's lower north shore, has been charged with kidnapping and assaulting a worker who was allegedly caught trying to steal. The 37-year-old mother-of-two is pictured Ann Ngo, a mother-of-two who grew up at Cabramatta in Sydney's south-west, opened Mama Hong's with a cousin in the Lane Cove Arcade in April last year. The restaurant (above) served homemade classics such as pho and banh mi. Ngo, a mother-of-two who grew up at Cabramatta in Sydney's south-west, opened Mama Hong's with a cousin in the Lane Cove Arcade in April last year. The bakery-cum-cafe served homemade Vietnamese classics such as pho and banh mi and came after the pair operated another eatery under the same name at Concord, in the inner-west, which closed due to Covid-19. Ngo told local news website In The Cove that Mama Hong's, which prided itself on good customer service, had been welcomed by a supportive community. 'We don't have uni degrees, but we know how to work hard and with love,' Ngo said. 'Our parents escaped the war in Vietnam for a chance at a better life. Through their sacrifices, we have been blessed with the opportunity to do this.' Ngo, who grew up at Cabramatta in Sydney's south-west, told local news website In The Cove that Mama Hong's had been welcomed by a supportive community. Ngo is pictured Mama Hong's is now set to re-open after four months - and is looking for new staff. A sign in the restaurant's window this week said the owners wanted workers to 'join our team' Police allege a 22-year-old employee of the restaurant was caught opening the cash register while the restaurant was closed about 9pm. 'A short time later, two men - aged 37 and 28 - entered the business before they allegedly assaulted the 22-year-old man,' police said in a statement. The 28-year-old was Dominic Tran, who is also involved in the restaurant, and the 37-year-old is chef Nathan Yeung, the father of Ngo's children. 'The 22-year-old man was then driven to an unknown location, where [Ngo] entered the vehicle and allegedly assaulted him,' police allege. The employee was allegedly released at a park on Henley Marine Parade at Drummoyne in the city's inner-west about 11.50pm. He was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with head and facial injuries. The employee was allegedly driven to an unknown location, assaulted by Ngo and released at a Brett Park in Henley Marine Parade at Drummoyne in Sydney's inner-west (pictured) The next morning officers attached to North Shore police area command attended Mama Hong's and arrested Yeung and Tran. Later in the day investigators went to a home in the inner-west and arrested Ngo, who was refused bail at Burwood police station. All three were charged with take/detain in company with intent to get advantage occasioning actual bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company. A Facebook post on June 9 said Mama Hong's would be reopening soon. A police spokesman confirmed investigations into the alleged abduction victim's actions were continuing Ngo applied for bail on March 25 and it was refused. She made another attempt in the Supreme Court on May 13 and was successful. Among her bail conditions are that Ngo not associate with her alleged co-offenders, who are also on bail, or communicate with their alleged victim. All three will appear in Burwood Local Court later this month. They have not yet entered pleas. A police spokesman confirmed investigations into the alleged victim's actions were continuing. A Facebook post on June 9 said Mama Hong's would be reopening soon. It is understood the restaurant will be renamed Pho Bar. A sign in the restaurant's window this week said the owners were looking for workers to 'join our team'. A man paid more than $1,300 for an Uber from Paris to London to get home in time for his shift as the world's travel crisis hits a new low. Steven, a 32-year-old healthcare worker from the United Kingdom who lived in Australia for several years, was travelling through France during Europe's first interrupted summer in three years before the trip was brought to a screeching halt. His 9pm Sunday evening flight was repeatedly delayed until it reached midnight, with airport staff then informing weary passengers it had been cancelled. Desperate to get back to London in time for work on Monday morning, Steven and his mate found two strangers willing to split a $1,340 Uber across the English Channel. 'We got told none were going to Gatwick till Wednesday, checked Heathrow prices they were going for $1,000 next day,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'The thought of a $1,000 flight ticket, cost of hotel and another day of food drink etc quickly made us decide we'd get home that night if it was at all possible.' A healthcare worker paid more than $1,340 for an Uber from Paris to London after his Sunday evening flight was delayed three hours then cancelled Steven (pictured), 32, was forced into dire circumstances in order to make it back for his shift on Monday morning Steven said after a three-hour delay, the only thing the airline offered them was an $8 voucher for Pret a Manger, a popular British food chain. With his shift ticking closer, he and his friend enquired about hiring a car and driving through the Calais tunnel, before two American girls overheard their conversation. They were studying a six-week economics course on exchange in London from the prestigious Yale University and needed to get back to the capital for their first day on Monday morning. They agreed they would travel together. Car hire companies told the group they weren't allowed to drop the car in England and passengers weren't able to board the tunnel until 9am - meaning they had only one choice left. 'Through desperation I flicked through my phone apps and we came across Uber,' Steven said. 'I thought "what the hell" and typed it in. I was quoted approx 700 ($1,040).' Steven said it was utter chaos at Charles de Gaulle after the London-bound flight was cancelled - with people scrambling to get home before Monday Prices the following day were far too expensive when also factoring in a night's accommodation in Paris The healthcare worker, his mate and their two new American friends walked outside Charles de Gaulle Airport and set about finding a driver who could accommodate their request. 'The first few drivers knocked it on the head and cancelled. One driver was interested initially and lucky for us one of the girls spoke reasonable French and started negotiating. He accepted the distance of the drive but when we asked if he had his passport available, as he needed it to be in England, there was a lot of confusion,' Steven said. 'In the end he said he'll check and after five to 10 minutes told us it was not possible. At that stage we thought that would be a common theme but the next guy also accepted the fare and when we explained the passport situation there was again a lot of confusion but he said he'll discuss it at the airport when he saw us. 'When he rocked up we asked if he would be able to go home and get his passport but it turned out he kept it on him as ID in a little bum bag anyway and he was happy to take us.' Steven said their French driver at 'no point seemed bothered about the length of the journey and smiled and played us music the whole way'. The trip itself took about six-and-a-half hours travelling through the middle of the night. They negotiated to pay about 600 (roughly $900), plus the fare for a return trip through the Channel tunnel which was 238 (about $350). They negotiated to pay about 600 (roughly $900), plus the fare for a return trip through the Channel tunnel which was 238 (about $350) The trip took them about six-and-a-half hours, with Steven saying the driver was smiling and happy to play music throughout 'The total ended up being about $370 each and we were going to London in a nice new Mercedes SUV with fluffy carpets and huge black leather seats,' Steven said. 'Given that we left around 1am French time there was virtually no traffic and also more importantly no queues at the Channel tunnel so everything was pretty slick. 'The driver was super helpful talking to the French explaining at the crossing what our situation was and the purpose of our travel, particularly on behalf of the Americans, as the border control asked a lot of questions about their stay.' After dropping the group off at Gatwick, the driver said he was going to have a 'quick nap' before heading back to Paris. 'He was an absolute trooper,' Steven said. He admitted he missed the start of his shift but made up for it with overtime, while the American girls arrived in time for their opening lecture. Despite the ordeal, the 32-year-old said he would definitely take a long distance Uber again and even said he preferred it to air travel. 'It was completely worth it. I probably wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't the middle of the night as that made it straightforward for us with no queuing or rush hour traffic,' he said. 'But given the alternative options flights would've been 500 each to arrive later than we did and at the wrong destination, and that's before the extra expenses on hotels, food, drinks, and transport to get from Heathrow to Gatwick (where our car was parked). 'I'd go so far as to say if I went back to Paris, I'd look at a night-time Uber before checking flights!' A prominent community leader who runs a nonprofit service in San Francisco has been brutally attacked by two homeless men wielding a wooden plank. James Spingola, the executive director of the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, was assaulted on Friday morning after he asked the men to move away from the entrance to the nonprofit, which was hosting children's activities. Spingola, also known affectionately as Uncle Stank, is a well-known figure in the historically black Western Addition neighborhood that the non-profit center serves, and the attack drew immediate outrage in the community. Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP and pastor of Third Baptist Church, called on the city to finally deal with soaring homelessness and crack down on those who refuse the plethora of available services and shelters. 'For those who refuse to take services, we feel we should not tolerate their bad behavior,' Brown said in a statement following the attack. James Spingola, the executive director of the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in San Francisco, was assaulted on Friday morning by homeless men wielding a plank Spingola is seen recovering from head injuries after the attack, which shocked the community and prompted the local NAACP president to demand a police crackdown on homlessness The attack took place around 11am outside the community center (above) after Spingola asked two homeless men to move away from the entrance to the nonprofit 'The entire black community is under siege by the homeless issue,' he added. 'We have been besieged in recent weeks by crime, theft, drugs, and danger.' Brown said the attack on Spignola unfolded when two men 'jumped him and hit him with a 2x4 on his head.' Police responded to the community center on McAllister Street shortly after 11am, an SFPD spokesman told KTVU-TV. Cops found one suspect being detained at the scene by Spingola and witnesses. The 24-year-old male suspect was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon but has not yet been booked, and police have not released his name. Police are still seeking the second assailant, who fled the area. Spingola was transported to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where Brown said he is recovering from head swelling. A photo posted to GoFundMe shows Spignola in the hospital with a bloodied a bruised face. 'I'm both disheartened and livid that James, a senior leader in our community, advocate for our children and activist, was viciously attacked today,' the fundraiser page states. A photo posted to GoFundMe shows Spignola in the hospital with a bloodied a bruised face Spingola (right) is seen with the late Rep. John Lewis, a legendary civil rights activist Spingola poses with prominent intellectual Cornell West. Spingola is an ex-con who turned his life around and devoted himself to helping his community and mentoring children 'James, lovingly known as Uncle stank, was simply trying to keep transients from standing around the center in an attempt to protect both the staff and children occupying the building,' it added. Spingola is an ex-con who turned his life around and devoted himself to helping his community and mentoring children, according to a bio on his charity's website. Photos through the years show him posing alongside prominent black activists and leaders, including the late US Rep. John Lewis, and intellectual Cornel West. 'We are shocked and saddened about what happened to James Spingola earlier today,' District Five Supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'We have reached out to James and wish him a speedy recovery. This should not happen in our community.' Brown, the leader of the local NAACP chapter, demanded more police action to crack down on the proliferation of homeless people in the city. Rev. Brown, the leader of the local NAACP chapter, demanded more police action to crack down on the proliferation of homelessness and crime in the city Spingola is seen at one of his group's charity drives. He is well known in the community as a mentor and advocate for children 'The homeless situation has been out of control for too many years,' he said. He said that Western Addition has been 'besieged' by homeless people being driven out of other neighborhoods including the Tenderloin, City Hall and downtown. Our streets are littered with needles and feces. They smell of urine and degradation. We need to help these people, we need to help our city, and we need to hold homeless people and our leaders accountable, Brown said. Both San Francisco Mayor London Breed and new District Attorney Brooke Jenkins -- who replaced the recalled Chesa Boudin -- have vowed to crack down on soaring crime and rampant open-air drug markets in the city. One of Australia's most sought-after sperm donors has flown interstate to give dozens of women on-the-spot donations. Adam Hooper will fly from Western Australia to Brisbane this weekend to impregnate women desperate to have a baby. Hopeful mothers who are ovulating during the 37-year-old's 10-day visit will receive an instant sperm donation handed to them in a cup. While it is illegal in Australia to take payment for donations, travel, parking, or medical expenses can be compensated by his grateful recipients. Dozens of hopeful mothers are hopeful they will get to meet with the donor as a rising number ditch conventional clinics running low on sperm samples. Adam Hooper (pictured) will travel from Western Australia to Brisbane this weekend to impregnate just a handful of the dozens of women desperate to have a baby Mr Hooper holds high hopes that his DIY tour could be the start of a close-knit mother's group who will be able to bond over their children's shared DNA. Ingrid Stefaniw, from Brisbane, is 12 weeks pregnant with Mr Hooper's baby after spending $13,000 on an unsuccessful IVF treatment. The 35-year-old told the Courier Mail she initially connected with the donor through his Facebook page Sperm Donation Australia. The group has more than 1,500 members and matches sperm donors with singles or couples hoping to have a baby. After 82 online dates that amounted to nothing, Ms Stefaniw took matters into her own hands and flew to Perth to collect a donation from Mr Hooper. She said she felt 'safe' knowing her child will be able to contact him, as the donor gives his offspring the chance to connect with him before they turn 18. Hopeful mothers who are ovulating during the 37-year-old's 10-day visit will receive an instant sperm donation handed to them in a cup Conventionally, the privacy of donors is protected until children are of legal age, with their identifying details provided to state health registers. Mr Hooper, who has two of his own children and 20 donor-conceived offspring, began donating his sperm to give others the gift of raising a child. He said unlike other donors, he was willing to be part of the children's lives and happy for them to have a photo of him or call him if they needed. 'I want the kids to have a sense of knowing where they are from too many donor children have to spend years trying to track down their fathers,' he said. The donor's Facebook group is steadily attracting new members with the majority of the group single women in their 30s and 40s. Greta French-Kennedy, a yoga teacher, is hoping to get pregnant with a donation from Mr Hooper after failing to conceive with a previous sperm donor. The 37-year-old said the idea of being part of a mother's group whose children shared the same father sounded 'amazing'. 'I love the thought that the child can contact Adam if they want,' she said. Mr Hooper said Ms French-Kennedy's donation would likely have to be exchanged at the airport due to timing. Other woman not ovulating during the donor's 10-day stay have expressed their disappointment - with Mr Hooper to hold a seminar in Brisbane next weekend. One woman said while she would not benefit from the tour, she hoped it would spark more conversations about private donation in Queensland. Another said it would be a 'dream come true' if things worked out with Mr Hooper. 'Imagine being in a mothers group with the kids all related, what a beautiful concept,' she told the Courier Mail. Experts warned unregulated donations such as Mr Hooper's would see more women go underground to receive life-changing sperm. Mr Hooper's Facebook group Sperm Donation Australia is steadily attracting new members with the majority of the group single women in their 30s and 40s IVF Australia, in NSW, said healthy men between the ages of 21 and 45 willing to give sperm without payment were encouraged to give a sample. Sperm Donors Australia said donor sperm was in 'extremely short supply' due to a dwindling number of samples that were donated during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the number of donors dropped, the number of single women and same-sex couples vying for a sample increased, with clinics struggling to meet the demand. Virtus Health, Australia's largest IVF provider, in May launched a campaign it hoped would encourage sperm and egg donations. As there is no financial incentive for donors, many donate sperm or eggs because they have been directly impacted by fertility issues. Rishi Sunak tried to block Boris Johnsons Rwanda policy when he was Chancellor, senior sources said last night. The leadership contender has vowed to keep Mr Johnsons flagship immigration policy of deporting asylum seekers to the east African nation. Last week, he spoke in support of the controversial 120 million scheme as the child and grandchild of immigrants to Britain. Cabinet sources have told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Sunak opposed the policy as being too expensive and tried to block it from going ahead But Cabinet sources have told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Sunak opposed the policy as being too expensive and tried to block it from going ahead. It is understood that he voiced his concerns when Home Secretary Priti Patel informed the Cabinet of the plans, which had been guarded for months. But during the leadership race Mr Sunak insisted he would keep the policy, saying it was needed to stop criminal gangs putting peoples lives at risk. Mr Sunak told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its absolutely critical that we have control of our borders, and I say that as the child and grandchild of immigrants. Mr Sunak is one of five contenders for leadership of the Conservative party. During the leadership race, Mr Sunak (pictured here during the first Conservative leadership debate) insisted he would keep the policy, saying it was needed to stop criminal gangs putting peoples lives at risk The first flight to deport migrants to Rwanda was blocked last month after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights. A spokesman for Mr Sunaks campaign said: Rishi will tackle the issue of illegal migration head on and make sure the policy is delivered if he is made Prime Minister. Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announces his bid to run for the party's chairmanship during a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday. Newsis Ex-presidential candidate pledges to create 'winning party' By Nam Hyun-woo Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) declared his bid for the party's chairmanship, Sunday, in what is widely viewed as a move to increase his clout within the party to secure his candidacy for the next presidential election. Although a comfortable win is anticipated for the former presidential candidate, Lee faces the tough task of resolving a fractional strife within the party between those who support him and lawmakers loyal to former President Moon Jae-in. "There has been no change in the fact that that I am responsible for the (DPK's) defeat in the last presidential election and local elections," Lee said during a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday. "When it comes to taking responsibility, I think I should resolve the problems, without dodging them," Lee said. "If the DPK fails to regain the public's trust, victories in next general election, local election and the presidential election will be difficult to achieve. We will be departing from our losing history. I will change the DPK into a winning party." Lee's bid for the party's chairmanship was anticipated, but he took time in making the announcement for the race to be held on Aug. 28. The new chairman will be in charge of selecting DPK candidates for the general election next year. Lee's bid is widely viewed as an attempt to learn from his defeat in the presidential election in March, where he lost to President Yoon Suk-yeol by a razor-thin margin. Following the defeat in the presidential election, Lee ran in the June 1 by-elections to join the National Assembly, a move some DPK members criticized. During the campaign, Lee faced divided support from within the party. Having no prior experience as a lawmaker, he had a hard time gathering the full support of the DPK's members. Supporters of then President Moon also either showed lukewarm support for Lee or turned their backs on him. So far, nine DPK members have declared their bids to run in the Aug. 28 election. They include four second-term lawmakers _ Reps. Kang Byung-won, Kang Hoon-sik, Park Yong-jin and Park Ju-min _ five-term veteran Rep. Sul Hun, who jumped into the race to stop Lee from becoming the party chairman, and former DPK interim chief Park Ji-hyun. In this Oct. 26, 2021, file photo, then-President Moon Jae-in, left, and then-Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung pose during Lee's visit to Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office in Jongno District, Seoul. Korea Times file Fear-mongering Covid zealots are pushing for mask mandates and enforced social distancing to keep Australians trapped in the pandemic - even though there's no official health advice to back the measures. Two highly-infectious sub-strains of the Omicron variant, known as BA.4 and BA.5, are sweeping across the world and causing global staff shortages in schools, hospitals, and the private sector. In the 24 hours to Friday morning, 43,491 new cases of Covid were reported across Australia. While the strains are far more contagious than previous sub-variants, governments have resisted reintroducing restrictions because there is no evidence to suggest they are more dangerous than the Omicron and Delta strains, and much less serious than the original form of the virus. On Sunday, there were 337,092 reported cases Australia-wide and 4,719 cases of them were in hospital - meaning 98.6 per cent of cases did not require hospital treatment, and that percentage was likely even closer to 100 per cent when taking into account the countless numbers of positive RAT tests that are unreported. However, that hasn't stopped lockdown-happy extremists from spouting non-official advice to scare others into joining their campaign of fear. Earlier in July, influential American writer and speaker Stephanie Tait, 35, told her 31,000 Twitter followers that governments have 'all but abandoned us' amid the current wave and took it upon herself to disseminate panic. Influential American writer and speaker Stephanie Tait (pictured), 35, told her 31,000 Twitter followers that governments have 'all but abandoned us' 'If you aren't wearing a mask in public, you are likely going to get BA.5,' Ms Tait wrote on Twitter Her tweet was shared widely by Australians concerned by what she had to say. 'If you aren't wearing a mask in public, you are likely going to get BA.5. If you are wearing a surgical (or heaven forbid cloth) mask in public? You are likely going to get BA.5,' Ms Tait wrote. 'Eating indoors in restaurants right now is all but a guarantee you'll get infected in this wave. Eating outdoors at most restaurants is unfortunately still a decent risk with BA.5, because there just isn't enough distance from others to fully mitigate the danger.' She went on to suggest governments were actively trying to hide the severity of the new strains and people shouldn't rely on official health advice to inform their behaviour. 'Reduce your risk by cutting back on whatever non-essential interactions you can. If you can switch to curbside/delivery? Do it. Even if you have access to quality respirators rated n95 or higher, if you CAN avoid it, then right now that's highly advisable,' she wrote. She went on to suggest governments were actively trying to hide the severity of the new strains (tweet pictured) Ms Tait told her followers not to pay attenton to health advice in a series of tweets (pictured) 'Move any gatherings you can outdoors, and even then you should still use masks. If you need to eat/drink then distance each household away from each other outdoors and resume masking once you have finished. 'Even if you've managed to dodge Covid so far, PLEASE don't assume whatever you're doing will still be safe. This isn't the same Covid as before.' Ms Tait went as far as to tell others that there was no conceivable way they could live normal lives: 'I'm sorry but there are no shortcuts or get out jail free workarounds here that will allow you to live normally and mask free right now. Sorry.' The unsolicited Twitter spiel was not representative of the latest advice put forward by governments. Authorities who said new restrictions were not necessary amid the latest wave are the same authorities who locked nations down twice over the past two years - once when the pandemic began, and again amid the rise of the Delta variant. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has continually rejected calls for national mask mandates and restrictions, despite the BA.4 and BA.5 wave Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has continually rejected calls for national mask mandates and restrictions despite the BA.4 and BA.5 wave. 'We know the Covid pandemic is not over and people should continue to act in accordance with the health advice,' he said on Friday. 'We want to keep the economy open and the key to that is limiting the health impact on Australians.' Ms Tait isn't the only one spouting her own agenda on social media, irrespective of official health advice. Tony Windsor, the former MP for New England in NSW, continually pushes for the reintroduction of masks and restrictions on his Twitter page. He retweeted a post by former Sydney MP and Australian Medical Association president, Kerryn Phelps, who slammed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for 'strongly encouraging' people to wear masks indoors instead of enforcing the rule. Mr Albanese has argued the mandatory seven-day isolation period was necessary to combat surging Covid cases and ease pressure on hospitals 'See if "strongly encouraging" is more effective as a public health strategy than "urging" and "recommending" mask wearing indoors,' the post read. 'Without a mandate, people are just ignoring public health advice.' Doctor Phelps, meanwhile, also retweeted numerous calls for the return of mask mandates and other restrictions. She retweeted one woman who suggested Australians can 'no longer class ourselves as a community'. 'When we force our vulnerable, disabled, and elderly to isolate at home, in order to protect themselves, while the rest of the population does what it wants,' the post read. In a tweet directed at Mr Albanese, she wrote: 'The only way you can protect the vulnerable is to make some tough decisions about reducing #Covid19 transmission including PCR testing, supporting isolation and masks.' A mother-of-four from Melbourne told her Twitter followers that she 'nearly cried when [Labor MP] Stephan Whitlam said we have to "treat it as endemic".' 'It made me feel politicians aren't looking at epidemic curves. Another variant will be along after BA.5. Another surge. It's not endemic.' Former judge and Melbourne University professor Alastair Nicholson last week took a swipe at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for being 'weak' and failing to bring back mask mandates. 'I cannot believe the present weakness of the Andrews Government on Covid,' he wrote on social media. Many Australians appear to be in favour of scrapping the mandatory seven-day Covid isolation period after Anthony Albanese refused to change his stance on the rules 'It seems to have completely lost its nerve and succumbed to business pressure in ignoring the CHO and AMA advice on mask wearing. Since when has business had such influence over public health issues.' Mr Andrews championed some of the toughest Covid measures in Australia throughout the Delta wave in 2021, despite heavy criticism. He introduced nightly curfews and mandatory masks in outdoor settings, as the armed police officers marched through parks and children's playgrounds. Another user, retweeted by Dr Phelps and Mr Windsor, called people who don't want to live with restrictions 'freedumbs' who are 'too stupid to realise they identify each other through their likes and conversations'. Mr Albanese has meanwhile argued the mandatory seven-day isolation period was necessary to combat surging Covid cases and ease pressure on hospitals - even though a large portion of the strain on the healthcare system is coming from a surge in influenza cases. Australia recorded its worst May on record with 65,770 confirmed influenza cases - more than double the number set before lockdown in 2019. There is no mandatory isolation period for influenza. Those with Covid are not required to isolate in countries such as the UK or Switzerland, while they are only 'recommended' to self-quarantine for five days in the US. Face masks are not enforced in the UK or Switzerland either - while Australians are still required to wear them while catching public transport or visiting a hospital. Countries such as Sweden also no longer categorise Covid as a 'critical illness'. When Rishi Sunak used Friday nights televised leaders debate to distance himself from Boris Johnson, the mood in the Prime Ministers camp turned sulphurous. Asked whether Mr Johnson was honest, the former Chancellor said that he had tried to give Mr Johnson the benefit of the doubt for as long as possible but ultimately I reached the conclusion that I couldnt and thats why I resigned. Mr Johnson is keen to stay out of the contest, but his allies are clear: if Mr Sunak continues to cast doubt on Mr Johnsons integrity, then there will be consequences. One ally says: Rishi is being extremely pious in his disapproval about the [lockdown] parties, but he was working in the same building the entire time, so he must have known about them too. And he picked up exactly the same number of fines as Boris. Allies of Boris Johnson, who was pictured earlier this week during a visit to RAF Coningsby, are said to have warned Rishi Sunak there would be 'consequences' over his barbs against the PM It is clear that resentment is still boiling over at the manner of Mr Johnsons eviction from Downing Street, catalysed by Mr Sunaks resignation. The PM is understood to have grown increasingly frustrated with Mr Sunak during the past year, complaining to aides that his Chancellor would go missing in a crisis. One Government source said: Sunak was constantly physically and emotionally absent from the project. He governed in a parallel universe, and would refuse to answer his phone when he was needed most. The source said that during the many crises which have dogged Mr Johnsons time in power, he felt he could not rely on Mr Sunak for constructive advice. Allies of Boris Johnson have shot back at Rishi Sunak, who was seen out and about on Saturday in Redcar, Teeside, as part of his campaign to become the next Prime Minister A Johnson ally said: If Rishi was asked about an issue in Cabinet, usually as either the very first or the very last person he turned to, Rishi would just say, Oh you dont need to hear from me and would often turn his back as he said it, probably unconsciously. 'And he was conspicuously absent from the media when the s*** hit the fan. He was the submarine Chancellor. Despite Mr Johnsons vow not to interfere in the contest, his closest supporters have been critical of Mr Sunak. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who called Mr Sunak the Socialist Chancellor, and Nadine Dorries have both publicly backed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the race. It has also been claimed that Mr Johnson would be open to Ms Mordaunt succeeding him if it meant that Mr Sunak did not win the leadership, with the Prime Minister voicing concerns that Mr Sunak would go soft on Vladimir Putin and ease sanctions on Russia. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who called Mr Sunak the Socialist Chancellor, and Nadine Dorries have both publicly backed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the race to become Prime Minister Questions about Mr Johnson are dreaded by Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, having served in his Cabinet: both wriggled noticeably when asked the honesty question, while Tom Tugendhat received a loud round of applause and shot to the top of snap polls by answering: No. The Government source said: Boris has no intention of becoming involved in the contest. But he is not the sort of person to hear his honesty being called into question and just let it lie. It came as Mr Johnson joined the UKs Top Gun pilots for one of his final sorties before leaving Downing Street. Pictures released yesterday showed Mr Johnsons visit last week to RAF Coningsby, the home of two squadrons of combat-ready Typhoon fighters tasked with protecting Britains skies, where he was given a demonstration in the backseat of one of the 1,550mph jets. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was given a Typhoon fighter demonstration at RAF Coningsby Wearing an olive green flightsuit incorporating anti G-force trousers that offer protection during the jets tremendous acceleration Mr Johnson strode across the tarmac in a scene reminiscent of the recent sequel to Top Gun, the 1980s Hollywood action film. Located in rural Lincolnshire, Coningsby is one of two RAF stations that provide the Quick Reaction Alert. Fighter jets are on stand-by to scramble should Russian bombers approach British airspace. The base is home to No 11 Squadron, the worlds oldest fighter unit which was formed in 1915. A spokesman for No10 said: The PM visited RAF Coningsby on Thursday to thank the Quick Reaction Alert force for their constant and vigilant service. 'The Prime Minister met a number of personnel involved in keeping our skies safe and went on a Typhoon training flight to see a demonstration of the teams capabilities.' A Briton facing death by firing squad in eastern Ukraine has been filmed in his prison cell singing the Russian national anthem. Unshaven and in shabby clothes, Aiden Aslin, 28, is seen standing and singing the State Anthem of the Russian Federation in a 140-second video posted on the internet by the Kremlin-backed RT news outlet. As he sings, John Dougan, an American former police officer, stands beside him smirking. When he finishes, Dougan a prominent Russian propagandist in Ukraine says: 'Amazing.' The footage of Mr Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, emerged days after reports that another British detainee, Paul Urey, had died in custody. While it may have been filmed under duress, the video provides some evidence that Mr Aslin remains alive, unlike Mr Urey, 45, who was captured by pro-Russian militants as he tried to rescue a woman close to Donetsk. Mr Aslin (pictured) was captured alongside another Briton, Shaun Pinner, 48, in June, and kept in detention by pro-Moscow separatists Last week, his mother, Linda, said: 'They let him die there, and I want to know why they let him die.' Mr Aslin was captured alongside another Briton, Shaun Pinner, 48, in June, and kept in detention by pro-Moscow separatists. Both moved to Ukraine after 2016, settled in the eastern city of Mariupol and joined the Ukrainian army as marines. Despite their roles as professional soldiers, the pair were accused of being mercenaries and sentenced to death. The footage emerged as: Putin's forces were using Europe's largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia as a weapons depot; Three people were killed and at least 15 injured in a Russian missile strike in the city of Dnipro; The Ukrainian authorities said they have now identified all 23 people killed in the Vinnytsia missile strike on Thursday, including four-year-old Liza Dmytrysyna who perished in her pram. According to Ukrainian nuclear energy agency Energoatom, around 500 Russian troops are stationed at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is being used to house armaments, including missile systems. Despite his role as a professional soldier, Mr Aslin was accused of being a mercenary and sentenced to death One official described the situation as 'extremely intense', adding: 'The occupiers bring their machinery there, including missile systems, from which they already shell the other side of the River Dnipro.' The nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine has been under Russian control since the early weeks of the war, although it is still being operated by Ukrainian staff. Meanwhile, Russian rockets hit housing in Chuhuiv, a town near the city of Kharkiv in northern Ukraine, killing three people. With Russia's ground offensive in the east slowing, air strikes have risen including that on the town of Vinnytsia. The great-aunt of tragic Liza Dmytrysyna yesterday said that she is waiting to find out if the child's mother Iryna will survive her injuries. Tetiana Dmytrysyna said: 'She was reaching for her daughter, and Liza was already dead. The mother was robbed of the most precious thing she had.' Liza, whose mother kept a blog where she would update readers on parenting a child with Down's Syndrome, has become just the latest face of her nation's suffering with her charred and bloodied pram seen on media outlets around the world. Britons at high risk of heart attacks are to join a trial of a gene-editing medicine that promises to permanently lower cholesterol. The ground-breaking drug codenamed Verve-101 deletes a tiny hereditary flaw which causes life-threatening amounts of the fatty substance in the blood. A patient in New Zealand recently become the first in the world to receive an infusion. UK volunteers will join later this year, along with others from America, as part of a 40-strong trial to test if the treatment reduces bad LDL cholesterol in humans and by how much. Previous studies in monkeys, which share the same cholesterol gene, PCSK9, showed remarkable success. LDL fell by almost 70 per cent with the same levels still seen two years later, suggesting the drop could be permanent. The gene-editing drug codenamed Verve-101 deletes a tiny hereditary flaw which causes life-threatening amounts of the fatty substance in the blood Cardiologist and geneticist Dr Sekar Kathiresan, who co-founded Verve Therapeutics, the team behind Verve-101, said: If it works and is safe, this is the answer to heart attacks this is the cure. Each of the 40 patients on the trial will have inherited naturally high cholesterol levels from a parent a condition known as familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) which affects one in every 250 Britons. Each will also have had a heart attack before. Studies show that the longer LDL is kept low, the better the chance of preventing heart attacks. While statins are effective at cutting cholesterol typically lowering levels by 30 to 50 per cent they have to be prescribed by a doctor, and they only work if people take them regularly. But Dr Kathiresan said a US study showed only half of people who have had a heart attack are on any cholesterol-lowering drugs, leading to additional heart attacks, strokes and even deaths. Verve-101 uses a precision gene-editing technique called CRISPR base editing to rub out a single faulty letter of DNA code before replacing it with a harmless one. The effect is that cells in the liver, where cholesterol is made, produce much less of the fatty LDL which can block arteries. Like the Covid vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Verve-101 uses messenger RNA (mRNA) to instruct cells. In the case of the vaccines, the mRNA tells them to mass-produce the Covid viruss spike protein, so that the immune system can recognise the real thing when it comes along. With Verve-101, the mRNA tells liver cells to make two proteins one to locate the PCSK9 gene, and another to edit it. Dr Kathiresan said a US study showed only half of people who have had a heart attack are on any cholesterol-lowering drugs, leading to additional heart attacks, strokes and even deaths As with the vaccines, the mRNA is wrapped in a tiny bubble of fat called a lipid nanoparticle which helps it enter cells. Dr Kathiresan said he was optimistic that UK regulators would allow the trial to begin later this year. If all goes successfully, Verve will publish the initial results in 2023 and hopes that the medicine will be available by 2028. Cholesterol is made by the liver and carried around the body in the blood. The body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells but high levels can increase the risk of heart disease. With FH, there is a fault with one of the genes involved in removing cholesterol from the blood, which can lead to a build-up. The Cabinet minister who led last year's landmark UN climate change summit in Glasgow has indicated he could resign if the next prime minister is not fully committed to the net zero agenda. Cop26 president Alok Sharma said some of the remaining candidates in the Tory leadership race had been only 'lukewarm' towards climate commitments. Leaders at Glasgow's Cop26 agreed to try and limit global warming to 1.5C - and the UK has pledged to become net zero by 2050. It comes as climate experts warn of increasingly frequent extreme weather, such as that being seen across Europe and in the UK, and emphasise that the effects of climate change are not coming, they are already here. In an interview with The Observer, Mr Sharma urged the new PM to 'proactively' set out their support for the net zero agenda and 'green' growth. The Cop 26 president said: 'I hope every candidate realises why this is so important for voters generally and why it's important for Conservative supporters' This fire in Gironde, France, this week led to the evacuation of more than 12,000 local residents for their safety Mr Sharma said the new Conservative Prime Minister must follow in Johnson's footsteps and understand the severity of global warming In Gironde's wildfires more than 7,000 hectares of land have been destroyed, with people fleeing before it 'Anyone aspiring to lead our country needs to demonstrate that they take this issue incredibly seriously, that they're willing to continue to lead and take up the mantle that Boris Johnson started off,' he said. Asked if he could resign if candidates were weak on net zero, Mr Sharma said: 'Let's see, shall we? I think we need to see where the candidates are. And we need to see who actually ends up in No 10. 'I hope every candidate realises why this is so important for voters generally and why it's important for Conservative supporters. And I hope that we will see, particularly with the final two, a very clear statement that this is an agenda that they do support.' Pressed a second time, he added: 'I don't rule anything out and I don't rule anything in.' Of the five remaining candidates in the contest, only Kemi Badenoch has said she does not support the UK target of getting to net zero emissions by 2050, describing it as 'unilateral economic disarmament'. The others have indicated varying degrees of enthusiasm for the policy, which is unpopular with some sections of the party amid concerns about the impact on the economy. An orphaned mountain lion cub who was badly burned in a recent Northern California wildfire receives care at an animal rescue shelter A turtle, who had been hiding underground to escape the fire, is spotted after volunteers rescue him in Marmaris district of Mugla, Turkey The UK is bracing for several days of record-breaking heat this coming week with temperatures possibly reaching 40C in England. In a viral video online, a Met Office weather forecaster predicted what UK summers would look like in 2050 if climate change continued at its current rate - but shockingly, the next few days have a strikingly similar forecast. BBC weather presenter Matt Taylor took to Twitter this week to urge people to recognise the rising global temperatures. He said 40C for the UK is 'not normal', heat records are becoming more frequent and added: 'I never thought this would be possible so soon.' Meanwhile in April of this year the UN released a bombshell report which showed the horrifying reality of climate change. It said the world is on track to more than double the 1.5C target this century, and the world must act 'now or never'. Climate scientist Michael Mann at Pennsylvania State University has explained why the 1.5C threshold is so important. 'At 1.5C, theres a good chance we can prevent most of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheet from collapsing,' he said. But hit 2C and those ice sheets will collapse. A firefighter tackles a forest fire around the village of Eiriz in Baiao, north of Portugal, on July 15, 202 Trees, plants and animals have been left burned and charred by the fires which are covering vast swathes of Europe The UK's fire services have warned people to be extremely careful in the heat, ensure cigarettes are properly out and to not use barbeques And there are grave consequences for coral reefs too - 1.5C warming will destroy around 70 per cent of the world's reefs - rising to 99 per cent at 2C. And if current trajectories continue, a third of all the planet's animal and plant species will be extinct by 2050. Temperatures have been sweltering across swathes of Europe this week and wildfires have raged across large areas of the continent. In one region in France alone, more than 12,000 people have had to be evacuated as fires rage. Spain, Turkey, Croatia and Portugal have also seen huge fires - 3,000 firefighters were required to tackle flames in Portugal this week with dozens of people injured in the blazes. And wildfires have destroyed 3,500 acres of land in Extremadura in Spain. It is unknown how many animals have been killed or injured in these fires, but it is expected that many have fallen victim to the increasingly unforgiving weather systems. Wildfires are also a problem across the world, notably in the US in hot states such as California. The UK government has held Cobra meetings about the upcoming boiling temperatures, as the NHS is expected to struggle with demand. The Met Office has issued its first ever red weather alert for extreme heat, meaning there is a danger to life among all of the population, not just in those more vulnerable to heat. On Friday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would impose a temporary moratorium on the green levy on domestic energy bills, arguing there were better ways to achieve the net zero target. The debate took place as fires raged across the world, and some of the worst fires have been in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighting plane died o Friday when his plane crashed while on an operation in the northeast. It was the first fire fatality in Portugal this year but the blazes have injured more than 160 people this week and forced hundreds to be evacuated. Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after an unusually dry, hot spring that left the soil parched and which authorities attribute to climate change. As the worst French fire moved closer to inhabited towns, some of the 11,000 people who evacuated in the region described fear and uncertainty about what they'd find when they get back home. Images shared by firefighters showed flames shooting across a mass of pine trees and black smoke stretching across the horizon. Firefighters focused efforts Saturday on using fire trucks to surround villages at risk and save as many homes as possible, Charles Lafourcade, overseeing the French firefighting operation, told reporters. Some 3,000 firefighters backed by water-dumping planes are battling the blazes in southern France, the president said, and Greece sent firefighting equipment to help. They're going very PC in the IT department of the Financial Conduct Authority. The regulator has urged staff to abandon terms such as 'master', 'slave', 'black hat' and 'black list' which are commonly used in the IT world even though it accepts none of them are racist. The guidance, obtained by The Mail on Sunday under freedom of information laws, was last night branded 'Orwellian' by critics who said such efforts to control language sets a dangerous precedent. The Financial Conduct Authority has urged staff to abandon terms which are commonly used in the IT world even though it accepts none of them are racist 'Master' and 'slave' are used to describe a situation whereby a device or process (the master) controls another device or process (the slave). Their earliest use is believed to date back to 1904. But the FCA, which oversees the conduct of around 58,000 firms in the UK financial sector, has included them on a list of 'pejorative' words. It wants employees to use the terms 'primary' and 'secondary'. Its guide states: 'Recent events globally have highlighted the prevalence of racism throughout society and garnered much support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Such racism can manifest itself in many forms, from the overt socially unacceptable to subtler micro-inequalities. 'These may be small changes in the grand scheme of things but, to borrow a phrase, 'every little helps'. In making these changes, we show our determination to address inequalities in all their forms, no matter how small.' The terms 'black hat', a computer hacker operating with criminal or malicious intent, and 'white hat', an ethical hacker who is out to expose existing security flaws, also appear in the list, as does 'black list', a list of addresses and applications that are denied. Professor Frank Furedi, the emeritus professor of sociology at Kent University, accused the FCA of trying to 're-engineer the way we think'. He added: 'To many, eliminating the word master seems harmless, maybe a bit silly. However, this project represents a great threat to a free society. 'Semantic engineering aims to change public language to transform prevailing cultural attitudes and norms. Professor Frank Furedi, the emeritus professor of sociology at Kent University said: 'As Orwell reminded us, those who control our language control the way we think.' Pictured: George Orwell 'It offers its practitioners control over language and serves as a source of cultural power. 'As Orwell reminded us, those who control our language control the way we think.' A spokesperson for the FCA, which employs 4,000 staff, said: 'We have worked hard to ensure that the language we use both internally and externally is mindful of the cross-section of society who read our communications. 'As we outlined when we announced the new guidance, other organisations are also making changes to avoid using wording that can be perceived as offensive. 'Language is constantly evolving and we will continue to ensure that all our communications are inclusive.' Sir Tony Blair has urged Western nations to come together to develop a strategy to counter the rise of China as the worlds second superpower. The former prime minister called for a policy towards Beijing of strength plus engagement as he warned that the era of Western political and economic dominance was coming to an end. He said Western powers needed to increase their defence spending while extending their soft power by building ties with developing nations. At the same time, he added, they needed urgently to end the craziness in their domestic politics and to restore reason and strategy. Sir Tony Blair, 69 has urged Western nations to come together to develop a strategy to counter the rise of China as the worlds second superpower On China, Sir Tony, 69, said that it had already caught up with the United States in many fields of technology, while President Xi Jinping had made no secret of his ambition to return Taiwan to Beijings rule. At the same time, President Vladimir Putins brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine showed they could no longer automatically expect major world powers to abide by accepted international norms. A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying 'dangerous explosives' crashed in Greece last night, video shows. The aircraft's eight crew members, all Ukrainian citizens, were killed, Serbia's defence minister said. The Antonov An-12, owned by Kyiv firm Meridian, exploded in a burst of flames while it was flying from Serbia to Bangladesh with mortar and training shells on board. The pilot had requested an emergency landing at nearby Kavala airport due to an engine problem but the aircraft's signal was lost, the Greek aviation authority said. Video footage shows the aircraft in flames descending fast before hitting the ground 25 miles west of the airport causing a huge series of explosions which could be heard near the city. Photos taken this morning show the charred debris still aflame hours after the plane crashed Images from today show hunks of metal scattered around the field, with crew members' conditions still unknown. Ukrainian media has reportedly suggested all eight were killed Drone footage shows the flaming body of the plane after the crash in Kavala, north Greece A Ukrainian cargo aircraft which had eight people on board was already on fire before it crashed last night near the city of Kavala in northern Greece , footage shows. Pictured: Flames and smoke are seen at the area where an Ukraine Antonov cargo aircraft has crashed in the Paleiochori area, west of Kavala The Antonov An-12, owned by Meridian, exploded in a burst of flames while it was flying from Serbia to Bangladesh with 'dangerous materials' believed to be explosives onboard. Pictured: Ambulances are seen at the area where an Ukraine Antonov cargo aircraft has crashed in the Paleiochori area, west of Kavala, north Greece last night Eye-witnesses said the Antonov An-12 was on fire and that they had heard explosions, Athens News Agency reported. A local man, from the mountainous region, Giorgos Archontopoulos, told state broadcaster ERT television he had felt something was wrong as soon as he heard the aircraft's engine. 'At 10.45pm I was surprised by the sound of the engine of the aircraft,' he said. 'I went outside and saw the engine on fire.' Locals, who reported seeing a fireball and a plume of smoke, and Greek media think the plane was carrying explosives. State broadcaster ERT reported that army explosive experts were en route to the site, located on farmland close to two villages that are part of the Paggaio municipality. It also said villagers are saying it was already in flames before it crashed and ERT has been told its cargo 'was dangerous'. Police were asking journalists at the scene to wear masks, the report added. 'You need to go away for your safety. There is an information that the aircraft was carrying ammunition', one firefighter told reporters at the scene. Ambulances are seen this morning at the area where an Ukraine Antonov cargo aircraft has crashed in the Paleiochori area, west of Kavala Pictured: Firefighters are seen near the site of a plane crash Filippos Anastasiadis, mayor of the nearby town of Paggaio, told Open TV: 'The aircraft crashed around two kilometres (one mile) away from an inhabited area.' He also told AP: 'We were hearing explosions until a few minutes ago. I am about 300 meters from the site of the crash.' A total of 15 firefighters and seven engines were deployed to put out the blaze that broke out after the crash with more rescuers on their way. It was not clear what the aircraft's cargo was but the special disaster response unit was also investigating the scene. 'We are treating the cargo as dangerous material,' said a fire brigade official. The fire service has cordoned off the area and has been finding it difficult to approach the scene. Firefighting vehicles are seen near the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala, in northern Greece on Saturday Flames are seen at the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala, in northern Greece yesterday A night view taken yesterday of the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala Greek Civil Aviation authorities say the flight was heading from Serbia to Bangladesh, but have not been able to confirm what the plane, operated by Meridian, a cargo carrier, had on board. The pilot managed to alert authorities about a problem in one of the plane's engines and he was given the choice of landing in either the Thessaloniki or Kavala airports. He opted for Kavala, which was closer, but the plane crashed about 25 miles west of the airport, Greece's Civil Aviation authority said. A suspected paedophile who was wanted in Poland had been staying at a Travelodge where he had been living for the last three months while fighting extradition charges. The pensioner spent months staying at one of the chain's hotels in Bedford, which was at the same time being used by families with children who were unaware he was there. The man is allegedly wanted by police in the eastern European country as they investigate the sexual abuse of children. However, he is fighting extradition charges and after appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, he was bailed and allowed to live at the chain. A second man who is fighting extradition to Romania, where he is wanted on embezzlement charges, was also allowed to stay in a Travelodge in London. Both have now moved out. The suspected paedophile was found to have lived in a Travelodge in Bedford used by families with children for three months (file photo) In a statement given to the newspaper, Travelodge said staff had been completely unaware the Polish man was a suspected paedophile when he was allowed to stay for three months. A spokesperson for the chain said: 'The safety and security of our customers and staff is of paramount importance to us. 'We can confirm that we do not have agreements in place to provide bail accommodation and that these two individuals are no longer staying in our hotels. 'We do work with a range of third parties and have stipulated to them that we do not accept bookings for individuals that are alleged to be a sex offender or paedophile.' According to the Sunday Express, the suspected paedophile was given permission to stay in the hotel after being arrested in September 2021 on a European Arrest Warrant. He moved into the Travelodge after his conditional bail was change to say he would be staying at the hotel in April. The other man, who is in his 30s, was placed in a hotel in London after being arrested last year. He was originally given permission to stay at an address in the city, before the court changed this to the Travelodge in London Docklands between April and May. Earlier this month a judge said he could not be extradited to Romania, but his bail was renewed while waiting to see if the eastern European country would appeal the decision. A spokesperson for Bedford Borough Council told the paper: 'We carry out checks with police before placing anyone in temporary accommodation and if someone has a criminal conviction they would be housed appropriately. 'We would not knowingly place a convicted sex offender in a hotel.' Former President Donald Trumps adviser believes Covid-19 could have leaked from a Wuhan lab where scientists were working on vaccines for similar viruses. Infectious diseases expert and former presidential Covid adviser Dr Deborah Birx told The Mail on Sunday that coronavirus came out of the box ready to infect when it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. The adviser said most viruses take months or years to become highly infectious to humans. But, Dr Birx said, Covid was already more infectious than flu when it first arrived. She said that meant Covid was either an abnormal thing of nature or that Chinese scientists were working on coronavirus vaccines and became infected. It happens, labs arent perfect, people arent perfect, we make mistakes and there can be contamination, she said. Former US President Donald Trumps Covid adviser Dr Deborah Birx (pictured) believes the virus could have leaked from a lab where it was being worked on by scientists She accused China of initially covering up how infectious Covid was. Birx said Covids infectiousness was consistent with a virus which had been experimented on in a lab. 'In laboratories you grow the virus in human cells, allowing it to adapt more. Each time it passes through human cells it becomes more adapted, she said. Because people can catch Covid asymptomatically meaning they dont show symptoms Dr Birx argues a Wuhan scientist could have easily walked out of the lab with it. 'Someone working in the lab with one of the strains couldve caught it and not known they had it, she said. Dr Birx also added that lives couldve been saved if China had admitted the virus spread asymptomatically, when it was first discovered. China was implying that they were containing it, but asymptomatic spread cannot be contained without testing, she said. The then-President Donald Trump listens as Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator speaks about Covid in 2020 Birx is pictured above during a viral reaction to Trump's 2020 comments that injecting disinfectant might cure coronavirus I think the world lost several months of preparation because we were thinking there wasnt that level of human-to-human spread when there clearly was. Dr Birxs comments came a month after the MoS revealed that the head of the World Health Organization privately believes the Covid pandemic started following a Chinese lab leak. China has repeatedly denied claims of a lab leak and branded the idea as a conspiracy theory. But alternative theories that Covid came from human contact with bats or from a meat market in Wuhan are not backed by evidence. The lab leak theory was touted early on but was shut down by liberal media who ridiculed the idea and even branded it racist. It took many mainstream left leaning news sites more than a year from the spread of the virus, to concede that the lab theory held weight. Some outlets, such as the Huffington Post, even branded any suggestion the virus could have stemmed from a lab as a 'toxic conspiracy theory.' When Donald Trump, on May 1, 2020, said he had 'a high degree of confidence' that the virus escaped from a lab, the New York Times, CNN, and NPR were quick to mock his comments. CNN was almost gleeful in its mockery of the idea that the virus could have come from a laboratory. The Washington Post, New York Times, and NPR were equally dismissive of suggestions that the virus could have come from a laboratory. Few were able to suggest that COVID-19 could have stemmed from a research facility without backlash but that didn't stop some media, including the Daily Mail, from questioning the narrative. Fox News' Tucker Carlson was also clear in demanding an investigation into whether it could have escaped from the lab. Finally, in early 2021, came the first signs that opinion was beginning to change. In January, a World Health Organization (WHO) report only served to raise more questions after Beijing strictly controlled an on-site visit and who the researchers compiling the report spoke to. The WHO team was only allowed three hours inside the Wuhan lab and was unable to examine any of the Wuhan institute's safety logs or records of testing on its staff. By May 11, 2021, the leading public health expert in the United States, Dr Anthony Fauci, had accepted that the idea of the virus escaping from a lab had been too quickly dismissed. Asked whether the virus originated naturally, Fauci replied that he wants to look closer into the matter. 'I am not convinced about that,' he said. 'I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened. When the pandemic begun, Birx together with Dr Fauci were two of President Trump's most visible advisers, regularly speaking alongside one another. As the White House Coronavirus response coordinator, Birx was present at the April 2020 press conference during which the president suggested people should inject themselves with disinfectant as a possible COVID treatment. Close-up video of Birx's reaction went viral online, with many social media users setting her reactions to music from comedy shows. Birx smirked briefly and looked down as dejection set in. The health expert drew criticism for not speaking up more publicly to contradict Trump's claims that drinking bleach could kill the virus. 'Frankly, I didnt know how to handle that episode,' Birx told ABC television in March 2021. 'I still think about it every day.' But by the summer of 2020, things began to unravel having fallen out of favor with Trump, who initially considered her 'classy' and 'a lady,' according to White House sources. In August that year, the president replaced her with Dr Scott Atlas, a radiologist who had no epidemiological experience, but whom Trump had seen speak on Fox News. Trump later called Birx 'pathetic' when she warned Americans that the pandemic is 'extraordinarily widespread' in the US. Birx then took her message to states and localities, reportedly trying to counteract Atlas' public messaging on masks and social distancing. Earlier this year, Birx published a tell-all memoir of her time as the Covid-19 task force coordinator; 'Silent Invasion: The Untold Story of The Trump Administration, COVID-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before Its Too Late.' 'I wrote `Silent Invasion' to document the full extent of what I witnessed as I tried to save lives during this devastating time,' Birx said in a statement. 'In the book, I expose the true cost of mistakes that were made at all levels of the federal government, but I also clarify the things that went right yet remained largely unseen - the insights and innovations that saved American lives in this pandemic and are essential to preparing for the next.' Birx came to the White House coronavirus task force with a sterling reputation. A public servant since the Reagan administration, Birx has served as a US Army physician and a globally recognized AIDS researcher. She was pulled away from her ambassadorial post as the US global AIDS coordinator to help the task force in late February 2020. She stayed in Trump's good graces far longer than Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, who frequently contradicted Trump. But Birx also drew criticism when she traveled to Delaware over Thanksgiving in 2020 even as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended against holiday travel. She was accompanied by her husband Paige Reffe, one of her daughters, son-in-law and two grandchildren for the Black Friday trip, though she had warned Americans to 'be vigilant' and limit celebrations to 'your immediate household.' Birx insisted the roughly 50 hour trip to Fenwick Island was to deal with the winterization of the property before a potential sale, and added that she did not celebrate Thanksgiving there. Birx in October told congressional investigators that the 2020 election provided a 'distraction' to the Trump team from the Covid response, which she estimated cost the U.S. some 130,000 lives. The election year 'just took people's time away from and distracted them away from the pandemic in my personal opinion,' Birx said. 'I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes, and we had increased testing, that we probably could have decreased fatalities into the 30-percent-less to 40-percent-less range,' she concluded. Birx has also testified about her battles with her successor, Dr. Atlas. 'I could see the consequences of what was occurring out across the United States and the severity of the virus among the most ill, and my concern about those who were potentially less ill,' Birx told the congressional panel. 'And inside the White House is a person that is basically wanting community spread to increase.' Last week the UK surpassed 200,000 Covid deaths but worldwide the disease has killed more than six million. By Mark Peterson It's hard to keep up with social changes in Korea. My finger on the pulse has been my YouTube channel, The Frog Outside the Well, and the responses and comments people post. I've been surprised to see the negative comments regarding all things related to Confucian practices. The most recent has been comments on "ancestor ceremonies," or "jesa." The practice was once translated as ancestor worship but that term was discarded as inaccurate and biased long ago. Jesa suffered as the enemy of some Christian sects early on. The Catholic persecutions of the 18th century were largely centered on the ancestor ceremonies, which were inaccurately translated as ancestor worship bowing down to the ancestors was all the evidence the Christians needed. Bowing equals worship. They overlooked the fact that living people would bow to each other. Worship everyday on the street? No, just Korean etiquette. Well, some Christian sects, including paradoxically Catholics (some, but not all? I don't know), started to accept jesa as an acceptable performance. So, the scene in recent years has been that some Christians accept jesa, and some do not, but at any rate, there came a portion of Korean society that would not practice jesa. The thing I've discovered recently is that a portion of Korean society that has been practicing jesa is starting to drop the practice for reasons of inconvenience. I have people telling me they don't have the time or inclination to carry on with the ceremonies. My recent YouTube video was about American Memorial Day, which I suggested was a form of jesa American style. And I suggested that as Korea loses interest in the elaborate jesa ceremony, Korea might adopt the simpler format of decorating the graves with flowers. It's not that jesa is the only Confucian practice under fire. In recent articles and YouTube videos, I've explored changes in other Confucian practices and attitudes. We've seen that in contemporary Korea with smaller families, the practice of intra-lineage adoption, has all but disappeared. It was once the case where about 15 percent of any men were adopted from within the lineage, or within the jokbo. That worked where a brother or cousin had multiple sons to cover for those who biologically had no children, or had only daughters. But in a society with strict birth-control policies, there were no longer "surplus" sons to patch in the holes in the jokbo. Another Confucian issue has been one of attitude. I always praise Korean culture as the culture of the "seonbi" the scholar. But I've been surprised to find a large percentage of the Korean population that is extremely critical and negative about the seonbi. To criticize the "yangban" I've seen often, but the term "yangban" is used more often as a sociological term, the equivalent of the "aristocrat" or the "social elite." Whereas, seonbi is thought of as the scholar. I had thought scholars were insulated from severe criticism. But not so. I think the heavy criticism of the term is one part of a general rejection of Confucianism and everything about Confucianism. I have always been a defender of Confucianism as one of the great religions of the world. Yes, I know, it's not a religion. Okay, call it a belief system. But the ideology is one of the great ideologies of the world. Of course, my answer to the Confucian criticism is to look at early Confucianism prior to the late 17th century as Korean-style Confucianism that was more egalitarian, whereas 18th-century Confucianism onward became infused with male dominance and hierarchical practices. But unfortunately, many in Korean society today mistakenly consider Confucianism as one thing old or new. Household registers are now open to having a female household head. What other changes can we expect? I've suggested that a new approach to jokbo is on the horizon. As Korea becomes more gender balanced and egalitarian, the days of the male-only jokbo are numbered. Korea will probably join the Western world in looking at one's genealogy as a family tree with limbs for women as well as men really like the "Pal gojo-do" "eight great, great grandfathers [and grandmothers] chart" found in Korea prior to the 18th century. So, if the jesa ancestor ceremonies are on the decline, what other changes are afoot? One of the keys to late-Joseon Confucianism and its male-dominated practices is the role of the "jongson," the lineage heir, or the occupant of the "keunjip" (big house). Might we start to see female jongson? I can already hear the moans and groans from traditional Confucianists, but I think that is coming. You read it here first. Changes are coming. We know that because changes have already come. Look today at the low marriage rate and low birthrate in Korea. These factors are at critical levels. Levels that need to change, but I have confidence Korea will respond to the changes. Why? I was worried about the high female abortion rate of the late 1990s. With new technology that could determine the gender of a baby early in the pregnancy, abortions of female fetuses accelerated dramatically. But in Korea, rather than continue with son preference at all costs, Korea now has gender balance and a degree of daughter preference. Change is the rule in Korea. Dynamic Korea is resetting for a new society for the future. Exactly what shape that will be, what from the old is kept and what is rejected will be revealed in the years ahead. Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah. Furious Ministers have accused civil servants of downing tools and not treating the interim Government seriously. Some officials are treating the next seven weeks as a purdah period in the run-up to a General Election, the Ministers said. This is particularly the case in departments where Boris Johnsons team scrambled to fill many roles after the mass walkout of Ministers that triggered his resignation. The facade of the main building of the Cabinet Office at Whitehall road, City of Westminster, Central London. Some officials are treating the next seven weeks as a purdah period in the run-up to a General Election, the Ministers said Purdah rules during elections mean any policy decisions on which a new government could take a different view should be postponed until after polling day. One Minister said officials in some departments had downed tools because they think some Ministers are not going to be there for ever. Since more than 50 Ministers quit earlier this month, Downing Street has filled the positions to keep departments running while the Conservative Party runs its leadership contest to pick Mr Johnsons replacement. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory Party leader, accused officials who are refusing to work for the current Government of being unconstitutional and politically motivated. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory Party leader, accused officials who are refusing to work for the current Government of being unconstitutional and politically motivated He said the leadership election is an internal Conservative Party matter, adding: This is not a period of purdah it is unconstitutional to withdraw your labour. It is not their job as civil servants to second-guess what is going to happen in a month or two months time. Their job is to do what they are told to do, until someone else replaces the individuals there. The Civil Service at times gets a bit uppity. I dont believe this is a majority, but there are some who are politically motivated who think they can mess this Government around. A cosmetic surgeon who removed a woman's labia when she was just 13 has settled in court as his patient claims she will be disfigured for life. The former patient of Dr Asarjahu Granot said she was psychologically traumatised after he removed her labia and clitoral hood in 2008. The now 27-year-old woman visited the surgeon with concerns about the appearance of her genitalia and was operated on with consent from her mother. Dr Granot was served with a Supreme Court writ last June that accused him of performing a surgery inconsistent with what was agreed with his patient. Pictured: Melbourne-based cosmetic surgeon Dr Asarjahu Granot Several claims of negligence included one that he allegedly left the operating theatre and showed her mother the labia and clitoral hood he had removed. The surgeon, who is said to have 35 years experience in the industry, has avoided a civil court trial after his former patient agreed to a large financial settlement last month, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. An insurance company will be asked to cough up the significant sum but his former patient said no amount of money would make up for her suffering. The woman previously told The Age her body was irreparably damaged by the surgery and that she was not made aware of the risks at age 13. She made a complaint to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency in 2019, who cleared Dr Granot of any wrongdoing the following year. 'I don't have proper anatomy any more,' she said. 'I don't have a labia minora and he's made my clitoral hood into barely nothing, and it's not functional. I can't even have a proper relationship.' Dr Granot advised the teenager there was an abnormality with her labia minora and that he could correct it with a surgery known as a labiaplasty. The operation, also known as a vaginal rejuvenation, can take up to an hour and reduces the size and appearance of the labia minora. The woman said that even if the surgery was properly explained to her at the time, there was no way a 13-year-old would be able to comprehend it. 'Children cannot understand how a surgery like this will affect them,' she said. Dr Granot denied he acted negligently or removed the then-teenager's clitoral hood and claimed the surgery was to fix a physical abnormality, according to documents filed by the surgeon's lawyers last August. A statement of defence said he acted in a manner that at the time the service was provided that was widely accepted in Australia. It stated a 'significant number of respected practitioners in the field accepted the service as competent professional practice in the circumstances'. Dr Granot in 2015 revealed he performed liposuction on three of his daughters and didn't regret the operations. Liposuction is a procedure that removes fat from underneath the skin, usually from areas of the body like the abdomen, hips, legs, thighs, buttocks, or neck. Dr Granot (pictured) in 2015 revealed he had performed liposuction on three of his daughters and said he did not regret the procedures - which removes fat from underneath the skin 'When I look at my daughters, I scrutinise them, too, and have carried out liposuction on three of them,' he told The Age in 2015. 'Other parents avail their children of their area of expertise. My area is cosmetic surgery, so why shouldn't I do the same?' One of his daughter, who was 17 at the time, in the same piece said though she didn't regret the liposuction she sometimes wondered if it was necessary. She described standing in a T-shirt and underwear and her father grabbing at chunks of her legs saying 'we can get rid of this'. 'I trusted Dad and it was free, so I underwent liposculpture on my inner thighs and stomach,' the then-33-year-old wrote. Her father subsequently received a slap on the wrist from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. In a statement, AHPRA described the liposuction as 'not urgent or medically necessary and where one of the patients was underage'. According to the website of the East Malvern clinic the surgeon still operates from, Dr Granot has received 'extensive training in the US, Europe, South America, and Asia in cosmetic surgery techniques since the 1980s'. The website says the 72-year-old is trained in vaginal surgery and vaginal enhancements as well as liposuction, face and breast lifts among others. Comanchero boss Mark Buddle allegedly laundered money and stored guns while hiding out in Northern Cyprus before he was kicked out by the government. Buddle had been living in Girne, a city on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, since obtaining a tourist visa on July 7, 2021. The bikie boss was on the run from Australian authorities since 2016 as he was wanted in connection to several murders. His overseas escape was brought to an abrupt end when he was arrested last Saturday and transferred to a prison in Turkey. Buddle grew up in public housing at beachside Maroubra in Sydney's south-east and spent time in juvenile detention. He had played representative rugby league but that career was ended by injury. He is pictured when he was commander of the Comanchero in NSW Buddle had allegedly still been able to run his criminal empire while living in Girne, according to a gazette published by Northern Cyprus ministers on Friday. His actions prompted the government to kick him out of the country and brand him a 'foreign immigrant'. Northern Cyprus is an area claiming independence from Cyprus but is only recognised by a few countries, including Turkey. Local authorities in de facto control of the area also designated him a 'wanted member of an organised criminal organisation'. He is the subject of an Interpol blue notice - an alert issued by a country that seeks to locate, identify, or obtain information on a person of interest. Buddle had begun to put down roots on the island, investing in local businesses and real estate and tying the knot to a mystery woman known as Ozge. Meanwhile, his longtime girlfriend Mel Ter Wisscha appeared to be living it up abroad and regularly posted photos of herself in Bodrum, Turkey, more than 500km away. In one photo she was wearing a pink bikini while posing on an outdoor lounge at a luxury resort. Exiled Comanchero boss Mark Buddle secretly wedded a Northern Cyprus woman in a fake marriage after fleeing Australia and hiding out overseas (pictured, Buddle with longtime partner Mel Ter Wisscha) Meanwhile his longtime partner Mel Ter Wisscha appeared to be living it up abroad and regularly posted photos of herself in Bodrum, in Turkey, more than 500km away It is understood he would have been able to gain citizenship in Northern Cyprus if he remained married to the mystery woman for a year, the Daily Telegraph reported. She is understood to be well-liked in the community and is being looked after by locals since Buddle's arrest. Buddle is believed to have partnered with a businessman with mob and mafia connections while living on the Mediterranean island. Sources claimed the businessman vouched for Buddle so he could extend his one-month tourist visa by another three months. Official sources claimed Buddle organised to meet 'with a gang member of his who came from Germany' before he was arrested at gunpoint. While Buddle has long been suspected of involvement in international drug smuggling, it was an investigation into security guard Gary Allibon's murder that appears to have led him to flee overseas. The execution of Allibon was a senseless crime as brutal as it was unnecessary. On the day he was killed Allibon had been dropping off cash at a Commonwealth Bank ATM when just after 6am on June 7, 2010, a trio of armed men wearing balaclavas ambushed his crew of three at Sussex Street in Sydney. The bandits snatched a cash box containing $300,000 and should have immediately made their getaway in a stolen silver Audi S8 driven by a fourth accomplice. Mark Buddle was expelled from Northern Cyprus last weekend and taken to a prison in Turkey from where he might soon be deported to Australia or a third country. He left Australia in 2016 and has spent time in Dubai, Iraq and Lebanon. Buddle is pictured with wife Mel Ter Wisscha Gary Allibon (out of picture) had his back turned and his arms raised when one of three armed robbers shot him with a .45 calibre handgun. The shooter then stole the guard's weapon Instead, one of the gunman shot Allibon in the back while the guard had his hands raised, then stole his work-issued firearm in one last indignity. Allibon, who had done as he was ordered and presented no threat to the robbers, died a short time later at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. The gang escaped with the cash in the Audi, which was captured on CCTV two days later driving in convoy with a black Mercedes C63 on Henry Lawson Drive at Milperra about 10pm. The Audi was found dumped and incinerated a couple of hours later near Deepwater Park at Milperra, not far from the clubhouse of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang. Security guard Gary Allibon was shot dead while delivering cash to an ATM in Sydney's central business district in June 2010. Three men wearing balaclavas escaped with $300,000. Police want to interview Comanchero boss Mark Buddle about the robbery and murder A stolen Audi S8 used in the armed robbery in which Gary Allibon was killed was found burnt out two days later near Deepwater Park at Milperra, not far from the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang's clubhouse. The incinerated vehicle is pictured Everything about the cash grab - except Allibon's shooting - looked like the work of experienced armed robbers, down to the use of stolen high-performance vehicles. The Mercedes C63 was never located and neither was a white BMW X6 four-wheel drive which was also linked to the robbery. Ballistics examinations matched the firearm used to kill Allibon to a drive-by shooting of a house at Vaucluse in the city's eastern suburbs in November 2007. The same .45 calibre handgun was also likely used in the shooting of two members from the Notorious gang at Merrylands in western Sydney in March 2010. Bullet casings found in the burnt-out Audi matched another weapon used in the western suburbs shooting of drug cook Roy Yaghi at Wentworthville in April 2010. [Yaghi and his friend Jamie Grover, both Lone Wolf associates, were shot dead in August 2012 in a dispute over drugs]. On the fifth anniversary of Allibon's murder police released CCTV footage taken two days after the crime. The footage showed two men in a Mercedes C63 which was driven behind the Audi getaway car. A month later Mark Buddle tried to fly to Noumea with $60,000 undeclared cash Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mark Buddle was involved in any of those crimes, only that he is a person of interest in the Allibon investigation. Buddle grew up in public housing at beachside Maroubra in Sydney's south-east and spent time in juvenile detention. He had played representative rugby league but that career was ended by injury. Joining the Comanchero when he was 21, he took control of the club after national president Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi was jailed over the death of Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas at Sydney Airport in March 2009. Zervas was bludgeoned to death when 12 Comanchero confronted five Hells Angels and Hawi was eventually convicted of manslaughter. In Hawi's absence the gang was taken over by Duax Hohepa Ngakuru until he left Australia in 2010 when the crown was seized by the fiercely ambitious Buddle. In the following years Buddle spent time in prison for offences including assault, affray and intentionally causing injury but how and why police became interested in his knowledge - if any - of Allibon's murder is unclear. A coronial inquest held into the shooting in September 2015 recommended the investigation be referred to the unsolved homicide unit of NSW Police. Detectives first said they were close to making an arrest over Allibon's shooting in June 2014 when they stated publicly they knew who had killed him. On the eve of the fourth anniversary of Allibon's death, Detective Superintendent Luke Moore of the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad said Strike Force Lorimer had made a number of significant breakthroughs. 'We believe we know who is responsible for this offence and we are very close to being able to charge those people with the offence,' Moore said at the time. It was then police revealed the links they had made between the Audi and Yaghi's first shooting, as well as releasing details of the missing BMW X6 and a silver BMW 5-Series sedan, which was stolen during a car-jacking at Maroubra in July 2009. Detective Superintendent Moore said detectives still needed 'little pieces of information' before they could arrest the suspects and asked the public for help. He called those involved in the murder 'well-organised' and 'cold-blooded' and said they were suspected of having links to known organised crime groups. A year later in June 2015, ahead of another anniversary, police released CCTV footage showing two men in the Mercedes C63 which was driven behind the getaway Audi two days after the crime. Both men were likely identifiable to those who know them. Detective Acting Superintendent Mick Sheehy issued a reminder there was a $100,000 reward for information that led to the conviction of Allibon's killers. Gary and Monica Allibon were married for 25 years and lived at Kirrawee in Sydney's south. He regularly left love notes around the couple's home and was just eight months away from retiring 'We believe the men in the Mercedes as depicted in the CCTV could assist us greatly with our inquiries into the occupants of the silver Audi, so we are asking anyone who can identify them to come forward,' he said. The next month Buddle was pulled off a plane at Newcastle Airport after chartering a flight to Noumea. He was carrying $60,000 in undeclared cash and spent eight weeks in prison. Buddle legally flew out of the country in 2016 - first to Dubai, then Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus - and has not returned. In 2017 he was still asserting authority over the Comanchero in his absence, texting associates: 'I'm the f***ing commander of the world... no one is to touch another member or set up another chapter without my permission.' Buddle did not come back to Australia for his father's funeral that year or his mother's in 2018. Buddle did not return to Australia for his father's funeral in 2017 or his mother's in 2018. Comanchero sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed is pictured in club colours carrying Buddle's mother's coffin. Zahed was shot ten times in May in an ambush that killed his brother Omar Hawi, who was released from prison in 2015 and left the Comanchero, was shot dead outside a Rockdale gym in Sydney's south in February 2018. Two Lone Wolf members were acquitted of that murder in 2020. One of those men, Yusuf Nazlioglu, was shot dead at Rhodes in the city's inner-west in June. Detectives are interested in what Buddle might know about Hawi's murder, as well as the execution of gangster Mejid Hamzy at Condell Park in the city's south-west in October 2020. Underworld rumour has it that there is a $7million contract on Buddle's head. Less profitable but slightly less risky would be providing information that leads to the conviction of Allibon's killer and claiming the $1million reward. That sum was increased from $100,000 in April 2020 when police announced they were reinvestigating the murder and again asked for the public's help. Buddle took control of the Comanchero in 2010 while national president Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi (above, with wife Carolina Gonzalez) was in jail. Hawi was shot dead while sitting in his Mercedes outside a Sydney gym in 2018 Monica Allibon said she hoped the increased reward would bring new leads to investigators and finally provide justice for her late husband. 'There are no words to describe the grief I felt the day Gary died - the grief of losing him and the grief of the loss of our future together,' she said. 'That gut-wrenching feeling has yet to subside, and I don't think it can while his killers continue to live their lives without facing the consequences of their actions. 'Gary was just months away from retirement and, in addition to our plans for relaxation and holidays, we had the simple dream of growing old together. That was ripped from us with a single bullet fired in greed. 'Those men robbed the van and took my husband's life, and the people who know them and what they did are robbing me of answers and justice for Gary.' Monica Allibon has made regular public appeals for information that could lead to the arrest of those responsible for murdering her husband. She is pictured in 2020 when the reward for such information was increased to $1million Detective Acting Superintendent Grant Taylor of the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad said the re-investigation was following well-established lines of inquiry. 'The original Strike Force Lorimer investigators established links between this case and other organised criminal activity, including three shootings, which we are continuing to explore,' he said. 'We believe we have a clear picture of the events of the day, and a fair idea of the identities under the balaclavas, but we need the community's help to bring our case beyond reasonable doubt. 'Make no mistake, this wasn't a robbery gone wrong; Gary Allibon had complied with their demands and was executed in cold blood.' The newly appointed national president of the Comanchero is Sydneysider Allan Meehan (right), who was mentored by Buddle (left). Meehan took over after Mark Murray was locked up in Victoria on a murder charge 'The persons of interest to our investigation vary from those we believe know what happened or who was involved through to those who were there and the man who pulled the trigger. 'The time for any - or all - of these people to come forward is now. Strike Force Lorimer will get the pieces of information they need, so either way, you'll be seeing us soon.' Asked directly about police interest in Buddle, Taylor said: 'Rest assured that individual you're talking about is right up there at the top of our equation and our thoughts.' Anyone with information that may assist Strike Force Lorimer detectives is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Scientists have confirmed the white humpback that washed up on a beach in Victoria is not Australia's beloved albino whale Migaloo. The 10m carcass spotted on Big Beach in Mallacoota, in East Gippsland, on Saturday afternoon is a female, while Migaloo is a male. Researchers worked into the night to determine if the carcass was the famed whale that hasn't been seen in Australian waters for several years. The Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning on Sunday said officers were confident the beached whale was a sub-adult female after genetic material from the carcass was extracted by scientists. Experts have revealed the white humpback that washed up on a beach in Victoria on Saturday (pictured) is not Australia's most beloved albino whale Migaloo Migaloo (pictured) was first sighted back in 1991 off Byron Bay and researchers have been following him ever since Victorians were warned to keep themselves and their curious pets at least 300m from the carcass or risk a hefty fine. Researchers will continue to scour the surrounding area for clues after analysing images of the carcass well into Saturday night, the Herald Sun reported. The images revealed barnacles on the throat and patches of darkened skin as scientists tried to determine the original colour of the whale. Carcasses that floated in the ocean for some time can appear as pale as the famed Migaloo - whose name means 'whitefella' in several indigenous languages. The unusual humpback was first sighted in 1991 off Byron Bay with researchers dedicated to following his movements ever since - with the last sighting two years ago before the whale's tracking chip was lost. Experts and the public alike were fascinated by Migaloo's colouring. The dead albino whale found on Saturday was reportedly about 10m long when Migaloo is about 15m in length A dead albino whale (above) found on Big Beach in Mallacoota on Saturday is a sub-adult female humpback, researchers have revealed The whale, believed to have been born in 1986, is believed to be the first fully white whale in the eastern humpback whale population and touted as the best-known humpback on Australia's east coast. Marine Mammal Foundation executive director Kate Robb said she was confident the carcass was not that of the famed albino whale. 'Migaloo is such an infamous and much-loved whale but it's still incredibly sad to see another whale wash up, especially a female,' she said. Dr Robb said the beach in Mallacoota was on the 'humpback highway' and for a whale to wash-up there was not unusual. About 40,000 of the marine mammals are currently migrating from the cooler waters of Antarctica for warmer waters along the east coast to breed. Mallacoota local Peter Coles found the dead whale while walking along Big Beach on Saturday and shared photos to the community's Facebook page. 'Looks like a sculpture... about 10m long,' he said. Migaloo (pictured off the Gold Coast in 2012) hasn't been spotted for two years after losing his tracking chip Migaloo is thought to be turning 33 this year with an expected lifespan of 50 years. He is considered 'such a unique whale' that special legislation was created specifically to protect him from harassment. The legislation prohibits all water vehicles from operating within 500m of Migaloo, while aircraft cannot operate lower than 2,000ft above the whale. Each year between May and November the humpback whale population makes its annual pilgrimage from Antarctica to the warmer waters off north east Australia. They then mate and give birth before returning south with their young. President Joe Biden delivered another verbal gaffe on the final day of his Middle East tour, when he accidentally praised the 'selfishness' of US troops. The slip-up came as Biden delivered prepared remarks to leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday. 'For the first time since 9/11, an American president is visiting this region without American troops being engaged in combat in a combat mission in the region,' said Biden. 'Well always honor the bravery, the selfishness selflessness of the and the sacrifices of the Americans who served, including my son, Major Beau Biden,' the president added, quickly correcting his mistake. Biden delivered another verbal gaffe on the final day of his Middle East tour, when he accidentally praised the 'selfishness' of US troops, instead of their 'selflessness' US military personnel stand by a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) during Saudi Arabia's first World Defense Show in March Secretary of State Antony Blinken, sitting behind Biden as he spoke, was seen blinking and shifting uncomfortably in his seat as the president initially read his prepared remarks incorrectly. Saturday's regrettable slip-up was not the only blunder on Biden's four-day swing through the Mideast, which included stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, Biden was addressing Israeli leaders when he mistakenly vowed to 'keep alive the truth and honor of the Holocaust'. In that case, he also immediately corrected himself and read the correct line: 'horror of the Holocaust.' In another confusing sequence of events, the White House had also telegraphed prior to the trip that Biden would be limiting physical contact and avoiding handshakes, supposedly as a COVID-19 precaution. But the move was widely viewed as a means of avoiding a handshake with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto leader, whom the CIA says approved the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. A handout photo of President Joe Biden (left) fist-bumping Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) as he arrived for a meeting with the controversial royal Friday evening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia After first arriving in Israel, Biden stuck to fist bumps, but quickly broke form and began shaking hands with familiar leaders, leading to speculation that he would be forced to do the same with MBS, as bin Salman is widely known. Instead, he also deployed a fist bump with MBS, in what quickly became the defining image of the tour, with some critics saying that the fist bump was worse than a handshake. Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, shared what she believed her late love's reaction would be to the fist bump: 'Is this the accountability you promised for my murder? The blood of MBS's next victims is on your hands.' Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post - which employed Khashoggi - called Biden's fist bump with the crown prince 'shameful.' 'The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake - it was shameful,' Ryan said in a statement. 'It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.' Questioned about criticism of the fist bump by a DailyMail.com reporter, Biden laughed, and then said it was a 'silly question' when asked how he can be sure another murder like that of Khashoggi wouldn't happen again. President Joe Biden (center left) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (center right) pose for a family picture with other leaders in the GCC+3 Biden left for the airport after Saturday's meeting, waving goodbye on the tarmac of the King Abdulaziz International Airport after spending less than 24 hours in Saudi Arabia Biden also insisted that he brought up Khashoggi's murder in his meeting with bin Salman, who is often referred to by his initials, MBS. 'In respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time, and what I think of it now,' Biden told reporters from a Jeddah hotel after his meetings with the Saudis. 'I was straightforward and direct ... I made my view crystal clear.' 'What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous,' Biden later offered. The summit on Saturday was the final stop of Biden's Middle East tour, and brought together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. In his remarks, Biden again vowed to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and pushed for stronger ties among the countries in the region. Biden wants to see Israel more integrated to help counter the growing threat of Iran. He also vowed the U.S. won't 'walk away' from the Middle East. 'We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,' he said. 'We will seek to build on this moment with active, principled, American leadership.' A young Australian jihadi bride who fled ISIS while pregnant was horrified when she realised she'd been handed back to the extremist group in a prisoner swap - just days after giving birth. Nesrine Zahab was a 21-year-old university student when she left Sydney in 2014 and sneaked away from a family holiday in Lebanon to help refugees on the Turkish side of the Syrian border. She ended up in Syria, but is adamant she had no intention of entering the war-torn nation and wound up there by mistake. 'Who walks into a war zone?' she previously told ABC's Four Corners, amid claims she knew what she was getting herself into. 'I had a whole family. I had a whole thing going on. I was doing uni. I had everything.' Ms Zahab ended up marrying Islamic State fighter Ahmed Merhi, who was also from Sydney, but she was pregnant with her son by 2017 and desperate to escape the war-torn nation. Nesrine Zahab (pictured) was a 21-year-old university student when she left Sydney in 2014 She was taken to al-Roj (pictured) and eventually gave birth to her son. She is still there today She wanted to give birth safely, ideally in an Australian hospital, The Australian reported on Saturday. However, things didn't work out that way. The mother-to-be and Merhi were both captured trying to escape Syria. He is still in a prison in Baghdad after being captured by Kurdish forces and transferred to Iraq. She handed herself over to the Kurds and was taken to al-Hol - a detainment camp for women and children of ISIS fighters, before being taken to another camp, al-Roj, 10 days after that. Four months later, she gave birth to Abdul Rahman by C-section. She thought she'd be free to return to Australia - declaring her citizenship to camp administrators and told her family where she was. In April 2018, when her son was 29 days old, Ms Zahab was told to pack her bags because her father was going to meet her in Turkey. Ms Zahab married Islamic State fighter Ahmed Merhi (pictured), who was captured and sent to Bahgdad She was told he would take her back to Australia. 'I was ecstatic, I was so excited,' she told The Australian. 'I realised there were buses of people and they were mostly Turks. So I'm like, "OK, this is real, I'm actually going".' But that didn't happen. Instead, Ms Zahab was taken to a remote mountain in the desert and handed back to ISIS fighters in a prisoner exchange for Kurdish captives. 'What happened was I was apparently the first prisoner-swap group. Everyone after was actually asked for their permission but I think we were like the test class. They tested with us and no-one actually asked,' she said. When she arrived back at the camp, ISIS commanders were furious with her because she managed to escape - they didn't care that her only motivation was to give birth safely. Ms Zahab ended up back in al-Roj (pictured) but she hasn't stopped trying to get back to Sydney She eventually found some of her husband's friends, who helped her find other family members at the camp - but she was closely watched by guards who threatened to take her son away. Ms Zahab then found Mariam Dabboussy, who was married to Ms Zahab's cousin, Khaled Zahab and found herself in a similar situation, and they decided to try and escape. The women wanted to find an Australian consulate, but there were none in Syria, so they had to try and make it to Turkey. They were caught every time and, eventually after ISIS were pushed out of the area, surrendered themselves to Kurdish forces again, and ended up back in al-Roj. Ms Zahab has been trying to return to Sydney for four years - her son Abdul, now four, proudly tells everyone he's Australian, her bags are packed, and she said she poses no threat to the community. She said she is ready to return home and give her son the life he deserves. Fears are growing for a grandmother who has been missing for more than two weeks after a handwritten note reading 'help me please' was found near her abandoned crashed car in regional Victoria. Colleen South, 58, from Adelaide, was last seen by loved ones at Renown Park, in the city's inner north, on Friday 1 July around 3.30pm when she drove off in a 2006 silver Hyundai Getz hatchback. Her car and belongings were discovered abandoned in northern Victoria days later, prompting concerned family to believe foul play is involved in her disappearance. CCTV footage captured Ms South visiting a Liquorland at St Agnes at about 11.50am on July 2, with police believing she then made her way to rural northern Victoria. Colleen South, 58, (pictured with her daughter) has been missing for more than two weeks The last reported sighting of Ms South was made about 3pm on July 3, when a witness spotted her behind the wheel of her Hyundai Getz in Ninyeunook, 267 north of Melbourne. Around an hour later, a farmer noticed Ms South's car abandoned parked under a tree off the side of Mackies Road, 26km away in Bunguluke. Two days later, the farmer called police after realising the car had crashed into a ditch and sustained damage, with airbags deployed. Ms South's belongings were found about 20 metres from the car, including her handbag, purse, keys and a journal in which she had written 'help me please'. Police believe Colleen travelled on her own to rural Victoria and, at this time, that no one is involved in her disappearance. But her relatives disagree - and are calling on authorities to treat the case as suspicious. Ms South was last seen by a witness in her Hyundai Getz (pictured) on July 3. The car was found abandoned an hour later A concerning note asking for help was found inside Ms South's journal near her abandoned car Ms South's personal items, including bags and keys, were found dumped 20 metres from her car 'As a family, we believe foul play is involved,' niece Farah Mak told the Herald Sun. 'We need this to be escalated and for police to treat it as suspicious. This is out of character for Colleen.' Ms Mak, an Australian actress known for her work on hit TV series Neighbours and Love Child, slammed investigators for not treating the case as a serious crime. 'What were trying to get is action and outcome. It has been a shemozzle. The attention to detail has not been great, things have been missed.' Veronica South, 21, and her friends have launched their own search of the Wycheproof area in a bid to find her mother. Actress Farah Mak (pictured) said her aunt's disappearance is very unusual and believes foul play was involved On Saturday, the group found Ms South's essential medication, downtrodden grass, a pen, footprints and a recently lit campfire. The case is now being handled by Victorian authorities, after it was handed over by South Australia Police on Friday. 'The search for Colleen was officially handed over to Victoria Police on 15 July and is ongoing,' a Victorian Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia. 'Victoria Police has been working closely with South Australia police in the search for missing woman Colleen South, since her vehicle was located abandoned.' Ms South is described as 154cm tall with a heavy build, green eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, black and white striped shirt. Anyone who sees Colleen or has any information is urged to contact police. Fugitive bikie boss Mark Buddle claims he paid bribes to officials in Northern Cyprus to remain there, but was still arrested in a dramatic raid. The Comanchero commander was residing in the Mediterranean island on a tourist visa since July 7, 2021 and claims through his defence lawyer that local politicians were squeezing him for money. The underworld kingpin has been a fugitive since he fled Australia in 2016, wanted by police in connection to inquiries into a number of murders and drug importation cases. He stayed in several countries before arriving in Girne, Northern Cyprus. Mark Buddle was expelled from Northern Cyprus last weekend and taken to a jail in Turkey from where he might soon be deported to Australia or a third country. He left Australia in 2016 and has spent time in Dubai, Iraq and Lebanon. Buddle is pictured with wife Mel Ter Wisscha His attorney alleges middle men were demanding money on behalf of politicians to allow him to remain free on the island, report the Daily Telegraph. He added his client was paying the bribes because he wanted to remain close to his new wife Ozge - a Northern Cypriot woman who he recently married in a quiet ceremony despite his long term relationship with Mel Ter Wisscha. After his arrest on July 9 he was transported the following day to the Turkish capital of Ankara where he is detained. Turkey is one of the few countries which recognises the area's independence from Cyprus, officially calling it the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyrpus. But before he left he is understood to have spoken to a journalist from a local Northern Cypriot paper and revealed details of the raid. 'Seven police came through the window and took me to the police station.' the paper quoted Buddle. 'I asked them what it was, and they said it was a deport decision about me. They didn't show any papers. I said I wanted to go to court but I was told that the order came from internal affairs.' The bikie boss had been hiding out in the picturesque town of Girne (pictured) on the Northern Cypriot coast before his arrest The official line released by Northern Cyprus officials was that the bikie boss was declared 'inconvenient for the peace and security of our people'. Buddle is the subject of an Interpol Blue Notice issued by Australian police put out when a country that seeks to locate, identify, or obtain information on a person of interest. His arrest raid involved Interpol officials, local cops, and vessels from the Turkish coast guard monitoring for anyway getaway boats. Buddle had allegedly still been able to run his criminal empire while living in Girne, according to a gazette published by Northern Cyprus ministers on Friday. There are also unsubstantiated allegations he was money laundering and hiding guns of the island - though he claimed he was in the restaurant and petrol business. Buddle had begun to put down roots on the island, investing in local businesses and real estate in addition to tying the knot with the mysterious Ozge. Meanwhile, his longtime wife Wisscha appears to be living it up abroad and posted photos of herself in Bodrum, Turkey, more than 500km away. In one photo she was wearing a pink bikini while posing on an outdoor lounge at a luxury resort. Buddle grew up in public housing at beachside Maroubra in Sydney's south-east and spent time in juvenile detention. He had played representative rugby league but that career was ended by injury. He is pictured when he was commander of the Comanchero in NSW Exiled Comanchero boss Mark Buddle secretly wedded a Northern Cyprus woman after fleeing Australia and hiding out overseas (pictured, Buddle with longtime partner Mel Ter Wisscha) Meanwhile his longtime partner Mel Ter Wisscha appeared to be living it up abroad and regularly posted photos of herself in Bodrum, in Turkey, more than 500km away It is understood he would have been able to gain citizenship in Northern Cyprus if he remained married to the mystery woman for a year, the Daily Telegraph reported. She is understood to be well-liked in the community and is being looked after by locals since Buddle's arrest. Buddle is believed to have partnered with a businessman connected to the mafia while living on the island. Sources claimed the businessman vouched for Buddle so he could extend his one-month tourist visa by another three months. Official sources claimed Buddle organised to meet 'with a gang member of his who came from Germany' before he was arrested at gunpoint. While Buddle has long been suspected of involvement in international drug smuggling, it was an investigation into security guard Gary Allibon's murder that appears to have led him to flee overseas. The execution of Allibon was a senseless crime as brutal as it was unnecessary. On the day he was killed Allibon had been dropping off cash at a Commonwealth Bank ATM when just after 6am on June 7, 2010, a trio of armed men wearing balaclavas ambushed his crew of three at Sussex Street in Sydney. The bandits snatched a cash box containing $300,000 and should have immediately made their getaway in a stolen silver Audi S8 driven by a fourth accomplice. Gary Allibon (out of picture) had his back turned and his arms raised when one of three armed robbers shot him with a .45 calibre handgun. The shooter then stole the guard's weapon Instead, one of the gunman shot Allibon in the back while the guard had his hands raised, then stole his work-issued firearm in one last indignity. Allibon, who had done as he was ordered and presented no threat to the robbers, died a short time later at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. The gang escaped with the cash in the Audi, which was captured on CCTV two days later driving in convoy with a black Mercedes C63 on Henry Lawson Drive at Milperra about 10pm. The Audi was found dumped and incinerated a couple of hours later near Deepwater Park at Milperra, not far from the clubhouse of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang. Security guard Gary Allibon was shot dead while delivering cash to an ATM in Sydney's central business district in June 2010. Three men wearing balaclavas escaped with $300,000. Police want to interview Comanchero boss Mark Buddle about the robbery and murder A stolen Audi S8 used in the armed robbery in which Gary Allibon was killed was found burnt out two days later near Deepwater Park at Milperra, not far from the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang's clubhouse. The incinerated vehicle is pictured Everything about the cash grab - except Allibon's shooting - looked like the work of experienced armed robbers, down to the use of stolen high-performance vehicles. The Mercedes C63 was never located and neither was a white BMW X6 four-wheel drive which was also linked to the robbery. Ballistics examinations matched the firearm used to kill Allibon to a drive-by shooting of a house at Vaucluse in the city's eastern suburbs in November 2007. The same .45 calibre handgun was also likely used in the shooting of two members from the Notorious gang at Merrylands in western Sydney in March 2010. Bullet casings found in the burnt-out Audi matched another weapon used in the western suburbs shooting of drug cook Roy Yaghi at Wentworthville in April 2010. [Yaghi and his friend Jamie Grover, both Lone Wolf associates, were shot dead in August 2012 in a dispute over drugs]. On the fifth anniversary of Allibon's murder police released CCTV footage taken two days after the crime. The footage showed two men in a Mercedes C63 which was driven behind the Audi getaway car. A month later Mark Buddle tried to fly to Noumea with $60,000 undeclared cash Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mark Buddle was involved in any of those crimes, only that he is a person of interest in the Allibon investigation. Buddle grew up in public housing at beachside Maroubra in Sydney's south-east and spent time in juvenile detention. He had played representative rugby league but that career was ended by injury. Joining the Comanchero when he was 21, he took control of the club after national president Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi was jailed over the death of Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas at Sydney Airport in March 2009. Zervas was bludgeoned to death when 12 Comanchero confronted five Hells Angels and Hawi was eventually convicted of manslaughter. In Hawi's absence the gang was taken over by Duax Hohepa Ngakuru until he left Australia in 2010 when the crown was seized by the fiercely ambitious Buddle. In the following years Buddle spent time in prison for offences including assault, affray and intentionally causing injury but how and why police became interested in his knowledge - if any - of Allibon's murder is unclear. A coronial inquest held into the shooting in September 2015 recommended the investigation be referred to the unsolved homicide unit of NSW Police. Detectives first said they were close to making an arrest over Allibon's shooting in June 2014 when they stated publicly they knew who had killed him. On the eve of the fourth anniversary of Allibon's death, Detective Superintendent Luke Moore of the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad said Strike Force Lorimer had made a number of significant breakthroughs. 'We believe we know who is responsible for this offence and we are very close to being able to charge those people with the offence,' Moore said at the time. It was then police revealed the links they had made between the Audi and Yaghi's first shooting, as well as releasing details of the missing BMW X6 and a silver BMW 5-Series sedan, which was stolen during a car-jacking at Maroubra in July 2009. Detective Superintendent Moore said detectives still needed 'little pieces of information' before they could arrest the suspects and asked the public for help. He called those involved in the murder 'well-organised' and 'cold-blooded' and said they were suspected of having links to known organised crime groups. A year later in June 2015, ahead of another anniversary, police released CCTV footage showing two men in the Mercedes C63 which was driven behind the getaway Audi two days after the crime. Both men were likely identifiable to those who know them. Detective Acting Superintendent Mick Sheehy issued a reminder there was a $100,000 reward for information that led to the conviction of Allibon's killers. Gary and Monica Allibon were married for 25 years and lived at Kirrawee in Sydney's south. He regularly left love notes around the couple's home and was just eight months away from retiring 'We believe the men in the Mercedes as depicted in the CCTV could assist us greatly with our inquiries into the occupants of the silver Audi, so we are asking anyone who can identify them to come forward,' he said. The next month Buddle was pulled off a plane at Newcastle Airport after chartering a flight to Noumea. He was carrying $60,000 in undeclared cash and spent eight weeks in prison. Buddle legally flew out of the country in 2016 - first to Dubai, then Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus - and has not returned. In 2017 he was still asserting authority over the Comanchero in his absence, texting associates: 'I'm the f***ing commander of the world... no one is to touch another member or set up another chapter without my permission.' Buddle did not come back to Australia for his father's funeral that year or his mother's in 2018. Buddle did not return to Australia for his father's funeral in 2017 or his mother's in 2018. Comanchero sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed is pictured in club colours carrying Buddle's mother's coffin. Zahed was shot ten times in May in an ambush that killed his brother Omar Hawi, who was released from prison in 2015 and left the Comanchero, was shot dead outside a Rockdale gym in Sydney's south in February 2018. Two Lone Wolf members were acquitted of that murder in 2020. One of those men, Yusuf Nazlioglu, was shot dead at Rhodes in the city's inner-west in June. Detectives are interested in what Buddle might know about Hawi's murder, as well as the execution of gangster Mejid Hamzy at Condell Park in the city's south-west in October 2020. Underworld rumour has it that there is a $7million contract on Buddle's head. Less profitable but slightly less risky would be providing information that leads to the conviction of Allibon's killer and claiming the $1million reward. That sum was increased from $100,000 in April 2020 when police announced they were reinvestigating the murder and again asked for the public's help. Buddle took control of the Comanchero in 2010 while national president Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi (above, with wife Carolina Gonzalez) was in jail. Hawi was shot dead while sitting in his Mercedes outside a Sydney gym in 2018 Monica Allibon said she hoped the increased reward would bring new leads to investigators and finally provide justice for her late husband. 'There are no words to describe the grief I felt the day Gary died - the grief of losing him and the grief of the loss of our future together,' she said. 'That gut-wrenching feeling has yet to subside, and I don't think it can while his killers continue to live their lives without facing the consequences of their actions. 'Gary was just months away from retirement and, in addition to our plans for relaxation and holidays, we had the simple dream of growing old together. That was ripped from us with a single bullet fired in greed. 'Those men robbed the van and took my husband's life, and the people who know them and what they did are robbing me of answers and justice for Gary.' Monica Allibon has made regular public appeals for information that could lead to the arrest of those responsible for murdering her husband. She is pictured in 2020 when the reward for such information was increased to $1million Detective Acting Superintendent Grant Taylor of the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad said the re-investigation was following well-established lines of inquiry. 'The original Strike Force Lorimer investigators established links between this case and other organised criminal activity, including three shootings, which we are continuing to explore,' he said. 'We believe we have a clear picture of the events of the day, and a fair idea of the identities under the balaclavas, but we need the community's help to bring our case beyond reasonable doubt. 'Make no mistake, this wasn't a robbery gone wrong; Gary Allibon had complied with their demands and was executed in cold blood.' The newly appointed national president of the Comanchero is Sydneysider Allan Meehan (right), who was mentored by Buddle (left). Meehan took over after Mark Murray was locked up in Victoria on a murder charge 'The persons of interest to our investigation vary from those we believe know what happened or who was involved through to those who were there and the man who pulled the trigger. 'The time for any - or all - of these people to come forward is now. Strike Force Lorimer will get the pieces of information they need, so either way, you'll be seeing us soon.' Asked directly about police interest in Buddle, Taylor said: 'Rest assured that individual you're talking about is right up there at the top of our equation and our thoughts.' Anyone with information that may assist Strike Force Lorimer detectives is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. A top British dance school has dropped ballet from its auditions after branding it an 'elitist art form', built around 'white European ideas and body shapes'. The Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) reviewed the dance as part of a wider plan to 'decolonise the curriculum', and consider the impact of race and gender on dance. The Leeds-based school will no longer require ballet as part of its auditions, due to the cost of learning the dance style, its idealisation of particular body shapes and gender-divided roles, staff have said. Head of undergraduate studies at the conservatoire, Francesca McCarthy, called ballet an 'elitist art form'. Ballet's traditional terminology uses 'ballerina' for women and 'danseur' for men, with female dancers focusing on pointe work and lifts and leaps for men. Ms McCarthy said the ballet's terminology has 'strongly gendered roots' and was, 'problematic in relation to inclusion of non-binary and trans dancers.' Ballet will still be taught at the school, which charges 9,250 per year for British students, and 17,500 per year for international dancers. The Northern School of Contemporary Dance (pictured) has dropped ballet from its auditions because the dance style is centred in 'white European ideas Ballet's traditional terminology uses 'ballerina' for women and 'danseur' for men, with female dancers focusing on pointe work and lifts and leaps for men. Pictured, Darcey Bussel performs at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games Head of undergraduate studies at the conservatoire, Francesca McCarthy, called ballet an 'elitist form' However the classes and teaching methods have been altered to be more 'inclusive'. 'There are issues relating to body, money, language and movement vocabulary,' Ms McCarthy told The Telegraph. She said that class costs impact students who cannot afford to learn the dance, adding ballet 'is built around particular white European ideas and body shapes' which could put off dancers who do not fit this 'aesthetic ideal'. Ms McCarthy added that the dance's terminology has 'strongly gendered roots', with most teachers trained at a point in time that focused on a clear distinction between female and male dancers. 'There was a shift to ladies and gentleman over time but this is still problematic in relation to inclusion of non-binary and trans dancers,' she added. The head of undergraduate studies, who credits her 'wonderful wife' and two adopted sons for becoming more aware of 'challenges experienced by young people today', added that the NSCD is encouraging staff to use gender-neutral words, such as 'dancers/people/folk/everyone/everybody'. Staff are also encouraged to use 'they' instead of he and she, to 'not make assumptions' about students' identities. It comes as the school works to 'decolonise' its teaching and work with LGBT+ societies on the matter. The NSCD said that it reviews its content, and has removed the dance from audition days 'due to its potentially contentious nature'. NSCD is encouraging staff to use gender-neutral words, such as 'dancers, people, folk, everyone, everybody'. Pictured Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales perform a divert from Swan Lake amidst the pandemic In 2019, staff at the conservatoire began learning more about 'unconscious bias' in dance, in a bid to 'decolonise the curriculum'. This was further prioritised following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. That year, students launched an LGBTQ+ group, which advised on 'pronouns and the implications of gendered movement vocabularies such as in ballet classes'. The school is also a member of the Conservatoire of Dance and Drama, which launched plans to scrap leotards and tight dance-wear to help transgender people feel more comfortable. Officials spent more than 38,000 in taxpayers' cash at a Domino's branch buying pizza for migrants last year, according to new figures. Border Force staff at Dover's now-closed Tug Haven holding centre used government credit cards to pay for the food over just five months last year. On one occasion last July, the Home Office's Clandestine Operational Response Team bought 200 in one go, putting the pizza boxes into a van and taking them to migrants. Images at Tug Haven centre were taken last November. According to reports, officials would buy 3,900 of the chain's 9.99 medium pizzas Officials spent more than 38,000 in taxpayers' cash at a Domino's branch buying pizza for migrants. Piles of pizza boxes and some uneaten leftovers were left strewn outside the centre in images taken in November 2021. Staff at the Domino's branch said they were 'rushed off their feet' each time migrants arrived, according to The Sun. According to reports, officials would buy 3,900 of the chain's 9.99 medium pizzas with various toppings including popular choices such as Texas BBQ or the Veggie Supreme. Purchases ground to a halt in December last year when a catering firm took over, according to The Sun. Last year, around 28,526 people crossed the Channel in small boats. This year alone, more than 14,000 have made the dangerous journey so far. Government figures confirmed that 173 migrants arrived in four small boats on Thursday, and the MOD said 119 migrants in three boats were detected yesterday. The total number of arrivals so far this year now exceeds 14,330. Border Force officers also intercepted 442 migrants from 15 incidents on Monday - the highest number for nearly a month despite a Europe-wide crackdown on people smugglers and warnings migrants could be re-homed in Rwanda in central Africa. The new crossings come after Irish premier Micheal Martin warned the UK Government's plan to send migrants to Rwanda may have resulted in an increase in international protection applicants in the Republic. On one occasion last July, the Home Office's Clandestine Operational Response Team bought 200 in one go after stashing the pizza boxes into a van and taking them to migrants. Pictured, migrants being brought ashore to Kent by the Dover lifeboat The Government has reportedly put fresh attempts to get the first deportation flight to the East African nation off the ground on hold until after the Conservative Party has elected a new prime minister over fears it could generate too much controversy during the leadership contest. The plane was grounded in June amid legal challenges. Alp Mehmet, Chairman of MigrationWatch UK, an organisation which represents the immigration concerns of British people, told The Sun: 'The fact that the Border Force is having to resort to fast-food takeaways is symptomatic of the large numbers arriving. 'What it points to is the need to stem the flow of dinghy-migrants.' A spokesperson for the Home Office said: 'The asylum system is broken and is costing the tax-payer an eye watering amount of money. 'Our New Plan for Immigration will fix this broken system by breaking the business model of criminal gangs to prevent dangerous and unnecessary crossings.' By Daniel Shin Intellectual property (IP) is a powerful tool to give a sense of ownership to the original creator. Hence, intellectual property has to be well protected by law. Oftentimes, small ventures lack the resources to effectively protect their intellectual property. Even if the modern concept of intellectual property has evolved since the 17th century, primarily in Europe, intellectual property law could date far back. In medieval Europe, for example, guilds or associations of artisans were granted authority by governors to regulate their respective industries. NFT.NYC held in New York City in late June was a great success. NFT.NYC is the largest and most respected conference for the non-fungible token (NFT) industry. Amid the cryptocurrency crash, the NFT.NYC conference could have been a disaster. But it received over 20,000 attendees. As some said, NFT.NYC has grown into the Super Bowl of NFTs. Out of the flood of party invitations for NFT.NYC, ApeFest, in its second year in a row, received the most attention. ApeFest only allowed people to enter who hold Mutant and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, the hottest NFT project in the world. From Times Square to Pier 17, where ApeFest was physically held, many familiar monkey faces bombarded digital signage, posters and social media platforms. ApeFest showed the true fandom culture of the NFT world. ApeFest was independently organized and could surpass the popularity of NFT.NYC soon. The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a collection of 10,000 unique Bored Ape NFTs. They are digital collectibles living on the Ethereum blockchain. BAYC is one of the most successful NFT projects building upon the strongest community in the NFT space. BAYC is the brainchild of Yuga Labs, a venture-backed Web 3 marketing firm. Yuga Lab is wickedly clever as it has created a unique sense of exclusivity with 10,000 programmatically generated Bored Ape digital collectibles without any traditional marketing mixes. There was no advertising, search marketing, or extensive social media promotion. Instead, BAYC harnesses the power of the community by connecting people. Yuga Lab has made the BAYC brand become a badge of honor and a clear symbol of social status amid the crypto and NFT frenzy. The BAYC NFT is the only pass for those who were brave enough to get in on it early on and continue to possess it, as it opens up a door to an exclusive community. BAYC is a new threat to Disney as it is growing its influence as a global powerhouse of new intellectual property. BAYC was collectively worth $25 billion or about 12 percent of the market capitalization of Disney in May 2022. If someone purchases a BAYC NFT, then he or she owns the intellectual property rights that are tied up with his possession of the NFT. NFTs are somewhat highly speculative investments but BAYC could be a good investment opportunity, not only due to the perks that come with ownership but also a promising road map of its utility as a widely applicable example of intellectual property. Smart contracts could further accelerate its usage beyond the fandom community. In only a few months since the initial BAYC release, BAYC soared. Many famous athletes have acquired BAYC NFTs. Soon after that, it was followed by multiple merchandise drops, including a collaboration with long-standing streetwear brands like The Hundreds. There have been many prestigious appearances of BAYC NFTs across multiple media outlets and also at top art auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's. Now, BAYC characters are in comic books and animations, on soft drinks, at coffee and ice cream franchises. It is still hard to estimate the full valuation of the licensed commercial activities of BAYC, but all we can tell now is that there will be more monkeys popping up here and there in the coming years. An NFT with character brand recognition will have future utilization across multiple mediums. When we think about a potential buyout of the intellectual property of this NFT, BAYC's insanely high price tag can be justified because it is valued based on projected revenue, not its so-called scarcity score card. In June, the floor or entry-level price for a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT fell below $100,000 for the first time since August 2021. It was down by 70 percent after Bored Apes initially launched and had reached nearly $429,000. It could be further downplayed for a while amid current crypto volatility. However, directionally and emotionally, BAYC is heading toward a long-term growth trajectory as its NFT commercial value continues to accrue. Earlier this year, Yuga Labs, the creators of the BAYC and spin-offs the Mutant Ape, announced that it had acquired the intellectual property of Larva Labs, which invented CryptoPunks. Yuga Labs also bought Meebits NFT collections. IP licensing models could greatly differ between different NFT projects. Yuga Labs' licensing model allows a broader commercial use. Yuga Labs now encourages third parties and a community of creators to incorporate CryptoPunks and Meebits into their Web 3 projects. Ultimately, the potential of what can be done with NFTs will be stated in the terms of licenses. Existing brands are likely to have longer and more complicated licensing processes to protect their most valuable core intellectual property and maximize their bargaining power. Getting permission from Disney, for example, could take months to years. That's how the licensing business has been done for decades, all in the name of brand control. Generative and new creative projects like BAYC are far more likely to have broader rights granted to their NFT holders powered by a rapid contractual process under the original creator's governing protocol. This concept would create a sea change in the world of intellectual property. Pairing the global recognition of the BAYC with individual NFTs that have their own recognizable characters and brands, could outpace the value of existing intellectual property that is owned by large media companies. Fueled by its community fandom power, it won't take too long to catch up with what decades-old media companies have done. Further relaxing the usage of intellectual property provides immense opportunities. The fandom community's ability to get more actively involved will ultimately further seed new ideas and creative projects. Now, coupled with CryptoPunks and Meebits, Yuga Lab will further extend its proven marketing tactics to other intellectual property powered by NFTs so that the use of NFTs can quickly evolve beyond the fandom community to create enormous mass market appeal and commercial success. Daniel Shin is a venture capitalist and senior luxury fashion executive, overseeing corporate development at MCM, a German luxury brand. He also teaches at Korea University. A surgeon who was branded a bully is facing a probe after an NHS report found his 'unacceptable and unjustifiable' actions lead to the death of a 17-year-old patient. Surgeon John Bradley Williamson, a former president of the British Scoliosis Society, is also accused of running a 'toxic' team with 'absolute power' due to his relationship with a nurse. The 65-year-old was found to have 'directly contributed' to the death of Catherine O'Connor in February 2007, according to a leaked NHS-commissioned report seen by The Sunday Times. Catherine was wheelchair-bound after being born with spina bifida, and she died on the operating table at Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester following catastrophic blood loss. The 'Patient Safety Look Back Review' concluded that Williamson's actions, which included not having a second consultant surgeon or enough blood, 'directly contributed' to Catherine O'Connor's death. Dr Williamson was suspended in 2014 and sacked in 2015 for inappropriate behaviour towards a female member of staff not for clinical reasons. The General Medical Council said that Williamson was still registered with a licence to practise and was not under investigation. His website shows he continues to see patients privately although he no longer carries out surgery and charges 350 an hour as an expert witness. Allegations of a cover-up from whistleblowers have seen Salford Royal Hospital look into more than 100 of Williamson's cases. Orthopedic surgeon John Bradley Williamson was found to have 'directly contributed' to the death of Catherine O'Connor in 2007, when he operated on her Catherine O'Connor died following catastrophic blood loss aged only 17 after having spinal surgery by John Bradley Williamson Williamson, who specialised in surgery to treat scoliosis, was described by colleagues as 'clinically incompetent' and a 'bully', who ran his department with 'absolute power' because he was having a relationship with the department's nurse manager, according to leaked minutes seen by The Sunday Times from December 2021. Staff also claimed that reports into mistakes resulted in them being threatened or the reports themselves 'went missing, disappeared or were downgraded'. In relation to Catherine's death, Williamson told the Times: 'I have not been made aware of any allegations.' John Bradley Williamson managed a team of 30 surgeons at Salford Royal Hospital with 'absolute power' according to a colleague Williamson joined Salford Royal Hospital and the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in 1996 and as head of division he managed a team of 30 surgeons handling 10,000 referrals and 2,000 complex surgeries a year. Addressing the Spinal Patient Safety Look Back Review, the Northern Care Alliance said: 'We reassure patients that this review only involves some patients who received spinal surgery performed by this Consultant Surgeon. This surgeon has not worked at the Trust since 2015. 'Patients should be assured that if concerns are identified with their care or treatment then they will be contacted by our organisation. 'A patient might then be asked to attend for a clinic appointment with one of our consultant spinal surgeons. This might be to discuss medical history, previous spinal surgery, progress since spinal surgery (even if this was some time ago) and current condition. This will help to determine if anything further needs to take place. 'We are sorry for any distress or concern that patients may have experienced and we hope this information provides patients with some reassurance. We emphasise that any patient where concerns are identified with their previous spinal surgery or treatment they will be contacted by the Trust.' Advertisement Soldiers in hazmat suits searched for signs of nuclear and chemical substances at the crash site of a Ukrainian cargo plane transporting nearly a dozen tons of mortar shells and land mines. The Antonov An-12 light aircraft, which was transporting the weapons from Serbia to Bangladesh, had eight Ukrainian crew members onboard. They were all killed. An official at Kyiv cargo operator Meridian told Reuters: 'Of course they didn't survive this.' Eyewitnesses filmed the fireball crash in the early hours today, with explosions continuing for two hours and the charred wreckage burning until morning. Drone images from the scene showed debris from the bulking aircraft strewn in fields. Serbia's defense minister said the plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of products made by its defense industry and the buyer was Bangladesh defense ministry. Greek authorities could not provide any more information on the aircraft's cargo. Greek soldiers in biochemical protection gear survey the crash site, where mortar shells and land mines reportedly exploded The skeleton of the Ukrainian aircraft is pictured this afternoon near Kavala in northern Greece, which it crashed last night The hazmat suit-wearing troops attended the scene this afternoon hours after the cargo plane fell, killing eight people Smoking debris sits at the heart of the crash site, where authorities have created a 400m radius and closed nearby roads Drone images taken this afternoon show the long stretch where the plane fell outside Kavala, northern Greece earlier today Photos taken this morning show the charred debris still aflame hours after the plane crashed Soldiers and biochemical weapons experts were pictured arriving at the scene this lunchtime to explore the crash site Images from today show hunks of metal scattered around the field, with crew members' conditions still unknown. Ukrainian media has reportedly suggested all eight were killed Serbian defence minister Nebojsa Stefanovic added that the plane's cargo was owned by Serbian company Valir, a trade company registered to perform foreign trade activities A special army unit arrived at the site to search for nuclear, biological and chemical substances Police officers monitor the closed roads surrounding the crash site, which has reportedly emitted white dust into the air A special army unit arrived at the site to search for nuclear, biological and chemical substances at 1pm local time (10am GMT). A lead firefighter told reporters that his crew 'felt their lips burning' at the site, with white dust floating in the air. 'We don't know what has been affecting us,' fire brigade coordinator Marios Apostolidis said. Serbian defence minister Nebojsa Stefanovic added that the plane's cargo was owned by Serbian company Valir, a trade company registered to perform foreign trade activities of armament military equipment and other defense products. State TV ERT said that the signal of the aircraft was lost soon after the pilot requested an emergency landing from Greek aviation authorities due to an engine problem. Amateur video footage showed the aircraft in flames descending fast before hitting the ground in what appeared to be an explosion. Profoundly saddened by the news of the cargo plane crash in Northern #Greece, near #Kavala We express our sincere condolences to the families of the 8 Ukrainian crew members who tragically lost their lives in the plane crash pic.twitter.com/oJRu35qKZL (@GreeceMFA) July 17, 2022 State TV ERT said that the signal of the aircraft was lost soon after the pilot requested an emergency landing from Greek aviation authorities Drone footage shows the flaming body of the plane after the crash in Kavala, north Greece A Ukrainian cargo aircraft which had eight people on board was already on fire before it crashed last night near the city of Kavala in northern Greece , footage shows. Pictured: Flames and smoke are seen at the area where an Ukraine Antonov cargo aircraft has crashed in the Paleiochori area, west of Kavala The Antonov An-12, owned by Meridian, exploded in a burst of flames while it was flying from Serbia to Jordan with 'dangerous materials' believed to be explosives onboard. Pictured: Ambulances are seen at the area where an Ukraine Antonov cargo aircraft has crashed in the Paleiochori area, west of Kavala, north Greece last night A senior source at Jordan's civil aviation regulatory commission (CARC) denied earlier reports that the plane was headed to Jordan. The source said that its flight itinerary included a stopover in Jordan's Queen Alia international airport at 9:30 pm to refuel, state news agency Petra reported on Sunday. The wider area in Greece where the aircraft crashed has been cordoned off since Saturday night. Residents nearby have been advised to keep windows and doors shut and avoid the area of the incident. The fire service has cordoned off the area at a radius of about 400m. The mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, to which the two villages close to the crash belong, closed nearby roads. Eye-witnesses said the Antonov An-12 was on fire and that they had heard explosions, Athens News Agency reported. A local man, from the mountainous region, Giorgos Archontopoulos, told state broadcaster ERT television he had felt something was wrong as soon as he heard the aircraft's engine. 'At 10.45pm I was surprised by the sound of the engine of the aircraft,' he said. 'I went outside and saw the engine on fire.' Locals, who reported seeing a fireball and a plume of smoke, and Greek media think the plane was carrying explosives. Ambulances are seen this morning at the area where an Ukraine Antonov cargo aircraft has crashed in the Paleiochori area, west of Kavala Pictured: Firefighters are seen near the site of a plane crash State broadcaster ERT reported that army explosive experts were en route to the site, located on farmland close to two villages that are part of the Paggaio municipality. It also said villagers are saying it was already in flames before it crashed and ERT has been told its cargo 'was dangerous'. Police were asking journalists at the scene to wear masks, the report added. 'You need to go away for your safety. There is an information that the aircraft was carrying ammunition', one firefighter told reporters at the scene. Filippos Anastasiadis, mayor of the nearby town of Paggaio, told Open TV: 'The aircraft crashed around two kilometres (one mile) away from an inhabited area.' He also told AP: 'We were hearing explosions until a few minutes ago. I am about 300 meters from the site of the crash.' A total of 15 firefighters and seven engines were deployed to put out the blaze that broke out after the crash with more rescuers on their way. Firefighting vehicles are seen near the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala, in northern Greece on Saturday Flames are seen at the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala, in northern Greece yesterday A night view taken yesterday of the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala It was not clear what the aircraft's cargo was but the special disaster response unit was also investigating the scene. 'We are treating the cargo as dangerous material,' said a fire brigade official. The fire service has cordoned off the area and has been finding it difficult to approach the scene. The pilot managed to alert authorities about a problem in one of the plane's engines and he was given the choice of landing in either the Thessaloniki or Kavala airports. He opted for Kavala, which was closer, but the plane crashed about 25 miles west of the airport, Greece's Civil Aviation authority said. The million-dollar bonuses set to be handed out to Qantas executives have sparked outrage after the airline took $2billion in taxpayer money during the pandemic and illegally sacked thousands of workers. The airline is battling mass flight cancellations, lengthy customer delays and misplaced baggage issues causing chaos for travellers months on from borders re-opening. QantasLink topped the list for cancelled flights in April this year with 591 getting the chop closely followed by Qantas with 426, data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics shows. May was even higher with one in every 13 Qantas flights cancelled or 7.6 per cent of the airline's total flights, up from 5.1 per cent the previous month. But in a statement to the ASX in June, Qantas revealed four senior executives would be paid company shares worth a combined total of more than $4million on top of their salary. Alan Joyce (pictured), Qantas CEO, acknowledged delays and flight cancellations over Easter and the June - July holidays were 'not the airline's finest hour' Qantas topped the list for cancelled flights of all Australian based airlines in April and May (pictured: a passenger at Sydney Airport) Qantas CFO Vanessa Hudson will be eligible for $1.15million in shares, Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans will be handed $1.22million, Qantas domestic and international CEO Andrew David will receive $1.15million, and Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth is up for $985,000 in stock. The bonuses will be paid in August 2023 if the executives meet performance targets, though Mr Evans has since resigned. Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas slammed the payments. 'From an engineer's perspective, it's absolutely disgusting that people are given bonuses the size of a lotto win and we are being labelled as greedy for wanting a pay rise when we have not had one in four years,' Mr Purvinas told the Daily Telegraph. 'With airline baggage loss and other deficiencies how can they consider paying any bonuses whatsoever.' Vanessa Hudson, chief financial officer of Qantas will get more than a $1million in stock if she meets performance targets (pictured) Transport Workers Union National Secretary Michael Kaine echoed the statement and said the bonuses 'rub salt into the wounds of sacked employees'. 'School holidays and the Easter holidays have been absolutely ruined by the decision of Qantas to illegally sack 2000 workers,' he told 9News. 'The man who made that decision has just been awarded a bonus by Alan Joyce of $1.1 million worth of shares.' Some non-executive Qantas staff will also be offered a bonus of 1,000 Qantas shares valued at about $5,000 if they meet the criteria and still have a job with the airline. Early in the pandemic Qantas stood down more than 10,000 staff, followed by another round of more than 2,500 in August 2021. The company also accepted $2billion of taxpayer funds in the form of Covid stimulus payments. In May, Qantas lost an appeal against a Federal Court decision that outsourcing 2,000 ground crew roles was illegal, though the company intends to appeal. The court ruled the airline breached the Fair Work Act when it axed the employees during the Covid crises in favour of a cheaper alternative provided by companies such as Swissport. Jetstar boss Gareth Evans (left) and loyalty program CEO Olivia Wirth (right) have been offered performance bonuses 'A lot of the older guys with 30 years-plus experience, they had no idea how to even apply online for a job. So it affected the older guys,' one employee told the Today Show. 'You have got a skilled workforce that just has been totally sacked,' he said. 'Bags being in rooms for weeks, waiting to be claimed. There has been damage to planes. 'They are contractors, they are not even employed by Qantas. They don't even get staff travel. 'There is no incentive even to want to stay there. You can't just learn 30 years experience with a 20-minute security or safety online course.' The airline has rehired about 1,000 staff since Easter, mainly in customer service roles. Transport Workers Union National Secretary Michael Kaine echoed the statement and said the bonuses 'rub salt into the wounds of sacked employees'. Pictured: Massive queue at Sydney airport on December 18, 2020 A Qantas spokesperson defended the scale of the executives' bonuses. 'These are outrageous statements from the unions and completely ignore the fact that we intend to reward the contribution of all Qantas and Jetstar employees if the Group successfully delivers its Covid-recovery program,' they said. 'These unions know that since 2015 we have paid out more than $300 million in bonuses to our frontline staff.' Mr Joyce addressed staff shortages and passenger disruptions during an interview with 2GB Radio host Ben Fordham, where he admitted the company failed over the Easter long weekend but were back to pre-Covid levels of operations. Qantas is battling mass flight cancellations, lengthy customer delays and misplaced baggage issues causing chaos for travellers months on from borders re-opening. Pictured: Hobart airport 'It's booming at the moment but we had two years of people locked up and now people are wanting to travel. The domestic levels are back to pre-Covid levels or above it,' he said. 'Before Covid everything was in perfect balance, it ran smoothly. What we saw over Easter was not the aviation industry's finest hour. Parts of the system didn't run very well, we saw the queues at the airport, higher level of sick leave and in some cases up to 50 per cent of people taking sick leave. 'There's been a big improvement and we now think the call centres are fixed and better than before Covid.' A gang of balaclava-clad Romanian thieves are thought to be behind a series of farm shop burglaries across the Midlands, the north West and north Wales. At least seven posh farm shops have been targeted in the past four weeks, with CCTV suggesting the same group of 'Matrix-inspired' criminals are behind them. They even managed to circumvent one store's 10,000 alarm system by crawling like commandoes around the aisles. The men got away with 16,000 in bank notes from a certified safe at Denstone Hall, Staffordshire last month. Rupert and wife Emma are pictured outside their Staffordshire store front Denstone Hall owner Rupert Evans, 50, said it was likely the gang had visited the store that day The gang crawled commando-style on the floor of the aisles at Denstone Hall last month Evans added: 'Its hugely unsettling for all of us to realise that criminals have been in the shop, working out how to return and break in' Insurers NFU Mutual warned that burglars have taken advantage of the farm shops' rural, often isolated locations. NFU Mutual's farm shop security checklist Make sure passive infrared (PIR) sensors are not concealed by shelving reducing their operating angle Ensure detectors have not been tampered with Consider installing internal door sensors and ensure movement detectors are duplicated where possible Install window sensors on external fixed panes of glass, not just opening windows and doors Reduce cash on site by banking more frequently. Also consider any on-site vending machines and removing cash cassettes each night Safes should be fixed to the ground Check the amount insured in your safe and make sure your insurers recognise your safe If possible, move transactions to a cashless form to reduce the theft risk Change your alarm code regularly and deactivate older or lost fobs For lightweight structures, consider installing a more robust inner security area Consider CCTV coverage with remote monitoring or links to mobiles to confirm alarm activations Ensure target stock items such as alcohol are kept to a minimum if on display Advertisement Spokesman David Harrison said: 'We're very concerned organised criminals are exploiting the remote locations of many farm shops to commit burglaries.' 'We haven't had a series of highly organised raids like this before.' Denstone Hall owner Rupert Evans claims they even stole staff tips, The Sunday Times reported. Mr Evans, 50, said: 'Watching them crawl around to avoid triggering the alarm was the strangest thing I've ever seen. 'I tested it myself and tried to do what they did, just to check why the alarm didn't go off. 'They were like something out of The Matrix film, wearing their ski snoods with a tiny little gap for their eyes.' The same group are suspected of robbing Wolverhampton's Essington Farm shop on July 4. But on that occasion, they did trigger the alarm system - and made their escape empty-handed. 'I was on the property at the time and arrived just a minute too late', owner Will Simkin told the newspaper. Police say they are 'amazed' by the sophistication of the gang's methods. Staffordshire police added: 'Officers are making extensive inquiries and would encourage anyone with information or CCTV or dash cam footage to contact Staffordshire police.' Meanwhile North Wales Police urged farmers to be wary of suspicious customer activity during opening hours. Mr Evans told The Grocer this week: 'They knew the layout of the business, so it appears very likely they cased the joint before the attack. 'The most important thing is that no one was hurt because it happened at night. 'However, its hugely unsettling for all of us to realise that criminals have been in the shop, working out how to return and break in.' Nationwide rail strikes are still due to go ahead this month, a union boss warned today as he said 'no-one's coming to the table' to find a solution. Mick Whelan, General Secretary of train drivers' union Aslef, said the strike planned for the end of this month will mean 'virtually no service' in areas affected. he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: 'That saddens us - we'd much rather be talking to find a way out of this but unfortunately no-one's coming to the table.' Members of Aslef at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains are due to walk out on July 30 over a pay dispute. All services are expected to be disrupted. Earlier this week, it was announced that Network Rail and Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) staff will strike on July 27 for 24 hours Mr Whelan has said Aslef members have not had a pay rise since 2019, which is the driving force behind their strike. He said the union has not yet put 'an exact figure' on the pay rise it is looking for. 'Most people don't understand that nobody in the rail industry has had a pay rise for three years... and the cost-of-living crisis is hitting all workers,' he said on Sky News's Sunday programme. He added that taking action 'saddens' the union and said: 'We'd much rather be talking to find a way out of this but unfortunately no-one's coming to the table.' When asked if he considered the median salary for a train driver of around 59,000 might already be considered a lot to those outside the industry, he said: 'Probably to a lot of people it is, and I look at other workers and think they should have what he had. 'We don't enter into this politics of envy debate. For us it's about everybody's entitled to a pay rise.' He added that there are 'a lot of traditionalists who would like to see occasionally (the Labour Party) stand up and stand with workers more regularly. 'I've seen an awful lot of what they've done behind the scenes, so I've seen that there's a massive amount being done. I just think that occasionally we should communicate more.' Mick Whelan, General Secretary of train drivers' union Aslef said the strike planned for the end of this month will mean 'virtually no service' in areas affected Members of Aslef at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains are due to walk out on July 30 Drivers on Greater Anglia are also set to strike on July 23, while those on Hull Trains will strike on July 23 in addition to yesterday's (July 16) action. Earlier this week, it was announced that Network Rail and Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) staff will strike on July 27 for 24 hours. Network Rail services will be affected by the RMT strike as well as Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and GTR. It also includes the Gatwick Express, adding to the travelling woes of those hoping to travel abroad over the school holidays. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) members will also be striking over pay, job security and conditions on the same day (July 27). The TSSA strikes will affect Southeastern services between London and Kent, as well as parts of East Sussex. Stations that may potentially be impacted also include London St Pancras, Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, Dover Priory, Ramsgate, Ashford International, Dartford and Sevenoaks. Mick Whelan said the union has not yet put 'an exact figure' on the pay rise it is looking for Edinburgh's Waverley Station: Commuters have been warned that some areas will face virtually no service during planned strikes later this month Members of the TSSA stationed at West Midlands Trains, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia and TransPennine Express are currently going through a balloting process to determine if they join the industrial action. TSSA members along with 14 other train operators are also set to walk out on August 18 and August 20. The Government has proposed new minimum service requirements to tackle the ongoing issue, which would require a certain number of trains to run during a strike. But ministers have admitted that it could take some time to draw up new laws. When Aussie sailor John Deer fell off his yacht in the Caribbean Sea, he thought he would not make it through the night alive. But as he watched his boat drift into the distance, the 41-year-old realised he had a choice: wait for the waves to eventually pull him under or try to swim 17km to shore. 'I kinda treaded water for a moment and I'm thinking, "Right, I'm gonna die",' he told 60Minutes. 'Then I thought "am I just going to float around and wait for that lung full of water?" I may as well start swimming". 'So I started swimming.' Three years ago, Mr Deer left his Melbourne home to embark on a trip of a lifetime - a solo sailing adventure around the world. He bought a second-hand yacht, called Julieta, in the Greek Islands and began his voyage - cruising across the Mediterranean, visiting Albania, Italy, then island hopping around Spain. Despite not having previous sailing experience, he 'threw himself into the deep end' and quickly fell in love with his new lifestyle. John Deer, 41, recounted his miraculous tale of survival after he swam 17kms to shore after falling off his yacht near Panama 'It was a cheap way to live, that was a huge apart of the appeal,' he said. 'I didn't want to get old and look back and go "oh, I worked a lot". Life's for living. 'I travelled for free with the wind, I ate for free, fishing from the ocean. I had solar panels so I had free electricity. 'It was not only my home, but my transport. It was great.' After Europe, Mr Deer headed down the west coast of Africa then began the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, intending to reach Panama then glide south back to Australia. But last month as he neared Panama, trouble struck. While casting a line out to catch fish for dinner on June 8, his foot slipped and he fell - untethered and without a life jacket - off his yacht into the sea, in an area known to locals as Shark Point. 'I didn't want to believe it. I thought am I dreaming? Is this real?' he said. 'I can see my boat. I'm pretty sure it's real. I'm like, "I'm dead, for sure. 'This is the day I die.' Moments before the fall, Mr Deer had checked his GPS and knew he was 17kms away from land. Now, treading water with no belongings other than his shorts and the shirt on his back, he believed there was no chance he would make it back to shore. After Europe, Mr Deer headed down the west coast of Africa then began the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, intending to reach Panama (pictured on a map) then glide south back to Australia Mr Deer was on a trip of a lifetime - solo sailing around the world - when he fell off his boat, Julieta (pictured) Determined to fight for his life, he started swimming as the sunset and into the night, using the moon's direction as a navigational guide. But as the water turned dark, he found himself fighting the dangers lurking beneath. 'Something started to bite. There was pure terror - panic,' he said. 'I thought it was a shark straight away.' Mr Deer started screaming and punching the water in a bid to scare whatever it was away. But after realising the fearful episode had fatigued him, he put his mind to conserving his energy and returned to swimming, using breath stroke until he tired then switching to backstroke. During the perilous journey, he kept his mind occupied by counting his strokes to track how much further he had to go. Ten hours later, he finally made it to the shoreline and felt gravity take hold again as he scrambled up rocks out of the water. But his battle was not over yet. As the sun rose, he realised the land behind him was an impenetrable jungle and he would need to find another way back to civilisation. Eventually he saw a boat breeching over the horizon and he called out as it neared. 'I waved my heart out and yelled out Cooee!' he said. '[But] they saw me and waved back and kept going. I'm like, "No, no, stop!" His boat (pictured) was found wrecked along rocks off the Panama coast after it drifted off After a gruelling hour wait, Mr Deer's efforts to flag down the next ship worked and he was rescued off the rocks. 'I broke into tears,' he said. 'They were totally confused. [Thinking] who is this foreigner on the rocks. I was topless, barefoot. Just trying to get a ride back. 'I think they saw that desperation in my eyes.' The crew took him back to Panama City where he spent more than a week trying to get a passport after losing all of his belongings at sea. His yacht was later discovered wrecked on rocks along the coastline, smashed to pieces. Now, back in Australia, Mr Deer believes he had the current - and luck - on his side. Despite its name, he has since learnt there are no sharks in the Bay of Sharks. '17km/h over ten hours is like 1.7km an hour. I'm no Olympic Swimmer. I'm generally a pretty unfit guy. I 100 per cent must have had current with me,' he said. 'I don't believe in the religious god... But I prayed to the universe. I put some energy out there. But even then I think, afterwards, it was luck. 'I don't know if that's destiny. I don't know if I believe in destiny either but...yeah. 'Here I am.' A sharp rise in Australia's Aboriginal population has been sparked by so-called 'box-tickers' who claim a newly discovered Indigenous identity but have no real cultural ties to Aboriginal communities. University of Sydney anthropologist and Wiradjuri woman Suzanne Ingram said data from the latest Census shows a massive uptick in 'middle-class liberal progressives' self-identifying as Indigenous because of a very distant relative. There were 812,728 people who identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in Australia in 2021, accounting for 3.2 per cent of the population. This was an increase of more than 25 per cent since census data was last collected in 2016 and considerably outstripped the general population increase of 8.6 per cent. There were 812,728 people who identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in Australia in 2021, accounting for 3.2 per cent of the population There are concerns that home DNA testing kits (pictured) are being used to identify as Indigenous by people with no cultural ties to the community While some of the increase can be put down to natural fertility or children of mixed partnerships choosing to be identified as Indigenous it also testifies to a growing enthusiasm for testing to find Indigenous DNA using home kits. Home-testing kits from US companies such as AncestryDNA are being increasingly used by people seeking to find Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander DNA so people can identify as Indigenous. 'In the south-east, particularly along the coast, an increasing number of middle-class liberal progressives are self-identifying, claiming their Aboriginality through a distant relative,' Ms Ingram told the Sydney Morning Herald. While the tests are considered accurate there are worries this can distort the allocation of Indigenous resources by channeling them away from the areas of greatest disadvantage. The Yothu Yindi Foundation, which represents Yolngu people in Arnhem Land, has argued that 'lax census data' has caused less GST to be allocated the Northern Territory than should be the case. 'My analysis in health communication shows how it affects policy.' Ms Ingram told an an academic conference in Canada earlier this year. 'It seems to have started in housing policy but it has soared in the education sector, and the stats show, probably unsurprisingly, that the east coast of Australia is the epicentre. She said there is a 'performative element' that these claims for legitimacy rely on. 'How we recognise each other is up to mob locally, within our kinship networks. We are doing something about it now and I know mob elsewhere are, too, but the discussion is more open in North America than it is here.' The number of people identifying as Indigenous has increased by 25 per cent in the latest census compared to five years ago Palawa man and playwright Nathan Maynard says being Indigenous is 'in vogue' Those identifying as Indigenous in the census do not have to provide evidence. To apply for grants, programs or positions designated to Indigenous people government agencies and other organisations apply a so-called 'working criteria' to assess eligibility. This includes being of Indigenous descent, identifying as Indigenous and being accepted by a community, which may require ratification of a letter or certificate. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the vast majority of people who identify as Indigenous do so honestly. 'Box-ticking' was the theme of tackled by playwright and Palawa man Nathan Maynard in his widely acclaimed play At What Cost, which debuted in Sydney earlier this year. 'We are in vogue at the moment,' Mr Maynard said. 'We're trendier than smashed avocado on toast. In this world, people want to have something special about them and they see being Aboriginal as a point of difference.' Two women in the UK are facing prison for having an abortion, including one who obtained the pills required from an authorised provider. A 25-year-old unnamed woman is accused of having 'unlawfully administered to herself a poison or other noxious thing, namely Misoprostol' with the intention of inducing a miscarriage. She allegedly took the drug, which is one of two pills routinely prescribed by doctors to abort a pregnancy, in January last year. The crime falls under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and carries a life sentence in prison. She allegedly took the drug, which is one of two pills routinely prescribed by doctors to abort a pregnancy, in January last year What crimes are the women accused of? Offences Against the Person Act 1861 The 25-year-old woman is accused of an offence which falls under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Attempts to procure abortion are covered in the 1861 Act under two categories: 1. Administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion 2. Procuring drugs to cause abortion However, the 1967 Abortion Act made abortions legal if performed by a doctor, authorised by two doctors acting in good faith, and met at least one qualifying factor. But it does not apply to Northern Ireland. Until 2019, anyone carrying out an abortion in Northern Ireland, except under highly limited circumstances, could be jailed for life under the 1861 Act. It was legalised under Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. Infant Life (Preservation) Act The second woman is charged with child destruction under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act which dates back to 1929. The act states that any person who destroys the life of a child capable of being born alive with intent can be subjected to conviction. Under the Abortion Act 1967, abortion is legal when carried out in accordance with regulations including being carried out by registered practitioners and through medical practices such as those carried out by the NHS. Advertisement The woman pleaded not guilty at Oxford Crown Court to administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage. She was told via interpreter that she will stand trial in February next year. It comes as another woman is due to appear before Staffordshire Magistrates Court charged with child destruction under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act, which dates back to 1929. The unnamed woman obtained pills from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) during the coronavirus lockdown under legislation introduced during the pandemic. It allowed women up to ten weeks' pregnant to receive aborting pills in the post to take at home following a remote consultation. The at-home provisions became permanent in March after MPs voted to support an amendment to the Health and Care Bill. After the woman took the pills, she delivered a 28-week foetus and was reported to the police. Her case is set to be sent to Stoke Crown Court. If convicted, she also faces a maximum life in prison sentence. Under the Abortion Act 1967, abortion is legal when carried out in accordance with regulations including being carried out by registered practitioners and through medical practices such as those carried out by the NHS. Senior doctors have said continued prosecutions may deter women experiencing miscarriages and incomplete abortions from seeking treatment when needed. Medics, lawyers and charity workers have signed a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC, urging him to stop taking women to court for ending their pregnancies. The letter calls for all current proceedings to be stopped and that no future charges are brought against women or girls who end a pregnancy or experience pregnancy loss. It comes as similar freedoms are curtailed in the US, where the Supreme Court ruling which gave women a right to seek a termination, Roe V Wade, was recently overturned. In a Tweet shared online, BPAS shared their words to Hill which read: 'We believe that, in 2022, it is never in the public interest to charge women who end their own pregnancy, and that no woman should face investigation or prosecution for ending a pregnancy or experiencing unexpected or unexplained pregnancy loss.' The woman, a mother to a toddler, pleaded not guilty at Oxford Crown Court to administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage The case of a second woman is set to be sent to Stoke Crown Court. If convicted, she also faces a maximum life in prison sentence. In a tweet, they wrote: 'When we say that womens reproductive rights are under threat this is what we mean. Its not abstract, its not hysteria, its not even #RoeVWade. Its women being hauled in front of British courts to face the harshest penalty for abortion in the world life in prison. 'Were horrified by these developments. It is never right, it is never in the public interest, and we will never stop advocating until abortion is removed from the criminal law and treated like the healthcare it is. No woman deserves this.' The charity has sent a letter to the Crown Prosecution Service, who are thought to be considering the issues raised as a matter of urgency. Jonathan Lord, Medical Director of MSI Reproductive Choices UK, has claimed that some women have found themselves being investigated after a natural miscarriage or stillbirth because they previously considered terminating their pregnancy. It comes as similar freedoms are curtailed in the US, where the Supreme Court ruling which gave women a right to seek a termination was overturned Charlotte Proudman, one of the barristers who has signed the letter, said she is considering bring a case against the government under human rights laws. MPs have argued for the a change to be made to the law so that abortion is regulated as a health procedure. Labour MP Diana Johnson said: 'I think the British public do not want to see women and doctors criminalised under a Victorian law when medicine and public opinion have moved on so much.' A West Virginia woman has woken up from a two-year coma and revealed her 'mean' brother was the culprit of the attack that almost killed her. Daniel Palmer, 55, has been charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding for allegedly bludgeoning his 51-year-old sister, Wanda, with a machete. In June 2020, Wanda was found unconscious, covered in blood, and with massive head trauma at her house near Cottageville. Investigators in the Jackson County Sheriff's Office were shocked when they received a call from Wanda's nursing home notifying them that she was awake and speaking. Although her brother had been a person of interest during the investigation, police said there was not enough evidence to make an arrest. 'From an investigator's standpoint, this is about as rare as it gets. I think it's a true testament to the perseverance and the strength of the victim herself,' Sheriff Ross Mellenger told FOX. In June 2020, Wanda was found unconscious, covered in blood, and with massive head trauma at her house near Cottageville Daniel Palmer has been charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding for allegedly bludgeoning his sister, Wanda, with a machete In a January 2019 Facebook post, Wanda referenced the reportedly strained relationship with her brother. 'My brother Daniel why u trespassed on my mobile home n damage things which u have no right [to] for shame on u god I give u him to deal with,' she wrote. Mellenger said that while investigators suspected what had happened before the attack that left Wanda in a coma, they had not been able to make an arrest due to lack of evidence. 'There was no eye witness, nobody lived in the home, no surveillance footage, no cellphone records,' he told MetroNews. 'There was virtually nothing there to move forward on.' Although she sustained brain damage, Wanda was able to communicate with single words and when asked who had been the culprit of the attack she said it was her 'mean' brother Although she sustained brain damage, she was able to communicate with single words and when asked who had been the culprit of the attack she said it was her 'mean' brother But that changed last week when Wanda woke up from the coma, shocking staff at the facility she was being treated at. Although she sustained brain damage, Wanda was able to communicate with single words and when asked who had been the culprit of the attack she said it was her 'mean' brother. 'The key to the whole thing lay with the victim herself and with her unable to communicate we were left with nothing,' Mellenger also told Metro News. 'Now lo and behold two years later and boom, she's awake and able to tell us exactly what happened.' Texas Senator Ted Cruz has argued the Supreme Court should never have legalized gay marriage - branding the decision 'clearly wrong'. The Texas senator discussed the 'vulnerability' of Obergefell v Hodges in 2015 and claimed it 'ignored two centuries of our nation's history'. On his show, Verdict with Ted Cruz, he called for the rights to be handed back to states across the country. His comments come after the Supreme Court's historic ruling to overturn the nationwide right to abortions under Roe v Wade. At the time, Justice Clarence Thomas called for justices to 'reconsider' and potentially scrap other cases, which could include Obergefell v Hodges. In Obergefell v Hodges, SCOTUS ruled the right to marry is guaranteed by the Due Process Clause and the Equal Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The move thereby guaranteed gay couples the right to get married across the United States. Texas Sen Ted Cruz argued on Saturday that the Supreme Court's decision allowing gay marriage was 'clearly wrong' He told conservative commentator Liz Wheeler that the decision should have been left up to the states Cruz chatted on Saturday to conservative commentator Liz Wheeler, who asked him what the arguments would be to overturn Obergefell. He told her: 'Obergefell, like Roe v Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation's history. 'Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states,' he continued. 'We saw states before Obergefell - some states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships. 'There were different standards the states were adopting.' He argued if the Supreme Court had not ruled the way it did 'the democratic process would have continued to operate'. But, he said, in Obergefell, 'the Court said 'No we know better than you, and now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage. 'That decision was clearly wrong when it was decided,' Cruz said, adding that the court was 'overreaching.' This is not the first time Cruz has spoken out against the Obergefell decision. After the decision was first handed down in June 2015, he told NPR in an interview that states that were not involved in the lawsuit should disregard the decision. 'Those who are not parties to the suit are not bound by it,' he said at the time. Cruz also said he would have made opposition to gay marriage a central part of his 2016 presidential primary campaign - which he ultimately lost to future Trump. Still, he noted on Saturday, the Supreme Court's decision overturning the landmark Roe v Wade case suggested that Obergefell would be treated differently. 'In Dobbs, what the Supreme Court said is 'Roe is different because it's the only one of the cases that involves the taking of a human life, and it's qualitatively different,'' he said. 'I agree with that proposition.' In Obergefell v Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the right to marry is guaranteed by the Constitution. People are seen celebrating outside the Supreme Court following the decision Cruz's remarks come just one month after the Supreme Court struck down its landmark decision guaranteeing women the right to an abortion. The Supreme Court ruled that Roe v Wade was wrongly decided last month, effectively leaving it up to each individual state to determine whether to legalize abortions, with at least 18 states now banning it. The ruling stated: 'Like the infamous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, Roe was also egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided. 'Those on the losing side - those who sought to advance the State's interest in fetal life - could no longer seek to persuade their elected representatives to adopt policies consistent with their views.' Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called for his fellow justices to 'reconsider' and potentially overturn other cases decided on the legal authority of 'substantive due process in the aftermath of the court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade 'The Court short-circuited the democratic process by closing it to the large number of Americans who disagreed with Roe,' the ruling added. In his majority decision, though, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that 'nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.' But his colleague, Justice Clarence Thomas called for his fellow justices to 'reconsider' and potentially overturn other cases decided on the legal authority of 'substantive due process.' Substantive due process refers to the idea that people have fundamental rights that are not specifically laid out in the Constitution - and was the basis for a number of landmark cases including Obergefell. 'In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell,' Thomas wrote. 'Because any substantive due process decision is demonstrably erroneous, we have a duty to 'correct the error' established in these precedents,' he continued. Thomas was specifically referring to the 1965 Griswold v Connecticut decision, which allows married couples to access birth control; and the 2003 Lawrence v Texas decision, which forbids states from outlawing consensual gay sex. That decision ultimately led up to the 2015 Obergefell v Hodges decision that established a Constitutional right to gay marriage. A woman cries outside the Supreme Court after the court rules that the 'Constitution does not confer a right to abortion' Tensions over the future of abortion rights in the country have been running high since a draft opinion of Dobbs was leaked - and showed that the high court's conservative majority was poised to push whether abortion was legal back to the states In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's ruling striking down nearly 50 years of abortion rights in the United States, protests erupted throughout the country - with some abortion rights activists even descending on the justices' homes. Outside of the Virginia home of Justice Alito, protesters chanted 'abort the court,' as they marched up and down his street in Alexandria, lit candles and shouted slogans like 'Alito is a coward,' and 'our bodies, our choice.' And outside of Thomas's Virginia home, a crowd of several dozen people waved placards, drummed and waved flags. 'My body, my choice!' they yelled, holding aloft posters labelling Thomas a 'treasonous turd' and proclaiming: 'Reproductive rights = human rights.' As those protests continued on the justices' property, lawmakers met to consider a bill protecting the Supreme Court justices from any harm, and then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki condemned the 'violence, threats, or vandalism. 'Judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety,' she tweeted. Pro-abortion rights advocates stage a protest outside the house of Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito in the Fort Hunt neighborhood, in Alexandria, Virginia Protesters carrying a 'Repro Freedom For All!' sign are seen demonstrating outside Justice Samuel Alito's home The protests, though, became more inflamed as the weeks went by, with one pro-life organization attacked twice since Roe was overturned. Executive director of the Right to Life of Northeast Ohio, Allie Frazer, told Fox News the center was targeted immediately following the overturning of Roe on June 24 and again on July 8. 'As pro-lifers, we know what our work might cost us something and that very well could be our physical safety,' Frazier said. 'I think that it's important in moments like this for the pro-life movement to be really clear that we're not going to be intimidated. We will save babies. We will protect women. And we're not going to let threats of violence stop us from doing that.' Surveillance of the attack earlier this month captured the suspect wearing a hoodie and face mask spray, painting the sidewalk with the words 'If abortion isn't safe, neither are you.' The exact words have been seen at other pro-life offices in various states. More footage captured the moment the suspect walked towards a window of the facility, breaking it with a hard object before running off. 'This is absolutely a threat against the peaceful pro-life movement,' Frazier said. 'And we do ask that law enforcement and local, state, and federal leaders continue to lead the way. and say, 'Hey, violence is never okay.'' She added: 'If any pro-abortion individual decides to take that next step, to take that bad step, and use violence against pro-lifers, that is something that I am going to work hard to protect my staff against.' The Right to Life of Northeast Ohio center was vandalized for the second time on July 8. The pro-life center was first attacked following the overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24 It's speculated the pro-abortion group Jane's Revenge is behind these acts as the name 'Jane' appeared in writing Still, abortion-rights activists are continuing to fight against the decision, with one Democrat witness and self-proclaimed 'storyteller' from the pro-abortion group We Testify saying her abortion was an 'act of self love.' Sarah Lopez, who regularly lectures women about abortion, told the House Oversight Committee: 'My abortion was the best decision I ever made.' Lopez continued: 'I am here today to make sure that everybody who currently needs an abortion, who has had an abortion, or will need an abortion, is not alone no matter what the state tries to force up on us.' She was testifying at a hearing on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade. On We Testify's website, Lopez describes her job saying: 'I share my story because I love everyone who has had abortions and I want them to know they're not alone no matter what led them to their decision.' In that profile, Lopez writes: 'I honor my abortion by no longer giving a shit about what people will think if they know I've had an abortion (that goes for friends AND family).' She adds that it has been five years since her abortion. Lopez says that she honors her abortion saying: 'I love my abortion and I will remain unapologetic because it was the best decision I've ever made.' Lopez went on to blame 'the patriarchal society' for teaching women that 'our bodies are not ours.' On We Testify's website, Sara Lopez describes her job saying: 'I share my story because I love everyone who has had abortions Meanwhile, Justice Thomas has come forward to say that he wasn't sure why he was nominated for the Supreme Court, and 'celebrated not being nominated' when he thought George H.W. Bush passed him up. He also revealed in his new book Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words that he did not discuss the issue of abortion rights with Bush during his nomination process. 'I have no idea why or how I got nominated,' Thomas said, according to the book, which came out earlier this month. It was a companion project to a documentary on Thomas released in 2020 by filmmaker Michael Pack, who led the U.S. Agency for Global Media under former President Donald Trump, and Mark Paoletta, a lawyer who worked alongside Thomas during his confirmation. Pack interviewed Thomas for more than 30 hours between November 2017 and March 2018 - which became the basis for the film and then the book. Thomas made clear to Pack that he wasn't enthusiastic about being nominated to the court - and also hadn't thought much about the abortion issue going into his confirmation hearings. He said he received a call from then-White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray the afternoon that Justice Thurgood Marshall announced his retirement from the court in 1991. Marshall was the first black Supreme Court justice. In his book, Created Equal, Clarence Thomas revealed that he did not discuss the issue of abortion rights with Bush during his nomination process 'All I know is that Justice Marshall retired, and that was a shock,' Thomas recalled. 'My reaction was, 'Oh no, this is going to be bad. People will go on a rumor that I'm one of the nominees.'' Gray had lawyer Mark Paoletta, the co-editor of the book, take Thomas to the situation room at the Justice Department where he was asked which justice his views were most in line - Justice Antonin Scalia, Thomas said - and if he'd been hassled for being in an interracial marriage. 'And I said only from liberals and bigots, and that's pretty much it,' Thomas said. The next day he went to the White House 'where I sat for most of the morning and they didn't decide anything.' 'And I was told if they didn't decide by before the weekend, it wouldn't be me,' Thomas recounted. 'That's what I thought but maybe I misheard that.' 'Saturday morning came, I wasn't nominated, and I said, 'Free at last,'' he said. 'I had a new Corvette and Virginia and I drove to Annapolis and celebrated not being nominated,' Thomas said, referencing his wife Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas. On Sunday, however, he received a call from Bush, who invited him up to the compound on Kennebunkport the next day. On the flight Monday, Thomas said he became 'a little suspicious' when a number of high-profile White House officials were on his plane, leaving him wondering if there were still other contenders. 'Who's riding with the other people?' he said he wondered. It was First Lady Barbara Bush who accidentally informed Thomas he got the job, telling him 'congratulations' before her husband had formally made the offer. 'And she said 'congratulations,' and then my heart sank. And she said, 'Oh I guess I let the cat out of the bag,' he recalled. Thomas noted that during his 1991 confirmation the one area that Bush White House officials wouldn't ask him about was abortion. 'They absolutely would not discuss Roe v. Wade with me. They would not discuss abortion because they knew I was going to be asked about it at some point. And they wanted me to be able to say that I did not discuss it with them,' Thomas recalled. During the hearings, Democratic senators pressed Thomas to commit where he would rule on abortion - something he wouldn't do. 'One, I didn't now,' he said. 'And two, I had just read all of those cases again.' Thomas pointed out that when he took constitutional law in law school it was in 1972 - a year before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. 'I was more interested in the race issues. I was more interested in getting out of law school. I was more interested in passing the bar exam. My life was consumed by survival. I couldn't pay my rent. I couldn't repay my student loans,' Thomas said. 'I had all these other things going on, that you were navigating, these worlds you're navigating.' Chey Tae-won, right, chairman of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of SK Group, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, center and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon give a thumbs up at InterContinental Paris, June 20, before attending the general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Courtesy of the prime minister's office By Baek Byung-yeul SK Group has gone all out to help the southern port city of Busan host the World Expo in 2030 as the conglomerate launched a task force specialized in promoting the city's bid to host the international event. The conglomerate appointed Cho Dae-sik, chairman of SK Supex Council, the group's decision-making body, to lead the task force, the group said, Sunday. The conglomerate said it launched the task force called WE, an abbreviation of World Expo. It added that the WE team stayed in the Pacific island country of Fiji for three days from July 8, for the opening of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), until July 14, the closing day of the political and economic policy organization's event in the Pacific region. The team was engaged in efforts to gain support for Busan City's bid together with government officials, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samsung Group and Dongwon Industries. "They visited the country to promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030. In order to attract support for the event, the government and the private sectors must join forces as a one-team above all else," a spokesperson of the group said. Cho Dae-sik, second from right, chairman of SK Supex Council, poses with Park Hak-gyu, left, president of Samsung Electronics, Faiyaz Siddiq Koya, second from left, minister for Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Tourism of Fiji and Park Young-kyu, ambassador of Korea to Fiji, at the minister's office in Suva, Fiji, July 12. Courtesy of SK Supex Council A sperm donor from Western Australia who has fathered more than 20 children and helped up to 900 more woman conceive has arrived in Queensland ahead of a 'baby making tour'. Adam Hooper, 37, appeared on The Sunday Project after flying into Brisbane where he will hold a seminar and give out 'free donation samples' to woman attendees over the span of 10 days. The Network 10 hosts - including Hamish Macdonald who admitted he had looked into donating sperm in the traditional clinical setting - appeared unsure what to make of Mr Hooper's frank honesty about the unorthodox method of conceiving a baby. 'I've stumbled upon this opportunity and have a chance to have a positive effect in people's lives,' Mr Hooper said. 'I'm asking men to come forward and make donations. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't donate myself,' he said. The Project host Hamish Macdonald (pictured) appeared unsure what to make of the unorthodox approach to conceiving a child Mr Hooper runs the Sperm Donation Australia Facebook page which has 15,000 members as well as the Sperm Donation World podcast and associated website which sells do-it-yourself donation and artificial insemination kits for between $40 and $120. 'I've created so many lives, not directly from my sperm, but from hundreds of donors all around Australia and we've had thousands of children born this way now.' The hosts questioned whether Mr Hooper has any medical training. 'We've got many doctors that join the group and give me that advice and I pass it on,' he said. 'At the end of the day I say go and see a doctor and get a medical opinion. A lot of doctors are referring people to us also, so we can't be that bad.' Mr Hooper (pictured) has fathered 20 children via sperm donation and helped hundreds of woman connect with other donors through his Facebook group Aside from the medical aspects, co-host and former Masterchef winner Julie Goodwin questioned whether anybody had backed out and changed their mind about donating and whether there could be legal issues around that. Mr Hooper said he was yet to encounter any such issues. 'Every year that it (the webiste and community) keeps going is reassuring us that what I've set up is working.' Private sperm donations are becoming increasingly popular as traditional donations to medical clinics often cost about $7,000 or more for potential mothers. The informal process of private donations is largely unregulated, though some states do have laws limiting how many families one person can donate to. Macdonald quizzed Hooper on whether he was concerned the children he had helped conceive, directly or indirectly, were being properly cared for and protected from abuse or violence. 'The list of what could go wrong in just one case is daunting and you're doing this for hundreds, isn't that massive responsibility daunting,' Macdonald said. Hopeful mothers who are ovulating during the 37-year-old's (pictured) 10-day visit will receive an instant sperm donation handed to them in a cup Mr Hooper replied that he had started the group 'in 2015 and its 2022 and we're still yet to see any headlines about this going wrong.' 'The family court system is full of people that have rushed into relationships and had children, so this way is a logical and safer choice for people to consider' 'You don't pick your husband and wife of a piece of paper you go and meet them' 'I've being doing this for seven years. I screen people, I meet people, I go have coffee, I see what the family network is like and how they interact with people on social media.' He added he has previously refused some people as both donors and recipients previously and could 'personally have helped hundreds of woman if he's said yes to everybody'. 'I can't protect my children from people that aren't related to them in the street. And in a clinic I have no say about whether that is a good person and will raise them well.' 'This way is real peace of mind.' Private sperm donations are on the rise after traditional clinics are running low thanks to Covid (stock image) Greta French-Kennedy, a yoga teacher, is hoping to get pregnant with a donation from Mr Hooper after failing to conceive with a previous sperm donor. The 37-year-old said the idea of being part of a mother's group whose children shared the same father sounded 'amazing'. 'I love the thought that the child can contact Adam if they want,' she told The Courier Mail. Mr Hooper said Ms French-Kennedy's donation would likely have to be exchanged at the airport due to timing. Another woman said while she would not benefit from the tour, she hoped it would spark more conversations about private donation in Queensland. Sperm Donors Australia said donor sperm was in 'extremely short supply' due to a dwindling number of samples that were donated during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the number of donors dropped, the number of single women and same-sex couples vying for a sample increased, with clinics struggling to meet the demand. Virtus Health, Australia's largest IVF provider, in May launched a campaign it hoped would encourage sperm and egg donations. As there is no financial incentive for donors, many donate sperm or eggs because they have been directly impacted by fertility issues. Experts are calling for same-day booze delivery services to be banned as alcohol support groups are flooded with people seeking help on the heels of the Covid pandemic. Just two months after Australia was plunged into lockdown in March 2020, the nation's top doctors issued a warning for Aussies to cut down on booze as alcohol consumption soared. It came after a study by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education uncovered seventy per cent of Australians had turned to the bottle with a third reporting buying booze daily. Several other studies carried out across the following two years documented the same alarming trend, with the Global Drug Survey released in September 2020 finding two in five Aussie respondents reporting a rise in their alcohol intake. By May the following year, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug association had found 70 per cent of their support agencies noted alcohol featured either 'a lot more' or 'a bit more' as a drug of concern. A number of studies have shown alcohol use has soared in Australia since the beginning of the Covid pandemic Now, support services are calling for action to be taken to minimise the dangers of alcohol as they continue to grapple with the ripple effects facing some communities. SA Network of Drug and Alcohol Services executive director Michael White warned there are significant concerns within the treatment sector about the rise of people presenting with alcohol use issues. He said limiting access to alcohol and introducing advertising campaigns warning about its impacts would reduce the harm caused by drinking. 'Through Covid, we've seen significant rises in people presenting for drug and alcohol use,' he told The Advertiser. 'The rapid delivery of alcohol to homes by large distribution chains is a really bad idea. 'No same-day delivery of alcohol would be a really good thing. When you've got very easy access to alcohol, the encouragement of drinking, a culture of drinking people's use of alcohol is actually driven by systemic issues not by their personal choices.' Ben Headlam, from not-for-profit health support organisation Sonder, said demand for his company's services have increased for support involving alcohol use. Alcohol support experts are calling for same-day delivery services to banned. Pictured: Alcohol same-day delivery service Jimmy Brings He said the trend appeared to be 'universal' across Australia since the start of the pandemic. Uniting Communities SA's New Residential Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Service manager Melissa Shee said more money is needs to be injected into programs to address the issue. She has witnessed a rise in people attending appointments and a higher level of engagement which she says necessitates far greater resources. South Australia is not the only state where there have been calls to tighten alcohol delivery practices. In July last year, NSW ushered in new laws for same-day alcohol delivery to crack down on sales to minors and people who are heavily intoxicated. The legislation made it an offence to deliver booze to public places - like parks and beaches - between midnight or 11pm on Sunday to 9am. Under the rules, companies can be charged if the order is delivered to a minor or intoxicated person as well as if the order is outside delivery hours. The United Arab Emirates has sentenced an American lawyer to three years in prison on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Asim Ghafoor was lawyer to Jamal Khashoggi the dissident Saudi journalist who was killed at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Ghafoor will be deported, the UAE's state-run WAM news agency reported late on Saturday, without saying when. The Abu Dhabi Money Laundering Court also ordered him to pay a fine of $816,748 (688,000) after convicting him in his absence. Asim Ghafoor has been sentenced an American lawyer to three years in prison on charges of money laundering and tax evasion Asim Ghafoor was lawyer to Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) the dissident Saudi journalist who was killed at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in 2018 Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir (above) claimed that he 'did not hear' Biden confront MBS over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi The UAE framed Ghafoor's arrest as a co-ordinated move with the US to 'combat transnational crimes'. Emirati state-run media said American authorities had requested the UAE's help with an investigation into Ghafoor's alleged tax evasion and suspicious money transfers in the Emirates. The autocratic Gulf Arab sheikhdom announced the prison sentence a day after Washington-based human rights watchdog Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn) raised the alarm about Ghafoor's arrest at Dubai International Airport. Dawn said its board member, a civil rights lawyer based in Virginia who had represented Mr Khashoggi and his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, was in transit to Istanbul on Thursday to attend a wedding when plain-clothes Emirati security agents picked him up and sent him to an Abu Dhabi detention facility before he could change planes. Ghafoor had no knowledge of any case against him and had transited through Dubai without incident less than a year ago, Dawn added. The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It comes as President Joe Biden accused a Saudi official of lying about the topics discussed in his private meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while again downplaying his infamous fist bump with the prince. Early on Sunday, Biden arrived back at the White House from his four-day Middle East tour, and briefly took questions from reporters gathered on the South Lawn. Hours earlier, just after Air Force One had taken off from Jeddah, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called a Fox News reporter and claimed that he 'did not hear' Biden confront bin Salman, known as MBS, over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Al-Jubeir's claim seems to directly contradict Biden's account of the meeting with MBS on Friday, after which the president said that he had raised Khashoggi's murder 'at the top of the meeting' and accused the crown prince of directing the plot. President Joe Biden has accused a Saudi minister of lying about the topics discussed in his private meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman On the South Lawn, when asked if al-Jubeir was telling the truth about the meeting, Biden bluntly replied 'No'. Saudi officials have offered conflicting accounts of the conversation between Biden and MBS, and whether Khashoggi's murder was discussed. On Friday, Saudi Foreign Minster Faisal bin Farhan seemed to tell reporters that Biden did raise Khashoggi's murder at the meeting. Bin Farhan said that MBS responded by slamming the US over its own abuses of human rights, including the notorious mistreatment of prisoners by military personnel at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Returning to the White House on Sunday, Biden also responded dismissively when asked whether he regrets his now infamous fist bump with MBS, saying: 'Why don't you guys talk about something that matters? I'm happy to answer a question that matters.' It came after the president laughed when questioned about criticism of the fist bump by a DailyMail.com reporter at a Friday press conference. Nevertheless, the fist bump has become the defining image of Biden's Mideast tour, appearing on the front page of the Washington Post, where Khashoggi penned columns critical of Saudi leadership. The image of the friendly fist bump drew harsh backlash from the publisher of the Washington Post and the widow of Khashoggi, who was killed in a gruesome assassination that US intelligence services say bin Salman ordered. On Friday, Biden had insisted that he brought up Khashoggi's murder in his meeting with MBS, which was closed to the press. 'In respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time, and what I think of it now,' Biden told reporters from a Jeddah hotel after his meetings with the Saudis. 'I was straightforward and direct ... I made my view crystal clear.' A handout photo of President Joe Biden (left) fist-bumping Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) as he arrived for a meeting with the controversial royal Friday evening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 'What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous,' Biden later offered. Biden told reporters that MBS 'basically said he was not personally responsible' for the gruesome killing that took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. 'I indicated I thought he was,' Biden continued. 'He said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible.' An American intelligence report said MBS directed the assassination of Khashoggi, a Saudi-born critic of the kingdom, who was living in the United States. After Biden fist-bumped MBS as he arrived for a series of Friday night meetings at the Al Salman Royal Palace in Jeddah, Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post - which employed Khashoggi - called Biden's fist bump with the crown prince 'shameful.' 'The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake - it was shameful,' Ryan said in a statement. 'It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.' Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, shared what she believed her late love's reaction would be to the fist bump: 'Is this the accountability you promised for my murder? The blood of MBS's next victims is on your hands.' Biden was also read Cengiz's comments by a reporter, who then asked for the president's response. 'I'm sorry she feels that way,' the president answered. 'I was straightforward back then. I was straightforward today.' Advertisement Firefighters in France and Spain have struggled to contain wildfires raging out of control across Europe, as it continues to wilt under record temperatures that have reportedly killed more than a thousand people. Fires have also been reported in Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Croatia, and limited wildfires have already been recorded in parts of the UK too - before the heat is set to peak on Monday. None of the more than 1,000 deaths have been as a result of wildfires, but one firefighter was tragically killed in Portugal after their plane crashed. Multiple injuries of both civilians and firefighting crews have, however, been recorded as people flee before them. Footage shows firefighters in France, Spain and Portugal taking to the skies to attack the flames from above, using planes and helicopters to douse the wildfires in water. Scientists have blamed hundreds of deaths recorded in the past few days on soaring temperatures linked to climate change. At least 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the heatwave in Portugal and Spain so far, according to the country's weather agencies, which are reporting 1,027 at this time. Around 440 deaths were recorded on Thursday alone, when temperatures exceeded 40C (104F) in several regions and 47C (117F) at a meteorological station in the district of Vizeu in the center of the country. By Saturday, there were 360 heat-related deaths in Spain, according to figures from the Carlos III Health Institute. Spanish think tank the Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily, said 237 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 10-14, compared with 25 temperature-related deaths in the previous five days. Firefighters in Spain battle wildfires near the Catalonian city of Barcelona today that have been caused by the sweltering temperatures Wildfires have sprung up in several European countries, with dry conditions caused by the heatwave fanning the flames A Spanish firefighter drives through the flames as his colleagues battle the fire in the hills of Catalonia, in the east of the country Firefighters who specialise in dealing with forest fires have been called in by the local Catalonian Government as temperatures continue to stay well above average Pictured: Europe's wildfires over the past seven days, tracked by NASA. At least 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the heatwave in Portugal and Spain so far, according to the country's weather agencies Firefighters from the Gironde region battle a blaze near to Landiras in southwestern France today as wildfires tear across the country Crews in France are on high alert after wildfires broke out across the country amid record breaking temperatures in the ongoing heatwave The heatwave has left vegetation wilted and dried out, causing tinderbox conditions that can lead to out of control wildfires Firefighters are battling to get the blazes under control while much of western Europe bakes under extreme temperatures A firefighter makes his way through the flames of the wildfire near Landiras in southwestern France earlier today The fires, like this one near Landiras in southwestern France, are being driven by record temperatures and are sending smoke high into the sky A column of smoke emerges from a forest fire in Vilarino de Conso, Galicia, Spain - it is one of multiple fires which has led to thousands of people being evacuated aross Europe In Portugal one firefighter has been killed when the plane he was flying crashed. (Pictured: A firefighting aircraft drops water on a forest fire originated in Pont de Vilomara, Spain) Trees burn amid a fire that broke out near Landiras as wildfires spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France Two huge blazes that have been consuming pine forests for six days south of Bordeaux forced 14,000 people to evacuate As well as thousands being evacuated, these wildfires also have horrific consequences for animals who are often injured, such as this mountain lion club, or are killed More than 2,000 people including dozens of Brits have been evacuated from their homes because of a Costa del Sol wildfire The blaze started on Friday in an area called El Higueron near Mijas Pueblo before spreading to Alhaurin de la Torre and then Alhaurin el Grande on Saturday Local firefighters in western Spain struggle to put out a smattering of fires on a hillside which burned earlier today Meanwhile two huge blazes that have been consuming pine forests for six days just south of Bordeaux, south-western France. This forced the evacuation of more than 14,000 people, including many spending their holidays at campsites. In Spain, firefighters supported by the armed forces' emergency brigades are trying to stamp out more than 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. Spain's National Defence Department said 'the majority' of its firefighting aircraft have been deployed as many areas are rugged, hilly terrain that makes it difficult for ground crews to access. In France, a wildfire in La Teste-de-Buch near the Atlantic coast has forced 10,000 people to flee. The Gironde regional government said on Sunday that 'the situation remains unfavourable' due to gusting winds that, combined with hot and dry conditions, have fanned more flare-ups overnight. A Dash aircraft is pictured pouring chemicals on top of a raging wildfire in Gironde, southwestern France yesterday afternoon A firefighting plane drops water over a forest fire near the town of Deleitosa, Spain earlier today everal forest fires are affecting western Spain amid a heat wave with temperatures reaching above 40 degrees Celsius A second fire near the town of Landiras, south of a valley of Bordeaux vineyards, has forced authorities to evacuate 4,100 people this week, including some 1,900 on Saturday. In Spain, helicopters dropped water on the flames as heat above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and often mountainous terrain made the job harder for firefighters. Shocked residents watching thick plumes of smoke rising above the central western Jerte valley said the heat was making their previously green and cool home more like Spain's semi-arid south. 'Climate change affects everyone,' said resident Miguel Angel Tamayo. A study published in June in the journal 'Environmental Research: Climate' concluded it was highly probable that climate change was making heatwaves worse. Temperatures in Spain have reached as high as 45.7C (114F) during the nearly week-long heatwave. Spain's weather agency issued temperature warnings for Sunday, with highs of 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) forecast in Aragon, Navarra and La Rioja, in the north. In France, wildfires have now spread over 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) in the southwestern region of Gironde A firefighting truck works to contain a fire near Louchats, Gironde earlier today In southwestern France, flames have destroyed some 7,700 hectares since Tuesday and forced the evacuation of 11,000 people It said the heatwave would end on Monday, but warned temperatures would remain 'abnormally high.' Fires were raging in several other regions including Castille and Leon in central Spain and Galicia in the north on Sunday afternoon. In Malaga province in southern Spain, wildfires raged into the night, affecting local residents near Mijas, a town popular with northern European tourists. British pensioners William and Ellen McCurdy fled for safety with other evacuees in a local sport center from their home on Saturday as the fire approached. 'It was very fast .... I didn't take it too seriously. 'I thought they had it under control and I was quite surprised when it seemed to be moving in our direction,' William, 68, told Reuters. 'We just grabbed a few essentials and just ran and by that stage everybody along the street was on the move,' Ellen said. In France, wildfires have now spread over 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) in the southwestern region of Gironde, and more than 14,000 people have been evacuated, regional authorities said on Sunday afternoon. More than 1,200 firefighters were trying to control the blazes, the authorities said in a statement. More than 1,200 firefighters were trying to control the blazes affecting Gironde, where patches of forest were burned down The region of Baiao in northern Portugal was left was huge areas of scorched earth and ruined vegetation after yesterday's wildfire High temperatures and strong winds have complicated firefighting efforts in southwestern France France issued red alerts, the highest possible, for several regions, with residents urged 'to be extremely vigilant.' In Italy, where smaller fires have blazed in recent days, forecasters expect temperatures above 40C in several regions in coming days. Similar temperatures are forecast in Britain on Monday and Tuesday in what would top a previous official record of 38.7C (102F) set in Cambridge in 2019. Britain's national weather forecaster has issued its first red 'extreme heat' warning for parts of England, and a level four health warning has also been issued. This means the high temperatures could have impacts beyond health and social care with potential effects on transport systems, food, water, energy supplies and businesses. Rail passengers were advised to only travel if absolutely necessary and to expect widespread delays and cancellations. Portugal's Health Ministry said late on Saturday that in the last seven days 659 people died due to the heatwave, most of them elderly. Portugal is grappling with extreme drought - with 96% of the mainland in severe or extreme drought at the end of June, before the recent heatwave, according to data from the national meteorological institute. Last week thousands of firefighters were tackling blazes across the nation, and at least 29 people have been injured in the flames. Emergency and Civil Protection Authority Commander Andre Fernandes urged people to take care not to ignite new fires in such bone-dry conditions. In Greece the fire brigade said on Saturday 71 blazes had broken out within a 24-hour period. Local fire brigade officials on the island of Crete said on Sunday that a fire raging through forest and farm land had been partially contained. And wildfires have destroyed 3,500 acres of land in Extremadura in Spain. It is unknown how many animals have been killed or injured in these fires, but it is expected that many have fallen victim to the increasingly unforgiving weather systems. Both parties aren't pleased with President Joe Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia, with some claiming he 'bowed' to the kingdom and others claiming he shouldn't have gone at all. Senator Rand Paul said that the president spent his trip on his knees asking Saudi Arabia to ramp up their oil supply rather than tapping the U.S. domestic supply. 'Rather than traveling to Saudi Arabia, he should be traveling to Texas or North Dakota, and he should be talking about asking our country to ramp up [oil] supply instead of begging and bowing down to the Saudis and asking them to bump up their supply,' the Kentucky Republican told WABC 770 AM host John Catsimatidis during a Sunday morning interview. The comments come following Biden's tumultuous trip to the Middle East, which included a fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that garnered a lot of attention for a seemingly too friendly interaction with the dictator. The president has also faced backlash for not being hard enough on MBS for the killing of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Biden claimed that the kingdom was lying when they said he did not bring the issue during his meeting with the crown prince. Republican Senator Rand Paul (pictured leaving the Capitol on June 23) said Joe Biden went to the Middle East 'bowing down to the Saudis and begging them for more oil' as he slammed the president for his conduct during his trip last week Bipartisan criticism of the trip comes as a new Fox News poll shows that 55% of voters do not approve of Biden's handling of the U.S.-Saudi relations Senator Bernie Sanders said Biden should not have gone to Saudi Arabia, claiming he 'rewarded' the kingdom for bad behavior by making the trip. When ABC This Week host Martha Raddatz asked if the president made the right decision by traveling there, the progressive Vermont independent said, 'No, I don't think so.' 'You have the leader of that country who is involved in the murder of a Washington Post journalist,' he noted in his Sunday morning interview. 'I don't think that that type of government should be rewarded with a visit by the President of the United States.' At the same time a new Fox News poll released Sunday shows that 55 percent of voters do not approve of Biden's handling of the U.S.-Saudi relations. Among registered voters in the poll taken July 10-13, 32 percent said that they approve of the way the president is conducting relations with the Middle Eastern nation. Senator Bernie Sanders told ABC's This Week program on Sunday that Biden should not have 'rewarded' Saudi Arabia for bad behavior with a visit there NEW: Sen. Bernie Sanders tells @MarthaRaddatz that Pres. Biden should not have gone to Saudi Arabia. I just dont believe we should be maintaining a warm relationship with a dictatorship like that. https://t.co/vr8Awq2dtF pic.twitter.com/YOfy5rNBD4 This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 17, 2022 A handout photo of President Joe Biden (left) fist-bumping Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) as he arrived for a meeting with the controversial royal Friday evening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has gone viral and sparked backlash for a seemingly friendly interaction Raddatz argued to Sanders that Biden had good intentions with his trip, claiming 'at the heart of the discussions was oil.' 'Could that make a difference? And doesn't that explain why he went?' she questioned. 'I'm sure that that is why he went,' Sanders countered, claiming that all Biden has to do is tell oil companies not to profit as highly from their sale of gas and lower prices at the pump. 'We've got [to] tell the oil companies to stop ripping off the American people,' he said. 'And if they don't, we should impose a windfall profits tax on them. 'So would you just ignore the Saudis if you were president?' the ABC News host pushed. 'Look, you've got a family that is worth $100 billion which crushes democracy, which treats women as third-class citizens, which murders and imprisons its opponents,' Sanders said. 'And if this country believes in anything, we believe in human rights, we believe in democracy. And I just don't believe that we should be maintaining a warm relationship with a dictatorship like that.' Paul agreed with the progressive lawmaker that Biden's trip to discuss oil with Saudi Arabia was not the right move. He claimed that no one but the Biden administration is to blame for the massive gas price hike, and said 'everything the Biden administration has done has been to reduce the supply' while the demand remains high. The Republican senator said that the U.S. has enough oil to make the country emergency independent for the next 100 years. 'When a government has an all-out attack on the supply of something and it scares investors away It shouldn't shock any of us that the price [of oil] has shot through the roof,' he explained. 'There is a way to fix this,' Paul added. They could immediately start encouraging production [in America].' 'It's not only bad economics, but it's embarrassing for him to be over there bowing down to the Saudis and begging them for more oil,' he said. 'I couldn't be more opposed to what he's doing.' Biden accused a Saudi official of lying about the topics discussed in his private meeting with the crown prince, while again downplaying his infamous fist bump with MBS. Biden (pictured overnight arriving at the White House from the Middle East) accused a Saudi minister of lying about the topics discussed in his private meeting with MBS after he said that they did not talk about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi Early on Sunday, the president arrived back at the White House from his four-day Middle East tour, and briefly took questions from reporters gathered on the South Lawn. Hours earlier, just after Air Force One had taken off from Jeddah, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called a Fox News reporter and claimed that he 'did not hear' Biden confront bin Salman over the murder of Khashoggi. Al-Jubeir's claim seems to directly contradict Biden's account of the meeting with MBS on Friday, after which the president said that he had raised Khashoggi's murder 'at the top of the meeting' and accused the crown prince of directing the plot. On the South Lawn, when asked if al-Jubeir was telling the truth about the meeting, Biden bluntly replied 'No'. Biden also responded dismissively when asked by reporters whether he regrets his now infamous fist bump with MBS, saying: 'Why don't you guys talk about something that matters? I'm happy to answer a question that matters.' Advertisement A mother-of-two who was mauled to death by her pet American Bully XL dog while her partner was left with life-changing injuries has been pictured. The woman, who has been named locally as Joanne Robinson, died at the scene of the attack at a house in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Friday night. The 43-year-old is understood to have been the owner of the animal, called Rocco, which is on the legal dog breeds list and attacked her at around 10pm. She is believed to be the third victim of a legal breed which has killed two tots, it has been revealed. Her partner, Jamie Stead, 42, was left with injuries to his hands, stomach and face as he tried to saved her and pull the animal off her. Joanne's mother, Dotty Robinson, said the family are in 'disbelief and shock' over her death. 'I want everyone to know how well loved she was,' she said. 'She was born and bred in this village. They all know her and love her.' Joanne Robinson (pictured), 43, was sadly killed by her American Bully XL dog at her home in Rotherham on Friday night A man also suffered life-changing injuries after a dog attack, police have said. Pictured: South Yorkshire Police officers were on scene on Saturday morning Joanne is understood to have been the owner of the animal, called Rocco (pictured), which is on the legal dog breeds list and attacked her at around 10pm Dozens of flowers have already been laid at the scene of the attack in which a woman tragically died Joanne (pictured) is believed to be the third victim of a legal breed which has killed two tots, it has been revealed Bouquets were left outside the house with messages such as 'We love you!' Photos from the scene show the woman appeared to be locally known and loved She told The Sun that Rocco - who was nearly two and another dog owned by Joanne and her partner, a Bully XL called Lola, have been destroyed. Floral tributes have been placed on metal railings outside the house while neighbours have spoken of their shock and horror. One heart-breaking message read: 'To our beautiful angel up above. You will never be forgotten. Love you always.' Neighbour John Allerton, 69, a retired miner, said: 'It's really really tragic.' Another friend said: 'I'm devastated. She was a lovely lady. They are a lovely family.' The police took away two dogs. One man, who said he was the couple's son, said, 'I can assure you that the dogs were treated well.' Floral tributes have been placed on metal railings outside the house while neighbours have spoken of their shock and horror The gate at the property had a 'Beware of the dogs' sign that continued: 'They bite you have been warned' The police took away two dogs. One man, who said he was the couple's son, said, 'I can assure you that the dogs were treated well'. Pictured: A floral tribute and card left for Joanne on Sunday Third death involving Bully XL dog breed Ms Robinson's death on Thursday was the third involving a Bully XL dog in the space of two years. In March this year Bella-Rae Birch, a 17-month-old girl, was killed by a dog of the same breed. The toddler had been attacked in her family's home in St Helens, Merseyside, just a week after they bought the animal. Last year Welsh schoolboy Jack Lis was also killed in a savage attack by a Bully XL. The 10-year-old boy was playing at a friend's house in Caerphilly in November last year when he was set upon by the dog. The animal, which was called 'Beast', had been bought by its owner less than a week before the attack. Advertisement There have been numerous incidents involving Bully XL dogs, with police confirming in march that Bella-Rae Birch, a 17-month-old girl, was killed by one in her own home. Police said the toddler was attacked at her family's home in St Helens, Merseryside, a week after they bought the dog. It was also reported that a Bully XL mauled Welsh schoolboy Jack Lis to death in a savage attack last year. Floral tributes have been left to the mother, with neighbours describing her as a 'lovely lady'. Cards and flowers have gathered outside the home where the couple lived, including a note from her children Elle, 24 and Dillon, 19, which read: 'Mum I love and miss you.' South Yorkshire Police says two dogs have been seized and removed from the property, and neither of these are on the banned breeds list. The force said neither are considered 'banned breeds' under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. A statement from the force said: 'We were called to a property on Masefield Road in West Melton at about 10.15pm last night by a member of the public stating a dog had attacked himself and a woman. 'Officers attended with a Yorkshire Ambulance [Service] crew and found a man, aged 42, with a potentially life-altering injury to one hand, plus injuries to his other hand, abdomen and face. He was transported to hospital for further treatment. 'The woman, aged 43, had been fatally bitten and despite the best efforts of emergency crews was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene. 'The dog, plus another dog at the property, were secured by specially trained officers. Neither dog was of a banned breed.' According to the UK Bully Kennel Club website, the American Bully XL is a large breed, with males standing between 51cm and above. South Yorkshire Police forensic officers at the scene of a fatal dog attack in Rotherham The Club says: 'In spite of its considerable size, the XL is highly prized for not only its impressive stature, but also its gentle personality and loving nature. 'It is a recent breed, dating back to the 1980's, and is regarded the distinctive build and height combined with a compassionate nature mean its popularity continues to grow.' RSPCA is linking the the increase in Britons buying puppies during Covid to a surge in fatal dog attacks. Reports from the Dog and Cat Behaviour Association show dog attacks increased by 54 per cent between 2020 and 2021. Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey blasted Kari Lake on Sunday, an outspoken ex-local journalist who's running to take over his seat with Donald Trump's blessing, the latest tear in a growing inter-GOP divide. He mocked her as 'Fake Lake' for casting doubt on the 2020 presidential race. It comes after Ducey set himself up in a proxy battle with Trump for the Arizona GOP by endorsing Lake's opponent, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, for governor in the August 2 primary. 'I think Karrin Taylor Robson will be the best person to be a fresh new leader for the state of Arizona,' Ducey said on CNN's State of The Union. 'Her opponent, on the other hand, bears no resemblance - her campaign or even her personal interactions with me - to anything she's done over the past 30 years. This is all an act. She's been putting on a show for some time now. And we will see if the voters of Arizona buy it.' The term-limited governor's interview, in which he also refused to commit to backing Trump in 2024, is just the latest example of a Republican Party that is struggling to define its identity. Allies of the ex-president continue to insist on re-litigating the last election, while Ducey and other members of the GOP warn that such complaints would only alienate voters. Ducey met Trump's wrath after he refused to overturn his state's presidential results when Arizona narrowly went to President Joe Biden in November 2020. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey was attacked by Trump for refusing to overturn his state's 2020 presidential election results Though he's thus far refrained from attacking the former president over his election lies, Ducey criticized Lake on Sunday for helping to promote them. 'Kari Lake is misleading voters with no evidence,' he charged. 'She's been tagged by her opponents with a nickname, Fake Lake, which seems to be sticking and actually doing some damage.' In another shot at the former local news anchor, Ducey insisted Arizonians would be 'better served' by a governor who promoted Republican values going forward rather than someone who looked back at 2020. 'I think that the people of any state would be better served by a governor who believes in the people, believes that small businesses should be allowed to operate, and believes that children should be in classrooms,' he said. Ducey told CNN's State of the Union that he hopes he has 'options' in 2024 but did not rule out supporting Trump altogether 'I also think this election should be about the future. I don't think we should think for one more moment about 2020. This is about the 2022 election cycle.' However, as head of the Republican Governor's Association (RGA), Ducey was hesitant to write off a future Lake endorsement in the event that she does win her primary and continues to November's midterms - though hinted she'd be a 'lost cause.' 'All post-August 2 roles are to be determined. Now, the Republican Governors Association is in the business of electing Republican governors. And we happen to be very good at it,' he said. 'We're on offense. But we don't support lost causes. We certainly don't support landslides. We go into states where the races are competitive, and we get the good candidate over the finish line.' It's a reflection of a wider concern among mainstream Republicans, who fear they could hand Democrats easy victories by allowing extremist or fringe candidates backed by Trump to advance to November's general races. But he declined to name what other Trump-backed candidates would be 'lost causes' and which ones the RGA could support. 'November 8 is a long way off. So we will be looking at this map. We will be looking at the resources we have. And we don't know what September and October are going to hold,' Ducey said. Pressed on whether he would support Trump in the following election cycle, the governor was noticeably hesitant - but would not commit to shutting the door on the ex-president altogether. 'I think we will have options in the 2024 primary race. I am hopeful we will have options,' Ducey said. He also left the door open to the Republican Governors Association supporting Trump-backed Kari Lake (pictured) if she wins the Arizona gubernatorial primary, though he hinted she may be a 'lost cause' 'And I want somebody who can win that general election, because I believe, with success in 2022, the general election is the Republican Party's for the taking.' For his own part, Trump has steadily been inching closer to formally deciding whether he'll run for the White House a third time after dropping numerous hints over the last year. The former president said he's 'already made that decision' in a New Yorker interview published on Thursday. Trump added that he wasn't sure whether to announce 'before or after' the midterm elections. In her own race, Trump-backed Lake has seen her lead narrowing in the polls over the last several months while Robson gains ground. Lake has the support of 40 percent of Republican voters in Arizona, according to a survey from Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights released earlier this month. Robson follows behind with 35 percent of support, while the remaining two candidates fail to break even 5 percent. Twenty-one percent of Arizona Republicans said they were still undecided - potentially a decisive number at the ballot box in August. A shocking video showing an officer punching a restrained male on a bus outside Arlington Arms pub in Eastbourne yesterday. The footage, recorded from the top of the stairs on a double-decker bus, shows two police officers bringing a man down to the ground while pushing his arms behind his back. While lying face down on the floor of the bus, the man screams out in pain and tells officers: 'you are hurting my hand, you are breaking my hand.' A man who was restrained on the floor of a bus in Eastbourne by two police officers, was then punched in the head by one He repeats the statement several times, before shouting 'you're hurting my f*****g hand', at which point one of the officers punches then restrained man in the head. After striking the man, the officer then tells the man to stop pinching him. The man replied: 'You just punched me as well yeah?' And the Sussex Police officer replied: 'Yeah, for pinching me.' The footage captures the officer throwing a punch at the restrained man's head After he struck the man the officer said he did so because the man was pinching him Did you witness the incident? Let us know, email: matt.powell@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement Sussex Police have confirmed they launched an investigation following the release of the video on social media. Police in a statement have yet to confirm whether the male was arrested or for what offences. 'We are aware of this incident that the officer has highlighted himself,' Sussex Police said. A Sussex Police spokesman said: 'We train our officers to protect themselves and others using reasonable force and are reviewing this footage, together with body worn video captured by the officer of the entire interaction, to identify if any further investigation is required.' Anyone with additional footage is asked to contact Sussex police at ref 538 of 16/07/2022. A mischievous emu who lives on a farm in Florida is determined to become a star as he constantly disrupts TikTok videos by hogging the camera and then fiercely pecking at the device until it falls to the ground. His name is Emmanuel, he's a resident of Knuckle Bump Farms in South Florida and hilarious antics have gone viral. While Taylor Blake, a farm worker who creates content for the farm's social media platforms, tries to film informational videos about the animals, one rambunctious emu always manages to slide in and steal the spotlight. 'Don't do it Emmanuel, don't do it!' Blake warns the bird, who suddenly steps into the frame while she attempts to educate the public about miniature cows. Scroll for video Taylor Blake, a farm worker who creates content for the farm, tries to film informational videos about the animals, but one rambunctious emu always slides in to steal the spotlight 'Don't do it Emmanuel, don't do it!' Blake warns the bird, who suddenly steps into the frame while she attempts to educate the public about miniature cows The bird glances at her but remains unaffected by her scolding as he peers amusingly at his reflection in the camera and pecks at it with his beak until it falls to the ground. 'No, Emmanuel, stop,' Blake shouts. But the bird looks proud of himself as he stares at himself in the fallen device, which continues to film his smug expression. The hilarious clip has gone viral garnering nearly 700K followers on the @knucklebumpfarms TikTok. Emmanuel glances at Blake but remains unaffected by her scolding as he peers amusingly at his reflection in the camera and pecks at it with his beak until it falls to the ground 'No, Emmanuel, stop,' Blake shouts. But the bird looks proud of himself as he stares at himself in the fallen device, which continues to film his smug expression The hilarious clip has gone viral garnering nearly 700K fans on @knucklebumpfarms TikTok Blake continues to post the animals' antics on the farm account, along on her own account. She's also responded to fans, promising that 'Don't do it Emmanuel' merchandise is on the way Emmanuel is not the only animal on the farm who likes to disrupt Blake's TikTok videos. Emmanuel's sisters, Ellen and Regina, also like to peck at the camera when it's set up to film. They stare at the reflection and sometimes peck at it until it topples over. Princess, the deer, will photo bomb the videos and nip at Blake's arms for attention. However, the curious bunch are more receptive to commands than Emmanuel. Blake continues to post the animals' antics on the farm account, along on her own platforms. She's also responded to fans, promising that 'Don't do it Emmanuel' merchandise is on the way. At least 20 police officers were injured on Sunday in southern India while trying to prevent a mob from burning school buses after a female student committed suicide, local media reported. Protesters forcibly entered the school campus in Kallakurichi district in southern Tamil Nadu state and set school buses and police vehicles on fire as they demanded justice over the student's death, The Times of India newspaper reported on its website. The teenager was found dead in the hostel of the private school on Wednesday. She allegedly left a suicide note naming two teachers. Protesters forcibly entered the school campus in Kallakurichi district in southern Tamil Nadu state and set school buses and police vehicles on fire She said that they had tortured her and some other students by forcing them to study all the time, local media reports said. Parents and protesters have demanded an independent investigation of the incident. Teachers and school management have denied all allegations of mistreating students including the dead girl. Local media reported that police had found no evidence against them either. The injured police officials were taken to a local hospital and security has been ramped up by local government officials. A friend of Uvalde shooter Salvador Ramos replied 'cool' when he texted her saying he had blasted his grandmother in the head and was planning on shooting up an elementary school, a damning report has found. The report released on Sunday by the Texas House committee found that on the eve of the May 24 shooting, Ramos, contacted several people 'with vague but ominous messages.' Ramos, 18, reportedly sent a Snapchat message to a 15-year-old German teenager he had befriended online telling her he 'had a little secret.' He told her that he couldn't elaborate on what the plan entailed because he was waiting for a delivery on May 23, the day he received 1,740 hollow points. On the day of the shooting, Ramos referred to his grandma as 'this b****' in a text to the German teenager. He later texted her, 'I just shot my grandma in her head ... Imma go shut up a elementary school rn.' The text messages had been circulating in the media, but screen grabs shown in those reports did not include a message deleted by Ramos' friend, who responded 'cool' just seconds after he told her about his plan to commit a mass shooting. The revelation is just one of many disturbing details in the report. The house committee investigating the incident also found that Ramos was nicknamed 'school shooter,' terrorized women online with graphic descriptions of violence and rape and even carried around a dead cat before the massacre. Salvador Ramos on video in the halls of Robb Elementary just before he massacred 21 people An online friend of Ramos replied 'cool' when he texted her saying he had blasted his grandmother in the head and was planning on shooting up an elementary school, a damning report has found The report has given the most complete picture of the 18-year-old shooter who carried out one of the worst mass shootings in Texas history, the Texas Tribune reported. The blistering 77-page document also blasted 'system failures and egregious poor decision making' by nearly all those in power during the May 24 attack. It was released around midday Sunday as the victims' families met with officials to discuss the report and watch footage of the sick rampage through the school. Some of the litany of errors in the report are: Cops failed to follow the active shooter doctrine imposed after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre by not engaging with Ramos; The school's safety protocol for keeping doors to classrooms locked and shut during school hours was not adhered to; Around 47 'lockdown' events when police chased migrants near the school that came before the shooting made staff desensitized to react; Ramos gave numerous hints he was going to go on a shooting spree before May 24, posting online cryptic messages related to violent actions; Officials undermined public trust in the investigation into the massacre by making false statements about what happened. The report follows weeks of closed-door interviews with more than 40 people, including witnesses and law enforcement who were on the scene at Robb Elementary on May 24 when 19 students and two teachers were killed. Ramos immersed himself in the online world, according to the report. He shared videos of beheadings and other violent deaths. He'd threaten women when he lost at online games A minute-by-minute break down of how cops waited outside class while kids called 911 after gunman walked through door that had been propped open by a teacher 11.28am: Gunman crashes truck, gets out of car with AR-15. He is seen by witnesses in a funeral home next to the school who tell 911 they see a man with a gun walking towards the school 11.31: Gunman is now in the parking lot of the school hiding in between vehicles, shooting at the building 11.32: School resource officer who arrives in a patrol car after hearing 911 call about truck crash drives past the shooter 11.33: Gunman enters the school and begins shooting into room 111/room 112. He shoots more than 100 rounds 11.35: Three police officers enter the same propped-open door as the suspect from the Uvalde PD. They were later followed by another four, making total of seven officers on scene. Three initial officers went directly to the door and got grazing wounds from him while the door was closed. They hang back 11.37: Another 16 rounds fired inside the classroom by the gunman 11.51: Police sergeant and USB agents arrive 12.03: Officers continue to arrive in the hallway. As many as 19 officers in that hallway at that time. At the same time, a girl from inside the classroom calls 911 and whispers that she is in room 112 12.10pm: The same girl calls back and advises 'there are multiple dead' 12.13pm: The same girl calls again 12.16pm: The same girl calls 911 for the fourth time in 13 minutes asking for help 12.15pm: BORTAC (SWAT) members arrive with shields 12.16pm: The same unidentified girl calls 911 and says there are '8-9 students alive' in classroom 112 12.19pm: A different child from classroom 111 calls. She hangs up when another student tells her to in order to be quiet 12.21pm: Gunman fires again 12.26pm: One of the girls who previously called 911 calls back again. She says the shooter has just 'shot at the door' 12.43pm: The girl on that girl is still on the line. She says 'please send the police now' 12.50pm: Police finally breach the door using keys from the janitor and kill gunman 12.51pm Officers start moving children out of the room Advertisement Ramos, who is referred to in the report as 'the attacker,' was described by relatives as shy, quiet when he was a child and reluctant to interact with others because of a speech impediment. He was a 'wonderful student' and always ready to learn, the committee learned of Ramos as a child. But then something changed. Ramos began falling behind in school and was identified as 'at-risk,' but never received special education services he needed, according to the report. Throughout the fourth grade, Ramos was bullied over his stutter, short haircut and clothing - which he often wore the same every day, the report revealed, and detailed a time when a girl tied his shoelaces together causing him to fall on his face. In 2018, Ramos had more than 100 absences that year and his grades were failing. By 2021, he had only completed the ninth grade, despite being 17 that year. Instead of returning to school after the pandemic, Ramos dropped out and became more isolated focusing on the online world. Ariana Diaz, a senior at Uvalde High School and one of the shooter's former classmates, described him as a 'popular loner,' someone who everyone knew, but who kept to himself. She told The Texas Tribune, that after COVID, he seemed to be in what she described as a 'dark place,' and started wearing all black and combat boots. Ramos told his girlfriend at the time that he wouldn't live past 18 because he would commit suicide or 'wouldn't live long,' the report stated. The girl later told the FBI that when she broke up with him, he harassed her and her friends. He immersed himself in the online world, according to the report, and he had particular interest in gore and violent sex. He shared videos of beheadings and other violent deaths. He'd threaten women when he lost at online games. After he was fired from his job at Whataburger for threatening a female co-worker, he continued to live at home and save money which he used to buy firearms. In one video shared with the committee, Ramos is seen dry firing BB guns at people and then the video ends with emergency services responding to a serious car accident, which he claimed his driver had caused, according to the report. Also on the video, Ramos is seen riding around in a car with someone else, while holding a clear plastic bag with a dead cat inside, which Ramos 'discarded in the street and spit on while his driver laughed.' According to the report, Ramos bought 60 30-round magazines in February of this year. As soon as he turned 18, on May 16, he started buying guns and ammunition. After buying two AR-15-style rifles and thousands of rounds, he had spent more than $6,000, the committee found. He had no criminal history and had never been arrested, so there was nothing in his background that kept him from owning the weapons, the report stated. However, multiple gun sales within such a short period of time was reported to the ATF, and the committee report pointed out that the law only requires purchase of handguns to be reported tot he local sheriff. 'Here, the information about the attacker's gun purchases remained in federal hands,' they wrote. The report also found that Ramos provided a number of warning signs that he was dangerous, but that nobody did anything to address them. In one incident, Ramos sent someone a message on Instagram on April 2 saying 'Are you still gonna remember me in 50 something days?' 'Probably not' the person responded. 'Hmm alright we'll see in may,' Ramos said back. Instead of returning to school after the pandemic, Ramos dropped out and became more isolated focusing on the online world Salvador Ramos is shown entering the school at 11.33am on May 24 with his AR-15 style weapon in his hand Details of the report come as family members of the victims met with Texas lawmakers investigating the massacre on Sunday, days after incriminating footage showing the police's botched response was leaked. Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to mass shooting that left 21 people dead at a Uvalde elementary school but 'systemic failures' created a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed, according to the report from investigators released. The report - the most complete account yet of the hesitant and haphazard response to the May 24 massacre at at Robb Elementary School - was written by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives and released to family members Sunday. Vincent Salazar, grandfather of Layla Salazar who was killed in the school shooting at Robb Elementary, holds a report released by the Texas House investigative committee Grace Valencia, great aunt of shooting victim Uziyah Garcia, talks to the media from a vehicle after picking up a copy of the Texas House investigative committee report Crystal Garcia, stepmother of shooting victim Uziyah Garcia, talks to the media from the back of a vehicle after picking up a copy of the Texas House investigative committee report According to the Texas Tribune, which reviewed the report ahead of its scheduled release to the public later in the day, 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school. The overwhelming majority of those who responded were federal and state law enforcement. That included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials, according to the Tribune. 'It's a joke. They're a joke. They've got no business wearing a badge. None of them do,' Vincent Salazar, grandfather of 11-year-old Layla Salazer, said Sunday. The report followed weeks of closed-door interviews with more than 40 people, including witnesses and law enforcement who were on the scene of the shooting. A nearly 80-minute hallway surveillance video published by the Austin American-Statesman this week publicly showed for the first time a hesitant and haphazard tactical response, which the head of Texas' state police has condemned as a failure and some Uvalde residents have blasted as cowardly. Calls for police accountability have grown in Uvalde since the shooting. So far, only one officer from the scene of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history is known to be on leave. The report is the result of one of several investigations into the shooting, including another led by the Justice Department. Flowers that had been piled high in the city's central square had been removed as of Sunday, leaving a few stuffed animal maps scattered around the fountains alongside photos of some of the children who were killed. Pictured: The memorial at Robb Elementary School on June 9 A report earlier this month by tactical experts at Texas State University alleged that a Uvalde police officer had a chance to stop the gunman before he went inside the school armed with an AR-15. But in an example of the conflicting statements and disputed accounts since the shooting, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin has said that never happened. That report had been done at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which McLaughlin has increasingly criticized and accused of trying to minimize the role of its troopers during the massacre. Steve McCraw, the head of Texas DPS, has called the police response an abject failure. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Damning report into Uvalde school shooting shows law enforcement's 'systemic failures and egregious poor decision making' State and federal cops were largely responsible for the vile Uvalde school massacre that left 21 dead, a damning report has found. The better trained and equipped responders failed to exert the leadership needed when local officers were out of their depth, the Texas House committee probe said. The 149 US Border Patrol agents and 91 state police were among nearly 400 on the day who should have helped with the 'unfolding chaos', the file noted. But the report slammed them for 'failing to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety'. The blistering 77-page document blasted 'system failures and egregious poor decision making' by nearly all those in power during the May 24 attack. It was released around midday Sunday as the victims' families met with officials to discuss the report and watch footage of the sick rampage through the school. Some of the litany of errors in the report included: Cops failed to follow the active shooter doctrine imposed after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre by not engaging with Ramos; The school's safety protocol for keeping doors to classrooms locked and shut during school hours was not adhered to; Around 47 'lockdown' events when police chased migrants near the school that came before the shooting made staff desensitized to react; Ramos gave numerous hints he was going to go on a shooting spree before May 24, posting online cryptic messages related to violent actions; Officials undermined public trust in the investigation into the massacre by making false statements about what happened. Texas congressman Joaquin Castro took to Twitter to express that the report's findings were an important step towards ensuring students' safety in the future, but said there was a long way to go in rebuilding the trust of Texans. 'Today's report on the #Uvalde shooting is an important account of what went wrong and how schools can keep kids safe going forward,' he wrote, 'But Texans need full transparency to rebuild our trust - starting with responses to the public records requests submitted since the massacre.' Vincent Salazar, grandfather of Layla Salazar who was killed in the school shooting at Robb Elementary, holds a report released by the Texas House investigative committee on the shootings at Robb Elementary School The report said that officers 'failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety,' amidst a chaotic response scene where the people in positions of authority assumed somebody else was in charge. Though Uvalde school police chief Peter Arredondo did not step up to the duties that were expected of him, the report wrote, better trained and experienced state and federal authorities failed to help local police who were out of their element. 'These local officials were not the only ones expected to supply the leadership needed during this tragedy,' the report noted, 'Hundreds of responders from numerous law enforcement agencies - many of whom were better trained and better equipped than the school district police - quickly arrived on the scene.' 'In this crisis, no responder seized the initiative to establish an incident command post,' the report said, 'Despite an obvious atmosphere of chaos, the ranking officers of other responding agencies did not approach the Uvalde CISD chief of police or anyone else perceived to be in command to point out the lack of and need for a command post, or to offer that specific assistance.' Vincent Salazar, grandfather of Layla Salazar who was killed in the school shooting at Robb Elementary speaks with the media after receiving the Texas House investigative committee's report on Sunday Vincent Salazar, grandfather of Uvalde shooting victim Layla Salazar, walks with the investigation committee's report in-hand on Sunday The report also found that the Robb Elementary School failed to adhere to a number of basic safety protocols, which included a lack of keys leading to teachers regularly leaving doors unlocked or propping them open. Unreliable WiFi in parts of the school also led to a poor use of an app intended to notify the school of a lockdown in the event of an emergency. Teachers also often responded without urgency to lockdown notifications on the app because they were desensitized by its overuse in situations involving nearby border patrol activity. Robb Elementary is located about one hour from the US-Mexico border, and teachers would often be notified about illegal migrants who were being pursued by border patrol in the area. There were 47 'lockdown' events at the school between May and February, 90% of which concerned border patrol activity. The investigation committee's full report is expected to be released to the public on Sunday The report also found that Ramos provided a number of warning signs that he was dangerous, but that nobody did anything to address them. In one incident, Ramos sent someone a message on Instagram on April 2 saying 'Are you still gonna remember me in 50 something days?' Salvador Ramos, 18, (pictured) shot and killed 19 students and two teachers while cops held back for over an hour during the Uvalde massacre on May 24 'Probably not' the person responded. 'Hmm alright we'll see in may,' Ramos said back. Details of the report come as family members of the victims are due to meet with Texas lawmakers investigating the massacre on Sunday, days after incriminating footage showing the police's botched response was leaked. Relatives of the victims are expected to view the full footage during the meeting and review the committee's findings on the shooting. The video showed in harrowing detail how police lingered in the hallway outside the classroom where Ramos was holed up for over an hour as they were ordered to stand down by Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Peter Arredondo. Arredondo was placed on leave after the shooting before resigning from his post. Calls for police accountability have grown in Uvalde since the shooting. So far, Arredondo is the only officer from the scene of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history is known to be on leave. While Ramos could be heard unloading shots in a classroom, officers could be seen running away from the gunfire, checking their phones, helping themselves to hand sanitizer, and exchanging high fives. At one point an officer whose daughter was inside the classroom was seen being restrained by fellow officers preventing him from attempting to rescue his daughter. The video shows how it took officers a full 77-minutes to breach the door to the classrooms where Ramos unloaded more than 100 rounds into his victims. Ramos entered the school at 11:33am, and wasn't shot dead until 12:50pm. The gunman wasn't stopped until Border Patrol agents entered the building and shot and killed him. Furious parents and relatives of the 19 children and two teachers murdered on May 24 are demanding to know why the 18-year-old gunman was free to continue his rampage as the officers stayed outside the classrooms. The video begins at 11:28 am from the point of view of a camera in the Robb Elementary School parking lot. It shows Salvador Ramos violently swerving his car around a corner and crashing into a ditch in the distance. A plume of dusty smoke emerges from the scene of the crash. Two unknown men approach the car, Ramos responds by firing shots at the them. The two men run for their lives, across the road and toward Robb Elementary School. Two minutes later, a teacher is heard telling a 911 operator: 'I do not see him. I cannot see him.' The camera switches to a camera pointing at Robb Elementary School. She says: 'The kids are running. Oh my God.' Her voice breaks in desperation as she cries: 'Oh my God.' Children at Robb Elementary School are pictured running to safety after Ramos opened fire in two classrooms on May 24 Authorities have admitted there was a failure of police officers to act that day as Ramos continued his rampage. Law enforcement are seen here standing outside the elementary school following the shooting Shortly after that, Ramos fires off random rounds at the school from the parking lot. The teacher instructs the students to 'get down, get in your rooms, get in your rooms.' The camera switches again to footage captured by a witness who recorded Ramos calmly walking into the school, carrying an AR-15. Within the same minute, the camera switches to surveillance video from inside the the hallways of Robb Elementary School. The light beams from the doorway as Ramos enters an empty hallway. Before getting to a corner, he stalls for a second as if to check if he's going the right way. As he begins to disappear down a wide hallway, he drops his gun by his side to brush back his long hair en route to classrooms 111 and 112 where the massacre unfolded. From the foreground, a young boy comes into the shot. He turns a corner and stands frozen for a few seconds. Next, loud gunfire his heard. The boy can be seen running away, with his arms apparently flailing. A message appears on the screen saying: 'The gunman fires his AR-15 inside two classrooms for two and a half minutes.' Three minutes later, the first police officers arrive on the scene, three cops, two uniformed and one plain clothes charge towards the class room before crouching in the hallway as four others calmly stay back. The four officers who stay back talk to each other. Their conversation is inaudible. A split view of the hallway before the dozens of other cops arrived shows the officers with their rifles drawn, standing behind shields, thirty minutes after the shooting began, yards away from the classroom Three loud bangs are then heard. After they hear gunfire, the two uniformed cops retreat slightly while the plain clothes officer scurries all the way to safety behind a wall, checking his clothes to see if he has been hit by the volley of rounds. One could even be seen pulling his cellphone out of his pocket, apparently to check the time. Others, the Statesman reports, sent texts and looked at floor plans as precious minutes ticked by. A full 19 minutes after the first officers attempted to engage Ramos, the first heavy reinforcements arrive as cops with long guns, tactical gear and a ballistic shield are shown in the hallway. They remain a safe distance from Ramos. One officer leans the shield safely against a wall. Close to the end of the stand off, Uvalde County Sheriff's Deputy Felix Rubio, bottom right, is shown being restrained by brother officers from engaging Ramos A little over half an hour after the 911 call went in, more officers, clad in combat gear, armed with long guns and ballistic shields, pile into the hallway. They do not attempt to engage Ramos. A picture in picture appears showing a small screen with an officers body camera illustrating the amount of officers with weapons drawn in the hallway, waiting. One officer can be seen busy scrolling on his phone in the body camera footage. The main pictures show officers in tactical gear forming a barricade of shields in preparation for an attack by Ramos. Ramos shoots off four more rounds, 48 minutes after first arriving at the school. There is little initial reaction from the assembled members of law enforcement. The phrase: 'Shots fired' is repeated. The police officer checks his phone while Salvador Ramos' rampage is ongoing. The officer's background image shows the pro-police symbol The Punisher There is more inaudible conversation as officers finally begin to march down the hallway toward Ramos. One leading the way appears to be wearing civilian clothing, including shorts and a bullet proof vest. He is armed with a rifle. The more heavily armored officers hide behind him. An officer in civilian clothing and bullet proof vest and helmet obtains hand sanitizer from a dispenser. After more than half an hour, other officers could be seen entering the building with ballistic shields and rifles pointed down the hallway to the classrooms where Ramos is hiding out. Finally, officers breach the classroom and engage Ramos, quickly killing him. A full 77 minutes after the nightmare began. Two women who are both aged 26 have been arrested on suspicion of murder today after the body of a man was discovered at a house. A man in his 20s was found dead at a home in the small town of Havant near Portsmouth, Hampshire at 8am this morning. Police have cordoned off and are guarding the property while increasing patrols in the area. Detectives have said there is no risk to the wider public and are not looking for anyone else in connection with the death. Officers have launched a murder inquiry and the two women had been detained and put in police cells to await questioning. One of the women from Paulsgrove was also accused of conspiracy to murder the man. Senior detectives were called in soon after paramedics arrived at the property in Havant, at breakfast-time today A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said tonight/last night (Sun): 'Two women have been arrested as part of a murder investigation in Havant. 'We were called at 8.04am today to an address in Botley Drive, Havant. Officers attended and the body of a man aged in his 20s was found inside the property. His next of kin have been informed. 'A 26-year-old woman from Havant was arrested on suspicion of murder and a 26-year-old woman from Paulsgrove was arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to murder. Both remain in police custody at this time. 'A scene watch is in place at the address in Botley Drive and officers will be conducting reassurance patrols in the area. Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances of the incident.' Officers confirmed that they had launched a murder inquiry codenamed Operation Sample and that two women had been detained and put in police cells to await questioning. Pictured: Botley Drive, Havant Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Burton said: 'This incident will be concerning to members of the local community and we are working hard to establish exactly what happened. 'While our investigation is at an early stage, we do not believe there is any wider risk to the public and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident. 'If you were in the Botley Drive area last night or in the early hours of this (Sun) morning and have information that could help our investigation, please get in touch. 'Similarly if you have ring doorbell, CCTV or dash cam footage which could assist us, we would like to hear from you.' Boris Johnson missed an emergency COBRA heatwave meeting 'to host a farewell party at Chequers this weekend with his wife Carrie'. Nadine Dorries was spotted smiling as she left the grace-and-favour country home in Buckinghamshire on Sunday following reports the PM hosted his 'leaving do' with 'friends and family'. No 10 have denied to say if the bash was taking place but revealed Mr Johnson 'worked' from the luxury retreat this weekend despite reports that he skipped a second Cobra meeting in a row yesterday as Britain prepares to endure temperatures of up to 39C (102F) next week. Cabinet Office Minister Kit Malthouse chaired the meeting of the Cobra (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) civil contingencies committee, which comes just three days after the first crisis meeting was held on Monday. The Prime Minister's spokesman said the move was a 'progression' of the 'significant work ' that had already been done to prepare, and there were contingency measures which have been enacted or are ready to be enacted. A No10 spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The Prime Minister has worked from Chequers this weekend. 'Ministers have chaired a COBR meeting on our response to the extreme weather, and we continue to monitor the situation closely.' Formal invitations to the event at Chequers were reportedly sent out earlier this week. Nadine Dorries was spotted smiling as she left the grace-and-favour country home in Buckinghamshire on Sunday following reports the PM hosted his 'leaving do' with 'friends and family' Formal invitations to the event at Chequers (pictured) were reportedly sent out earlier this week Boris Johnson missed an emergency COBRA heatwave meeting 'to host a farewell party at Chequers this weekend with his wife Carrie' A Tory source told Sky News: 'The invitation comes from Mr and Mrs Johnson. 'It is their farewell bash at Chequers this weekend. Partners and children are all invited.' Pro-EU protestor Steve Bray was also pictured outside the luxury retreat this evening, holding placards that read 'Get your Johnson out of our democracy'. Meanwhile, Labour accused Mr Johnson of being 'missing in action' as he 'prepares to party while Britain boils'. Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader, said: 'Boris Johnson has gone missing in action again. He's back to his old trick of skipping important Cobra meetings. 'The public will have no confidence in this zombie Conservative government responding swiftly and decisively to this national emergency as this disgraced prime minister prepares to party while Britain boils.' Pro-EU protestor Steve Bray was also pictured outside the luxury retreat this evening, holding placards that read 'Get your Johnson out of our democracy' Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader, said: 'Boris Johnson has gone missing in action again. He's back to his old trick of skipping important Cobra meetings' Ms Rayner added of Mr Johnson's absence: 'Where's the plan for the delivery of essential services and how people will be kept safe at work, on transport, in schools, hospitals and care homes?' The PM's leaving bash comes as Downing Street confirmed earlier this month that Boris and Carrie Johnson have been forced to scrap their wedding party at Chequers. The Johnsons reportedly planned a big party at the grace-and-favour country home to mark their marriage at the end of July. But a source previously said that they would now be looking at other venues, insisting: 'Nothing had been 100 per cent firmed up'. The PM's spokesman later confirmed that there would be no party at Chequers, adding: 'As you'll know, taxpayers don't cover prime ministers' personal expenditure'. Boris announced his decision to step down amid a sea of ministerial resignations on July 8, but said he intends to stay on as caretaker leader until a suitable replacement is found, likely to be by the Autumn. And hours later the party plan emerged. Carrie Johnson carried seven-month-old daughter Romy as she watched husband Boris Johnson deliver his resignation speech outside Downing Street earlier this month. Pictured, Boris ally Nadine Dorries (right) cooed over baby girl The couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in front of just a handful of guests in May 2021 One Tory MP told the Mirror: 'It beggars belief that even after all the criticism Johnson has faced regarding integrity and probity, one of the reasons he is staying is to have his wedding party at Chequers. It's a national asset, not his personal home. The Johnsons should do the decent thing and find a different venue. And Boris should do the decent thing and leave No 10 immediately'. But one of the PM's closest colleagues, new Education Secretary James Cleverly, said the party should be at Chequers if he wants it and called the criticism churlish. 'Private functions like that do not impose a burden on the public purse', he said. 'I think it's churlish to be negative about two people who want to celebrate their marriage and their love for each other'. The Evening Standard reported last month that this would take the form of a 'champagne-soaked soiree' at the PM's country residence to celebrate the couple's first anniversary. Carrie, who entered No. 10 as Boris' girlfriend and leaves as his wife and the mother of two of his children, smiled encouragingly as the Prime Minister announced he was stepping down, admitting: 'No one is indispensable'. During his speech, Boris acknowledged the sacrifices made by his wife and family, saying: 'I want to thank Carrie and my children and all my family, who have put up with so much for so long.' No10 had appealed for Conservative MPs to come and watch the speech in the street, but there was only a small crowd of people present, pictured. Mrs Johnson, pictured in red, watched alongside Johnson ally Nadine Dorries (pictured in white) In a statement in Downing Street, the PM tried to sound an upbeat tone as he confirmed that his time in office is coming to an end. Mr Johnson was watched by his wife Carrie (left) and their daughter Romy The couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in front of just a handful of guests in May 2021. But their plan to use a grace-and-favour country home to host their delayed wedding party even as Johnson prepares to depart Downing Street further angered already disgruntled Conservatives. The pair also have some work cut out for them when it comes to the guest list for their lavish do. Their save-the-date cards went out last year, but given that a host of Boris' Conservative MPs have called for his resignation in recent weeks and declared they do not have faith in his ability to lead the nation, several invitees may soon find out their presence at the wedding bash is no longer desired. A Downing Street source said: 'The party is still going ahead, but the guestlist will be a headache. 'Boris and Carrie sent the 'save the date' cards last year but obviously recent developments mean a few of the people they sent them to would not now be as welcome as they once were.' A British tourist has reportedly drowned in a hotel pool today at the Majorcan resort of Palmanova. The 53-year-old male is said to have died after fainting while swimming in the pool of the Globales Palmanova Hotel this afternoon (Sunday, July 17). The alarm was raised at around 4.30pm today, but he was already unresponsive. It is believed the tourist was swimming in this pool at the Globales Palmanova Hotel (pictured) Majorcan emergency services attempted to revive the man but he was sadly declared dead at the scene of the incident Globales Palmanova is just short walk from the party resort of Magaluf which is one of the island's most popular destinations Police and paramedics tried to revive him after reaching the scene and taking over from lifeguards but were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead before his body was taken away for a post-mortem. Civil Guard officers are now carrying out a routine investigation and will prepare a report for a local judge. It is not known if the man who died was on his own at the time or was accompanied by family or friends. He has not been named. Police could not be reached to give a statement. Globales Palmanova, a short walk from the party resort of Magaluf which is one of the island's most popular destinations, is a four-star hotel which has pools for both adults and children. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois suggested on Sunday that the January 6 committee would not get much use out of a sworn deposition from Donald Trump - because he believes the former president wouldn't shy away from perjury. 'Look, Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn't mind not telling the truth, let's just put that mildly,' Kinzinger told CBS News' Face The Nation. 'He lies all the time, I wouldn't put it past him to even lie under oath. So I'm not sure what the value is there.' Kinzinger is leading the panel's Thursday primetime hearing, its final planned event in a series of eight presentations. But one or two more could be expected after the committee concludes its investigation and releases a report on the findings, the congressman told Face The Nation. 'This investigation is not winding down,' Kinzinger pledged. 'This is the end of this kind of grouping. I fully expect when the report comes out, we may have a hearing or two around that.' For now, the Illinois lawmaker said he and his colleagues on the bipartisan committee are 'negotiating back and forth' on whether to get Trump and other senior administration players to sit down. And while he's skeptical about getting any deliverables from Trump, Kinzinger did show interest in hearing from former Vice President Mike Pence. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who is retiring from the House of Representatives at the end of this year, is co-leading Thursday's primetime January 6 committee hearing This investigation is not winding down, House Jan. 6 committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger tells @margbrennan. We may be towards the end of this tranche of hearings, we may have more hearings in the future and the investigation is still ongoing. pic.twitter.com/2FEJ7k3I69 Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 17, 2022 'I think there's a difference between, do we subpoena him? Do we ask him for a transcribed interview? I think it would be important to hear everything he has to say,' Kinzinger said of Pence. 'That said, I'm not sure we get a ton more out of him than what his staff has already told us.' Pence's former chief of staff, Marc Short, testified before the committee in private earlier this year. Short told CBS News in his own interview on Saturday that he believed having Pence testify would set a 'very risky precedent' for future incidents testing the separation of powers. Kinzinger, seemingly unperturbed, said the panel likely did not 'need them physically there' in reference to either Trump or Pence, citing the tranche of witness testimony and evidence that lawmakers have already accumulated. He also said that Thursday's upcoming hearing, to be co-led by himself and Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, will have 'filled in the blanks' on what Trump was doing and who he was speaking to in the 187 minutes between when rioters first broke into the US Capitol on January 6 and when the ex-president finally told them to go home. 'This is going to open people's eyes in a big way,' Kinzinger said without getting into detail. 'I'll give you this preview, the president didn't do very much but gleefully watch television during this timeframe.' He said Sunday that he and his colleagues are still debating and negotiating over whether they should hear from Donald Trump and Mike Pence Thursday's hearing will be the last in a series of eight, but Kinzinger suggested there may be 'a hearing or two' still to come after the bipartisan committee releases its full report on last year's Capitol riot Had he been in Trump's place watching the violence unfold, Kinzinger said he would 'be going ballistic to try to save the Capitol.' Trump 'did the opposite,' he added. 'The President didn't do anything, and we're going to fill those blanks in,' Kinzinger vowed. 'And if the American people watch this - particularly I say as to my fellow Republicans - watch this with an open mind, and is this the kind of strong leader you really think you deserve?' Luria said in her own Sunday television interview that the committee would be going through Trump's inaction 'minute by minute.' She told CNN's State of the Union that lawmakers will go through 'from the time he left the stage at the Ellipse, came back to the White House, and really sat in the White House, in the dining room, with his advisers urging him continuously to take action, to take more action.' Without going into detail on Thursday's witnesses, Luria promised Americans would see people 'in the hearing who we have not heard from so far.' 'There's other witnesses we have spoken to who have yet to appear in our previous hearings who will add a lot of value and information to the events of that critical time on January 6,' Luria said. A heroic Houston cop who sprang into action earlier this year to stop a man from apparently opening fire at a children's dance competition has spoken out for the first time. Sgt. Kendrick Simpo was working a second job as a security guard at the Galleria Mall in Houston's Uptown District on February 5 when he received a call about a man with a rifle walking near the Macy's. He and another security guard quickly made their way to the department store, but as he ran, he said he made sure he would not startle hundreds of children and adults gathered for a dance competition, which was just a few hundred feet from Macy's. 'I did know there was a dance competition with little kids going on at the Westin Ballroom, so I didn't pull my weapon out because I didn't want to be running towards the Macy's area - which is past the ballroom area - with the gun,' Simpo recounted to ABC 13. Soon, he said, he saw the suspect - who was later identified as Guido Herrera - just about 10 feet from the entrance to the Westin Ballroom's entrance where the competition was taking place. 'I quickly bum rushed, tackled him,' Simpo said. 'And my first reaction was to make sure that I get a hold of the rifle. No matter what I grabbed, make sure I grabbed that rifle.' 'I had in my mind [that] I was going to get shot, I just had to bear the pain. I knew it was going to hurt and I was like, "Whatever I do, I cannot let go of this rifle."' Houston Sgt Kendrick Simpo recounted how he was working as a security guard on February 5 when he took down a man carrying a rifle just feet away from a children's dance competition Authorities say Guido Herrera (pictured) was carrying the rifle, 120 rounds of ammunition, a handgun and a Bible with the Old Testament passage about Sodom and Gomora bookmarked Simpo said he 'bum rushed' to tackle Herrera outside of the competition, and was able to point his gun at the ceiling before backup came to subdue him Simpo said he knew he would be outnumbered going up against a man with a rifle was dangerous as he only had on a soft vest and carried a handgun. 'I knew if a person did have a rifle, and they were inside the mall, I was pretty much outnumbered because all I had was a handgun at the time. My handgun and his rifle, I was already at a disadvantage.' But he said: 'I definitely know what I signed up for 20 years ago when I got into this profession.' Eventually, Simpo was able to point Herrera's gun to the ceiling when he tried to subdue him, and soon backup came and arrested Herrera without a single shot being fired. Authorities at the scene later searched Herrera, who was wearing a black Punisher shirt, tactical pants, gloves and a leather mask with spikes. They found he was carrying the rifle, 120 rounds of ammunition, a handgun and a Bible with the Old Testament passage about Sodom and Gomora bookmarked, according to the Houston Chronicle. Just over one month later, Herrera was arrested again after he went to the FBI headquarters in Houston and requested a meeting with the director of the FBI, but law enforcement officials found a gun in his car. He was sentenced last week to a year in jail Just over a month later, Herrera was arrested again after he went to the FBI headquarters in Houston and requested a meeting with the director of the FBI. Law enforcement officials grew suspicious, and found a gun inside his car. But Herrera was ultimately only charged with two misdemeanor charges- disorderly conduct and unlawful carrying of a weapon - for the two incidents. Officials say he did not actually fire either weapon or point them at anybody, so he could not be charged with anything more severe. 'His circumstances kind of fell in the gaps,' prosecutor Barbara Mousset said. 'He took advantage of some technicalities in the law. 'He had the right to have that firearm, and ultimately that was the only charge we could get him on.' In court, the Chronicle reports, his attorney also argued that Herrera is just 'a gun-loving Texan,' noting: 'He has a right to possess these weapons whether we like them or not.' His lawyer, Armen Mejanian, also claimed Herrera was fearful of his neighbors and his ex-girlfriend, and he felt that law enforcement had let him down following his past calls to 911. That is why, he said, he went to the FBI office. In the end, Herrera was sentenced to just one year in prison last week. A man has been arrested and police have launched a murder investigation after the body of a 21-year-old woman was found days after she was reported missing in London. Hina Bashir disappeared from Ilford, east London, earlier this week prompting police to begin searching for her. They have now arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of murder after the body of a woman was found in Havering, also east London, in the early hours of this morning. The Metropolitan Police says while formal identification is yet to take place, they have informed Ms Bashir's family, who are being supported by specialist officers. Hina Bashir, pictured, was reported missing to the police in recent days after disappearing from Ilford The force said it was 'confident' the man and Hina knew each other and has remanded him into custody. It did not confirm exactly where the body was found. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, from the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said: 'My thoughts are with Hina's family who have suffered a terrible loss. We will provide them with whatever support we can. 'This has been a fast-moving investigation and a man is in custody. We are confident that this man and Hina were known to each other. 'As our investigation progresses we will be working to develop our understanding of what happened to Hina, not just in recent days but in the weeks prior to this terrible incident. 'I would urge anyone who believes they have information which could assist us to come forward.' Information can be provided by calling police on 101 (reference 2674/14JUL) or by calling Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Achtung! Achtung! Gott im Himmel, and with large dollops of both Donner und Blitzen, is nowhere safe from the march of wokery? For it has emerged that the Commando comic, now more than 60 years old, has decided to abandon jingoism. What? Perish the thought! Surely they might as well get rid of machine guns and Spitfires. No more, it seems, will schoolboys be able to read war mags in which lantern-jawed Tommies exhort vile 'Huns' to 'eat lead' or for 'Fritz' to 'take that'. Neither will boys let's face it, girls don't read this stuff be able to pore gleefully over frames of fiendish 'Japs' while they shout 'Banzai!' or die with 'Aiiiieeee!' on their lips. Instead, according to Calum Laird, a former editor of Commando, and the holder of a doctorate in 'representations of conflict and character in British war comics', the magazine is going less gung-ho and presenting 'more nuanced and compassionate depictions of wartime life'. No more, it seems, will schoolboys be able to read war mags in which lantern-jawed Tommies exhort vile 'Huns' to 'eat lead' or for 'Fritz' to 'take that' Although it is clearly the most iconic of the war mags, Commando was certainly not the first Guy Walters grew up collecting the Commando magazines and says it is essential their essence is not lost As an example of the shift, Dr Laird cites a Commando comic he wrote in 2020 called Stan's War, in which a Polish soldier is exiled in Britain at the end of the war. Laird says that it was the aftermath of Brexit that inspired him to write it. 'In Fife, where I am, there are a lot of people of Polish descent,' he says. 'I was very much aware that after Brexit we had Polish friends who moved back. This was a time of polarised debate about immigration. Comics give the opportunity to explore these issues in more nuanced ways.' In other examples, Commando produced a series of VE Day stories in which one was told from a German soldier's point of view, as well as tales about the differences between German conscripts and their fascist brothers-in-arms. 'It just shows how things change,' Dr Laird says. Judging by these words, it feels as if Commando comics are going to end up becoming mouthpieces for a certain type of arch-liberal Remoaner politics, rather than good old-fashioned war stories which are or were, it seems simple celebrations of heroism, healthy patriotism, and a fight between goodies and baddies. Men of my generation I'm 50 were raised on these magazines, which also included War Picture Library, Victor and Valiant. Most featured a world of evil Germans, heroic Brits, lippy Aussies, brave Yanks, dastardly Japs and treacherous French. Many will be amazed that the comics are still going, let alone going strong. Although Commando's publisher DC Thomson does not reveal the magazine's circulation, a few years ago it claimed the comic sold an average of around 9,600 copies per fortnight, which would represent a readership of about 50,000. Although it is clearly the most iconic of the war mags, Commando was certainly not the first. In fact, it was launched by DC Thomson to take on the successful War Picture Library, which was produced by their main rival, IPC. The first editor was Charles 'Chick' Checkley, who had served in the RAF during the war. His deputy, Ian Forbes, was with the Royal Corps of Signals, which meant both men had experience of war. Checkley and Forbes realised that the best way to take on the rival was to make the stories both realistic and with accurate period details. Commando is now 61 years old and it's clear the comics today cannot remain the same as when they were born. But those who love these magazines should act as custodians to make sure the spirit is not lost Boys let's face it, girls don't read this stuff will not be able to pore gleefully over frames of fiendish 'Japs' while they shout 'Banzai!' or die with 'Aiiiieeee!' on their lips The formula worked, and by its heyday in the 1970s, Commando would sell a staggering 750,000 copies in one month alone. It is true that some of that old-fashioned stereotyping doesn't sit well in a contemporary context. The likes of Boches, Jerries, Squareheads and Fritz are not terms bandied about today. But it should be remembered that they are at least historically accurate, and were the words that British and American combatants used at the time. Where I think Dr Laird is perhaps being unfair though I bow to his doctorate in all this is in suggesting the Commando comics lacked nuance. I still have all the war magazines I collected at school in the 1980s, and flicking through them today makes me realise the stories were often a lot more subtle than I remember. Take, for example, issue 1969 A Special Kind Of Courage published in 1986, which concerns whether a decorated British officer is in fact a coward. A similar theme is present in issue 1977 The Fight Against Fear which is about a private called Sam Snade who is very far from being a hackneyed courageous Brit. It is this relative sophistication that made Commando superior to rival publications its heroes are often flawed. Occasionally, a soldier's worst enemy is some demon within, such as a sibling rivalry born from a brother with a higher tally of kills during the Battle of Britain; or a lack of self-esteem caused by a pushy father who was a hero of World War I; or perhaps plain fear. Nevertheless, by the end of their personal odysseys, these men find personal salvation through the horrors of war. The final frame of every comic inevitably features our hero making up with his former rival and finding inner peace. Along the way, of course, a lot of Germans and Japanese are killed. A lot. Yet despite all the violence, it feels almost innocent compared with the graphic nature of many modern computer games such as Call Of Duty. It is worth appreciating that Commando and its ilk really are works of art. Many of the covers and the stories were drawn by legendary illustrators such as Gordon Livingstone, Ian Kennedy and Ken Barr, all of whom paid a painstaking attention to detail that ensured no war buffs could write snooty letters of correction to DC Thomson. With the stories featuring some 120 frames, each comic takes an artist anything from four weeks to six months to produce. As well as immersing himself in military detail, the artist also has to follow the writer's script to the letter. Although the formula is not set in stone, there are some strict guidelines. Stories based on the hunt for a secret Nazi weapon are ruled out for being too much of a cliche. Women almost never feature, partly because the women who did fight in World War II did not see the intense level of combat required to make a gripping comic. The quality and sophistication of the plots, characters and illustrations mean there are a lot of Commando aficionados out there who try to collect every one of the magazine's 5,558 issues. That's an expensive business, and early copies can change hands for well into four figures. The most pricey copy currently on eBay is Issue 5 Hellfire Landing published in 1961, for which the vendor is asking for 1,484. One of the most recent issues boasts a classic Commando title Hard To Kill! but the setting, in the Malayan Emergency of the 1950s, is not the staple Commando background of World War II. Indeed, over the past few years, the comic has set stories during the Vietnam War, the Roman invasion of Britain and the Spanish Civil War. Commando is now 61 years old and it's clear the comics today cannot remain the same as when they were born. But those who love these magazines should act as custodians to make sure the spirit is not lost. It's unlikely that Commando will ever deal with today's issues of say, sexuality and gender, but one never knows. Mind you, a Commando comic set during the culture wars could prove to be the bloodiest of all. Another cruise ship hit with a Covid outbreak has docked in Sydney with more than 100 passengers testing positive to the virus. The P&O Pacific Explorer ended its nine-day round trip to Queensland as it made its way into Sydney Harbour at 5.30am on Monday. About 2,800 crew and passengers were onboard the ship with holidaymakers required to return a negative Covid test before they can freely disembark. The strict measure comes despite as many as 40,000 Covid cases being recorded across the country each day. It is the second Covid-infected cruise ship to dock in Sydney in a week after the Coral Princess brought back more than 125 infected people on Wednesday. Another cruise ship hit with a Covid outbreak has docked in Sydney with more than 100 passengers testing positive to the virus (pictured, cruise ship docked in Sydney) The P&O Pacific Explorer ended its nine-day round trip to Queensland as it made its way into Sydney Harbour at 5.30am on Monday (pictured, cruise ship docked in Sydney) Passengers infected on the latest cruise were forced to isolate in their rooms for the duration of the trip. Holidaymakers who live in Sydney will be allowed to return to their homes to isolate. Travellers who came from interstate will be put up in a hotel room at the expense of P&O. NSW Health said the passengers would not be supervised as it was not considered to be hotel quarantine. Sharon Zahabi and her family were among the passengers who were in isolation. 'Every time you go into any of those marquees or theatre rooms or in to eat you have to have your mask on I mean they're cleaning all the time, sanitising,' she told Nine News. She said the outbreak would not discourage her from making future trips. 'We booked knowing that there's a chance that we could catch Covid and we still came and we will still cruise again as well,' she said. P&O will provide a refund to passengers who were forced into isolation during the trip. Passengers disembarking from the Coral Princess last week claimed staff allowed them to leave without checking their Covid test results. P&O will provide a refund to passengers who were forced into isolation during the trip (pictured, White Bay Cruise Terminal after the Explorer Cruise docked in Sydney on Monday) It is the second covid-infected cruise ship to dock in Sydney in a week after the Coral Princess (pictured) brought back more than 125 infected people on Wednesday Latest Covid figures in Australia LATEST COVID-19 IN THE 24 HOURS TO SUNDAY: NSW: 10,198 cases, 12 deaths, 2057 in hospital with 63 in ICU Victoria: 9630 cases, 16 deaths, 760 in hospital with 37 in ICU Queensland: 5989 cases, no deaths, 876 in hospital with 20 in ICU WA: 5933 cases, no deaths, 377 in hospital with 17 in ICU SA: 3358 cases, one death, 288 in hospital with 10 in ICU NT: 463 cases, no deaths, 42 in hospital with one in ICU ACT: 956 cases, no deaths, 167 in hospital with six in ICU Tasmania: 1410 cases, one death, 36 in hospital with none in ICU. Advertisement NSW Health previously said passengers would only be allowed to disembark after they had returned a negative rapid antigen test. However, two of those getting off the cruise ship - who were identified only as Julia and John - told SkyNews that their test had not been checked. 'We just walked off,' John said. Julie also was less than impressed with what she'd witnessed in the ship's food and beverage areas. 'So you wash your hands when you go into the buffet but then people are coughing and picking up tongs and things like that,' she said, imitating someone coughing into their hands.' She also said that while all the staff had been wearing masks, not all the passengers were. The couple, who are cruise veterans, said the experience would put them off going to sea again. A Briton captured by Russian forces in Ukraine has been forced to utter his last words to his daughter in a new disturbing video. John Harding, who had not been heard from since being captured in Mariupol in May, also pleaded with Boris Johnson for help after being told he faces the death sentence. In footage with English subtitles, Mr Harding, who is in his fifties and originally from Sunderland, was interviewed by pro-Vladimir Putin stooge Marina Kim. He said: I would say to Boris Johnson, if you can help, if you can influence president Volodymyr Zelensky or if you can influence president Putin then please do otherwise, I face the death penalty. Miss Kim asks: Maybe it could be like your last words what would you tell [your daughter]? Mr Harding, who is thought to have been captured at the Azovstal steelworks, replied: Obviously, I would tell her I wish Id spent more time with her. John Harding, who had not been heard from since being captured in Mariupol in May, also pleaded with Boris Johnson for help after being told he faces the death sentence When asked if he would tell his daughter he loved her, he said: Of course. All fathers love their daughters. He is then seen nervously smoking. The Foreign Office said it was concerned by his detention. Two other British men, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, have also been sentenced to death. It came as Kyiv girded itself for a fresh Russian offensive. Ukraine has been waiting for the Kremlins next move after defence minister Sergei Shoigu announced the end of an operational pause on Saturday. It came as a close Putin ally has threatened Ukraine with doomsday if it dares to attack occupied Crimea. In a speech to Second World War veterans yesterday, Dmitry Medvedev appeared to allude to a nuclear strike on Ukraine, calling the current leadership ecstatic bloody clowns. The Foreign Office said it was concerned by his detention. Two other British men, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, have also been sentenced to death According to state news agency TASS, he said: Should anything of the kind happen [to Crimea], they will be faced with a doomsday, very quick and tough, immediately. There will be no avoiding it. A report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has recorded the use of underground torture chambers, indiscriminate murder and gang rape by Russia. One account indicated that 25 girls aged 14-24 were kept in a basement in Bucha and gang-raped, as a result of which nine became pregnant. The report also recorded claims that in Kherson, some 600 prisoners are detained underground in specially equipped basements and torture chambers. Meanwhile, on BBC1s Sunday Morning show Britains Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin dismissed speculation that Putin was ill or could be assassinated as wishful thinking. Chinese Wisdom in Xi's Words: Study of history illuminates the way to good governance Xinhua) 13:43, July 17, 2022 BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- "The study of history illuminates the way to good governance." President Xi Jinping cited this ancient adage in an article published Saturday to highlight the importance of studying history. The adage was written by Zeng Gong, a literary master in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), to explain how excellent historiography can provide guidance for good governance. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has on various occasions underlined the need to respect history, study history, foster historical perspective, and carry on the fine traditional Chinese culture. In the article published in this year's 14th issue of the Qiushi Journal, Xi called for efforts to advance the research of the history of Chinese civilization, and develop a keener awareness of the history while building up cultural confidence. Chinese civilization is extensive and profound, and has a long history stretching back to antiquity. It is the cultural identity of the Chinese nation, the foundation of the contemporary Chinese culture, the cultural bond holding all Chinese around the globe together, and the treasure trove inspiring cultural innovation, according to the article. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Minneapolis mother berated Black Lives Matter protesters that gathered outside her home to protest the police shooting of her neighbor, who was killed following a six-hour standoff that began when he opened fire within the building. Andrew 'Tekle' Sundberg, 20, was shot dead by police snipers in the city last Thursday. The slain man's family maintains that he was experiencing a mental health crisis when he was shot. During a protest at the scene of the shooting on Saturday, Arabella Foss-Yarbrough drove up to protesters and yelled: 'This is not a George Floyd situation. George Floyd was unarmed. This is not okay.' According to the mother-of-two, she was cooking in her home on Wednesday night when Sundberg, who lived on the same floor, began shooting at her apartment. Photos from inside the building showed the bullet holes that ripped through her front door and bathroom mirror. She and her children were unharmed in the attack. In the wake of Sundberg's death, Black Lives Matter protests sprung up yet again in Minneapolis - the site of violent demonstrations in 2020 that culminated when marchers burned down a police precinct in the city. Foss-Yarbrough took issue with Saturday's demonstration, telling those gathered: 'My kids have to deal with this and probably have a mental illness now because they almost lost their lives. Theres in my kitchen because he sat in the f**king hallway watching me move.' She continued: 'He tried to kill me in front of my kids,' adding: 'I have black children; I am a woman of color! If I would have lost my life, would you guys do this for me?' Black Lives Matter Minnesota leader Trahern Crew replied: 'Yes, ma'am.' The victim's father, Mark Sundberg was also among the protesters and apologized to Foss-Yarbrough for his son's actions. 'I am so sorry,' he told her. To which she responded: 'This is not okay,' according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He added: 'No, it's not, and I am so sorry that this happened.' Arabella Foss-Yarbrough drove up to a group of protesters and said: 'This is not a George Floyd situation. George Floyd was unarmed. This is not okay' Andrew 'Tekle' Sundberg's family maintains that he was undergoing a mental health crisis when he was shot dead According to a GoFundMe page, Foss-Yarbrough has lost her job in the wake of the shooting Arabella Foss-Yarbrough's bullet-ridden door in the aftermath of the shooting Foss-Yarbrough said in an interview: 'This man intentionally tried to kill us' The six-hour standoff came to an end when police snipers shot Sundberg dead The crowdfunding page also said that Foss-Yarbrough was harassed by Sundberg in the months leading up to the shooting The victim's father, Mark Sundberg, said: 'My heart goes out to that woman (Yarbrough). She went through a very traumatic event with those bullets coming through her house' Things boiled over during Saturdays rally and march for Tekle Sundberg, when the 24 year old woman who says he was shooting into her apt. showed up voicing her frustration with those gathering in front of her building on Sundbergs behalf. @kare11 * video contains profanity * pic.twitter.com/qdi1vbgO7k Deevon Rahming (@DeevonRahming) July 16, 2022 Speaking to Fox9, Mark Sundberg said: 'My heart goes out to that woman (Yarbrough). She went through a very traumatic event with those bullets coming through her house.' He added: 'It's two different incidents. It's the shots going through her (wall) and what we are here for, when Tekle was shot.' The two officers who fired on Sundberg have been named as Aaron Pearson and Zachary Seraphine. In February 2022, Pearson was a member of the SWAT team that was involved in the fatal shooting of Amir Locke. The two officers who fired on Sundberg have been named as Aaron Pearson and Zachary Seraphine Sundberg's mother told the media on Saturday: 'Tekle was an imperfect human we're all imperfect humans and he did not deserve to be picked off like an animal from the rooftop' Fox-Yabrough described the horrific incident saying: 'I literally had five minutes to live while he had six hours to choose life or death. The police stated they did not want to kill him' The family's lawyer, Jeff Storms said: 'We can do both things. We can feel terribly for this woman, but also remember that Tekle should be here with us and he should be alive and we can ask the Minneapolis Police Department to do better.' While Fox-Yarbrough told the station: 'I literally had five minutes to live while he had six hours to choose life or death. The police stated they did not want to kill him.' She went on: 'That man was armed. George Floyd was not armed. Breonna Taylor was not armed. Amir Locke he was armed and he had his own guns but they came into his home while he's licensed to carry and killed him. He did not...fire. This man intentionally tried to kill us.' The victim's mother, Cindy Sundberg, said at a press conference: 'I wish I could wrap my arms around her and tell her I am so sorry. Tekle was an imperfect human we're all imperfect humans and he did not deserve to be picked off like an animal from the rooftop.' It was Foss-Yarbrough who initially called the police on Sundberg. Responding officers removed her and and her children from the scene. According to police, while they were evacuating the building, Sundberg began firing on them. That prompted a six-hour standoff. It came a dramatic end when police snipers shot Sundberg dead around 4:30 a.m. Officials have not said what action prompted the officers to open fire. According to police, while they were evacuating the building, Sundberg began firing on them The snipers were perched on a roof across the street from where Sundberg was holed up. The victim's parents say that they were not allowed to communicate with their son during the standoff. The body cam footage of the shooting will be released this week, reports the Star-Tribune. Sundberg, a native of Ethiopia, was adopted at the age of four by his parents. He was one of eight children, three biological and five adopted. A GoFundMe page has been set up for both Foss-Yarbrough and Sundberg. At the time of writing, the crowdfunding page for the Minneapolis mother has raised more than $29,000 while Sundberg's page has raised less than $20,000. The blurb on Foss-Yarbrough's GoFundMe page says that on the night of the shooting she spent hours 'holding her small children tightly after narrowly escaping her apartment as her neighbor who lived across the hall stalked her movement through the wall and opened gunfire into her apartment.' According to that page, Sundberg had been harassing Foss-Yarbrough for months prior to the shooting. Since the incident, she has lost her job and has been unable to return to her home. In addition to Storms, the Sundberg family is also being represented by Ben Crump, who represented George Floyd's family following his death at the hands of police in Minneapolis in 2020. Kesley Sundberg, the victim's sister, said at a press conference: 'A mental health crisis should not be a death sentence. It doesn't give police the right to perform an execution.' Two mourners who were close to the family, and who didn't wish to be identified, embrace during a vigil for Sundberg Marcia Howard, activist and George Floyd Square caretaker, right, takes a moment as she lights candles during the vigil UPDATE: Family says Police denied their requests to intervene in fatal stand-off UPDATE: Family says Police denied their requests to intervene in fatal stand-off. A 20-year-old man was fatally shot on his mothers birthday by Minneapolis Police officers following a 6-hour stand off at his apartment. Tekle's parents say they were denied the opportunity to intervene. He was in a mental health crisis. He needed help, says Cindy Sundberg. Cindy and her husband Mark, who are white, adopted Tekle from Ethiopia when he was four. Cindy believes if it had been one of her biological children having a mental health crisis the outcome would have been different. Everyone knows had it have been a white person in that situation they would have talked them out. People who go in and shoot massive amounts of people are arrested safely and alive if theyre white. If theyre not white we know the outcome theyre dead. Its all about the lack of humanity of a Black body and its wrong it has to stop. Cindy and Mark were allowed to go to the scene during the standoff. While there they made several attempts to ask police if they could go to their sons door or to his window to help de-escalate the situation. I could have gone to that door within the first ten minutes that we got there and this wouldnt have happened, says Mark whose wife says that every time they got a chance to speak to Tekle the police instructed them of what they could and could not say. The city of Minneapolis published a 28 page incident report with details about what happened however, 25 pages are redacted. The BCA is currently investigating the case. The family is being represented by Attorney Jeff Storms. A rally will be held for Tekle 3pm on Saturday in front of his apartment on the 900 block of 21st Ave. Posted by Georgia Fort on Friday, July 15, 2022 =AZWbiI_5ahbovHGuDU7cD9j0w_9moT9Z2UrmdtMg2GswhuNY5ARW3pmW0bwLeMEYLFdm7PztHw4KLWFazaZrouHES7Z3npvxpCb7_2sHS9Z48LV66LOCql8Jdm5kvcVh3E3q4VOXtLcLUMGx_z54b-mA&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R] She also took issue with the police characterizing her parents as having a dialogue with officers at the scene saying: 'They were restricting their access to him. They would not let him close. My dad told them, he said, I can end this. I can end this in 10 minutes.' At the same press conference Cindy Sundberg said: 'The police are portraying it and the mayor is portraying it like we collaborated and police were all kind and loving to our family as they tried to help Tekle. That is a lie. They were not.' She added: 'Everyone knows had it been a white person in that building, they would have talked him out, they would have waited.' Protester Lavish Mack told the Star-Tribune that if Sundberg 'was a white person he wouldn't have been killed, and they would have had consideration and valued his life.' During the standoff, Cindy Sundberg said that the family were kept in a caged area and were unable to communicate with their son. Mark Sundberg said that he was told by officers at the scene that his son would not be shot and that officers were preparing to use rubber bullets. He said: 'I was starting to believe them. I thought: 'Maybe they've changed.' But, no.' Through tears, Mark Sundberg said that he should be celebrating his wife's birthday this weekend at a barbecue rather than mourning his son. At the Saturday protest, a speaker said of Sundberg: 'Tekle was loved. Tekle was a good person. Tekle was going through a manic breakdown.' Kemi Badenoch has pledged to stop the police intervening in Twitter spats so they have more time to investigate burglaries and anti-social behaviour. She wants to ban officers from recording incidents when someone says something offensive but not criminal. Mrs Badenoch accused senior police leaders of failing to ensure resources are targeted at the things 'the public really care about'. Kemi Badenoch, pictured on tonight's leadership debate, says she wants the police to spend more time dealing with criminals Mrs Badenoch warned that the police in England and Wales are logging tens of thousands of 'non-crime hate incidents' each year, often when things are said that are offensive but not criminal Setting out her priorities for tackling crime, the Tory leadership candidate vowed to end the 'onerous burden' of 'policing of people's hurt feelings'. She said: 'The public rightly expect the police to deal with criminals, not to intervene in Twitter spats. My Government will ensure police resource is always focused on fighting crime on our streets.' Mrs Badenoch warned that the police in England and Wales are logging tens of thousands of 'non-crime hate incidents' each year, often when things are said that are offensive but not criminal, saying she would take 'whatever steps are necessary to end the recording of non-crime hate incidents'. Last December the Court of Appeal found that police guidance on hate incidents unlawfully interfered with the right to expression. Former police officer Henry Miller was visited at work by an officer from Humberside Police in January 2019 after a member of the public complained about his allegedly transphobic tweets. The force recorded the complaint as a non-crime hate incident. Mr Miller, from Lincolnshire, challenged both Humberside Police's actions and the College of Policing's guidance. A High Court judge ruled in February 2020 that the force's actions were a 'disproportionate interference' with his right to freedom of expression. In a further ruling in December last year, the Court of Appeal found the guidance also breached his freedom of expression rights. Mrs Badenoch said that, while the College of Policing has revised the wording of its guidance, it 'has not put an end to the recording of such incidents'. Last February, Merseyside Police apologised for wrongly claiming 'being offensive is an offence' as part of a campaign to encourage people to report hate crime. The force came under fire after the message appeared on a billboard in Wirral. It later clarified that while hate crime is an offence, 'being offensive is not in itself an offence'. A Russian journalist who protested the invasion of Ukraine by holding up a banner during a live TV broadcast has been detained by the country's police, her lawyer has revealed. Ukrainian-born Marina Ovsyannikova, 43, dubbed the 'bravest women on television', was detained by Russian police on Sunday and her location is unknown. The mother-of-two famously stood up to Putin's propaganda machine by interrupting a live broadcast clutching a sign that read: 'No to war, stop this war - propaganda lies to you'. She was arrested and fined after shocking viewers of Russia's state brainwashing organ Channel One by jumping in front of the camera with a large placard and shouting anti-war slogan. In a message on the journalist's Telegram account, her entourage said: 'Marina has been detained. There is no information on where she is.' Ukrainian-born Marina Ovsyannikova, 43, dubbed the 'bravest women on television', was detained by Russian police on Sunday and her location is unknown The mother-of-two famously stood up to Putin's propaganda machine by interrupting a live broadcast clutching a sign that read: 'No to war, stop this war - propaganda lies to you' In April, she was hired by German media outlet Welt as a 'freelance correspondent' to report for the Welt newspaper as well as for Welt's TV news channel, including from Ukraine and Russia. Welt is the respected flagship publication from the Axel Springer publishing group, with a daily circulation in Germany of around 180,000 and is most similar to The Daily Telegraph. Welt Group editor-in-chief Ulf Porschardt said that he was excited to be working with Ovsyannikova, adding that her on-air protest 'defended the most important journalistic ethics - despite the threat of state repression.' 'At a crucial moment, Marina Ovsyannikova had the courage to confront Russian viewers with an unembellished view of reality,' he went on to say. Ovsyannikova made international headlines when she stormed a live broadcast at the state news station where she was a senior producer, shouting: 'They are lying to you'. The transmission very quickly cut to a different segment and Ovsyannikova was detained and arrested. She disappeared for a number of days and the worst was feared for her as the Russian parliament had only just passed a new law punishing journalists with 15 years in jail if they did not toe the Kremlin's line. Marina Ovzyannikova with her lawyer Anton Gashinsky at the hearing for her case after she had been detained and arrested for her on-air protest, in which she was ultimately fined 227 Through this law Putin has strong-armed independent media outlets into referring to a 'special military operation' instead of a 'war' or 'invasion' and denying mass casualties. In the end she was only handed a 227 fine by a Russian court - a mere fraction of the retaliation expected, sparking a number of theories about the true nature of her protest. Some of those theories range from Ovsyannikova being a plant by the Kremlin to her being a 'British spy' by the head of news at Channel One. Ovsyannikova has remained in Russia after her arrest and fine, seeming to have dodged the worst of state retaliation, but she told Reuters last month that she was worried for her safety and hoped her protest would open Russians' eyes to propaganda. She has continued to describe what Russia insists is a 'special operation' in Ukraine as a war and invasion, risking further wrath and a potential 15 year jail sentence. Some of those theories range from Ovsyannikova being a plant by the Kremlin to her being a 'British spy' by the head of news at Channel One . Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin In her first report for her new employers earlier this year, she spoke about petty persecution she has faced since the protest. Her membership of a swimming pool was revoked, a pet shop refused to supply her with dog food, and she found her car with all four tyres deflated and a flat battery. During an interview with American media, the 43-year-old journalist also said had turned down French President Emmanuel Macron's offer of asylum because 'she is a patriot' and wants to live in Russia. 'I want to say to everyone, the Russian people are really against the war,' Ovsyannikova told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week. 'It's Putin's war, not Russian people's war.' '[It] was a spontaneous decision for me to go out live on air, but dissatisfaction with the current situation has been accumulating for many years because the propaganda on our state channels was becoming more and more distorted,' she added. Her status as a senior television editor at the Channel One station meant she was able to get access to the broadcasting centre to make her protest 'I came to work and, after a week of coverage of this situation, the atmosphere on the first channel was so unpleasant that I realized I could not go back there.' Ovsyannikova said she thought of assisting an anti-war protest at Moscow's square - likely referring to the city's Red Square - but quickly realized being jailed was going to be 'rather useless.' 'I decided maybe I could do something else, something more meaningful where I could attract more attention and show to the rest of the world that Russians are against the war,' she said on Sunday. 'I could show the Russian people this is just propaganda, expose this propaganda for what it is and maybe stimulate some people to speak up against the war and I was hoping that my performance in a way would help people change their mind,' she added Wild bison will be released into the Kent countryside today as part of a 1.2million project to rewild Britain and help slow global warming. The huge beasts, which weigh up to a ton, have been extinct in this country for 6,000 years. Now it is hoped the European bison will help to revitalise ancient woodland and create an explosion of biodiversity. Home on the range: A 12-year-old male bison pictured at the Wildwood Trust near Canterbury in Kent in July 2020 as bison are being introduced into an ancient British woodland to help tackle the climate crisis, conservationists said Pictured: A European Bison in its enclosure at the Wildwood Trust on March 11 2021 Shaggy-haired bison weighing over a ton are to be set free in Kent in the next few days The Aryan animal loved by Nazis European bison suffered a huge blow when First World War German troops killed 600 in Poland for sport and meat, leaving just a few survivors. The last wild bison was shot by poachers on the Poland-Belarus border in 1927. But 50 remained in zoos, and eventually their offspring led to reintroductions in Poland, Germany and Romania. Nazi air force chief Hermann Goering thought of bison as a noble Aryan animal. He had a small herd near Berlin. Bison have a tendency to show homosexual behaviour. More than 55 per cent of mounting tends to be young males with the same gender. Advertisement Initially, one male and three female bison a bull from Germany, a matriarch from Scotland and two youngsters from Ireland are being introduced. It is hoped they will breed over time to create a herd. The European bison the continents largest land mammal are a close relative of the type that once roamed the UK, the extinct steppe bison. They are slightly larger than the American bison, but less heavy and aggressive. The animals are known as eco-system engineers, creating muddy ponds, pushing down trees and disturbing the soil to help plants and other animals thrive. They will be released into a large fenced off enclosure in West Blean and Thornden Woods, near Canterbury. Donovan Wright, who will look after their welfare in the former commercial pine plantation, said: You get this ricochet effect through the ecosystem, so many species are able to benefit. Paul Whitfield, director-general of the Wildwood Trust, which is leading the project with the Kent Wildlife Trust, said: They will create an explosion of biodiversity and build habitat resilience, locking in carbon to help reduce temperature rise. This will act as a huge catalyst for change. Evan Bowen-Jones, chief executive of Kent Wildlife Trust, added: We need to revolutionise the way we restore natural landscapes relying less on human intervention and more on natural engineers such as bison, boar and beaver. The TV licence fee is regressive and could be replaced with a viable alternative system, a House of Lords report has said. Peers said that the BBC faced stagnation and decline if it did not come up with a bold new plan for its future. The report by the Lords communications and digital committee added that raising the fee hits the poorest hardest and suggested that a new universal household levy could be introduced which could be linked to council tax. Other alternative progressive funding models could include a ring-fenced income tax or offering discounts to people on low incomes. The BBC could also explore hybrid subscriptions meaning core programmes, such as the news, remain publicly funded while other shows, like Strictly Come Dancing, are hidden behind a paywall. The report, called Licence To Change: BBC Future Funding, comes after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries froze the 159-a-year licence fee until 2024. She has called on the BBC to overhaul the completely outdated system and signalled that she intends to axe it. The BBC TV licence fee is regressive and could be replaced with a viable alternative system, a House of Lords report has said (file photo) Committee chairman Baroness Stowell of Beeston warned that the BBC needed to seize this opportunity to reform since the status quo is not an option. She told the Daily Mail: [The BBC] is an important institution but its got to shift from where its been in the past from just assuming that the importance of it will be accepted and people will be willing to pay for it the way they always have. What you have to look at is the bigger picture here. Politically, the idea that the licence fee is going to increase to the extent that would be necessary to fund even a reduced form of the BBC is quite hard to see. The committee took evidence from a wide range of experts, including the BBCs director-general Tim Davie and former media minister Julia Lopez, before compiling the report. The 73-page document recommended against entirely subscription or advertising-funded models, saying that some sort of public funding remained necessary. However the committee, which includes former director-general Lord Hall and ex-culture minister Lord Vaizey, warned that the licence fees drawbacks were becoming increasingly salient. The report added: [The BBC] must compete with vastly better funded international streaming giants and respond to growing questions about its value in the face of expanding consumer choice and failure properly to represent all sectors of the UK. A BBC spokesman welcomed the report, adding: We agree we need to keep reforming which is what we have been doing at pace. A DCMS spokesman said the report proved it is right that we examine the future of the licence fee. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has warned this winter's strain of influenza can be more severe than Covid-19 - as he calls for Australia to review the seven-day pandemic isolation rule. During an interview 2GB's Ben Fordham on Monday, Mr Perrottet argued the current strain of influenza was 'more severe than the current strains of Covid' but, under the country's health rules, Australians must self-isolate for seven days after infection with the virus. Mr Perrottet said he raised the issue about the country's Covid isolation rule with leaders at national cabinet over the weekend, however, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it's 'not the time' to slash the timing. Mr Perrottet wants Australians to only have to self-isolate for five days after testing positive to Covid. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has warned that this seasons outbreak of influenza, is in some cases, more severe than Covid-19 'We need to look at reducing that period of time, because Covid is not going away,' Mr Perrottet said. 'The advice we have received is that it will be here for another couple of years. 'As we move through the next phase of the pandemic we need to balance up the competing health issues - mental health issues, educational outcomes for our children, allowing people the opportunity to go to work. 'We need to get to a point culturally where there is a greater acceptance that if youre sick and you have flu-like symptoms, you dont go to work, you stay home until youre better,' Mr Perrottet explained. 'Now thats culturally been something in the past, but we need a greater emphasis on it so we can move away from mandates. Mr Perrottet said he hoped Australia would be in a position to relax the seven-day isolation rule by the end of September. Dominic Perrottet says he's hoping that isolation requirements for Covid-19 can be reduced by the end of September On Monday Mr Albanese said the clear medical advice is 'now is certainly not the time' to cut the isolation period, with infections rising across Australia. 'The advice from the chief medical officer ... was that now is certainly not the time for (the isolation period) to be reconsidered,' he told Adelaide's Radio fiveAA on Monday. 'That's something that health officials will continue to look at.' Access to COVID-19 isolation payments will resume from later this week as health authorities try to stop the rising spread of virus cases across the country. Employees who have tested positive for the virus and need to isolate from their jobs can receive the $750 payment, which will be available from Wednesday. It comes after the federal government agreed to extend the isolation payments to the end of September. The scheme had expired on June 30. With the rise in COVID cases, PM Anthony Albanese says the isolation period will not be reviewed Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the payments were reinstated following health advice on growing numbers of COVID-19 cases caused by a more infectious strain of the Omicron sub-variant. He said the federal government would work collaboratively alongside the state and territory governments in helping to manage the third wave of Omicron cases. The return of the isolation payments will come with a $780 million price tag, but the cost will be split among the federal, state and territory governments. The government initially said it did not want to reintroduce the payments due to pressure on the federal budget. Mr Albanese has not indicated whether the September 30 deadline for the payments would be extended. Case numbers are continuing to increase as a result of the BA.4 and BA.5 strains of Omicron. Over the weekend, more than 78,000 new cases of COVID-19 were registered, with 107 deaths recorded. More than 337,000 active cases were reported, while 4700 people were in hospital with the virus. Experts have said the peak of the fresh wave of Omicron isn't expected to hit until at least the end of July. There's been a 99 per cent rise in hospitalisations with COVID in the state since June 22. Mikel Arteta believes Gabriel Jesus is the scrappy, streetwise striker Arsenal have been missing. I love these kind of players, Arteta said after Jesus inspired the Gunners to a 2-0 victory over Everton in Baltimore on Saturday. On his first start since a 45million move from Manchester City, the Brazilian scored one and created another for Bukayo Saka in an encouraging 45-minute display. Mikel Arteta believes Gabriel Jesus is the streetwise striker Arsenal have been missing He looks really sharp, really dynamic, a really good understanding with his team-mates straight away. Im really happy, Arteta said. Against Everton, the first match of Arsenals US tour, Jesus movement and intensity proved crucial. He appeared to relish the physical battle with Yerry Mina and the early signs suggest his bite and aggression will add a different dimension to Arsenals attack. I love these kind of players, theyre streetwise. Thats what we need, Arteta added. He creates chaos and uncertainty and is always on your shoulder, always there to nick the ball. He is a real threat. Arteta wants to deploy Jesus primarily as a No 9 but will make use of the forwards versatility. He came short to create Arsenals second for Saka, who is Citys No 1 transfer target. Arsenal will step up their efforts to negotiate a new contract for the 20-year-old. We will try. We both have the same intention, Arteta said. It is a matter of time. Jesus celebrates after scoring against Everton in a friendly in Baltimore on Saturday Everton boss Frank Lampard, meanwhile, challenged Dele Alli to keep his head down and prove his worth after a quiet 45 minutes against Arsenal. Hell be saying he wants opportunities you earn opportunities on the training ground and how you are around the place, Lampard explained. He has to absolutely keep his head down. You try to give everything to every player as much as you can but then they have their own responsibilities to make the best of that. Lampard is hopeful of adding reinforcements to Evertons squad soon. A lot of the work were doing now to bring in players will be pivotal, he said. We need to improve the squad. Former foreign minister Julie Bishop was 'blindsided' by her developer beau David Panton's shock decision to call time on their eight-year relationship. Despite the challenge of living on opposite sides of the country, Bishop had been working hard to keep the flame burning bright with Panton throughout Covid, sources close to the politician turned ANU chancellor said. Daily Mail Australia understands she had been finding more ways to be in Sydney with Panton and had been excited to travel to London with him in late June, where they attended a royal dinner with Prince Charles. But just a week later Panton publicly announced the pair were going separate ways and wished Bishop 'all the best in her ongoing stellar career' in a statement to a newspaper. Bishop emerged for the first time since the split smiling happily for photos at a Perth mining conference on July 11, although insiders say the 65-year-old is hurting in the wake of the bust-up and was shocked at the way Panton pulled the pin so suddenly. Over and out: Panton suddenly called time on the relationship with Bishop after eight years Final function: Julie Bishop and David Panton see at their last glittering soiree together 'She legitimately saw a long future for the two of them and worked hard at the relationship,' said a political insider close to the ex deputy-PM. 'As far as everyone else, obviously aside from David, was concerned they seemed fine.' Another source close to Bishop was slightly less diplomatic about the sudden end to the affair, hinting that Panton's presence in Bishop's inner circle 'divided' some of her friends and colleagues. But 'JBish' as she was referred to in Canberra, remained smitten. 'Let's just say a there are a few who might be relieved that it's over,' said one, adding: 'His personality didn't always gel with everyone.' Julie Bishop put on a brave face in her first public appearance after the shock break-up Panton seen here with Bishop on a diplomatic working holiday during Donald Trump's presidency The Sydney-based developer, who also has a home in Melbourne close to ex-wife Karen and their three kids, confirmed the split on July 6 telling the Sydney Morning Herald: 'I'm going to be focused on living in Manly and Melbourne for the foreseeable future.' Panton has kept a noticeably low profile since returning to single life and has managed to stay hidden from public view. Sources say he has been even been absent from his usual morning dips. It's understood he remains based in Manly but is believed to have rented out his beachfront apartment back in April and relocated nearby. First introduced in 2014, the 'glamour couple' of Australian politics notched up hundreds of red carpet and A-list social event appearances during their cross-continent romance including an unlikely invite to Karl Stefanovic's four-day wedding in 2019. And despite generating some initial public cynicism in its early days, the relationship rolled on across red carpets and corporate marquees for eight years. Bishop caused a stir in 2015 when she took Panton to sitting of the UN General Assembly in New York Dubbed 'Julie's handbag' in the media, Panton was an enthusiastic social event 'plus-one' It also weathered a series of public relations knocks - most memorably when Bishop copped flack for letting Panton bizarrely tag along to a sitting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2015. He also seemed to be unable to shake off his unkind nickname 'Julie's handbag' - a regular reference he drew due to the fact he quietly accompanied Bishop to countless social events. Based steadfastly in Perth, Bishop - who recently collaborated with Estee Lauder skincare - was open about challenges of a long-distance relationship and said the pair relied heavily on FaceTime to get through the Covid pandemic. 'It isn't great but it is all you can do because he can't get in here (WA) and I can't go there without having to get an exemption,' she said in 2020. 'It is very difficult but I know a lot of families have been separated in this way. It is very challenging.' Both Bishop and Panton were contacted for comment. Dame Kristin Scott Thomas has revealed that directing her first movie and catching Covid during filming left her so exhausted that she fled to a 15,000-a-week spa in Switzerland once the final shot was in the can. 'When we finished filming in England I dragged my exhausted body to Clinique La Prairie in Montreux,' says Dame Kristin, 62, whose directorial debut, My Mother's Wedding, stars herself, Sienna Miller and Scarlett Johansson. 'There the magical powers of the amazing massage and beauty therapists, doctors and cuisine brought me back to life.' Well, you'd certainly hope so at that price Dame Kristin Scott Thomas has revealed that directing her first movie, My Mother's Wedding and catching Covid during filming left her so exhausted that she fled to a 15,000-a-week spa in Switzerland once the final shot was in the can. (Above, Kristin in the film) The actress posted this message regarding her Covid situation on Instagram 'When we finished filming in England I dragged my exhausted body to Clinique La Prairie in Montreux,' says Dame Kristin, 62, whose directorial debut stars herself, Sienna Miller and Scarlett Johansson. (Kristin is pictured here in 2020) Clinique La Prairie in Montreux, which Kristin described as having 'magical powers' Bag luck, India I don't know if the heat got to Soho heiress India Rose James last week when she took to Instagram to accuse thieves of stealing three of her precious handbags during a house move. India, granddaughter of Soho property and porn mogul Paul Raymond, alleged someone had pinched a 1,800 crystal embellished Prada bag that she got for her 30th birthday in May. 'Two other bags were also stolen but were not as sentimental as this one,' she said. After all the hoo-hah we contacted India to ask whether the bags had been retrieved. Turns out she had simply misplaced them, as they turned up in a bundle of other belongings. I don't know if the heat got to Soho heiress India Rose James last week when she took to Instagram to accuse thieves of stealing three of her precious handbags during a house move Hoaxed Victoria set to tell all Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter says she is writing a book following her experience with broadcasters who let her down by bowing to 'cancel culture' trolls. The 48-year-old has been banished by TV channels including CNN after she was fooled by YouTube pranksters into commenting on Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan two days before it was aired. She revealed a network withdrew an offer for her to commentate on Prince Philip's funeral, only to offer the job to her father the Queen's ex-press secretary Dickie Arbiter even though he was also a subject of the prank. Victoria admitted that she was disappointed that CNN did not take her working history into account before they 'succumbed to online hate' and fired her. Chrissie Swan has stunned fans with her total body transformation after overhauling her lifestyle during Melbourne's strict Covid lockdown. And on Sunday, The Project star, 49, revealed why she refuses to discuss her weight loss journey with the media. 'I think the reason I'm not talking about anything now is because I have done that in the past 20 years,' Chrissie told Stellar magazine. Chrissie Swan revealed the reason why she refuses to discuss her body transformation with the media after extraordinary weight loss 'I've waded into that kind of toxic environment, and it didn't make me feel good. And it didn't help me, and it didn't help anyone else. And it just propagates the interest in a woman's body, which is irrelevant,' she added. The TV and radio star has slimmed-down by eating clean and walking for 10 kilometres a day. Earlier this year, Chrissie said one of her favourite healthy lunch meals is a crunchy chili oil soba noodle salad with avocado. Chrissie briefly touched on her weight loss in an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly earlier this year. 'I'm not going to talk about the size of my a**e. I'm not going to tell you what I eat in a day. Because I've read those stories and they make me feel bad about myself,' she said Chrissie's version of the salad features chopped chives, but other variants sometimes include cucumber. She also loves her family's favourite salad - made up of iceberg lettuce, avocado, goats cheese, cucumber and dressing. Chrissie briefly touched on her weight loss in an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly earlier this year, saying the 'enormous' lifestyle changes she'd made over the last year had improved her life in so many ways. The TV and radio star has slimmed-down by eating clean and walking for 10km a day. Pictured Chrissie in 2014 'I'm not going to talk about the size of my a**e. I'm not going to tell you what I eat in a day. Because I've read those stories and they make me feel bad about myself,' she said. However, she did confirm Melbourne's lengthy Covid lockdown was the catalyst for her health and fitness kick. 'We couldn't go out to dinner, we couldn't go to a friend's house, they couldn't come to us, we couldn't go outside five kilometres. All we could do was walk, and so that's what I did,' she said. She is currently filming a new BBC drama called Ten Pound Poms in Australia. And Michelle Keegan took some time out from filming on Saturday as she enjoyed a relaxing morning out where she grabbed a coffee at a cafe, after reuniting with her husband Mark Wright following weeks apart. The former TOWIE star, 35, revealed earlier this week that he had touched down in the country to spend time with his wife after she moved there to film the series. Beauty: Michelle Keegan looked radiant as she posed in a stunning new snap on Saturday while enjoying a coffee in Australia where she is filming her new BBC drama As they enjoyed time together, Michelle looked radiant in a new snap she shared of the day out where she bundled up in a stylish black padded coat while sipping her drink. She completed her look with a pair of stylish shades and accessorised with some small gold hoop earrings. Brunette beauty Michelle wore her long dark tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a natural makeup look to show off her pretty features. Also on her Instagram Story she showed off the setting of the rustic cafe before later heading to a farmers market where she bought some fresh oranges. Nice: Also on her Instagram Story she showed off the setting of the rustic cafe before later heading to a farmers market where she bought some fresh oranges She is set to star as a young nurse names Kate in the six-part period drama which is set in the 1950s. Ten Pound Poms follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world. For only a tenner, they have been promised a better house, better job prospects and a better quality of life by the sea in sun-soaked Australia. But life down under isn't exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised. Adorable: It comes after last week Michelle took herself on a solo trip where she took in the sights and food of Australia and even got to hold a koala bear Struggling with their new identity as immigrants, viewers will follow their triumphs and pitfalls as they adapt to a new life in a new country, far from Britain and familiarity. At the heart of the drama are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown). They try to make the best of the situation for their family, but the poor living conditions at the migrant hostel and local attitudes towards immigrants test them in ways they couldn't have imagined. They aren't the only people at the hostel avoiding the truth. Kate (Michelle Keegan) is a young nurse who arrives without her fiance and will do whatever it takes to try and rewrite her devastating past. Bill (Leon Ford) has lost his family business back home and is so desperate to prove he's living the Australian dream that he'll stop at nothing in order to get a lifestyle he can't sustain. Chiselled: Michelle also flaunted her sculpted stomach in the recent Instagram video montage of her travels around Australia on her own Teenager Stevie (Declan Coyle) comes from a troubled background and hopes to use this new adventure to escape his oppressive father. Meanwhile, Ron (Rob Collins), an Indigenous Australian war veteran, struggles with feeling like an outsider in his own country. It comes after it was reported Michelle is to take in 2.5m from her TV work, as she and husband Mark Wright are thought to be TV's richest young couple. With an estimated combined net worth of around 12m, it's no wonder the pair are splashing the cash into their luxe new 'dream home'. Michelle uses her own company, Rosia Promotions Limited, for her various TV work - with the actress filing accounts for the business last month. And detailing her earnings up to the end of September last year, the document showed that the actress had taken in an impressive 2,530,922 in assets after earning 1,192,802 from acting. It's onwards and upwards for the star, who's profit is up 450,912 from the previous filing- cashing in 2,313,678 after costs and deductions. It's no surprise, as Michelle has become a household name after her long-standing stint in Coronation Street, followed by roles in Our Girl and Tina and Bobby. And it's only a portion of her joint fortune with husband Mark - as they are thought to have a joint net worth of 12m. Splashing the cash, the pair have bought their 'dream home' - a 1.3million Essex mansion. Mark and Michelle have been completely renovating the property since purchasing it in October 2019, and even have an Instagram account dedicated to the home. Construction experts have estimated the demolition and rebuild of the home will cost around 3.5million. Ten Pound Poms will be coming soon and available only on Stan in Australia. Spider-man star Andrew Garfield is to portray Sir Richard Branson in a new 25 million series about the Virgin tycoons life. Oscar-nominated Garfield, 38, who was born in California but brought up in Epsom, Surrey, will star as the billionaire businessman in the six-part show Hot Air, to be produced by Universal Studios. The series is based on the book Dirty Tricks by investigative reporter Martyn Gregory and tells the story about how Branson launched Virgin Atlantic in 1984 with one leased aeroplane. Spider-man star Andrew Garfield (pictured) is to portray Sir Richard Branson in a new 25 million series about the Virgin tycoons life By 1990, as Virgin Atlantic grew, British Airways allegedly launched a dirty tricks campaign prompting Branson to sue his rivals, a case that was settled before it went to court. The billionaire received 3.5 million from BA after it was revealed some BA workers had allegedly impersonated Virgin employees to try to lure passengers away. Branson sold a 49 per cent stake in his airline to Singapore Airlines in 1999 for 600 million. Garfield was nominated for an Oscar for last years film Tick, Tick . . . Boom!. He is best known for playing the superhero in three blockbusters including last years Spider-Man: No Way Home. He recently announced he was taking time off from acting to focus on his personal life, saying he needed to recalibrate his life. Oscar-nominated Garfield, 38, who was born in California but brought up in Epsom, Surrey, will star as the billionaire businessman Branson (pictured) in the six-part show Hot Air, to be produced by Universal Studios Im really happy and excited to be very quiet and still and take some time to just be, he said. It feels very important right now, especially after a lot of output, a lot of being out in the world, and giving a lot of energy to things that Im very passionate about, but I have to kind of refill the well. He has not ruled out playing Spider-Man again, a role which has helped boost his fortune to 22 million, according to some reports. Jessica Alves has given fans a glimpse at the results of her latest cosmetic procedure after going under the knife in Azerbaijan, insisting she now has eyes like model Bella Hadid. The media personality, 38, who has spent more than 900,000 on more than 90 surgeries over the years, jetted to the city of Baku to meet plastic surgeon Dr. Mubariz Mammadli, 35, to undergo body contouring liposuction with Bodytite and an endoscopy mid-facelift. The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate took to her Instagram Stories on Saturday to share an image of the after effects of her facelift with her 6.2million followers, and exclusively told the MailOnline: 'I have had over 90 plastic surgeries in the past 20 years and most people see me as plastic surgery-addicted. New look: Jessica Alves, 38, has given fans a glimpse at the results of her latest cosmetic procedure after going under the knife in Azerbaijan, insisting she now has eyes like Bella Hadid 'But the reality is that I am a biological male who is now a female, therefore surgeries were required for me to be the person that I am today. 'I am very strong and determined and I do whatever it takes to make me happy. There is no better feeling to me than getting up in the morning and looking at the mirror, and seeing this woman that I became with the help of forward thinking and innovative surgeons around the world.' Jessica added: 'I am turning 39 next week so I gifted my self a body contouring lipo with Bodytite and an endoscopy mid-facelift. Dr. Mubariz performed the innovative procedure that will keep my face fresh and looking the same for At least 15 years.' She said: 'But the reality is that I am a biological male who is now a female, therefore surgeries were required for me to be the person that I am today' Jet set: The media personality, 38, who has spent more than 900,000 on more than 90 surgeries over the years, jetted to the city of Baku for her treatments Star quality: Jessica said she will now have eyes just like model Bella Hadid and her face will stay looking young for 15 years 'I spend hours researching good surgeons with unique aesthetic procedures and in this case I flew from London to Baku. 'I have being following Dr. Mubariz on social media for the past three years but due to the pandemic I couldnt fly to Baku for the surgery. 'I have being on a waiting list to have the endoscopy facelift for over a year and now, a week just before my birthday, I was able to have the procedure done. Details: The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate met surgeon Dr. Mubariz Mammadli, 35, to undergo body contouring liposuction with Bodytite and an endoscopy mid-facelift 'With two small incisions on my hairline my forehead was lifted, my eyebrows and mid face have also changed. The position of my eyes have been altered, making like like I have Bella Hadid's eyes. I am very happy with the procedure along side body contouring lipo bodytite. 'I shall defiantly celebrate my Birthday in big style and looking fresher and younger.' It comes after Jessica vowed to stop having plastic surgery after spending more than 900,000 on 91 procedures in the last two decades. Life in plastic, it's (NOT) fantastic: It comes after Jessica has vowed to stop having plastic surgery after spending more than 900,000 on 91 procedures in the last two decades The transgender influencer, 38, revealed in an exclusive chat with MailOnline that she isn't interested in chasing 'perfection' and feels far more confident now that she's living her life as a woman. While Jessica admitted she still has plans for a 13th nose job, as well as full body liposuction, she then wants to stop going under the knife for good. She explained: 'I'm far from perfection, neither do I want to be perfect, but there are a few things that I need to fix before the summer is over... then I will be done for life with plastic surgery.' Wow: Jessica - who took part in a Barbie-themed photoshoot for Fashion Nova - revealed she isn't interested in chasing 'perfection' and feels far more confident now as a woman Jess also revealed that she now felt the 'ultimate validation' as a woman after being picked as a brand ambassador for Fashion Nova. The TV personality channelled a Barbie doll for her latest shoot with the brand, and said of the spread 'I loved it! Barbie represents the perfection of a female form and it is fun and flattering to be compared to the doll.' As well as her various modelling gigs, Jessica has spent the past few months making the most of the return of the travel industry post-lockdown. Tiny tweaks: While Jessica admitted she still has plans for a 13th nose job, as well as full body liposuction, she then wants to stop going under the knife for good She explained: 'My gender transition happened while we were at the pandemic in lockdown, so this is my first real summer as a woman... 'I am still looking for love and to live a fairytale romance which hopefully will happen one day.' It comes after Jessica and her new love interest Jamie Bugden split after enjoying a whirlwind romance in Thailand. A source told MailOnline last month: 'Jessica was living a love story while in Phuket but that's over now. They are two very different people living very far apart with different mottos in life. 'Maybe they will meet again one day but are no longer in a relationship.' The insider added: 'Jessica is single and very much on the hunt for Mr Right. She still believes in love, romance and being monogamous and is ready to invest her time, love and effort into a relationship' Prior to their split, a source told MailOnline of Jessica's romance with Jamie: 'They have been getting on very well and are making the most of their trip. It is the first time she has ever posted a man on her social media. 'Jessica is heartbroken that it won't be a long term relationship as he is a British man based in Thailand and she splits her time between London and Brazil. They are having fun for now.' She was recently spotted enjoying a date with British comedian David Walliams. And aspiring Australian actress Suzan Mutesi, 36, certainly had plenty to smile about as she attended an event to promote Glengoyne, Tamdhu and Smokehead whisky at the Pacific Club in Bondi last week. Joined by local celebrities including Married At First Sight groom Nasser Sultan, Suzan posed up a storm in a a tight leather-look dress which featured one long sleeve. David Walliams' date Suzan Mutesi, 36, (pictured) had plenty to smile about as she attended an event to promote Glengoyne, Tamdhu and Smokehead whisky at the Pacific Club in Bondi last week She completed her look with a pair of semi sheer thigh-high shoes and drop earrings. Elsewhere at the venue was Nasser Sultan, who wore a navy blue shirt, light grey trousers and a black belt. Other attendees included Gordon Dundas, Nova Onas, Luka Soerio, and Tom Gay. Joined by local celebrities including Married At First Sight groom Nasser Sultan, Suzan posed up a storm in a a tight leather-look dress which featured one long sleeve The socialite was joined by former Married At First Sight groom Nasser Sultan (right), who wore a navy blue shirt. Pictured with Gianna Petracic Guests all posed for a group photo clutching bottles of whisky It comes amid news Suzan has landed a new movie role. She will star opposite American actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in the upcoming action-crime film, Irrationale. Suzan is one of three stars to be cast in the production so far. The film will be shot in Adelaide later this year. It comes amid news Suzan has landed a new movie role. She will star opposite American actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in the upcoming action-crime film, Irrationale Suzan posed with Luka Soerio (right) at the event, with him looking equally sharp in a green blazer Irrationale tells the story of Andrew (Gooding Jr.), a troubled loner who is accused of the murder of world-famous action movie star Matt Hewing. On the run and with no memory of the event, he is dragged into a dark web of deceit along with Kyra, a disgraced former cop, as they try to unravel the mystery before Andrew's rapidly deteriorating mental state fails him completely. The film will also star Greek-Australian actor Tony Nikolakopoulos. Mutesi made headlines last month when she was spotted on a date with British funnyman David Walliams (left) Mutesi made headlines last month when she was spotted on a date with British funnyman David Walliams. According to an onlooker, the pair 'couldn't keep their hands off each other' and shared a passionate kiss while watching Baz Luhrmann's Elvis. 'They were sitting in the front, we had to walk past them to go into our seats,' said the spy. Selling Sunset star, Christine Quinn, exuded glitz and glamour as she posed in a form-fitting two-piece swimsuit while having a blast in Saint Martin. The gorgeous star, 33, shared a few photos and a short, sizzling reel on her Instagram earlier on Saturday. The real estate agent recently announced that she had left the Oppenheim Group and has been dabbling in her own business, RealOpen, with her husband. Beautiful: Christine Quinn, 33, showed off her slim figure in a classic, black bikini while on a summer trip The reality star donned a classy and elegant black bikini, flaunting her slim waist and long, toned legs. She wore a black bikini top with thick straps that was low cut, and contained a thin strip of fabric in the middle. Her bikini bottoms were black and white shorts. The front of the bottoms contained fake pockets that were outlined in white-colored fabric with a white button on each. Classy: The Selling Sunset star donned an elegant two-piece swimsuit as she enjoyed time by the pool Diamonds are a girls best friend: The blonde beauty added glittery diamonds to her summer outfit The beauty went all out to accessorize her summer swimsuit, adding sparkling, diamond necklaces and earrings. Her pair of earrings dangled down to her neck and shone in the reflection of the light. Christine's diamond necklace coincided with the colors of her bikini, with a rectangular-shaped black diamond placed in the middle. The businesswoman also adorned her slim fingers with diamonds, and showed off her eye-catching wedding ring. Summer mode on: The real estate guru posed with no only diamond jewelry, but with tasty creme brulee The author's long blonde hair was slicked back and fell down straight past her shoulders. As she took in the lovely summer weather, the star threw on a pair of thin, black sunglasses. Her makeup was elegant, with light eye makeup, focusing on a thin layer of black mascara. Instead of adding bright-colored lipstick, Christine opted for a nude tint in order to not take away from the swimsuit and jewelry. The actress relaxed on a lounge chair next to a small, inviting pool. Creme brulee was placed nearby on a silver tray in case she was craving something sweet. Style icon: Christine often stuns with her fashion choice, and was known for her glamorous outfits on the Netflix show, Selling Sunset Living it up: The star showed a picture to her followers and fans that she was also enjoying a tasty sweet with her diamonds surrounding her Christine added a short caption to her photo series, typing out, 'Creme brulee and diamonds. What more could a girl ask for?' The mom of one is no longer working with the Oppenheim Group in star-studded Beverly Hills, and has been putting all her focus on her newest business venture with her husband, Christian. The two started a brokerage called RealOpen, which focuses on the real estate industry and purchasing homes with cryptocurrency. In an interview with People, Christine opened up about moving on. 'I had to make a business decision that was for me, so I had to terminate the contract so I could move it over to my brokerage.' She also talked about breaking the news to Jason, her boss. 'Jason and I, we have a really good understanding. I told him, "This comes from a career move. I have to do my own thing." So that's why I made the company.' New work: Christine left the Oppenheim Group to put all her focus on her new business that she started with her husband, Christian, called RealOpen Passion for fashion: Alongside working in the real estate business, publishing a book, and being a mom, the star also is an influence in the fashion industry Christine's new business has also taken her across the country to sunny Miami, where her brokerage has some listings. Although her time on the Netflix show has come to an end, the hard-worker will still pursue working in real estate and selling luxury homes. She recently shared a post on her Instagram to her 3.2 million followers that she was now, 'Selling Miami.' From California to Miami: The star's brokerage has taken her away from Beverly Hills to Miami Alessandra Ambrosio's jetting lifestyle is something to marvel. Just days after soaking up the sights, sun and culture of Ibiza, the supermodel has now made her way to Italy for a wedding in Atrani, a scenic city on the Amalfi Coast in the south-western part of the country. Both Ambrosio and her beau of more than a year, Richard Lee, made the trip across the pond to share in the special wedding week extravaganza of friends, Dominick and Michael. Jet-setter: Alessandra Ambrosio, 41, made her way to a friends wedding in Atrani, a scenic city on the Amalfi Coast in the south-western part of Italy To mark the occasion, Ambrosio took to her Instagram page and posted a series of photos and videos taken during the festive celebration. 'cena italiana!!!! #dominickandmichael,' she wrote in the caption, which translates to to 'Italian dinner'. Always the one to want to make a grand entrance with her fashion choices, the Brazilian beauty turned more than a few heads in a black sheer dress that came complete with a see-through section in the lower part of the garment. The peek-a-boo design gave admirers plenty of opportunities to marvel at her 5ft10in statuesque figure, which over the years helped her climb to the top of modeling industry. Glowing: The Brazilian beauty documented her ride over to the wedding party in a classic car with a photo of herself flaunting her cleavage in a black dress Grand arrival: Ambrosio arrived to the festive event and quickly revealed her party dress is actually a black sheer number that's see-through in the lower portion of the garment PDA: It didn't take long before Ambrosio and beau Richard Lee got handsy and packed on the PDA during the party portion of the wedding.. In fact, at one oin Ambriosio, 41, can be seen making her way around the party, tasting the various appetizers being handed out. In fact, one Instagram clip showed her kneeling down and sipping on a drink, which could be champagne. And then, she quickly grabs one of the snacks and eats it, all while flashing her infectious smile. Later in the evening, the newly married couple would take center stage to address their guests, which mostly involved giving thanks and toasts of love. The Gal Floripa co-founder also snuck away to shoot the occasional photo and video. Working it: The longtime supermodel dropped the occasional pose during the festive event Working her magic: The Brazilian-born star also appeared to strike a pose outside of the celebration Working her magic like she did for years on the catwalk and during a brand campaign photoshoot, Ambrosio leaned forward on railing with one foot lifted up as she looked back over her shoulder at the camera. There's also another image of her offering a red rose towards the camera, all while she puckered her lips for a virtual kiss. It appears as though she also stepped outside of the venue for some images of herself posing along a stone wall. The newly married couple, Dominick and Michael, took center stage to address their guests, which mostly involved giving thanks and offering toasts of love Beaming: The happy couple were glowing with joy during the party celebration Tasty: The mother of two tasted all the tasty treats, which included some lovely spirits Fashionista: Ambrosio also donned a pair of matching heels and had her dark brown tresses styled long, straight and flowing with a part in the middle By the time the evening arrived, the party stepped up a notch or two and Ambrosio joined other revelers on the dance floor. Of course, there were still plenty of drinks flowing and food to be eaten, which the guests were doing their best to enjoy. Ambrosio and Lee have been dating since about February 2021. They were spotted out together several times that month, which included out for a romantic dinner for two in Los Angeles, and during a shopping trips for groceries. 'Do a little dance: By the time the evening arrived, the party stepped up a notch or two and Ambrosio joined other revelers on the dance floor He recently lashed out at 'idiots' who criticise him for wearing traditionally feminine clothing. And Christian Wilkins, 27, demonstrated his unique style yet again on Saturday as he attended the Aussie Christmas in Los Angeles event in Los Angeles. The socialite son of TV presenter Richard Wilkins opted for a yellow, blue and red bandana top which he paired with a mixed coloured tartan skirt. And Christian Wilkins, 27, (pictured) demonstrated his unique style yet again on Saturday as he attended the Aussie Christmas in Los Angeles event in Los Angeles He completed his eye-catching look with a pearl necklace, metallic sneakers and a printed silk scarf tied around his neck. The fashion star wore his trademark blond tresses down in a dramatic side parting. While at the event, Christian posed alongside musician BP Major for a happy snap. The socialite son of TV presenter Richard Wilkins opted for a yellow, blue and red bandana top which he paired with a mixed coloured tartan skirt The Aussie Christmas event is a benefit for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. It comes after Christian branded people who are upset about him wearing dresses as 'idiots'. 'If you met me and attacked my personality, that would upset me, but if you think I'm wrong for wearing a dress because I have a doodle, you're an idiot,' he recently told The Courier Mail. He completed his eye-catching look with a pearl necklace, metallic sneakers and a printed silk scarf tied around his neck 'Not only do I think it's homophobic, but it's misogynistic. It's this notion of 'I'm a man and I'm dressing like a woman and therefore that makes me less. 'That's a disgusting notion. It's 2022, whatever' he added. Christian, who told the publication he started wearing dresses when he was around ten years old, says he feels gorgeous in frocks. While at the event, Christian posed alongside musician BP Major (right) for a happy snap 'There's nothing more beautiful in the world than someone who feels beautiful in an outfit. It just radiates through you' he said. In June, the socialite and reality star was slammed for wearing a plunging white gown to the Logies. Afterwards, he hit back at a Twitter troll who criticised him for the fashion choice. It comes after Christian branded people who are upset about him wearing dresses as 'idiots' The anonymous user @SaraVic333 tweeted 'it's not normal' for men to wear women's clothes, before adding: 'STOP normalising this bulls**t!!!' Christian responded to this criticism by mocking the way some people react hysterically to men who like to wear dresses. 'What is happening to the world!!!! Masculinity is ending!!! Burn everything!!' he tweeted to rapturous support from his Twitter followers. John Cena and his wife Shay Shariatzadeh got married a second time in Vancouver on Friday. The happy couple, 45 and 33, originally tied the knot on October 12, 2020 at an attorney's office in Tampa, Florida. After postponement due to the pandemic delayed their plans, they were finally able to walk down the aisle. Wedding bells: John Cena and his wife Shay Shariatzadeh got married a second time in Vancouver on Friday; the couple seen in 2020 The pair married at The Vancouver Club in Canada with family and friends in attendance, TMZ reported. They were seen heading into the venue with the WWE wrestler in a navy suit and the bride in a backless white dress. In addition to Canada being where Shay was raised, it's also where the bride and groom met. Second time around: The happy couple, 45 and 33, originally tied the knot on October 12, 2020 at an attorney's office in Tampa, Florida; seen in January 2020 They were first romantically linked when they were seen on a dinner date in Vancouver in March 2019, where John was filming Playing With Fire. Speaking to ET about a year before they got married, John gushed, 'What's truly special about this [movie] is that, no matter what projects I'm involved in the future, this one will always have a special meaning because I got to film a special project and meet someone special.' In a whirlwind romance, the pair tied the knot in a private ceremony in Tampa, Florida the following year. Hand-in-hand: John held onto his lady as they arrived at a restaurant in London this past May Earlier this year, the Suicide Squad star opened up to Drew Barrymore about whether or not he wants children. After she suggested that he would be 'the world's greatest father' he reflected, 'This is just my perspective - totally not qualified - but I think just because you might be good at something, for me, is not a strong enough reason to do that. 'You have to have passion for it. You have to have a fuel for it. Its like saying to someone, "Man, you know you are pretty good with your hands. You would be a great carpenter."' Cena added, 'Its hard work. Its hard work to balance the time, I need to run myself correctly. Its hard work to be the best partner and husband I can be to my loving wife. 'Its hard to keep connections with those in my life that I love. And its also hard to put in an honest days work.' Bruce Springsteen can now add grandfather to his long list of titles. The youngest son of the legendary New Jersey rocker's youngest son, Sam, 28, and his partner recently welcomed a beautiful baby girl, named Lily Harper. The Boss's wife Patti Scialfa shared the news of the birth of their first grandchild by posting a couple of heartwarming photos to her Instagram page. First time grandparents: Bruce Springsteen's youngest son Sam Springsteen, 28, and his fiancee recently welcomed a baby daughter named Lily Harper The first photo, which is black-and-white, shows the Jersey City firefighter pushing a baby carriage with his arm around his soon-to-be-wife. '_walking the baby_. Lily Harper Springsteen,' Scialfa, 68, gushed in the caption. The smiling couple appear to be walking along a road that's part of Springsteen's sprawling 127-acre farm in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Scialfa also shared a picture of the newborn wearing pink hospital mitts and a matching beanie cap. Adorable: The Boss's wife Patti Scialfa also shared a photo of the newborn girl Sharing the love: Congratulations poured in from the likes of Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello, actresses Mickey Sumner and Larsen Thompson, Jill Vedder, the wife of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and Amy Aiello Lofgren, wife of E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofren, among others Congratulations poured in from the likes of Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello and actresses Mickey Sumner and Larsen Thompson. 'That is some big time good news Grandma,' wrote Amy Aiello Lofgren, wife of E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofren. Jill Vedder, the wife of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, also gushed over the happy news and photos 'Congrats!!! She is beautiful !! Love the name .. we are quite fond of the Harper part since we have a Harper too,' she wrote, in a reference to their 13-year-old daughter Harper Vedder. Longtime supermodel Christy Turlington joined in on the love fest: 'She's precious. Welcome to the world, sweet girl.' Making his mark: Sam Springsteen is a Jersey City firefighter who was sworn in about two years ago; he graduated from the Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014 Sam graduated from the Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014 and previously served with his hometown Colts Neck Fire Department, the Long Branch Fire Department and the North Wildwood Fire Department, according to App. He was sworn in a firefighter in Jersey City, New Jersey in 2020. The leader of the legendary E Street Band and wife also have a son Evan, 31, who works for SiriusXM Radio, and a daughter Jessica, 30, an equestrian who won a silver medal at last year's Olympics in showjumping. In another major milestone, Bruce and Patti just celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary on June 8. Alex Nation has rushed her son, Maxwell to hospital after he was struck down with gastro for five days. The former Bachelor star took to Instagram to share a number of confronting photos of the 11 month being admitted. Alex was seen cradling Maxwell in one photo attached to a nasogastric tube. Alex Nation rushed her 11-month-old son Maxwell (both pictured) to hospital on Saturday 'Little man has had a big weekend,' Alex wrote, sharing a photo cuddling him. The star then moved on to describing his condition. 'Moo was really dehydrated after having non-stop diarrhoea from gastro for five days,' she said. 'Moo was really dehydrated after having non-stop diarrhoea from gastro for five days,' she said Alex explained she had to watch the nasogastric tube being inserted into him, which was 'awful' for the new mother. Alex then shared a photo of herself cradling Maxwell as they were transported to hospital from their home in Beechworth, in northern Victoria. 'The transport drivers were the absolute best,' Alex wrote. 'Nurses and doctors are angels on earth.' Alex then shared a photo of herself cradling Maxwell as they were transported to hospital Alex finished by sharing a photo of Maxwell in a crib while in hospital Alex finished by sharing a photo of Maxwell in a hospital cot, saying she was grateful to hospital staff. In September, the blonde beauty revealed she was engaged to Carson Jory. Alex and Carson welcomed Maxwell in September last year. The new baby is Alex's second child - she also shares a 11-year-old son named Elijah with her ex-husband Joel Porter. Alex is now in a relationship with tradesman, Carson Jory (both pictured) Fans of The Bachelor will remember Alex as the winner of the fourth season, but her romance with rope-access technician Richie Strahan didn't last. They quietly broke up in 2017, after filming the show the previous year. Alex later came out as pansexual and revealed she was dating a woman, Maegan Luxa, from her local Melbourne footy team. They got engaged in December 2017, but split the following April. They remain friends. They're the stylish stars of Channel Nine's The Block. And Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie ensured all eyes were on them when they stepped out for Jagged Little Pill: The Musical in Sydney on Sunday. Mitch looked sensational in a silk patterned jacket over a pink polka dot shirt. The Block's Mitch Edwards (left) and Mark McKie (right) were every inch the stylish couple as they led the star arrivals at Jagged Little Pill : The Musical in Sydney on Sunday He paired his look with intricate checked trousers, a black cummerbund and matching boots. Meanwhile, partner Mark wore a black shirt paired with patterned jeans and an off-white blazer with detailing. He completed his red carpet ensemble with a pair of chunky white boots. Mitch looked sensational in a silk patterned jacket over a pink polka dot shirt. He paired his look with intricate checked trousers, a black cummerbund and matching boots Meanwhile, partner Mark wore a black shirt paired with patterned jeans and an off-white blazer with detailing. He completed his red carpet ensemble with a pair of chunky white boots Also in attendance was Jules Sebastian, who happily posed for photos in an oversized black blazer and brown stove-pipe pants. The stylist to the stars accessorised her look with a designer clutch and chic black boots. Jules kept her makeup look classic on the night, and wore her blonde locks with a centre part. Also in attendance was Jules Sebastian, who happily posed for photos in an oversized black blazer and brown stove-pipe pants The stylist to the stars accessorised her look with a designer clutch and chic black boots Actor Rodger Corser and wife Renae Berry were every inch the loved-up couple as they posed for photos. Rodger kept things classic in a black tee, trousers and boots, adding a grey blazer to the look. Meanwhile, Renae looked chic in a check mini dress, black tights and boots. She accessorised her outfit with a chunky silver bracelet. Actor Rodger Corser and wife Renae Berry were every inch the loved-up couple as they posed for photos Rodger kept things classic in a black tee, trousers and boots, adding a grey blazer to the look Carla from Bankstown took a relaxed approach on the green carpet, wowing onlookers in a Wentworth-blue co-ord set. The social media superstar held her raven-coloured locks in place with two bejewelled hair clips. Her makeup palette consisted of rosy blush, cerulean eyeshadow and oodles of pink lippy. Carla from Bankstown took a relaxed approach on the night, wowing onlookers in a Wentworth-blue co-ord set The social media superstar held her raven-coloured locks in place with two bejewelled hair clips. Her makeup palette consisted of rosy blush, cerulean eyeshadow and oodles of pink lippy Carla carried her belongings in a mini-handbag adorned with feathers. Meanwhile, MasterChef Australia's Alvin Quah looked chic in a pencil-grey statement jacket and vest combination, paired with black trousers and a white shirt. The culinary whizz added a pop of colour with fluro pink spectacles, and capped of his outfit with box-fresh sneakers. Meanwhile, MasterChef Australia's Alvin Quah looked chic in a pencil-grey statement jacket and vest combination, paired with black trousers and a white shirt. The culinary whizz added a pop of colour with fluro pink spectacles, and capped of his look with box-fresh sneakers Married At First Sight's Nasser Sultan lapped up the limelight in a blue linen shirt buttoned down to reveal a glimpse of chest hair. He completed his opening outfit with black pants, an electric blue skinny belt and three stripe sneakers. The controversial reality star added a touch of '70s glamour with coloured sunglasses and a trendy pearl necklace. Married At First Sight's Nasser Sultan lapped up the limelight in a blue linen shirt buttoned down to reveal a glimpse of chest hair He completed his looks with black pants, an electric blue skinny belt and three stripe sneakers The controversial reality star added a touch of '70s glamour with coloured sunglasses and a trendy pearl necklace Rounding out the star arrivals was Suzan Mutesi who poured her sizzling figure into a dazzling cocktail ensemble adorned with beading. The stunning actress kept her makeup palette classic, opting to wear a red lip and a defined brow on the night. Jagged Little Pill: The Musical is currently playing at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. Fiona Falkiner has shared the adorable moment her son Hunter took his first precious steps. In footage shared to Instagram on Saturday, little Hunter, one, is seen walking at a nighttime carnival, with a little help from his famous mother. The former Biggest Loser host proudly captioned the footage: 'Found this video of our little man taking his first aided steps we are almost solo walking'. Fiona Falkiner shared the adorable moment her son Hunter took his first steps on Saturday Fiona added the praying hands, purple heart and rainbow emojis following her post. Fiona's joyful post comes after wife Hayley Willis showed off her burgeoning baby bump in a sweet snap shared to her Instagram. The expecting mum sported a grey polo neck and jeans as she playfully balanced a bowl of yoghurt on her bump. Opting for a chilled out at home look, she joked: 'Who needs a table?' as she pulled her hair back into a slick bun. In footage shared to Instagram on Saturday, little Hunter, one, is seen walking at a nighttime carnival, with a little help from his famous mother The former Biggest Loser host proudly captioned the footage: 'Found this video of our little man taking his first aided steps we are almost solo walking' Fiona added the praying hands, purple heart and rainbow emojis following her post Hundreds of people were quick to comment on the snap, including her doting partner Fiona who loving wrote, 'How lucky am I', before describing her wife-to-be as a stunner. It comes after the couple celebrated their son Hunter's first birthday. The two mothers took to Instagram in March to share photos of them marking the celebration with the adorable youngster. Fiona Falkiner's fiancee Hayley Willis has shown off her burgeoning baby bump in a sweet snap shared to her Instagram. The expecting mum sported a grey polo neck and jeans as she playfully balanced a bowl of yoghurt on her bump Milestone: Fiona Falkiner and fiancee Hayley Willis celebrated their son Hunter's first birthday (all pictured) in March Fiona shared rarely seen images of the trio all wearing Hawaiian shirts during celebrations at a party. Hunter was treated to a monkey cake along with a mix of finger food for his birthday party. The youngster also got a mix of balloon and party decorations in the living room. 'What a day! Celebrating our little man who just brings us so much joy!' Fiona wrote, before adding: 'Happy Birthday Hunter.' Too cute: Hunter was treated to a monkey cake along with a mix of finger food for his party Loving: 'What a day! Celebrating our little man who just brings us so much joy!' Fiona wrote, before adding: 'Happy Birthday Hunter' Hayley shared similar photos of adorable Hunter alongside the couple's friends. 'We survived our first year of parenting and lived to tell the tale! What a fab day celebrating our big boy - family, friends and of course a few party shirts,' she wrote. 'We love you Hunter.' It comes after the couple revealed Hayley is pregnant with the family's second child. Friends and family: 'We survived our first year of parenting and lived to tell the tale! What a fab day celebrating our big boy - family, friends and of course a few party shirts,' Hayley wrote 'Grateful, blessed, over the moon it's hard to put into words how much I adore my little family as we prepare to welcome another addition,' Hayley wrote on Instagram. 'Baby Falkiner due August. Two boys under two, how hard can it be?!' Fiona also wrote on Instagram: 'No words guys! Baby Falkiner Due in August. We are over the moon!' Enjoying yourself? Hunter looked to be having fun as he played with block games in the yard 'My beautiful wife to be @hayley__willis has been so incredible, having had covid, moved house, all the things in the first trimester but she is just amazing and took it all in her stride!' She continued: 'Hunter can't wait to meet his baby brother!!!! Life does not get much better than this! I am feeling very blessed with a very full heart.' Fiona and Hayley welcomed their son Hunter into the world on March 22 - and announced his arrival via a sweet Instagram post. The couple became engaged in April 2019 while on holiday in Vanuatu, sharing the sweet moment to Instagram. Lisa Wilkinson will not be back on The Project in July as originally planned, according to a new report. The television host, who has been absent from live segments of the current affairs program since June, will return in August. Wilkinson secretly flew out of Australia to Los Angeles and 'will now make the US her base' for several weeks. Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) will not be back on The Project in July, as originally planned, according to a new report. The TV host, who has been absent from live segments on the current affairs program since June, will now return in August, The Australian has claimed Lisa, 62, will spend time in 'Hollywood and New York' where she will interview 'musicians and A-list film stars' for upcoming packages for The Project. 'She'll be dialling in from her new-found Hollywood base as The Project's roving reporter,' The Australian alleged on Sunday. The trip will be combined with annual leave Wilkinson already had planned, the publication reports. Wilkinson was 'quietly and securely whisked out of Australia into Los Angeles' and 'will now make the US her base' for several weeks, the publication reported Sunday. 'She'll be dialling in from her new-found Hollywood base as The Project's roving reporter,' alleged The Australian Lisa was originally expected to remain off the live panel until 'mid-July at the earliest' but will now remain away for at least a month longer, according to The Australian. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Ten for comment. Wilkinson was taken off the air after her acceptance speech at the Logie Awards last month in which she spoke of an upcoming court case. The trial in question was rescheduled until October as a result. Wilkinson was taken off the air after her acceptance speech at the Logie Awards last month in which she spoke of an upcoming court case She last appeared on The Sunday Project on July 10, with a pre-recorded interview on swimming legend Michael Klim's secret health battle. Last week, it was revealed that Lisa has leased out her 1970s apartment in Sydney's harbourside suburb of Cremorne Point. Wilkinson has has rented out the one-bedroom property for $770 a week with a bond of $3,080, reports Realestate.com.au. A pregnant Charlotte Crosby lit up the room in a tasselled neon green mini dress while filming for her BBC reality show in Sunderland on Sunday. The former Geordie Shore star, 32, donned the bright, figure-hugging number while shooting scenes on a quiet suburban street. She teamed her colourful ensemble with bright orange heels, showing off a bronzed summer tan. Expecting: A pregnant Charlotte Crosby lit up the room in a tasselled neon green mini dress while filming for her BBC reality show in Sunderland on Sunday Break: Other snaps also saw the mother-to-be barefoot as she gave her feet a break from the chunky shoes The stunner wore her highlighted caramel curls down as she opted for a glam make-up look with dark lined eyes and a peachy matte lipstick. Other snaps also saw the mother-to-be barefoot as she gave her feet a break from the chunky shoes while filming for her new show, Charlotte In Sunderland. Elsewhere, Charlotte was snapped speaking to a police officer, understood to be responding to an alleged incident in the area. The details of what took place are not yet clear. Summer tones: The former Geordie Shore star, 32, donned the bright, figure-hugging number while shooting scenes on a quiet suburban street Sunny style: The stunner wore her highlighted caramel curls down as she opted for a glam make-up look with dark lined eyes and a peachy matte lipstick MailOnline has reached out to Northumbria Police, Charlotte Crosby's representatives, and the BBC's press office for more information. It comes as Charlotte took to Instagram on Saturday to showcase her blossoming baby bump in pretty red lace lingerie. The reality star looked ravishing in the snaps, hours before the social media site deleted them for breaching their guidelines. Incident: Elsewhere Charlotte was snapped speaking to a police officer, understood to be responding to an alleged incident in the area The brunette beauty wore the plunging bra and matching knickers which were decorated with a lace trim. Charlotte wore her hair in a half-up half-down style as she posed for the snaps on a fur rug in front of a large circular bed. Charlotte accessorised the sexy look with gold bangles as she flaunted her collection of body art that her back and bottom. 'My post got removed!': Pregnant Charlotte flashed her blossoming belly in scarlet lingerie hours before Instagram deleted the racy snaps on Saturday Gorgeous: The brunette beauty wore the plunging bra and matching knickers which were decorated with a lace trim Naughty: Later taking to her Instagram Stories Charlotte again shared the image with the words: ' Lol ok my post was removed awks' The mother-to-be looked gorgeous as she cradled her growing belly, posing up a storm as she gazed into the phone attempting to capture the perfect image. Later taking to her Instagram Stories Charlotte again shared the image with the words: 'Lol ok my post was removed awks.' The star is busy filming her upcoming BBC Three reality show, Charlotte In Sunderland. Boom! It comes after Charlotte revealed her baby's gender by enlisting the help of a skywriter to draw a heart in the sky The new show will see her prepare for motherhood with boyfriend Jake as well as navigate her life in the spotlight. She said of her new show: 'I am beyond excited to be bringing my crazy life, my business ventures, much loved family, future hubby and my precious bump to the BBC.' It comes after Charlotte revealed her baby's gender by enlisting the help of a skywriter to draw a heart in the sky. Pals: Charlotte also invited many of her former Geordie Shore co-stars along to the bash, including newly married Holly Hagan and Sophie Kasaei It later flew back round to draw the letter 'G' in water vapour in the clear blue sky. As the letter became clear, pink confetti was launched from a cannon above Charlotte, Jake and their friends at the lavish party. Charlotte also invited many of her former Geordie Shore co-stars along to the bash, including newly married Holly Hagan and Sophie. Newlywed Holly stepped out with husband Jacob Blythe for the first time since they tied the knot in Ibiza last week. Jay Gardner, James Tindale and Ricci Guarnaccio were all also there to celebrate Charlotte's baby news. Oscar-nominated songwriter The Weeknd has unveiled the first teaser for his six-episode drama The Idol for HBO, which he co-created with Euphoria's Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim. The 32-year-old Canadian son of Ethiopian immigrants surprised the New Jersey crowd attending his After Hours til Dawn concert at MetLife Stadium on Saturday by screening the preview. In it, Lily-Rose Depp flashes under-boob cleavage while rehearsing a routine as rising pop star Jocelyn alongside 10 back-up dancers. 'Coming soon!' Oscar-nominated songwriter The Weeknd (R) has unveiled the first teaser for his six-episode drama The Idol for HBO, which he co-created with Euphoria's Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim 'I'm showing something special for you tonight!' The 32-year-old Canadian son of Ethiopian immigrants surprised the New Jersey crowd attending his After Hours til Dawn concert at MetLife Stadium on Saturday by screening the preview 'Alright, music! 7, 8...' a choreographer shouts. 'Lick it! Spank it, drop it! Camera, money, more, more, more, orgy! Hit it!' The 23-year-old daughter of Johnny Depp - whose godfather is disgraced shock rocker Marilyn Manson - is then seen performing the same dance in full glam on the set of a music video. During a large dinner party, an enigmatic LA club owner (The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye), who is the leader of a secret cult, asks Jocelyn: 'Why don't you just be yourself?' Scantily clad: In it, Lily-Rose Depp flashes under-boob cleavage while rehearsing a routine as rising pop star Jocelyn alongside 10 back-up dancers A choreographer shouts: 'Alright, music! 7, 8... Lick it! Spank it, drop it! Camera, money, more, more, more, orgy! Hit it!' Pop star: The 23-year-old daughter of Johnny Depp - whose godfather is disgraced shock rocker Marilyn Manson - is then seen performing the same dance in full glam on the set of a music video During a large dinner party, an enigmatic LA club owner (The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye), who is the leader of a secret cult, asks Jocelyn: 'Why don't you just be yourself?' Jocelyn flatly replies: 'Because there's nothing about me that's relatable' Jocelyn flatly replies: 'Because there's nothing about me that's relatable.' The minute-long trailer features flashes of the pair getting closer alongside shots of a knife, cocaine, nightclubs, and a Rolls Royce convertible. Titles tout The Idol as 'the sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood.' At one point, Jocelyn stands on a balcony staring at a row of seven black-clad guards wielding large rifles - hinting at trouble to come. Seduction: The minute-long trailer features flashes of the pair getting closer alongside shots of a knife, cocaine, nightclubs, and a Rolls Royce convertible Drug-fueled tale: Titles tout The Idol as 'the sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood' Prisoner? At one point, Jocelyn stands on a balcony staring at a row of seven black-clad guards wielding large rifles - hinting at trouble to come 'Do you trust me?' the cult leader asks her Jocelyn shakes her head and smiles: 'Not really' 'Do you trust me?' the cult leader asks her. Jocelyn shakes her head and smiles: 'Not really.' The A24 limited series also features Troye Sivan, Britney Spears, Jennie Kim, Elizabeth Berkley, Anne Heche, Hari Nef, Debby Ryan, Rachel Sennott, Steve Zissis, and Juliebeth Gonzalez. Ensemble: The A24 limited series also features Troye Sivan (pictured), Britney Spears, Jennie Kim, Elizabeth Berkley, Anne Heche, Hari Nef, Debby Ryan, Rachel Sennott, Steve Zissis, and Juliebeth Gonzalez Too much female perspective? Curiously, Deadline reported in April that The Idol's sole director Amy Seimetz (pictured in 2021) mysteriously exited the project 'amid a major creative overhaul' An HBO spokeswoman said in a statement: 'They have aligned on a new creative direction. The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series. We look forward to sharing more information soon' Curiously, Deadline reported in April that The Idol's sole director Amy Seimetz mysteriously exited the project 'amid a major creative overhaul.' 'The Idol's creative team continues to build, refine, and evolve their vision for the show,' an HBO spokeswoman said in a statement. 'They have aligned on a new creative direction. The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series. We look forward to sharing more information soon.' He has become well known as one of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs over the last few years. And on Friday, Chris Evans made the rare move of opening up about his love life during an interview with Shondaland. The 41-year-old performer expressed that he was currently looking to bring someone special into his life despite the strenuous and time-consuming demands of his acting career. Making it clear: Chris Evans made the rare move of opening up about his love life during an interview with Shondaland that was shared on Friday When Evans was asked what he was 'laser-focused' on doing in the near future, the actor noted that he was looking for a bit of romance. 'The answer would be that maybe [I'm] laser-focused on finding a partner, you know, someone that you want to live with,' he stated. The Captain America franchise star expressed that, although he was happy to work as an actor, he understood the impact that his career had on his personal life. 'I love what I do. It's great; I pour all of myself into it. But in terms of even this industry is full of pockets of doubt, hesitation, and recalibration in terms of really trying to find someone that you really can pour all of yourself into,' he said. During our interview about The Gray Man, @ChrisEvans opened up about finding someone to spend your life with. Thank you Chris for sharing a very honest and thoughtful response. My latest with Chris and Ana de Armas @byshondaland: pic.twitter.com/RYsjL2m1Jn Mariel Turner (@mariel_turner) July 15, 2022 Setting goals: When Evans was asked what he was 'laser-focused' on doing in the near future, the actor noted that he was looking for a bit of romance; he is seen in June Priorities: The Captain America franchise star expressed that, although he was happy to work as an actor, he understood the impact that his career had on his personal life Evans then remarked that he was considering the idea of looking for a long-term connection in the near future. 'Maybe it's about trying to find someone that you're looking to spend your life with,' he said. The performer was previously in a long-term relationship with Jessica Biel that began in 2001. The former couple reportedly discussed marriage during their time together, although they split up in 2005. Starting the search: Evans then remarked that he was considering the idea of looking for a long-term connection in the near future He was later linked to figures such as Ashley Greene, Lily Allen and Sandra Bullock. The Avengers: Endgame star later began seeing Minka Kelly, with whom he maintained an on-again-off-again relationship that came to an end in 2015. Evans went on to begin a relationship with Jenny Slate the following year, although they briefly split. The pair tried to rekindle their romance in 2017 before they went their separate ways for good the following year, and she later married her now-husband Ben Shattuck. Former couple: Evans went on to begin a relationship with Jenny Slate, although they went their separate ways in 2018; they are seen in 2017 The actor opened up about his dating life during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he noted that he liked being able to be by himself at certain times. 'I'm the one who fears being enveloped. I was always a really autonomous guy my whole life. Camping by myself is one of my favorite things,' he said. Evans then noted that a slightly solitary personality was something that he found attractive in a potential partner. He stated: 'I really like to be with someone who also has their own thing to do as well, you know? If I'm with someone who just kind of adopts my life, that can feel a bit suffocating.' Yazmin Oukhellou has revealed that she is plagued by nightmares following the horror car crash in Turkey earlier this month which killed her boyfriend Jake McLean. The TOWIE star, 28, suffered serious injuries to her arm in the crash, which took place in the early hours of Sunday July 3, with doctors telling Yazmin it's a 'miracle' she's still alive. The star is now recovering at home in Essex, but said she is struggling with flashbacks since the accident and that her mother Lisa stays in her bed every night. 'My mum sleeps in my bed every night': Yazmin Oukhellou, 28, has revealed she can't be alone due to crippling nightmares following the horror crash that killed boyfriend Jake McLean (pictured earlier this week) Speaking to The Sun, an emotional Yazmin said: 'I have nightmares every single night since the accident.' She added: 'I have not stopped waking up in the night about it. Mum stays in bed with me every night.' The revelation comes after Yazmin told the publication on Sunday that she would be forced to live with the trauma of the accident forever. Injured: The TOWIE star suffered serious injuries to her arm in the crash, which took place in the early hours of Sunday July 3, with doctors telling Yazmin it's a 'miracle' she's still alive (pictured with Jake earlier this year) A traumatised Yazmin told how she struggled to comprehend how she survived the crash and Jake didn't, with medics telling her that she's an 'angel' as people do not tend to survive the 'notorious' crash location. 'I severed an artery and a nerve, that's why I bled so much, she said. 'Now I'm just wondering how the hell did my partner die while I've survived? It's made me look at life totally differently.' In addition to therapy, Yazmin may also need plastic surgery as she's been left with 'permanent scarring', with UK doctors warning she may never have the full use of her right arm again. Trauma: A traumatised Yazmin told how she struggled to comprehend how she survived the crash and Jake didn't, with medics telling her that she's an 'angel' as people do not tend to survive the 'notorious' crash location (pictured earlier this week) The TV personality deliberately broke her trapped arm to escape the crash and rush for help - while Jake lay unconscious. As she continues to recover from the terrifying experience, Yazmin told how her emotions are 'very up and down' as she processes the grief of losing Jake. She detailed how she had lost relatives in the past, including her beloved Nan last year, but no one who she's loved in an 'intimate way', admitting it's 'very difficult'. Amid her recovery, Yazmin is staying clear of 'social settings' and will not be logging on to social media, while she's also changed her phone number. Honest: Breaking her silence following her arrival back home, Yazmin admitted to The Sun: 'This will live with me forever' as she processed what happened (pictured last month) Shocking: Jake McLean died after crashing his car off a road near the party resort of Bodrum, in Turkey She emphasised that her 'focus' is just to get herself well again and to deal with what happened to her and Jake, adding that her on-off beau was the only person she felt 'a love like that for'. The beauty went on to say that the ordeal will 'stay with me for life' before remarking that she loved Jake, whom she travelled across the world to be with, 'so hard'. Following the crash, Yazmin was forced to break her own arm to escape the car and find help, admitting she had 'no choice' but to take the drastic action. At the time Yazmin didn't realise she had opened an artery but revealed she was covered in blood as she lay upside down in the car. Tragic: motional Yazmin told how she struggled to comprehend how she survived the crash and Jake didn't, with medics telling her that she's an 'angel' as people do not tend to survive the 'notorious' crash location Yazmin said she convinced herself that Jake was still alive as she ran to the top of the bank they has rolled down and screamed for help. Luckily, a man walking his dog found her instantly and rushed down to the car to help, but sadly it was already too late as Yazmin said she couldn't feel Jake's pulse. Yazmin said the grief and shock have left her needing therapy and she hasn't left her mother Lisa's side since the accident. The reality star also confirmed that the couple were currently off, but she flew out to Turkey in the hope they could reconcile and recalled how the trip made things 'perfect' between them. The television personality had been on holiday with Jake in the resort of Bodrum where the terrifying incident took place. Injury: In addition to therapy, Yazmin may also need plastic surgery as she's been left with 'permanent scarring', with UK doctors warning she may never have the full use of her right arm Jake and Yazmin were driving in a blue Mercedes E class saloon along a windy, mountainous road between the coastal city of Bodrum and the seaside town of Yalikavak as they returned from a night out. The crash took place at around 4.30am and investigators have established that the car hurtled around 70 feet over a left turn bend and landed in a ravine almost 30 feet below. Jake was pronounced dead at the scene while Yazmin was rushed to hospital, where she underwent treatment for her injured arm. After the crash, she clambered through thick, thorny bushes to stop a passing motorist for help. A source told MailOnline last week that Yazmin has been left heartbroken: 'Yaz is unable to feel any sense of relief because her heart has been ripped in two over Jake's death. 'She still can't come to terms with what has happened.' Jake, 33, - who has previously dated former TOWIE star Lauren Goodger - was driving at the time of the crash. Yazmin suffered serious injuries but pulled herself from the wreckage to get help. Heartbreak: The grief and shock of the crash and losing Jake have left Yazmin needing therapy Her mother flew out to support her daughter during her recovery at Bodrum's Acibadem Hospital in the days after the crash before bringing her home. Meanwhile MailOnline understands that Yazmin could face a police quiz in upcoming days amid reports about the moments leading up to the crash. According to reports yesterday she was arguing with Jake as their car crashed. The claims were made by his mum, Anita Walsh, who raised her concerns with prosecutors investigating the crash that killed her son in Bodrum, Turkey. Anita told prosecutors that Jake would not have lost control of the car as it flew off a bend on a mountainous road because of his driving expertise. An Assistant Prosecutor who cannot be named under Turkish Law told MailOnline on July 6: 'We have spoken with Jake's mother and she has told us that something was going on in the car that distracted him. 'She does not believe that this accident was caused by his poor driving. She said that he is a very skilled and experienced driver and would not have lost control of the car like this.' Prosecutors are investigating whether Jake was drink-driving. The on-off couple argued outside a club at 3am, shortly before the crash. Jake and Yazmin are thought to have got together in May last year before she revealed their relationship on Instagram in December in a clip that showed the pair kissing. But she split from him just a month later after he was reportedly caught 'acting single' while on a holiday in Dubai and leaving a club alone with Love Island ex Ellie Jones. The pair were still thought to be split up when the crash happened on Sunday. Friends say they are unsure what the pair were doing together in Turkey, but may have been there to sign some kind of business deal. A source told MailOnline: 'It's a complete tragedy and a total loss of life. Everyone is in shock and hoping Yazmin makes a full recovery. Georgia Bell announced the birth of her first child Hugh earlier this week. And her Gogglebox co-star Abbie Lynn took to Instagram on Sunday to announce that she had met her best friend's new baby for the first time. Abbie, 21, shared an adorable snap of herself cuddled up to the newborn, who looked adorable in a pastel babygro. Special: Georgia Bell's newborn has shared a special moment with his mother's TV pal Abbie Lynn, who appears with her on Gogglebox She looked incredible in a cobalt blue shirt, accessorised with a white necklace. The stunner grinned at the camera as she held her friend's little one close in a sweet moment. 'Special moment,' she wrote, sharing the snap with her 79,200 followers. Elsewhere on Sunday, Georgia, 22, shared another glimpse at her son Hugh - who she shares with her boyfriend Josh Newby - as she cuddled the tot while her dog Vinnie lay protectively their feet. 'Big brother': On Sunday Georgia, 22, also posed for a wholesome photo as she held onto her new child with pup Vinnie at their feet Adorable: As the TV star gazed at her little one lovingly, she penned: 'Vinnie's big brother duties have began' As the TV star gazed at her little one lovingly, she penned: 'Vinnie's big brother duties have began.' On Wednesday, Georgia announced that she had welcomed a baby boy called Hugh with her beau Josh - who she's been in a relationship with since 2018. Sharing a snap of the little one bundled up in a white baby grow she penned in the caption: 'Our beautiful boy has made his entrance! Exciting news! Gogglebox star Georgia has given birth to her first child '12/07/22 at 12:31pm - 7lbs7.5ounz. Your perfect in every way Hugh James Newby.' Close friend and co-star Abbie Lynn sent her congratulations: 'Congratulations to you both! He is beautiful in every way, I am such a proud Aunty and best friend xxxx' Meanwhile fellow Gogglebox star Sophie Sandiford wrote underneath: 'Congratulations'. Yay! The TV star announced on Wednesday that she had welcomed a baby boy called Hugh with her boyfriend Josh Newby Georgia announced back in January that she was expecting by posting a photo of an ultrasound scan and a selection of sweet decorations. Framed with the captions: 'Baby Newby' and 'Due July 2022,' the scan sat next to a cute grey teddy, knitted cream shoes and a baby grows featuring the motif, 'And then there were four.' The hairdresser has starred on the Channel 4 reality show alongside her friend Abbie since 2018, who also hails from Durham. Together: Josh and Georgia have been in a relationship since 2018 (pictured together last year) She also shares a Staffordshire bull terrier named Vinnie with her partner, who even has an Instagram account of his own. Abbie helped Gogglebox co-star Georgia celebrate her baby shower last month. Georgia, who revealed she was expecting her first child in January, joined her best friend for the special day, and Abbie later shared a sweet message on Instagram. Posting photos showing the two girls posing together, Abbie wrote: 'You're going to be the best Mam.' Happy: Georgia announced back in January that she was expecting by posting a photo of an ultrasound scan and a selection of sweet decorations A hilarious moment from Gogglebox last year saw Abbie admit she had never heard of Israel after watching a news report about it being put on the UK's green travel list. Abbie asked: 'Where's Israel? I've never heard of Israel'. A gobsmacked Georgia replied: 'You've got to be taking the p**s. Israel? It's something to do with Jesus.' NEW information emerging from Zanu PF corridors indicates that the current factional fights in the ruling party are emanating from a 2017 power-sharing deal gone sour, NewsDay has gathered. Pressure is mounting on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to hand over power to his deputy Constantino Chiwenga because, according to the fundamentals of the November 2017 coup that overthrew the late former President Robert Mugabe, he was supposed to serve one term and then hand over power to the former army general, some former Zanu PF members have claimed. However, Mnangagwa has indicated that he will run for the second term, with his allies pushing to declare him a life President, further widening the rift between the two. The latest fissures come as Mnangagwa has turned to several religious groups for support. Disgruntled serving and ex-Zanu PF members have in the past week amplified calls for Mnangagwa to step down, in what analysts described as a confirmation of the imploding factionalism in the second republic. Interestingly, the ex-Zanu PF members are using the same script applied in the build-up to Mugabes overthrow, which eventually led to Mnangagwa taking over on the back of the coup. This script is also one that has torn apart Zanu PF since the 1990s when staunch party cadres such as the late Edgar Tekere had to leave the party to form the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, following disgruntlement over Mugabes long stay in power. A former Zanu PF youth leader, Jim Kunaka, said Mnangagwa should honour the 2017 coup agreement and hand over power to Chiwenga. If they had agreed with General Chiwenga that he would give him five years to rule, what prompted him to change today, that he refuses to give him a chance? There is no need to go for congress, Kunaka, who now represents the Zanu PF Original, said yesterday. He (Mnangagwa) must honour what he agreed with Chiwenga that he would rule for a single term. He has already created parallel structures Varakashi, Young Women for ED, Men BelievED Those are now people who are loyal to him and not the organisation itself, Kunaka added. Former Zanu PF youth commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu, who now leads the Front for Economic Emancipation in Zimbabwe party, on Wednesday warned that Mnangagwa would lose the 2023 poll. Tsenengamu was fired from the ruling party following a name and shame sting operation meant to expose corrupt party biigwigs. It will be disgraceful if you dont change the way you are doing things. Come 2023, you wont win if you are the candidate. Even if you will be contesting against me, you wont win. Those near Mnangagwa, tell them that the fool said stop your bad ways. You are going nowhere. If we reach 2023 and if you are a candidate, you wont win. The only thing you can do is make amends with some people, he said. Zanu PF information director Tafadzwa Mugwadi condemned attempts by individuals to seek the unconstitutional removal of President Mnangagwa from office. He dismissed the Mnangagwa and Chiwenga rivalry claims as false and warned Kunaka and Tsenengamu that they were playing with fire. To even seek to invite our esteemed defence forces into these baseless claims is most unfortunate. As director of information, I remind the public to ignore the two embattled renegades and those behind them, for they are not members of Zanu PF anymore. While it is expected that individuals can be excited, playing with fire is beyond ones limits. It is one thing to criticise Cde Mnangagwa as a Zanu PF president and first secretary and a different thing altogether to seek the unconstitutional removal of His Excellency, Cde Mnangagwa as President of Zimbabwe. To attempt the latter expressly or impliedly will be tantamount to asking for tragic consequences, Mugwadi charged. Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said the latest developments confirmed a serious lack of cohesion in Zanu PF. These utterances confirm a couple of things, which are elite discohesion in the Zanu PF faction ruling the country; limited progress in attempts to reunite Zanu PF factions after the coup in 2017; and increasing call by young people in Zanu PF and Zimbabwe in general for the old leaders to rest and allow young people the driving seat in line with the bulging youthful population of the country, Saungweme said. But this is where it ends mainly Zanu PF power reconfiguration demands and factional fights. Very little from these Zanu PF activists has to do with the need for democracy and total change in Zimbabwe. Another analyst Rashweat Mukundu said utterances by Kunaka and Tsenengamu showed that Mnangwgas support was diminishing. There is no doubt that politics is heating up in Zanu PF towards the elective congress. Trust in ED both as a national leader and as an electable person is at its lowest and other potential leaders, including Chiwenga, are possibly assessing their chances, hence the cropping up of all these statements and groups by Kunaka and Tsenengamu, Mukundu said. Mnangagwa has intensified his re-election campaign by engaging churches to gain political edge over his rivals as the race for the 2023 plebiscite hots up. On Saturday, the Zanu PF leader attended a church service at the Johanne Marange Apostolic Sect Passover service held in Mafararikwa at St Noahs shrine, where he urged thousands of congregants in attendance to support him. Last month, Mnangagwa joined worshippers of the African Apostolic Church led by Paul Mwazha in Chirumanzu, Midlands province, where he also solicited for support in the upcoming 2023 polls. There are indications that the Zanu PF leader is also expected to grace a Zion Christian Church conference at Defe in Gokwe next month. The church is led by Nehemiah Mutendi. This is reminiscent of the late former President Robert Mugabe era, during which the ruling party would go to churches to garner support. At the Marange shrine, Mnangagwa heaped praises on the leaders, describing them as champions of peace. I was invited to come to this feast at the beginning of April. My friend, the late St Noah phoned and requested to see me at the State House and he came and we met. He prayed. I was shocked and saddened by his death, he said . When I received the news of his death, I could not believe it because we had met the previous month. He was in the company of his son, the new high priest. Little did I know that he was introducing me to the new leader of the church Despite his youthfulness, high priest Nimrod has shown great leadership qualities as evidenced by how he has successfully organised this years Passover gathering. I have never addressed such a big crowd and I am at a loss of words. The Johanne Marange Apostolic sect has, however, been accused of condoning child marriages, which womens rights activists are fighting to eradicate. Information ministry secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana described Mnangagwas attendance at the Marange shrine as a big day. Today is a big day, the High Priest St Nimrod is seated together with the Head of State, Mangwana posted on Twitter. This government was prophesied in 1957, which is why the Holy Spirit is moving hand in hand with the leadership. Blessed are those who have witnessed this day, lets us rejoice in it. Zanu PF has, since under Mugabes rule, been accused of using religious leaders to control civil unrest amid socio-economic turmoil. Newsday ELECTORAL watchdogs have raised concern over the low turnout of registrants for the voters roll inspection exercise, which started yesterday. The low turnout has been attributed to the limited publicity of the exercise by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec). Zec said it had established 11 107 voter inspection centres throughout the country for the 10-day exercise ahead of the delimitation exercise. A snap survey conducted by NewsDay showed that at some centres throughout the morning, Zec officials were idle, with no registrants coming to inspect the voters roll. The turnout for the voters inspections exercise is worringly low. There was little awareness of the exercise in the media. People are not aware of it. I also find it mind-boggling for Zec to conduct a separate voter inspection and education exercise without including voter registration. We, therefore, call on Zec to synchronise the exercises, Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust executive director Ignatius Sadziwa said. Election Resource Centre programmes co-ordinator Takunda Tsunga said: There were no major issues to declare, although we note that at some centres in Harare South the voters roll was not available for people to inspect. We also note that turnout has so far been low, Tsunga said. Zec spokesperson Jasper Mnagwana said people were checking their details online, which could have contributed to low physical turnout. The rural areas have the biggest turnout. But for those in town, we are going to get statistics to check how many have been using digital platforms, he said. Most of the time, if people confirm that their details are correct online, they wont go to the centres and that could be the reason for the low turnout. We have been using radio, which has the biggest reach, and television to advertise the exercise, Mangwana added. But Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network chairperson Andrew Makoni said although people could inspect the voters toll online, they could not confirm their faces. Citizens must go and inspect the voters roll and ensure that all their details are captured correctly, Makoni said. Newsday The Pakistan High Commission in India, in a goodwill gesture, has issued a three-month visa to Varma, who was only 15 years old when her family moved to India during the Partition in 1947. (Image credit: Facebook) Lahore: An Indian woman's long-cherished dream of visiting her ancestral home in Rawalpindi materialised when Pakistan granted 90-year-old Reena Chhibber Varma a visa and she arrived here on Saturday via the Wagah-Attari border, 75 years after leaving the country at the time of Partition. Moist-eyed Varma, immediately after her arrival in Pakistan, left for her hometown Rawalpindi, where she will visit her ancestral dwelling Prem Niwas, her school, and childhood friends. In a video she uploaded on social media, Varma, who is from Pune, said her family was living on the Devi College Road in Rawalpindi when the Partition took place. I studied at the Modern School. My four siblings had also gone to the same school. My brother and a sister also studied at the Gorden College located near the Modern School," she recalled. "My elder siblings had Muslim friends who would come to our home as my father was a man of progressive ideas and had no issue in meetings with boys and girls. Before the Partition, there was no such issue of Hindus and Muslims. This happened after the Partition," she said. "Although the Partition of India was wrong, now that it has happened, both the countries should work together to ease visa restrictions for all of us, she said. The Pakistan High Commission in India, in a goodwill gesture, has issued a three-month visa to Varma, who was only 15 years old when her family moved to India during the Partition in 1947. Varma had applied for a Pakistani visa in 1965 but failed to get it then as tensions between the two neighbours were high because of the war. The elderly woman said she had expressed her desire to visit her ancestral home on social media last year. Sajjad Haider, a Pakistani citizen, contacted her on social media and sent her images of her home in Rawalpindi. Recently, she again applied for a Pakistani visa which was denied. She then tagged her desire to Pakistan's Minister of State on Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar who facilitated her visa to visit her ancestral town. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday claimed to have "clues" on a conspiracy to engineer a cloudburst over the Godavari basin, flooding of which marooned several areas located along its course in the state, while speaking at a review meeting in Bhadrachalam on Sunday. A new method called cloudburst seems to have been put into practice. There are conspiracy theories also. But I am not sure how far this is correct. But certain countries intentionally engineered cloudburst earlier in Leh-Ladakh and Uttarakhand. We got clues that they have recently done over Godavari basin also, the CM said. Opposition parties jumped on the comments, while weather experts ruled out the occurrence of cloudbursts in the recent past. BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay termed the comments joke of the century, while TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy said the CM must share clues with central agencies like RAW, and called the CM James Bond 006. Bandi Sanjay claimed the remarks were a ploy by the CM to cover up his failures. Chief Minister KCR commenting that there is a foreign conspiracy behind the heavy rains is ridiculous. KCR is the biggest conspirator, who will believe his words? Perhaps the CM is delusional. He needs to be admitted to the Erragadda Hospital for better treatment, Sanjay said. Revanth took a shot at the BJP as well, demanding that PM Narendra Modi take Rao into custody for his remarks. Cloudbursts are spells of over 100 mm of rain within an hour, which, according to experts, did not take place in Telangana this monsoon. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), however, could not confirm if a cloudburst had occurred in the state, but IMD sources said that it was unlikely. Mahesh Palawat, the vice president of Skymet Weather Services, a private firm that provides weather forecasting services, said, As a weather expert, I do not know if such technology exists. If the Chief Minister says that, he must have some knowledge about it. There is technology to make it rain by sprinkling silver iodide into the clouds (cloud seeding), but it is very expensive and will not result in heavy rains as witnessed in the past few days. Chandrashekar Rao was speaking at a meeting at Hanumakonda on Saturday evening after reaching here before leaving on an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas on Sunday from here. (Photo: Twitter) WARANGAL: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday called for the preparation of an action plan that can afford permanent protection to people living along the Godavari river in the state. He said a comprehensive survey should be taken up along the river and areas that are prone to floods, and the plan should take into account what it takes to move all those living in these vulnerable areas to safer locations to avoid the annual flood-related distress. He instructed finance minister T. Harish Rao to release Rs 1 crore as immediate assistance to all the district administrations of Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalapalli, Mahbubabad, and Nirmal. For preparing the permanent mitigation plans, the irrigation department should seek the assistance of the experienced former engineers of the department, as well as their suggestions and advice. Chandrashekar Rao was speaking at a meeting at Hanumakonda on Saturday evening after reaching here before leaving on an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas on Sunday from here. Among those at the meeting were Harish Rao, chief secretary Somesh Kumar and other senior officials, including ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Satyavathi Rathod, MPs J. Santosh Kumar, P. Dayakar, and several other TRS elected representatives. During the review of the flood situation, the Chief Minister enquired about the water levels along the river at various locations and said that district officials should be on the alert as there was a possibility of further rains over the next few days. He instructed officials to ensure an adequate number of relief camps are set up to provide flood-affected people with food, medicines and other needs. Ministers Gudivada Amarnath (third from left) and Buggana Rajendranath (second from right) addressed the delegates at the conference. They pointed out that AP has signed eight MoUs with WA. DC Image VISAKHAPATNAM: Western Australia (WA) deputy premier Roger Cook said there are huge trade opportunities between Andhra Pradesh and WA. Both can work together to unlock these opportunities. This is why AP has been chosen as a sister state by Western Australia, he observed. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on the side lines of a conference on Exploring Synergies between WA and AP here on Saturday, Roger Cook said: Vizag is a beautiful city. It has similarities with Western Australia as both have similar population of around 2.5 million. It has good potential for tourism and education. Since we are also interested in energy, we looked at the potential of wind and solar power in rest of the state. We were supposed to meet Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy but could not, as he is busy with floods. We will be back in the state soon," the deputy premier underlined. He said WA sees itself as a future global energy powerhouse. "We can produce green hydrogen and ammonia to provide great flexibility for meeting future energy needs of the world," Roger Cook noted. Earlier, state ministers Gudivada Amarnath and Buggana Rajendranath addressed the delegates at the conference. They pointed out that AP has signed eight MoUs with WA. It is very gratifying for the state that Western Australia has come forward to provide technical support and skills to invest in mining, minerals, education, skills, power, industrial and manufacturing sectors of AP," said Amarnath. Rajendranath said there is no dearth of graduates in AP. Keeping in mind the skills they need, we will be taking help from Western Australia, he stated. MoUs signed are in sectors of international education, space technology, power distribution system, skills and vocational training, manufacturing of medical devices and fisheries. HYDERABAD: The BJP on Saturday castigated Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for ignoring the plight of people in the state who have been hit hard on account of the heavy rains and floods. State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the Chief Minister learnt on Saturday that Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan was about to visit-flood hit people in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, and quickly decided to do the same on Sunday. Sanjay said instead of playing politics and creating optics, the Chief Minister should at least now take concrete steps to rush to the aid of flood hit people in the state. He also questioned Raos claims that the state was following strict fiscal discipline and that its economy was on the upswing and asked for an explanation on why salaries of government employees were not being paid on time. In a statement, Sanjay asked Rao for an explanation on the reasons behind salaries not being paid on time if Telangana's economy was doing well. "The Chief Minister claiming fiscal discipline is like the devil quoting the scriptures," Sanjay said. From being Rs 390 crore in revenue surplus when the state was formed in 2014, the state slid to a situation where it was drowning in debt and experiencing Rs 16,500 in revenue deficit. The loans have risen from Rs 65,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 4 lakh crore now. These loans are in addition to the loans taken by various state owned corporations, he said. HYDERABAD: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A. Revanth Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was responsible for the submergence of motors at Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme. On the pretext of redesigning Dr B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation scheme, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government took up Kaleshwaram works with Rs 1 lakh crore budget, he said. Revanth Reddy welcomed TV anchor turned politician Kathi Kartika into the Congress fold here at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday. Kartika, along with her followers, reached the Congress office with an impressive procession. Speaking on the occasion, Revanth Reddy alleged that Chandrashekar Rao had taken up Kaleshwaram LI scheme to mint money. There was no guarantee whether the submerged motors would work or not, he said. To justify their corruption practices, the TRS government was trying to expose the submergence as natural phenomena by so-called experts, he said. For the last 10 days, incessant rains lashed the state and the river Godavari witnessed floods, he said. The Chief Minister should have conducted a preparatory meeting on rains and flood in May, but he failed to do so, he alleged. Revanth Reddy recalled that previous chief ministers closely monitored the flood situation and set up helpline centers. They also set up disaster management teams and health teams to prevent the spread of communicable diseases during floods, he said and added that the Chief Minister conducted review meetings on political strategies, not on floods. Revanth Reddy also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare floods in Telangana state a national disaster and release Rs 2,000 crore for relief operations. He said the TRS failed to monitor the flood related rescue and rehabilitation programmes. He said the TRS government ignored the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) or introduced any other alternative insurance scheme. VIJAYAWADA: While the stage is set for the election of the next President of India, a curious aspect in AP is that the BJP that has no seat and vote in the state would win all the votes. This, as both the ruling YSRC and the opposition parties including the Telugu Desam have extended their support to the BJP nominee. The polling will be held today, across all states, and officials have made foolproof arrangements in the Assembly complex in Amaravati for the voting. MLAs and MPs form the electoral college for the President poll. There are 151 MLAs and 22 MPs for the YSRC, three MPs and 23 MLAs for the TD. One MLA who was elected on the Jana Sena ticket later shifted his allegiance to the YSRC. The BJP, however, will not be so blessed even in the states where it is the ruling party. Murmu, NDAs presidential candidate, will not get all the polled votes in other states where Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha too have been promised support by several parties. AP does not have legislators for the Congress, the two Communist parties etc who are backing Sinha. Here, however, the YSRC and TD competed with each other to extend their support to Droupadi Murmu. It was the YSRC that first announced its support for her on June 23. The TD initially tried to make political capital by asking the YSRC to press the demand for Special Category Status (SCS) for AP as a condition for supporting Murmu. But, chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy did not do this as he maintained healthy relations with the BJP and its central leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. TD, eager for the past three years to restore its old political ties with the BJP, tried to get a call from the saffron party for TDs support to Murmu, but in vain. After a few days, Chandrababu Naidu convened a party meeting on July 11 and announced TDs unconditional support to Murmu. This was just a day before the NDA nominees visit to the state to seek votes for her. Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders met Murmu in Vijayawada on July 12. There are a total of 36 MPs from AP in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, whose total vote value is 25,488. The total vote value of the 175 MLAs is 27,825. Thus, the total value of votes from AP in the President poll is 53,313. In this, the vote value of YSRC MPs and MLAs is 45,957. The YSRC has 22 Lok Sabha MPs and nine Rajya Sabha MPs, whose votes value is 21,948. The votes value of 151 MLAs of the YSRC is 24,009. Hence, the ruling party is playing an important role in the election of the new Rashtrapati. CM Jagan has initiated measures for the casting of votes without any confusion and issued instructions to the MLAs and MPs. The YSRC would conduct a mock polling held on Monday, before the start of the actual polling, in order to avoid any confusion among legislators as to how to vote. Similarly, Naidu has given instructions to TD legislators to ensure they voted without any hassle. Anganwadi and Asha workers will also hoist the national flag in their respective offices. (Representational Image/ DC File) VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Jagan Reddy said on Sunday that the AP government is conducting a Har Ghar Tiranga programme in the state from August 13 to 15. Under this, AP would hoist 1.62 crore national flags. Earlier in the day, Union home minister Amit Shah conducted a video conference with CMs of various states from New Delhi to explain the "Har Ghar Tiranga '' programme as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Jagan participated in the video conference from the camp office at Tadepalli. The CM said the government is determined to inculcate a sense of patriotism among the citizens through the Har Ghar Tiranga programme on the occasion of the completion of 75 years of Independence. The state government has taken many steps to make this programme a big success and conducted several reviews with government departments. Under this, advertisements, hoardings and many songs were created. We screened short films in cinema halls to create awareness. Also, we organised rallies and cycle rallies and published many articles along with posters. The Chief Minister said instructions were issued to officials to unfurl the national flag at all government offices. In the same way, they must unveil the flag at their residences too. Some 5.24 lakh ration shops and 15,000 Village and Ward Secretariats are hoisting the national flag. Anganwadi and Asha workers will also hoist the national flag in their respective offices. Some 1.20 lakh Village and Ward Secretariat staff and 2.60 lakh Volunteers will also participate in the programme by distributing national flags. This apart, the national flag will be hoisted on all the industrial units and other institutions, shops and commercial complexes. As part of the CSR programme, we have decided to distribute the national flag to their employees, the CM said. Reddy also criticised PM Narendra Modi, claiming that he announced Rs 1,000 crore flood relief for Gujarat, but was ignoring Telangana. DC File Image HYDERABAD: Telangana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy said that the party will move an adjournment motion in the Parliaments monsoon session, to draw the attention of the House to the floods in Telangana and the failure of TRS and BJP in taking up rescue operations. Reddy, who is also an MP, said he will meet AICC chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Telangana floods. Addressing reporters after a CLP meeting at the Central Court Hotel on Sunday, the TPCC chief said that state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay and union minister G. Kishan Reddy should initiate central aid to the state. He said that the BJP is seeking votes from the state but is failing to accord assistance. Reddy also criticised PM Narendra Modi, claiming that he announced Rs 1,000 crore flood relief for Gujarat, but was ignoring Telangana. PM Modi and CM K. Chandrashekar Rao have a similar mind set to mislead the people. Congress party leaders swung into action to help the flood victims on the banks of river Godavari and party leaders also declared financial aid to flood victims, he said. Reddy highlighted the death of two Singareni workers and a journalist during floods, claiming that the state government failed to announce ex gratia for any of them. He said that the people have taken note of the greed of the TRS government, highlighting the submergence of pump houses at the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project. He said that Rahul Gandhis proposed visit to Sircilla will be postponed due to the rains and that it may be held on August 2, pending clearance from the central leader. It sounds remote but newspaper pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attending a Hindu puja to unveil a massively magnified version of Ashokas Lion Capital atop New Delhis new Parliament building might explain the bitterness that underlies Sri Lankas current crisis. For, as Raghuram Rajan, the former Reserve Bank governor, had warned recently, no nation can hope for peace and growth if it marginalises its minorities. India has a role in helping Sri Lanka to find a long-term solution to the challenge of ethnic differences possibly in terms of the infructuous 1987 Rajiv Gandhi-J.R. Jayewardene accord which recommended federalism and achieve the samanjasya (harmony) of which Mr Modi speaks by itself setting an example of cultural tolerance and federal integration and not aggravating the Islamophobia that has raged in Sri Lanka since the 2019 Easter massacre. It must be stressed in this context that beyond being an expression of personal faith, pujas make a public statement, as political as the burqa or hijab. The Sinhalas had quietly determined at independence to make Sri Lanka in practice a unitary Sinhalese-speaking Buddhist nation where the minorities would remain outsiders. Leaders like the late highly Anglicised Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, born a Christian and initially unable even to speak Sinhalese, who chose to drop his trousers for a sarong, sacrificed national cohesion and the economy to that ruinously emotive aim. Cost is of little concern. If the new New Delhi can cost Rs 20,000 crores, Sri Lankas Hambantota port is billed to cost $1.3 billion. It was ordered by Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President from 2005 to 2015, and then Prime Minister under his brother Gotabaya, who borrowed the money from China. Its a moot point whether Colombo would have placed itself at Beijings mercy to this extent if it had not been for the India factor. Even a bankrupt Sri Lanka cannot relish depending on a militarily powerful neighbour across the narrow Palk Straits for funds, food, fuel and medicines. Like other South Asian countries, Sri Lanka seeks a counter-point to the obvious regional hegemon. Moreover, the Sinhalas cannot rid themselves of the suspicion that the Ceylon Tamils, who constitute more than 11 per cent of the population, and Indian Tamils (former plantation workers), who add up to another four per cent and more, are in some way Chennais, if not New Delhis, fifth column. The sorry history of India flirting with and then abandoning Sri Lankas Tamils, especially the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has only deepened scepticism on both sides of the islands race barrier. Sri Lankas economy is hostage to the geopolitical implications of its hysterical ethnic fanaticism. Driven by race and religion, the ambitious and self-seeking Rajapaksa clan seems to have been ready to risk local ire by courting China with programmes that meant infrastructure projects displacing residents without creating jobs, flouting all environmental standards and gravely aggravating Indias security concerns. That the race animosity is alive and kicking was proclaimed in November 2019 when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as President in an ancient Buddhist temple built by King Dutthagamani (161 BC to 137 BC) who smote the Tamils hip and thy, and did so, partly at least, with religious motives, according to B.H. Farmers standard Ceylon, a Divided Nation. Although now on the run, Gotabaya Rajapaksa did claim at the time that he was the President of all Sri Lankans, whether they voted for [him] or not and irrespective of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. But his choice of a sacred temple in Anuradhapura was as poignant as the New Delhi puja to unveil Ashokas Lion Capital. It informed Sinhala Buddhists (75 per cent of the population) that the new regime would consolidate their hegemony. Obsessed with that objective, and busy promoting his various relatives, Mr Rajapaksa thoroughly mismanaged the economy so that a country that once boasted Asias highest standard of living defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt and desperately needs an International Monetary Fund bailout. Poor governance has also made Sri Lanka almost a pariah state among democratic nations with India, Canada and Mauritius citing an abysmal human rights record to boycott the 2013 Commonwealth summit. Mr Gotabaya was nicknamed the Terminator for his deadly role during the islands 26-year civil war. The United States and many international organisations expressed concern, drawing especial attention to outrages like the gunning down in 2009 of Lasantha Wickramatunga, the popular and courageous editor-in-chief of The Sunday Leader who had exposed the Rajapaksa brothers malpractices only a few days earlier, and was due to testify about allegedly corrupt arms deals during the civil war. Wickrematunga wrote in an editorial shortly before his death, and published posthumously: When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me. Hindu Tamils are not the only perceived adversary. There is a long history of anti-Muslim violence Moors claiming Arab descent make up 9.3 per cent of the population although it was overshadowed by the war against the LTTE. In the frenzy after the Easter bloodshed, a prominent Buddhist leader demanded stoning Muslims to death and accused Muslim-owned restaurants of using sterilisation medicine to reduce Sinhala Buddhist fertility. A member of Gotabayas legal team was reportedly videotaped telling Muslims that they would get a massive thrashing if they did not vote for the now self-exiled President. Those fissures must be healed if Sri Lanka is again to take its rightful place in the comity of nations. As Dr Raghuram Rajan cautioned, an anti-minority image can lose a countrys export markets overseas and persuade foreign governments to view it as an unreliable partner. The former RBI governor was addressing Indians, but the warning applies equally to Sri Lanka which has lost the tourism that accounted for some 20 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings. Nothing can happen until stability has been restored and Colombo again has a functioning government. Once that has been achieved, a blueprint for recovery is available in the 1987 India-Sri Lanka agreement that aimed to ensure peace by devolving power to the provinces. Its the only way of achieving national reconciliation and uniting Tamils behind the government to heal the wounds of conflict and rebuild a once prosperous but now devastated nation. Meanwhile, Indians must be wondering how Mr Modi reconciles his puja with the ban on using the precincts of Parliament House for any demonstration, dharna, strike, fast, or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony. A temple, shops and several houses of the Hindu community have been vandalised in southwestern Bangladesh by some unidentified persons over a Facebook post allegedly belittling Islam, in the latest spate of violence targeting the religious minority in the country, according to media reports on Sunday. Police fired warning shots to disperse a mob that vandalised several homes and torched one of them in Sahapara village in Narail district on Friday evening, bdnews24.com, an online newspaper quoted Haran Chandra Paul, an inspector at the local police station, as saying. The attackers also threw bricks at a temple in the village during the attack around 7:30pm, he said. They also broke the furniture inside the temple. Several shops were also vandalised, The Daily Star newspaper reported. Haran said a young man posted something offensive on Facebook, triggering anger among Muslims. As tension mounted over the post after the Friday prayers, a group of Muslims demonstrated outside their home in the afternoon. They attacked the homes later. No attacker was arrested. The situation was normal at night, said the police inspector. Narail Superintendent of Police Prabir Kumar Roy said the law enforcers were working to keep the situation under control. "Were investigating the incident. Those responsible for the violence will face action. The situation is normal for now, Roy said. Meanwhile, police have arrested a 20-year-old college student over the Facebook post. The student, identified as Akash Saha, was detained in Khulna, said Sheikh Abu Hena Milon, chief of Lohagara Police Station. A police officer said that Salahuddin Kochi of Dighlia village had filed a case against Akash on Jul 15, accusing him of belittling Islam. Akash was brought to court in connection with that case. Police forces were deployed in the area to prevent further violence, The Daily Star newspaper reported. "After one group looted all our valuables, another group came and found our door open. As there was nothing left to loot, they set our home on fire," the paper quoted Deepali Rani Saha, a resident, as saying. Deepali's house was among homes and dozens of shops that were vandalised or burnt down in Sahapara village. A former female member of the reserved seat in Dighalia Union Parishad said most of the able-bodied people have left the village after the attack. "Almost all houses are locked. Only the elders of some families are home. They too are scared," she said. "Police are on guard in the village, but we cannot trust them," the newspaper quoted 65-year-old Shibnath Saha, president of the village's Radha-Govinda temple, as saying. Attacks on religious minorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh are increasing and many of them happened after rumours or fake posts spread through social media, bdnews24.com said. Last year, some Hindu temples in Bangladesh were vandalised by unidentified Muslim bigots during the Durga Puja celebrations, prompting the government to deploy paramilitary forces in 22 districts after four people were killed and many others injured in riots. According to a report by legal rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, 3,679 attacks were carried out on the Hindu community in Bangladesh between January 2013 and September 2021. An Israeli official said on Saturday he expected members of the country's Muslim minority to be able to fly directly to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage by next year after the kingdom signalled new openness as it hosted US President Joe Biden. On Friday, Riyadh said its airspace would be open to all carriers - a de facto extension of flyover rights for Israeli planes, which previously had a Saudi corridor only for Gulf destinations, to include various Asia routes too. Esawi Freij, Israel's regional cooperation minister, said the Saudi decision showed US-encouraged efforts to move the countries toward more normal ties "are at a very advanced stage" that may "turn the dream into reality" for Muslims like himself. "I believe that, in a year, the Muslim Israeli citizen will be able to fly from Ben Gurion (airport near Tel Aviv) to Jeddah and from there to Mecca to fulfil his pilgrimage duty," Freij told public broadcaster Kan. He declined to say on what this prediction was based. There was no immediate comment from Riyadh. Last week, Freij said he had asked Saudi Arabia to allow direct Tel Aviv-Jeddah flights for Muslim pilgrims. A US official told Reuters on Thursday that such permission was in the works. Saudi Arabia has long admitted Muslim pilgrims from Israel, but they must travel through third countries. That ends up costing around $11,500 for a week-long stay, Freij said. Pilgrims from neighbouring Arab countries pay around half that. Islam's birthplace, Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel, saying this would require addressing Palestinian statehood goals first. Sri Lanka's protest movement reached its 100th day Sunday, having forced one president from office and now turning its sights on his successor as the country's economic crisis continues. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his palace shortly before demonstrators invaded it last weekend and on Thursday resigned from the presidency. His mismanagement is blamed for Sri Lanka's financial turmoil, which has forced its 22 million people to endure shortages of food, fuel and medicines since late last year. The campaign to oust Rajapaksa, organised mainly through posts on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, drew people from across Sri Lanka's often unbridgeable ethnic divides. Also Read | Sri Lankan protesters vow to continue their struggle for complete system change United by economic hardships, minority Tamils and Muslims joined the majority Sinhalese to demand the ouster of the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan. It began as a two-day protest on April 9, when tens of thousands of people set up camp in front of Rajapaksa's office -- a crowd so much larger than the organisers' expectations that they decided to stay on. "When I heard the news and saw what was happening here, I decided that I should come and help them," Nilu, a teacher from a beach town on Sri Lanka's southern coast, told AFP. The 26-year-old took up residence in the camp last month and is among dozens of volunteers working in the patchwork of tents now lining a section of the seafront boulevard. Also Read | Former diplomats, academics share their views on Gotabaya Rajapaksa's private visit to Singapore A communal kitchen serves food for needy crowds visiting the site in the evenings, who queue next to signboards detailing the numerous accusations of graft and violence directed at Rajapaksa's family. "We need a change and we are the change," said Nilu, who declined to give her surname. "We want our president to represent the whole country. Not somebody who robs the public." Under Sri Lanka's constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was automatically installed as acting president following Rajapaksa's resignation. Also Read | Sri Lanka's political crisis: What happens next? He is now the leading candidate to succeed him permanently in a parliamentary vote next week. But the veteran politician is despised by the protesters as an ally of the Rajapaksa clan -- four brothers who have dominated the island's politics for years. Social media activist and protest campaign supporter Prasad Welikumbura said Wickremesinghe too should go. "It's been 100 days since it started," Welikumbura said on Twitter. Also Read | Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe, Oppn leader Premadasa among four leaders to contest for President "But, it's still far from any concrete change in the system. #GoHomeRanil, #NotMyPresident." Rajapaksa's elder brother Mahinda resigned as premier in May and he appointed Wickremesinghe to replace him -- his sixth term in the post -- despite his being an opposition MP representing a party with only one seat in parliament. The move did little to assuage the protesters' anger, and when they stormed Rajapaksa's tightly guarded 200-year-old Presidential Palace they also set Wickremesinghe's private home ablaze. Now the Rajapaksas' SLPP party -- which has more than 100 MPs in the 225-member parliament -- is backing Wickremesinghe in the vote due Wednesday. Also Read | Centre to brief Parliament floor leaders on Sri Lanka situation on Tuesday A spokesman for the protesters told AFP: "We are now discussing with groups involved in the 'Aragalaya' (struggle) on turning the campaign against Ranil Wickremesinghe." Numbers at the protest site have diminished since Rajapaksa's exit, and the demonstrators have vacated three key state buildings they occupied -- the Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister's official Temple Trees residence, and his office. Wickremesinghe has ordered the military and police to do whatever it takes to ensure order. Defence officials said additional troops and police will be moved into the capital on Monday to bolster security around parliament ahead of the vote. Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande on Sunday left for Bangladesh on a three-day visit for closer bilateral coordination and cooperation on a host of strategic issues, in his first trip abroad after taking the reins of the 1.2-million strong force. Gen Pande travelled to the neighbouring country less than a month after Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen visited India during which both sides appreciated the "trust and mutual respect" in the fast-expanding ties. "Continuing with the excellent bilateral defence ties between India and Bangladesh, Gen Manoj Pande, the Chief of Army Staff has proceeded on a visit to Bangladesh from July 18 to 20," the army said in a statement. It said the visit will further deepen the bilateral relationships between the two armies and act as a "catalyst" for closer coordination and cooperation between the two countries on a host of strategic issues. The Chief of Army Staff is scheduled to hold one-on-one meetings with the three service chiefs of Bangladesh besides meeting senior leaders of the country, officials said. The army chief will commence his visit by paying tributes to the fallen heroes of the Liberation War of 1971 by laying a wreath at the 'Shikha Anirban' on Monday. He will also pay tributes to Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at his memorial in Dhanmondi, according to the army. "On the second day of his visit, the army chief will address the students and faculty of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur," it said. Gen Pande is also scheduled to interact with members of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support and Training Operations (BIPSOT), a premier institute which trains peacekeepers for employment in various UN Peace Operations. This will be followed by a visit to the Bangabandhu Military Museum at Mirpur. The overall strategic ties between India and Bangladesh have been on an upswing in the last few years. In March last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Bangladesh to attend events organised to mark the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of the War of Liberation of that country. In reflection of close ties, India also hosted a number of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1971 war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh. Around 93,000 Pakistani troops had surrendered before the joint forces of the Indian Army and the "Mukti Bahini" on December 16, 1971, that paved way for the birth of Bangladesh. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the Centre has declared this year's devastating floods as a severe calamity and has assured funding support, amid suspicion from the Opposition. "The Centre has already declared this year's flood as a calamity of severe nature. Home Minister Amit Shah assured me that the Centre would give 90 per cent of the funds to be spent for repair of the damages caused by the flood and for rehabilitation of the affected people. Instead of getting into politics of a special package for the floods, the Centre has agreed to provide whatever fund is required," Sarma told reporters in Guwahati. However, Assam's Opposition parties asked why the Centre has not issued a notification regarding the same. "Why hasn't the Centre made the announcement? Why is the CM doing so? Let the CM show the official notification by the Centre which declared the flood as a severe calamity," Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi asked while reacting to the announcement. "In 2018, the Centre had declared the flood in Kerala as a severe calamity and had even announced a Calamity Relief Fund. Has the Centre announced a similar fund for Assam this time?" Gogoi asked. Assam has witnessed severe floods since May this year that wreaked havoc in 34 out of 36 districts. Floods and landslides killed 195 people and affected over 89.21 lakh people. Over 2.40 lakh hectares of cropland have been damaged while more than 54,000 animals have been washed away. The flood has also fully damaged 25,700 houses and partially damaged another 2.81 lakh houses. Sarma Saturday said the flood has washed away houses, damaged roads, embankments, bridges, schools, anganwadi centres and many other infrastructures. "According to a preliminary assessment, at least Rs 1,000 crore would be required for repairing the damages and rehabilitation of the flood-hit people," he said. Flood is almost an annual problem and there has been a long demand for declaring the Assam flood as a national calamity to find a permanent solution. Many including the influential All Assam Students' Union have demanded that the flood be declared a national calamity for earmarking special funds and pulling in international experts to address the natural calamity. But Sarma stressed that there is no provision for declaring the flood as a national calamity. "No one has so far suggested any foolproof solution to the flood problem but we are taking a lot of steps to mitigate it," he said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rupee almost touching the Rs 80-mark against the US dollar, and urged the government to stop the "politics of jumlas" and immediately reform its economic policies. The rupee on Friday rebounded from the near-80 levels to close higher by 17 paise at 79.82 against the US currency following a recovery in the domestic stocks and weakness in the greenback in overseas markets. Hitting out at Prime Minister Modi in a Facebook post in Hindi, Gandhi said before becoming the prime minister, he used to give long sermons about the value of the rupee, but after becoming PM, Modi has pushed the country into the "Amritkal' of hypocrisy". "For the first time in history, the rupee has crossed 80 -- and is at its weakest against the US dollar," the former Congress chief said. In the coming days, the people of the country will have to pay for having a "directionless government" and the rupee being in shambles, Gandhi said. "The PM had said a 'strong PM is necessary for the strengthening of the rupee'. The reality of that phrase is in front of everyone today," he said. "I am saying it again to the Government of India, there is still time, wake up from your 'Kumbhakarn' sleep. Stop politics of lies and jumlas, and reform economic policies immediately," Gandhi said. The common people of the country cannot bear the punishment for your failures, he said. The Congress on Friday launched a fierce attack on the government alleging that it is directionless and silent on the free fall of the currency as it will affect every Indian. Government sources have said the strength of the US dollar has been uniform this year and it has appreciated against many other currencies. The strength of the US dollar against the Indian rupee cannot be viewed as an isolated case, they said, adding that it is just part of the strength of the US dollar globally, against all currencies - developed or emerging Track news and updates from India and across the world, only with DH. The chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on Sunday returned to Kathmandu after a three-day visit to New Delhi without having a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CPN (MC) leader and the former Prime Minister of Nepal was hosted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at its headquarters earlier on Sunday. India hosted him even as China lately stepped up its bid to reunite the CPN (MC) with the other communist parties of Nepal, where parliamentary elections would take place later this year. Dahal had a meeting with the BJP president J P Nadda at the party headquarters in New Delhi. As Nadda and Dahal, who is also known as Prachanda, exchanged views about political processes in both the nations and explored ways to expand engagements between the BJP and the CPN (MC), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also dropped by. Prachanda, a former Prime Minister of Nepal, and Jaishankar discussed the future course of the relations between India and Kathmandu. A meeting between Prachanda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also expected, but it did not happen. The CPN (MC) chairman said after flying back from New Delhi to Kathmandu that he had been told before embarking on the visit that he would have a meeting with the Prime Minister of India, but he was not aware why it did not take place. He, however, said that his visit to India was successful and fruitful. Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra called on Prachanda after his arrival in New Delhi for the three-day visit. As friendly neighbours, our two countries have been aware of each others concerns and sensitivities. Nepal has not allowed its land to be used against the interests of our neighbours and it expects similar assurance from India, Prachanda said at an event in New Delhi. Mutual trust and respect for each others sensitivities have helped to overcome some misunderstandings in the past," he added. Nepal is one of the South Asian nations where China has been trying to elbow out India to expand its geopolitical influence, not only through development schemes but also through engagements with political parties. China had in 2018 played a key role in bringing the CPN (MC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) or CPN (UML) together and launch the new Nepal Communist Party. The Nepal Communist Party, however, dissolved in March 2021 due to internal differences. Beijing, however, sent Liu Jianchao, the head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to Kathmandu earlier this month to meet Prachanda, the CPN (UML) leader K P Sharma Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Socialist) apparently to bring the three parties together as the country might go to parliamentary polls in November. Liu also had meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other leaders of the ruling Nepali Congress a party perceived to have closer links to India and the United States, rather than China. New Delhis relations with Kathmandu had suffered a setback after the erstwhile K P Sharma Olis government had ratcheted up the Nepal-India dispute over 400 sq km of land at the Lipulekh-Kalapani-Limpiyadhura area in 2020 at a time when the Indian Army had been resisting the Chinese Peoples Liberation Armys aggressive moves in eastern Ladakh. The relations between India and Nepal however returned on track after Deuba succeeded Oli. There are some issues left by history that need to be addressed in good faith to fully realize the full potential of Nepal-India relations and cooperation. The matters related to the 1950 Treaty, boundary and EPG (Eminent Persons Group) report need to be resolved through diplomatic efforts and dialogue. In the spirit of good neighbourliness, we can make our relations problem-free, Prachanda said in New Delhi. Even before the first vote is cast on August 6, the winner of the Vice Presidential election is clear, if MPs vote as per their party affiliations the Opposition candidate will not poll even half of what the ruling NDAs nominee Jagdeep Dhankar will get. The BJP-led NDAs candidate could get a minimum of 455, 359 in Lok Sabha and 116 in Rajya Sabha, and it could shoot to 522 in the Vice Presidential elections if parties like YSR Congress, BJD, BSP, JD(S) and Akali Dal, which pledged support for its Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu do so in the August 6 polls too. At the same time, the Opposition can get only 256 votes 154 from Lok Sabha and 102 from Rajya Sabha. Shiv Sena, which has 22 MPs, attended the Opposition meet that chose Alva as their candidate. Read | NDA announces West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice Presidential candidate Interestingly, the BJP alone can win the poll as it has 395 votes, five more than what is needed for a victory. This could move up to 400, if all the five nominated MPs also join the BJP bandwagon. In contrast, the main Opposition party Congress has just 84 MPs. For the Vice Presidential election, the electoral college consists of all the 788 MPs, including the nominated ones. However at present, there are nine vacancies in Rajya Sabha and if not filled in time, the majority mark will be 390. Among the Vice Presidents, the first three Dr S Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Husain and VV Giri as well as R Venkaraman, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma and K R Narayanan went on to become Presidents. Radhakrishnan and M Hamid Ansari were the only two people to have two terms as Vice Presidents. Read | Dhankhar kept TMC on its toes, with tweets and questions In the Vice Presidential elections, Narayanan holds the record of getting the highest number of votes 700 out of 701 votes polled in 1992. His opponent Kaka Joginder Singh alias Dharti Pakad got one vote and that is the lowest in the history of Vice Presidential polls. There are three persons Radhakrishnan, M Hidayatullah and Sharma who were the only ones who won unopposed. Only one woman has so far contested the Vice Presidents polls Najma Heptullah in 2007 against Ansaris first term. Ansari then polled 455 votes while Heptullah got 222 while a third candidate Rasheed Masood got 75 votes. It was only twice the losing candidate got more than half of votes polled by the winning candidates defeated candidate Surjit Singh got 273 as against winner Krishan Kant who got 441 and Sushil Kumar Shinde bagging 305 against winner Bhairon Singh Shekhawats 454. Prohibitory orders were clamped in parts of Kallakurichi district in northern Tamil Nadu Sunday after protests demanding justice for the alleged suicide of a 16-year-old student turned violent, with agitators going on a rampage on campus by torching vehicles, including those belonging to the police, and vandalising classrooms. As many as 52 policemen, including Deputy Inspector General of Police M Pandian and district Superintendent of Police Selvakumar, suffered injuries when hundreds of protesters, who were mobilised through messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, clashed with them for nearly six hours on Sunday. After inspecting the violence-hit area, DGP C Sylendra Badu, who was deputed to Kallakurichi along with Home Secretary K Phanindra Reddy by Chief Minister M K Stalin, announced the students alleged suicide case has been transferred to CB-CID wing. He also said three members of the school management have been arrested in connection with the students death. Stalin, who is currently under treatment for Covid-19 at a private hospital, appealed for calm and promised that the guilty would be brought to book. Besides 13 school buses, three police vehicles, and a number of two-wheelers were also torched by the angry mob. As the situation went out of control with the protesters breaking open the school gates and indulging in vandalism, the Kallakurichi district administration clamped prohibitory orders in Kallakurichi taluk and in Chinna Salem, where the private school is located. The 16-year-old student, who belonged to neighbouring Cuddalore district, was staying in the school hostel, and allegedly jumped to death on July 12. However, the family alleged foul play in the death and demanded action against the school management citing the girls suicide note in which she blamed two teachers for torturing her and the postmortem report which spoke of injury marks in her body. The inaction by the police against the management despite filing a case under 174 (1) of the CrPC prompted the relatives of the girl to demand a fair probe into the incident over the past few days. However, hundreds of students and locals converged outside the campus at around 10 am on Sunday and entered the premises forcibly by overpowering the police, who were outnumbered till additional personnel joined in quelling protests. Television footage showed protesters pushing down barricades, entering the school premises, setting buses parked on fire, and vandalising school name boards some were seen taking away the furniture as police looked on helplessly. Due to the violence, traffic on the Chennai-Salem highway was disrupted for a while and vehicles were diverted through a different route. We have so far arrested 35 persons involved in the violence. The mob has been brought under control, P Thamarai Kannan, ADGP (L&O) told reporters outside the school. The girls parents have approached the Madras High Court seeking a CB-CID probe into their daughters death. Kasi Viswanathan, counsel for the parents, said the girls parents had no role in Sundays violence. If only the police had acted against the school management, protests wouldnt have happened. Police are responsible for the violence, he said. The school management, expressing regret over the incident, pinned the blame on the girls parents, saying, we are transparent, and we never hide anything. The school also received support from an influential association representing private schools which declared a holiday for all matriculation and CBSE schools under it on Monday in protest against the violence. Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami pinned the blame on Stalin for Sundays violence. The protests were non-violent for the past few days. But the inaction on the part of the government paved the way for violence. Why didnt the government act? Palaniswami asked. TN BJP chief K Annamalai said the protests reflected peoples lack of confidence against the DMK government. He also sought to know what prevented School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi from meeting the students parents and consoling them. A health boss has warned that the forecast for high temperatures could result in people dying, while Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said people should be resilient enough to enjoy the sunshine. College of Paramedics chief executive Tracy Nicholls said the ferocious heat the UK is predicted to experience over the next few days could have a detrimental effect on Britons. Scorching temperatures are predicted for Monday, with Peterborough expected to hit 37C and Milton Keynes, Norwich and Lincoln set to see 36C while temperatures could rise to 40C in London on Tuesday. Climate attribution scientist at the Met Office Dr Nikos Christidis said the 40C prediction is a result of climate change. The forecaster has issued an amber warning for the majority of England on Sunday, which then extends to southern Scotland and Wales from Monday until Tuesday. The UKs first red extreme heat warning has also been issued by the Met Office across a large part of England from London to Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday. The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a heat health warning at level four, which is described as a national emergency. Ms Nicholls told Sky Newss Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: This isnt like a lovely hot day where we can put a bit of sunscreen on, go out and enjoy a swim and a meal outside. This is serious heat that could actually, ultimately, end in peoples deaths because it is so ferocious. Were just not set up for that sort of heat in this country. Her comments were made after Mr Raab said people should take precautions ahead of the record-breaking temperatures but added that they should be able to enjoy themselves. Obviously there is some common-sense practical advice we are talking about stay hydrated, stay out of the sun at the hottest times, wear sun cream those sorts of things, he told Sophy Ridge On Sunday. We ought to enjoy the sunshine and actually we ought to be resilient enough through some of the pressures it will place. Ministers held a virtual emergency Cobra meeting on Saturday after meteorologists warned the record high temperatures could put lives at risk. Additional contingency support for ambulance services, such as more call handlers and extra working hours, have been put in place on Monday and Tuesday. Transport services are expected to be disrupted on both days, with Cabinet Office Minister Kit Malthouse urging people not to travel. Avanti West Coast, Transport for London and London North Eastern Railway are also urging passengers not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, the chairman of the NHS Confederation said hospitals are going to be really, really pushed over the next few days. Lord Victor Adebowale said the NHS will cope, but added that coping isnt good enough. He told Times Radio: My members are pretty stretched at the moment. Ambulances are operating at their peak, the waiting times for ambulances are now getting longer. The NHS will cope but coping isnt good enough. We need to be actually operating in a way that allows people to get the treatment they need wherever needed, in good time. And thats a struggle. Schools in several counties, including Nottinghamshire and Hampshire, have confirmed they will close on Monday and Tuesday following the health warnings, while Milton Keynes University Hospital is standing down routine outpatient appointments and surgery on those days. Greater Manchester Police implored people to avoid cooling off in reservoirs, rivers or ponds after a teenage boy died while swimming with friends in a canal. The 16-year-old got into difficulties and was last seen struggling in the water at Salford Quays in Greater Manchester at around 6.15pm on Saturday. A boys body was recovered overnight and officers believe it may be that of the missing teenager. Detectives are investigating a suspected arson attack which caused extensive smoke damage to a flat in Co Tyrone. The incident occurred in the Culmore Park area of Omagh in the early hours of Sunday. Detective Constable Una McKenna said: We believe at this time that a motorcycle, which was parked in a communal area outside flats in the area, was set alight sometime shortly after midnight, with the subsequent fire spreading to a nearby bin and on to the window of a ground-floor flat. The motorcycle was destroyed by the fire, with further damage caused to the window. Extensive smoke damage was also caused throughout the flat. Thankfully there were no reports of any injuries as the two occupants of the flat were able to get out and raise the alarm. Our inquiries are at an early stage and I would appeal to anyone with any information about this incident or who may be able to help with our investigation to call detectives in Omagh on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 104 17/07/22. Derry man Joe Mahon returns to our TV screens this weekend with a new series of the popular 'Mahon's Way, the series in which he travels the length and breadth of the North (and sometimes a wee bit further). Joe has spent several months exploring the countryside and this 14-part series will take the viewer on a fabulous journey of discovery. The series has everything, ancient townlands and castles; stories of trailblasing people who helped shape so many places; flora and fauna of rivers and lakes; and history and stories behind poetry and songs. From Malin in Inishowen to Garvagh in Co Derry and everywhere in between, Joe uncovers yet more fascinating stories of Northern Irelands heritage. Joe said: I can promise the viewer an enlightening, engaging and visually arresting experience, with help from the wide range of local residents, storytellers, scholars and experts that we have met along the way. We also hope that with the Sunday evening programme, Mahons Way will be the perfect way for viewers to wind down from busy weekends and ease into a new week. UTVs Programmes Editor Tony Curry commented: We are very excited about this new series. Joe has been the front man for many and varied series for UTV over the years and has built a strong rapport with audiences. "Viewers look forward to his easy, relaxed style, as he explores Northern Irelands rich heritage and the people and places along the way. As he delves to the four corners of Northern Ireland I have no doubt that this new series of Mahons Way will entertain, educate and delight in equal measure. The series, produced by Derry-based Westway Film Productions for UTV, kicks off at 7.00pm on Sunday next with Joe spending time on the Ards Peninsula at Portaferry, checking on the health of its rivers and learning about the history of its railway In further episodes in the series, he visits the Deele Valle and a fledgling bird sanctuary in Malin in Inishowen. Answers to last weeks's questions: Where and what was Dundalk's 'Afton Club'? This was a teenage beat club in a small hall along the Rampart Road that was very popular among young dancers in the 1960s. It was started in the late 50s in a premises belonging to the O'Hagan family on the other side of the Rampart to River Lane. It was originally called the Cavalier Club but did not become popular until the name was changed in 1960. It only lasted a few years and changed its name again to the Banana Club when sponsored by the Fyffes fruit company. The 'Afton' name was also used by a Credit Union formed among employees of the P.J. Carroll tobacco company in Church Street after their famous cigarette brand 'Sweet Afton'. When were the Blackrock Strand Races held? This was a popular point-to-point horse race meeting that was run on Blackrock Strand in front of the Promenade at Main Street in the late nineteenth century, usually in the month of July. It was originally organised by cavalry officers stationed in Dundalk Military Barracks but wealthy landowners and businessmen later became involved. Thousands from over a wide area of Louth and Monaghan attended this annual meeting until its popularity declined with the establishment of the Dowdallshill Race Course company in 1889. Where was the largest Bleach Green in Dundalk? There were many bleach greens where flax was laid out to dry before being treated, to turn into linen yarn, from the late seventeenth century. By far the greatest in extent, however, was at Cambrickville, off the Ardee Road, when the cambric factory was established at Parliamentary Square near the Quays in about 1730. This green stretched from about where the Grammar School now is, down to Dublin Street. It was established by a Monsieur de Iancourt, who lived in a house off the Ardee Road. He had been brought over from France to establish the Dundalk cambric manufacturing factory where about 70 exiled Huguenot weavers worked the looms. Where and what was the Blind Gate in the early Dundalk walled town? This one of five original gates in the town's walls and stood somewhere about where North Street meets Linen Hall Street at the Fair Green. The gate was called Blind because it did not open onto any road into the town but led to the river where ships and boats anchored. The wall and gates are thought to have been completed around 1400, about the same time as a seawater Trench was dug around them as a defensive moat. Questions for next week: Where exactly was Dundalk's 'Gallows Hill'? Where was Dundalk 'Charter School'? When was the first Technical School opened in Dundalk? Where and when were Dundalk first traffic lights installed? Congressional Democrats are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to address the recent proliferation of cryptocurrency mining within the US. In a letter sent Friday (via The Guardian), Senator Elizabeth Warren and five other lawmakers said the two agencies should work together to require crypto mining firms to disclose their energy use and emissions. The request comes after the group recently completed an investigation that began at the start of the year. According to the letter, data collected from seven of the largest mining companies in the US, including Stronghold, Bitfury and Riot, indicates they can collectively use more than 1 gigawatt of electricity. Put another way, thats almost enough to power all the residential buildings in Houston. Warren and the other lawmakers say theyre concerned about what all that power use will mean for the environment and consumers. Regarding the former, they state that emissions data from three of the surveyed companies indicate they emit approximately 1.6 million tons of CO2 annually or the equivalent of the tailpipe emissions of almost 360,000 cars. Bitcoin miners are using huge quantities of electricity that could be used for other priority end uses that contribute to our electrification and climate goals, such as replacing home furnaces with heat pumps, the letter states. Turn on browser notifications to receive breaking news alerts from Engadget You can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu. Not now Turned on Turn on On the latter point, the lawmakers cite a 2021 study from the University of California, Berkeley that estimated crypto mining in upstate New York raised annual electricity bills by approximately $165 million for small businesses and $79 million for consumers. What's more, they say their investigation doesnt even scratch the surface of the full impact of crypto mining on power use and emissions in the US. None of the companies provided full and complete information in response to our questions, they note. The results of our investigation, which gathered data from just seven companies, are disturbing, with this limited data alone revealing that crypto miners are large energy users that account for a significant and rapidly growing amount of carbon emissions, the letter states. By requiring crypto mining firms to disclose their energy use and emissions, the group says the EPA and Department of Energy could provide lawmakers with better data to inform future policy decisions. The agencies have until August 15th to respond to the request. The visit of US President Biden to Israel and the Gulf invites reflection on the European Unions strategic priorities in this region, especially in view of Brussels newly claimed status as a geopolitical player. To keep things simple, lets take a look at the Gulf and consider how EU values and interests might inform its foreign policy with regard to this region. To begin with values, it is worth noting that most Arab Gulf countries have embarked on national modernization projects over the past decade. These have typically included a fair bit of state-building discourse, economic vistas, some social change and quite a bit of PR like the Saudi desert city NEOM. Since the EU is itself a values-based modernization project, there could be common cause. Yet underneath many of the Gulf visions lies an ambition of economic diversification financed by maximum exploration of available fossil fuel resources, as well as continuity of authoritarian rule. More participatory governance, social emancipation or a genuine shift towards Fit for 55 are only on offer in limited and controlled quantities. Political dissent is repressed in half the Arab Gulf states Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and tolerated up to a point in the others. The Emirati government, for instance, jailed many of the 133 signatories that signed a 2011 petition suggesting a number of democratic reforms. Things went downhill from there. Riyadh still regularly beheads Shia and other dissidents. None of this is too surprising given the Gulfs social mechanisms of tribal rule and resource richness. It does not have to be a problem for the regions development prospects either, given that authoritarian modernization is a possible growth pathway consider South Korea or Singapore. But it does suggest poor equivalence of values. SHARED INTERESTS RATHER THAN SHARED VALUES? - In terms of economic, development and foreign policy interests, EU-Gulf alignment does not look much better. The Arab Gulf states are economically not very significant to the EU. In 2021, they represented about 3% of extra-EU trade in goods. Most of the regions gas flows to Asia, not Europe. For example, Qatars ability to redirect gas towards European markets is constrained in the short-term by existing LNG contracts. In the medium-term, greater gas volumes are possible, but should not be taken for granted. In development terms, none of the Arab Gulf countries is a member of the OECDs Development Assistance Committee even though they have the funds and needs in the region are many. Sometimes lauded as major providers of humanitarian aid, the Arab Gulf states play only a modest role by a global standard like the UNs Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The Emirates and Qatar contributed USD 20 million each over the period 2006 to 2022. This ranks them as donors no. 21 and 22 against the UK listing as the funds no. 1 donor with USD 1,7 billion over the same period. Other Arab Gulf states donated less. Foreign policy-wise, post-2011 Saudi and Emirati hawkishness stands out which contributed significantly to the wars in Yemen and Libya. Especially the latter that worsened a thorny migration problem for the EU. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE also replayed Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in their efforts of the last decade to counter the Arab uprisings with more authoritarianism. The regions ambivalent stance towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine points to another major divergence of interests with the EU. FRIENDS, ALLIES, SUPPLIERS OR NONE OF THE ABOVE? - If the Arab Gulf countries are neither friends, allies nor critical suppliers, and have limited additional energy supplies to offer, what are they to the EU? The recently released Joint Communication of the European Commission on relations with the Gulf provides the answer: They are strategic partners across a range of domains that include sustainable energy, peace & security and human rights. This is somewhat surprising given the above, to put it mildly. Also problematic is that the Communication contains a few analytical missteps. One is the assumption that the Al-Ula agreement of 2021 revived the Gulf Cooperation Council (at Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia and Qatar patched up their disagreements after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi blockaded Doha for a few years). Another is the suggestion that a revived nuclear deal will offer a platform to reduce tensions in the region. The problem lies in the fact that both the GCC and the nuclear deal will remain moribund whatever their formal fortunes because the main ingredient for true restoration is absent: trust. Instead, the European Commission could strategically distinguish between Arab Gulf states that produce more problems than benefits, and those that do not. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain arguably belong in the first category. They do not merit a label of strategic partners. Kuwait, Qatar and Oman possibly fall into the second category. Enhanced cooperation with the EU in some fields might be desirable, such as long-term gas sales. Zooming out, the Commission should reflect harder on the fact that the Gulf is officially called the Persian Gulf. Launching a Gulf strategy without considering Iran seems odd. In particular, promoting the Arab Gulf states to strategic partners after Brussels struggled to uphold its part of the nuclear bargain will not help diplomatic relations with Tehran. But these relations will be essential to maintain regional stability. There is no need for the EU to pick a shore of the Persian Gulf. Interest-based and more transactional diplomacy across the region will do. What Bridges the Gulf and the European Union? Op-Ed by Erwin van Veen Clingendael / The Netherlands Institute of International Relations. The Op-Ed can be downloaded here F or a long time, the favourite metal of watchmaking was gold particularly for pocket watches, which, through their size and weight, quickly revealed the economic and cultural status of their owner. With the advent of wristwatches, the watch acquired a more utilitarian role, and the use of noble materials was no longer necessary. That was when the search for new materials really took off. Innovation in unbreakable watch crystals presented in Europa Star in 1954 Europa Star Archives The aims of this quest were many, and included resistance to shocks, scratches, corrosion and temperature variations, as well as lightness, anti-magnetism and precision. How has the watch industry incorporated these new materials, and which brands stand out? The aims of this quest were many, and included resistance to shocks, scratches, corrosion and temperature variations, as well as lightness, anti-magnetism and precision. A specialist of high-tech ceramic, Rado has made material research one of its strategic axes: in 1962, the brand launched the DiaStar, the first scratchproof watch on the market. Fourty years later, it presented the Rado V10K, made of high-tech diamond, which entered the Guinness World Records as the worlds hardest watch with a strength of 10,000 Vickers. Europa Star Archives Steel is king Steel was first chosen for its robustness and its affordability compared to gold. But the 1970s boosted its value, thanks to the introduction of the Royal Oak with its integral bracelet in 1972, followed by the Patek Philippe Nautilus in 1976. It marked a revolution: a new sport-chic market segment had been created. The Royal Oak introduced in the pages of Europa Star in 1972 Europa Star Archives Paradoxically, steel became more popular than gold, thanks to a price positioning that was... higher than that of gold. When it was first released, a Royal Oak cost CHF 3,300 while a Rolex Submariner was priced at only a third of that. Steel had succeeded in reintroducing the idea of rarity, creating desire and envy. Given the staggering prices that some models are fetching at auction, it seems to be doing similarly well today. Theres no doubt that these resounding successes, which augured the revival of mechanical watchmaking even in the midst of the quartz crisis, provided some ideas for the future. The Nautilus in Europa Star in the 1970s Europa Star Archives New territory In 1980, Hublot forged a new path by pairing a gold case with a rubber strap. This apparently crazy idea provoked its share of mockery and dubious looks at the time, but it began to define the DNA of the Swiss brand. Hublot would continue to develop new materials, including Magic Gold, which was introduced in 2011: a scratchproof 18K gold with a hardness of 1,000 on the Vickers scale. The marriage of gold, steel and rubber: the birth of the Hublot watch in 1980 Europa Star Archives Other brands were also exploring alloys. In 1986, IWC fashioned its Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar from zirconium, an ultra-strong high-pressure ceramic. This laid the foundations for the brands investment in materials research, which continues today and gave rise in 2017 to Ceratonium, an alloy of ceramic and titanium that boasts a hardness of 1,300 Vickers, far greater than grade 5 titaniums score of 290. In 1986, IWC unveils a new material, zirconium oxide, for its Da Vinci. Europa Star Archives TAG Heuer also experimented with new materials, in 1998 unveiling its Kirium Ti5 with the first ever mirror-polished grade 5 titanium case. The dial was made of carbon fibre and the strap of rubber. It was a small revolution. Composite materials began to multiply, and a high technology wind blew through watchmaking. In 2002, Audemars Piguet launched its Royal Oak Concept, the first watch made of alacrite 602, an alloy of cobalt, chromium and tungsten with a hardness of 430 Vickers, far higher than that of steel (250). The watch also featured titanium bridges and plates, heralding new approaches to materials. On the occasion of the 30 years of the Royal Oak in 2002, Audemars Piguet launches the experimental Royal Oak Concept with a case in alacrite 602. Europa Star Archives Other brands were opting for carbon. Candino released the C-F1, the Carbon Watch, entirely made of carbon fibre case, dial and bracelet but it would not last long. Faster, higher, stronger The race was on. Materials became harder, more scratch-resistant, lighter, hypoallergenic, non-magnetic and resistant to temperature variations: there was no shortage of areas for improvement. Watchmaking drew its inspiration from the medical, automotive and aviation worlds. Citizen pioneered the use of titanium in the watch industry with its X-8 Chronometer from 1970. Europa Star Archives Some brands made materials research their trademark by developing increasingly high-performing composites. In 2005, Richard Mille created the RM009 Felipe Massa, the first watch made from Alusic, a composite of aluminium and silicon carbide. After this model, the brand ingeniously introduced increasingly high-tech, stronger and lighter carbon composites. Today, the use of high-tech materials is one of its most distinctive features. A specialist in ultralight timepieces (and having presented the worlds thinnest watch this year), Richard Mille is a typical example of a contemporary watch brand that bases part of its success on materials research. Europa Star Archives Even the independents were getting involved, notably Francois-Paul Journe. In 2009, he brought out his Blue Chronometer in Tantalum, nicknamed Tantaluss Punishment in reference to Greek mythology, because it is so hard to machine (it melts at 3,016C and has a density of 16.65 kg/cm3). The metal offers absolute resistance to corrosion and wear and is perfectly biocompatible. It also increases the appeal and rarity of the master watchmakers timepieces even more. Watchmaking drew its inspiration from the medical, automotive and aviation worlds. Switzerland is home to several world-class laboratories in the field of materials research, including the EPFL in Lausanne, which has numerous collaborations with the watch industry. Europa Star Archives In 2017 Panerai launched BMG (Bulk Metallic Glass), a metallic glass alloy of copper, aluminium, nickel, zirconium and titanium that is 70% harder than titanium alone, and offers the benefit of being anti-magnetic. Research continues today at Panerai with, for example, the introduction in 2021 of the Submersible eLAB-ID watch, made from 98.6% recycled materials. When materials R&D and sustainability meet: last year, Panerai presented the Submersible eLAB-ID watch, made from 98.6% recycled materials. Europa Star Archives The search for new, more environmentally responsible materials is accelerating. One of the pioneers is Swatch Group, which has long been interested in this area. As early as the 1990s, the watchmaking group experimented with corn-based plastics, but the technology failed to fulfil its early promise. Today, a new Swatch plastic has been born, bio-sourced from castor oil. Research is continuing and will no doubt intensify. Swatch is banking on a new material, bioceramic, to equip many of its lines in the future. Europa Star Archives Components in the mix In parallel with the R&D on case materials, research into the components of the watches themselves has also accelerated. First and foremost is the watchs most vital component: the balance spring. Ulysse Nardin was the first to introduce silicon in 2001, closely followed by Patek Philippe, Rolex and Swatch Group. Based in Neuchatel, Switzerland, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, or CSEM, was at the heart of the research that led to the development of the new silicon hairspring. Europa Star Archives Recently, TAG Heuer innovated again with its carbon balance spring, introduced in the Calibre Heuer 02T Nanograph Tourbillon model in 2019. This technology is still in its infancy, but its advantages are countless, particularly in terms of resistance to magnetism and temperature variations. As an alternative to silicon, the Research Institute for the Watch Division of LVMH has developed a carbon nanotube hairspring. Europa Star Archives This relentless quest for new materials is actually quite a recent development for watchmaking, considering its centuries-old history. But it has definitely contributed to giving a very modern and contemporary dimension to an industry built on its ancestral know-how. It has also opened up a world of creativity for every watch brand, enabling manufacturers and their customers alike to stand out from the crowd. Made of niobium and zirconium, the Parachrom balance spring is an exclusive Rolex technology. Europa Star Archives Materials, once status symbols, are now becoming markers of an avant-garde spirit. In the end, this ongoing research increases the watch industrys influence, attracting new enthusiasts and forcing the brands to continue innovating and moving forward. Indeed, the big winner in this race is the industry as a whole. Saturday, July 16, 2022 TheAgricultural Alamo Migrationsare and will be an indelible feature of mankinds history for a plethora ofreasons. However, even after the establishment of the United Nations and powerfulNGOs after WW II accompanied by a quantum leap in technological prowess inproviding greater agricultural yields, the ability to mitigate forced migrationsbecause of meteorological induced heat waves and droughts has failed. Fordecades the humanitarian safety valves for the shipment of food and medicine todistressed regions were readily available from other regions or countries withbountiful surpluses and sent overseas to mitigate the crisis. Underthe dire present-day global circumstances of droughts and floods, there arelittle to no surplus agricultural foodstuffs. Even the usual resource-rich rescuershave themselves become victims of scarcity and have instituted exportrestrictions in order to feed their own citizens. Damnedif you do. Damned if you dont. Thegrowing global food security crisis will inevitably trigger the largestmigration in human history in the hundreds of millions both internal andexternal creating the associated exploitation and violence borne out of thedesperate need for survival. Themind-boggling number of refugees will easily overwhelm the available resourcesby host and destination countries to shelter, feed and provide medical care. Forthis reason we could see civilian casualties that rival those during WW II. Becauseof the uncertainty where and how much food & water resources are available,these refuges face the ultimate double-bind dilemma with respect to risk. Ifthey remain in their town/city, they die. If they remain in their country, theydie. If they migrate elsewhere, they die. Thefollowing is a pre-Russo-Ukrainian conflict snapshot of the global refugeepopulation at the end of 2021 in a chart entitled Mapping the Worlds RefugeePopulationprovided by the UN Refugee Agency. Thedisturbing trend has been growing for many years from 2012 to May 2022 asarticulated in the following chart entitled Number of ForciblyDisplaced People Reaches 100 Million provided by the UN Refugee Agency. Accordingto the report, two-thirds of refugees originated from only five countriesthrough 2021. With the rapidly deteriorating global food situation, thesefigures will inevitably explode initially in sub-Sahara Africa and then progressto emerging and developed countries. Aswith any desperate journey, the roads to salvation are perilous. The followingchart entitled The Most Dangerous MigrationRoutesfrom 2014 to May 15, 2022, provided by the International Organization forMigration underscore these dangers. Duringthis period one can expect an explosion in human trafficking, exploitation, andterror given the sheer mass of humanity in motion, millions of transients with limitedlegal protection or enforcement of those laws. MassMigration Begets Mass Surveillance Insidiouslyas part of the governmental crowd control risk assessment from internal andexternal threats, it would not be surprising that government security services willcollaborate with their neighbors and encourage the eager cooperation of techgiants to track citizen movements within the country as well as refugees enteringthe country. Governments no longer need to refer to satellite images for thepurposes of tracking these migrations, rather the now humble mobile thatprovides real-time locations. The mobile phone has becomethe new evolutionary human appendage in a world that makes its use ever moreessential in conducting the most banal tasks. It can be used to create abehavioral profile and baseline for each user to the point of becoming eerilypredictive. Surveillance | The DarkPast is Darker Today An article published in TheEconomist on April 21, 2012 entitled WhatMakes Heroic Strife discussed a software called Condor which reviews datafrom social media and then creates a sentiment analysis for the purposes ofpredicting not only the course of existing protests rather predictive beforethey begin. It added that Lockheed MartinsWorldwide Integrated Crisis Early Warning System project serves as a socialradar for long-term forecasts of potential civil unrest and suggest countermeasures. If these capabilities were inplace over 10 years ago, imagine the technological surveillance advancement inplace today with more tech firms involved in such operations. Throughtheir electronic devices, specifically mobiles, participating governments will beable to track these migrants and enough data to predict their destination(s) likethe weather. Furthermore,the technical profile of the mobile itself could provide enough information onthe large swaths of refugees to create a profile of their racial/ethnic/religiousbackgrounds, languages and dialects spoken, phraseology, etc. It comes as closeas a biometric analysis without using biometrics. Whether these methods are ethical,moral or legal is debatable. Withrespect to the good cop role, this data will enable the destinationgovernments to prepare with enough food, water, shelter and security to better handlethe flood of refugees. Withrespect to the bad cop role, the authorities will already have enoughinformation to create a dossier of every adult migrant even more efficientlythan the Nazis ever did upon arrival at the camps. Thecost? Food, water, and shelter could be provided in exchange of the collectionof biometric data from each recipient of aid which would expand their alreadycomprehensive database. The difference will be that there will be far morehighly educated refugees among the masses as their biometric data are obtained. Conclusion Withthis insidiously Orwellian biometric tag & release program under the guiseof national security, passports will merely be a secondary hard-copy documentfor identification but still an official requirement to enter, reside and workin a country. Becauseinternational law is reactive the biometric data will have already beencollected by the millions and established as the indelible identifier forhundreds of millions of law-abiding citizens worldwide whose only crime wasto cross borders to survive. Copyright 2022 Cerulean CouncilLLC The Cerulean Council is aNYC-based think-tank that provides prescient, beyond-the-horizon, contrarianperspectives and risk assessments on geopolitical dynamics and global urbansecurity. China renews yellow alert for heat waves in multiple regions Xinhua) 14:34, July 17, 2022 BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Sunday continued to issue a yellow alert for high temperatures as intense heat waves linger in many regions of the country. During daylight hours on Sunday, parts of Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Hubei and other areas are expected to experience temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center said. Temperatures in parts of Shaanxi and Zhejiang may surpass 40 degrees Celsius, the center said. The center advised against outdoor activities during high-temperature periods in the afternoon and suggested workers exposed to high temperatures or who need to work for a long time outdoors take necessary protective measures. China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji) 21 Pro Video Three people were injured after a driver, accused of being intoxicated, ran a red light and crashed into a vehicle on the Northwest Side early Sunday morning, San Antonio police said. A 20-year-old woman was driving a black Toyota Camry around 2:30 a.m. when she is accused of running a stop light at the intersection of Callaghan and Evers roads. Days after officers waited for more than an hour to confront a gunman who had massacred 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, Uvalde city officials tried to convince state leaders to go along with a narrative painting the police response as heroic. Uvalde officials presented the proposed narrative to Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee at a meeting at Uvalde City Hall on June 2. Gov. Greg Abbotts chief of staff, Luis Saenz, was on hand, too. The narrative would have blunted criticism of authorities handling of the rampage, leveled by both McCraw and Abbott in separate news conference on May 27, three days after the shooting. The total number of persons saved by the heroes that are local law enforcement and the other assisting agencies is over 500 per (the Uvalde Consolidated ISD), city officials claimed in the document. 40 minutes were not wasted but each minute was used to save lives of children and teachers. But for (Uvalde Police Department) and UCISD being on scene IMMEDIATELY, that shooter would have had free range on the school. A surveillance video leaked last week to the news media shows police gathering in the hallway outside classrooms 111 and 112, scene of the killings, but failing to confront the gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, of Uvalde for more than an hour. On ExpressNews.com: Morning of chaos: A reconstruction of how the Uvalde massacre unfolded Ramos sporadically fired his assault-style rifle while officers waited in the hallway. Uvalde City Attorney Paul Tarski distributed the narrative during the June 2 meeting. My recollection is that (Uvalde Mayor Donald McLaughlin Jr.) was upset with the way that DPS had conducted the press conferences, and they had prepared that narrative and they were going to release it, Busbee said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News. And then I objected to it because the investigation had just begun so we did not know if that was a true assessment of what transpired. There was no way for us to tell or assess whether or not that narrative was accurate. Busbees office is investigating the school shooting and how officers on the scene responded. Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell, County Attorney John Dodson, Uvalde Assistant City Manager Joe Cardenas also attended the meeting, as well as Victor Escalon, director of DPS South Texas Region, and Freeman Martin, DPS deputy director of Homeland Security Operations. Ultimately, the narrative was not released to the public. I still dont know whether that narrative is correct because were still (early) in the investigation, Busbee said. If you are going to release something to the public that is further going to create confusion and may be misleading, you would have to walk it back. By early June, state officials had already reversed course once. A day after the May 24 shooting, Abbott claimed during a news conference in Uvalde that officers had responded heroically. But then investigators obtained the hallway surveillance video. At my directive, the scope of the investigation broadened, said Busbee, whod reviewed the video. The probe would include a close examination of the responding officers action. Related: Who is the Uvalde DA? And who if anyone will she prosecute in school-shooting probe? At his May 27 news conference, Abbott said he was furious that he had been misled. By June 2, Mayor McLaughlin had become increasingly irate over McCraws briefings with reporters and lawmakers. McCraw appeared to cast blame on local officers in particular the on-scene commander, Uvalde school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo for holding back instead of quickly confronting and shooting the killer. After some of those briefings, McLaughlin complained to reporters that DPS was not highlighting the actions of its own officers or those from other agencies that responded to the shooting. The city on Saturday released the narrative, but declined to answer questions. Excerpts from the narrative: Within 5 minutes of receiving a report of an accident at approximately 11:30 a.m. on May 24, Patrol Officers (Jesus) Mendoza and (Juan) Saucedo and their Patrol Sargent, Daniel Coronado, were on scene taking fire. They immediately pursued the suspect as he ran to Robb School. Officers Pete Arredondo, Donald Page, Daniel Coronado and Adrian Gonzalez followed the sound of gun fire and entered the west end of Robb School while officers Javy Martinez and Eddie Canales entered the east end of Robb School, also following the sound of gunfire. There was zero hesitation on any of these officers part, they moved directly towards the gunfire. They immediately approached the door and were fired upon by the suspect with an AR rifle approximately four times, with Eddie Canales taking shrapnel to his ear and Javi Martinez being grazed by a bullet to the head. With both officers bleeding, they took cover a few yards down the hall to avoid fire and called for backup. US Marshals arrived with the shields. NO ONE ELSE, not UPD, not UCISD, not Border Patrol, not DPS, not Homeland security and not any other agency had shields available. Bortac insisted that all the rooms be cleared, i.e. all the children and teachers be removed, PRIOR to use of the shields and the breach of Room 112. Absent the shields, every UPD officer was of the opinion that breaching the door was suicide and every Texas Ranger or DPS agent who took their statements agreed Not a single officer present, including DPS troopers and Texas Rangers, believed they could save lives by approaching that door and being killed one by one. guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland Despite predictions of a Republican wave election this fall, Beto ORourke and other Democratic candidates for governor in traditionally red states including Florida and Georgia continue to raise big money and produce polling numbers that suggest they have a legitimate shot this fall. Democrats havent had a governor in any of those three states since the 1990s, yet even with President Joe Bidens approval ratings in the tank and the midterms shaping up as a referendum on the lagging economy, ORourke in Texas, Stacey Abrams in Georgia, and Charlie Crist are scoring early. The common threads between the three candidates include track records as aggressive campaigners, established name recognition, and a proven ability to raise the the tens of millions of dollars it takes to get their messages out. CAMPAIGN TRAIL: Beto ORourke, Gov. Greg Abbott shatter Texas fundraising records All of that may not be enough for them to win in November, but they have already made the races far more competitive than they would have been otherwise, political analysts say. Key dates for the 2022 elections Oct. 12: Last day to register to vote Oct.. 24: First day of in-person early voting Nov. 4: Last day for in-person early voting Nov. 8: Election Day See More Collapse Democrats are fortunate that they have very credible candidates, said Kyle Kondik, of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Otherwise we wouldnt even be talking about these races. Yet all three face an uphill climb, he said: The environment is really bad for Democrats still. Ad buys, sign up sheets, road trips The last three big public polls in Texas show ORourke within 6 percentage points of Gov. Greg Abbott. In Georgia, public polling shows Abrams and Gov. Brian Kemp in a dead heat. And in Florida, Crist, a former Republican governor turned Democrat, is still locked in a competitive primary, but is favored to emerge and challenge Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. If Republicans are worried, they arent letting on. Were right on track with where we want to be, said Dave Carney, Abbotts chief political strategist. Carney said Abbotts team is confident he has more potential voters than ORourke and they are extremely confident that they are going to win the turnout battle and win. Abbotts campaign has already rolled out plans for an aggressive TV ad buy that includes record advertising on Spanish-language media to help Abbott win the Hispanic vote a goal Abbott has repeatedly said hes aiming for. Abbott, a 64-year-old Wichita Falls native, is seeking his third term as governor. Hes already made clear hell continue to campaign on border security and the states strong economic numbers two of the most important issues for Texas voters, according to public polling. On the flip side, ORourke said tightening polls and a surge of volunteers have brought an energy to his campaign that gives them a real chance of defeating Abbott. As the Texas Democratic Party Convention wrapped up, ORourke was planning 70 campaign events during a 49-day road trip starting this week. While polling still shows issues like the Supreme Courts ruling overturning federal abortion protections, and outcry over the mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school havent changed the dynamics of the race, ORourkes campaign said those events fueled a big surge in volunteers. They said 52,000 people have volunteered for door knocking and making phone calls on ORourkes behalf since the abortion ruling. The result was that in June, ORourkes campaign says its volunteers have knocked on 105,000 doors, made 1 million phone calls, and wrote more than 100,000 personalized letters to potential supporters. We are going to win this race, ORourke told dozens of supporters in Hidalgo County on the Texas border last week. ORourke, a 49-year-old El Paso native, is a former member of Congress and El Paso City Council member. On Friday his campaign announced it had raised another $27.6 million and has now topped more than $40 million since he jumped into the race in November 2021. Abbott meanwhile announced hes raised $24.9 million and has raised over $109 since starting his re-election bid in 2019. Trump looms over races A key problem for ORourke and the Democrats in Georgia and Florida is that they dont control their fate. President Joe Bidens approval ratings are so low in those three states that all three are going to have a problem in turning out the vote, said David Johnson, a Republican political consultant based in Atlanta. These are some of the worst Ive ever seen, Johnson said of Bidens approval numbers. Before the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, public polling showed Biden with an average of more than 50 percent of voters approving of how he was handling his job, according to the data analysis website FiveThirtyEight. Now, his approval rating is averaging around 38 percent below the ratings previous Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush received heading into their first midterm election cycles after winning the White House. The result is Democrats for governor are going to have to vastly outperform Biden if they are going to have even a chance, Johnson said. But there is a wild card, too: Trump. Johnson said Trump has already made life more difficult for Republicans in Georgia, where hes feuded with Kemp, who he blamed for his loss to Biden in Georgia in 2020. There are a lot of die-hard Trump supporters here who arent going to vote for Kemp, Johnson said. Similarly in Florida, Trump has been taking jabs at DeSantis, who has been getting a lot of attention as a possible GOP presidential candidate over Trump in 2024. Abbott doesnt have the same problem with Trump, but Johnson said if Trump starts making moves in the fall to run for president again in 2024, he could quickly supplant Biden as a major influence in the elections. That could be trouble for Republicans given the anti-Trump sentiment in 2018 that fueled incredibly close races for ORourke in Texas and Abrams in Georgia. Everyones fear is Trump announces hes running for president during the middle of the midterm elections, Johnson said. Trump hinted at the drama himself in an interview with New York Magazine, in which he said hes already decided whether hell run for president, but hasnt chosen whether to break the news before or after the midterms. Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision, Trump said. Incumbents have 85% re-election rate With or without Trump in the mix, Kondik said incumbent governors are very hard to defeat for re-election. Since 1992, there have been 206 governors who ran for re-election, with 176 winning another term, an 85 percent success rate. An incumbent governor hasnt lost in Texas since Democrat Ann Richards lost to George W. Bush in 1994. Kondik said when an incumbent falls, its often because of a combination of bad approval ratings and some other issues that motivate voters. In the case of Texas, he said uncertainty about the reliability of the states power grid and public reaction to the Uvalde shooting give ORourke a chance to make his case to voters. Both issues have become central pieces to ORourke stump speeches and his campaign message as a whole. On Friday, he slammed Abbott for the failings of the power supply after the states grid managers called for residents to conserve energy for the third time this summer because energy demand was outstripping its supply. The February 2021 energy crisis that left millions of Texans without power in frigid conditions and caused several hundred deaths has been a constant theme for ORourke, who has pledged to fix it. When we win, were fixing the grid, ORourke said on Thursday in a social media post. Still, Kondik said everything is going to have to break right for ORourke, Abrams and Crist if they are going to overcome the anchor Biden has become. In order to salvage their prospects in the midterms, Democrats will have to run markedly ahead of Bidens approval rating, he said. jeremy.wallace@chron.com U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz blasted the Supreme Court on Saturday for the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country. In a clip from a Verdict+ podcast uploaded to YouTube, Cruz called the Obergefell ruling vulnerable, in light of the recent overturning of Roe. v. Wade. "I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided," Cruz said. "It was the court overreaching, Cruz was echoing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote in his concurring opinion that the Supreme Court should reconsider its past rulings codifying rights to contraception and same-sex marriage. He also said that, unlike Roe, he can't see the ruling being overturned. "You've got a ton of people who have entered into gay marriages and it would be more than a little chaotic for the court to do something that somehow disrupted those marriages that have been entered into in accordance with the law," Cruz said. "I think that would be a factor that would, would counsel restraint, that the court would be concerned about. But to be honest, I don't think this Court has any appetite for overturning any of these decisions. Cruz's comments drew fire on social media. "Always count on Ted to do the wrong thing," political commentator Lindy Li tweeted. A state education committee tasked with advising the Montana Board of Education on changes to school quality regulations deadlocked Friday as it debated whether to support abandoning a requirement that Montana schools employ at least one school counselor for every 400 students. Superintendent of Public Instruction Elise Arntzen and some rural school administrators have argued that mandating a ratio is not necessary and that local officials are better positioned to recognize the needs of their schools students. The issue had fueled months of disagreement on the Office of Public Instructions Chapter 55 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, and triggered an avalanche of public comment in May predominantly favoring the continuation of a student-to-school counselor ratio. A task force selected by Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen had earlier recommended lowering Montanas existing ratio of one counselor for every 400 students to one counselor per 300 students, a figure that more closely aligns with national standards established by the American School Counselor Association. The recommendations Arntzen forwarded to the rulemaking committee contained no ratios. The committee did succeed in reaching consensus on proposed changes to 49 other regulations governing Montana schools, agreeing, for example, to eliminate ratio requirements for school librarians. Those recommendations, along with a description of the committees discussions of the counselor ratio, will be forwarded to the Montana Board of Public Education for review at an August 15 meeting. The regulations set various standards for classroom sizes, academic offerings and other details that OPI uses to determine a schools accreditation status. Violations of those regulations may result in the state requiring corrective action, and appear on an annual public report compiled by OPI. According to accreditation data presented to the Board of Public Education by OPI in a separate meeting Friday, 14 schools in Montana employed unlicensed school counselors during the 2021-22 school year twice as many as the year prior. The OPI report also said that seven schools had insufficient full-time equivalent school counselor levels and 10 had no school counselor FTEs at all. Debate over rules governing school counseling and library services dominated what was originally slated to be the committees last meeting before passing recommendations to the education board June 30. Members agreed to add this weeks meeting to their timeline in an effort to resolve both issues. The committee agreed Friday to a series of tweaks to language that members said would safeguard school librarians as essential staff while granting flexibilities to districts struggling to fill vacant librarian positions. But the divide over the counseling issue persisted despite three additional hours of discussion over proposed compromises. Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Sharyl Allen led one side of the debate, arguing that ratios do not lead to better mental health or academic performance outcomes for students. Her statements Friday were in line with previous arguments made by Arntzen, who has defended the elimination of state-mandated ratios as a way of granting local school officials greater control and flexibility to meet their districts needs. Ratios arent going to fly, Allen said during Fridays meeting. She added that she was open to language requiring local school officials to assess the workload placed on individual counselors, but would voice dissent on any proposal that included a number. Patti Drake, clerk and business manager for the Whitehall School District, echoed Allens concern. Smaller schools already face challenges finding applicants for counseling positions, she said, and continuing to require a specific staffing level to meet accreditation standards could be setting small districts up to fail. Proponents of a counselor ratio have repeatedly countered that absent a state-mandated benchmark, local school officials faced with tight budgets may opt to downsize counseling staffs or outsource those duties to contracted professionals who arent specifically trained to deliver the academic and career guidance school counselors offer. Montana School Counselor Association Executive Director Renee Schoening argued Friday that the quality of school counseling services is directly related to the quantity of staff offering those services. Montana, she continued, should seek to set a minimum standard in its regulations for what a quality school counseling program looks like, and avoid the potential for overloading counselors with more students than they can individually handle. It is a big job, Schoening said, and its hard to do when you have too many students. Under the laws governing the committees process, dissent from a single member of the 22-member committee was enough to halt any proposal from moving forward. Dissent from Allen blocked a proposal that included a cap of 300 students per counselor. Then, dissent from Shoening blocked a second vote on language that would have removed the counselor ratio requirement entirely. Afterward, Allen stated that Arntzen will now present her own recommendation on the school counselor rule to the Board of Public Education. She has not had it drafted, Allen told the committee. Shes going to look at our work today and work from that. A three-year-old boy has died following a collision with a tractor on a farm in Greater Manchester, police have confirmed. An investigation has been launched into the incident, which occurred in the Tottington area of Bury on Saturday afternoon (16 July). Police were called by North West Ambulance Service after an ambulance had been signalled to stop by a vehicle carrying a seriously injured child on Rochdale Old Road. Officers attended and the boy, who has been named as Albie Speakman, was tragically pronounced dead by paramedics before he could be taken to hospital. Enquiries quickly established that the boy had suffered his critical injuries following a collision with a tractor on farmland off Bentley Hall Road. The driver of the tractor is assisting police with enquiries, the force said, and a scene remains in place at the farm while investigators work to establish the circumstances alongside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Chief Inspector Ian Partington said it was a "heart-breaking incident that has seen a young boy tragically lose his life". "My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones who will be utterly devastated by todays events," he added. Despite his family flagging down an ambulance while driving him towards hospital quickly as they could, the boy sadly could not be saved after the best efforts of paramedics. We are working to ensure that a full investigation is carried out, and the farmland where we understand this incident to have occurred remains cordoned off to allow our investigators to conduct thorough enquiries. The tragedy follows the recent death of a teenage farmer, who was killed while working on a farm in Devon on 22 June. A total of 34 people in Britain were killed in agriculture during the past year, according to the latest available figures by HSE. The startling figure compares to an annual average number of 28 fatalities in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors over the last five years. South Korea is unlikely to unilaterally offer duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) market access to products from Bangladesh after the latter graduates from the least developed country (LDC) status in 2026 as other countries with free or preferential trade agreements with South Korea may object. The Bangladesh embassy in Seoul has been informally informed about the decision. In March last year, the Bangladesh mission requested the Korean trade, industries and energy ministry to form a joint feasibility study team on implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but the ministry is yet to inform the mission regarding the issue. The embassy of Bangladesh anticipates an adverse impact on the countrys exports to South Korea as most Asian nations already have regional and bilateral agreements with the latter, according to Bangla media reports. South Korea is unlikely to unilaterally offer duty-free and quota-free market access to products from Bangladesh after the latter graduates from the least developed country status in 2026 as other countries with free or preferential trade agreements with South Korea may object. The Bangladesh embassy in Seoul has been informally informed about the decision.# If the DFQF facility is discontinued, it will discourage South Koreans from investing in Bangladesh, it said. South Korea now offers duty-free market access to Bangladesh in 95 per cent of tariff lines. Bilateral trade between both sides has crossed $2 billion. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) On July 5, 2022, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Algerian War of Independence. Xi Jinping pointed out, sixty years ago, the Algerian people realized national independence and liberation after going through an arduous struggle, writing a glorious chapter of the liberation movements of the Arabian and African peoples. The Chinese government and the Chinese people provided support and assistance to Algeria's independence revolution, and the two countries and two peoples forged a profound friendship during the struggles. In recent years, political mutual trust between the two countries has been strengthened continuously and bilateral practical cooperation has been fruitful, taking the China-Algeria comprehensive strategic partnership to ever new levels. I attach great importance to the development of China-Algeria relations and stand ready to work with President Tebboune to push forward exchanges and cooperation in all fields within the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation for the benefit of the two countries and two peoples. On the same day, Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory message to Algerian Prime Minister Aymene Benabderrahmane. Li Keqiang said, since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 64 years ago, bilateral relations have been developing in a sound and stable manner. I would like to join hands with Prime Minister Aymene Benabderrahmane to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, enrich the China-Algeria comprehensive strategic partnership and continuously improve the well-being of the two peoples. On July 12, 2022 local time, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob met with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was visiting Malaysia upon invitation, in Kuala Lumpur. Wang Yi first conveyed Chinese leaders' cordial greetings to Prime Minister Ismail, and said that China and Malaysia enjoy a traditional friendship spanning over a thousand years and are strategic partners of mutually beneficial cooperation. China-Malaysia relations have withstood the test of changes in the international landscape and respective domestic situations, and maintained a sound and steady momentum of development, bringing important well-being to the two countries and two peoples, and making positive contributions to peace and prosperity in the region and the world at large. China is ready to take the opportunity of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries next year, as well as the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia the year after next, to determine new directions, set new goals, plan new priorities and open new chapters for the development of bilateral relations in the next stage. It's important to strengthen all-round cooperation between the two sides in connectivity, digital economy, green development and agriculture, among others. China encourages and renders support to Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Malaysia, with a view to helping Malaysia accelerate its industrialization. Wang Yi said, China has always viewed China-Malaysia relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, supported Malaysia in playing an important role in regional and international affairs, and appreciated Malaysia's attendance at the High-level Dialogue on Global Development as an important representative of developing countries and emerging markets, as well as Malaysia's positive contributions to building consensus on global development. In the face of the intertwined changes and turbulence in the international situation, China is ready to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with Malaysia to inject more stability into today's world. Wang Yi said, the vision of a "World Family" put forward by Mr. Prime Minister and a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping share similar concepts and same goals. China is ready to strengthen synergy with Malaysia, and go hand in hand in the direction of building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, so as to inject new connotations into the friendship between the two countries in accordance with the trend of the times, and contribute the strengths of China and Malaysia to the progress of humanity. Ismail asked Wang Yi to convey his cordial greetings to Chinese leaders, and thanked China for providing invaluable support for Malaysia in fighting the pandemic. He said, Malaysia-China relations are of vital importance, and bilateral friendship dates back to ancient times. Malaysia was the first ASEAN country to establish diplomatic relations with China, with pragmatic cooperation between the two countries yielding fruitful results and major projects progressing smoothly. Malaysia has high expectations for the future of bilateral relations, and stands ready to deepen connectivity and bilateral cooperation in various fields, and explore a way to actively participate in the Pan-Asia railway network cooperation. More Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest in Malaysia and carry out cooperation in 5G and other high-tech fields, so as to help Malaysia achieve innovative, inclusive and sustainable development. Ismail said, Malaysia attaches great importance to the important initiatives recently put forward by President Xi Jinping, and appreciates the Chinese side's efforts to contribute China's proposals to global governance. The Malaysian side is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China in multilateral affairs, work in concert to address pressing global challenges such as food security, jointly maintain peace and stability, and champion fairness and justice. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern. Givaudan About Givaudan Givaudan is the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances, with its heritage stretching back over 250 years, the Company has a long history of innovating tastes and scents. From a favourite drink to your daily meal, from prestige perfumes to cosmetics and laundry care, its creations inspire emotions and delight millions of consumers the world over. The Company is committed to driving purpose-led, long-term growth while leading the way to improve happiness and health for people and nature. In the fiscal year 2019, the company employed over 14,900 people worldwide and achieved sales of CHF 6.2 billion and a free cash flow of 12.7% of sales. Lets imagine together on www.givaudan.com. About Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing Powered by innovation and creativity, Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing aims to shape the future of food by becoming the co-creation partner of choice to its customers. Built on its global leadership position in flavours and taste, the Company goes beyond to create food experiences that do good and feel good, for body, mind and planet. With an expanded portfolio of products across flavours, taste, functional and nutritional solutions and a deep knowledge of the food ecosystem, Givaudans passion is to collaborate with customers and partners to develop game changing innovations in food and beverage. Lets imagine together the future of food. Learn more at www.givaudan.com/taste-wellbeing. Ignitis Renewables Projektai, a subsidiary of Ignitis Renewables, which is owned by AB Ignitis grupe (hereinafter the Group), on 13 July has signed a letter of intent with electricity transmission system operator Litgrid AB securing grid capacity in Jonava region, Lithuania for connection of 252 MW capacity solar park which is under development. Projects final investment decision will be made at a later stage of the projects development. Investments are estimated to reach up to EUR 200 million. It would be the largest greenfield investment project initiated by the Group thus far. Furthermore, in the future the Group sees an additional development potential in this location. The solar park is planned to be constructed and start generating electricity by 2025. The park should operate under market conditions. Project implementation also requires receiving over the next few months a permit to develop the electricity generation capacity from National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC). Ignitis Renewables is a green energy company operating in the Baltic states and Poland. It is responsible for developing onshore and offshore wind, solar energy, biomass and waste-to-energy projects and their further management. The company develops new projects in pursuit of Ignitis Groups strategic goal to reach 4 GW installed green generation capacity by 2030. The Groups total onshore wind and solar greenfield projects portfolio now is around 650 MW. For more information please contact: Arturas Ketlerius Head of Public Relations at Ignitis Group arturas.ketlerius@ignitis.lt +370 6 207 6076 Newark, July 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by The Brainy Insights, the global drone package delivery market is expected to grow from USD 213 million in 2021 to USD 7168.8 million by 2030, at a CAGR of 47.8% during the forecast period 2022-2030. Several logistics and transportation companies are investing mainly in building efficient infrastructure for drone package delivery. Drone package delivery is an efficient and innovative transportation service for delivering packages, parcels, medical needs, and commercial goods. They deliver products in a short time and with high accuracy with minimal intervention of humans. Prominent technological companies such as Zipline, United parcel service of America (U.P.S.), and Deutsche post-DHL group are heavily investing in developing more advanced drones to deliver all kinds of packages and to any location. Drones have a small airframe structure, high durability, motion sensing, and location tracking features that propel the market's growth. Enhanced technology like Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) is widely used to develop drones that can work effectively and swiftly in delivering packages. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/12826 Competitive Strategy To enhance their market position in the global drone package delivery market, the key players are now focusing on adopting the strategies such as product innovations, mergers & acquisitions, recent developments, joint ventures, collaborations, and partnerships. In February 2021, a legal agreement was signed by Zipline with the Kaduna State Government for the use of drones in the health supply chain system. The drone delivery system will include daily medical supplies, such as medicines, medical equipment, blood pints, and planned delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. Market Growth & Trends There is an increase in the use of the drone package delivery system in the commercial and civil applications for various logistics and transportation purposes in agricultural and core sectors, enhancing the market's growth. Drones used for commercial applications can sustain temperatures between 0-40 degrees Celsius and winds up to 36 km/h; hence according to research, drones can fly only for about 10 hours on average, which is a significant limitation for the market's growth. Technological developments are being introduced, like shifting from VTOL to fixed-wing forward flight, cloud-dependent services, and unified aerial traffic management systems in the drone package delivery system, which is expected to provide an opportunity for the market's growth during the forecast period. Manufacturing companies are also trying to make the components of drones cost-effective and make the system capable of flying with heavy loads to longer distances. However, the high price associated with the latest technological developments in these drone package delivery systems is expected to challenge the market's growth during the forecast period. For more information in the analysis of this report, speak to research analyst: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/12826 Key Findings In 2021, the hybrid segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 44.8% and a market revenue of 95.4 million. The product type segment is divided into fixed-wings, multirotor, and hybrid. In 2021, the hybrid segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 44.8% and a market revenue of 95.4 million. Hybrid drones are suitable for quick vertical takeoff and landing and capable enough to avoid any collision that drives the segment's growth. In 2021, the <2KG segment accounted for the largest share of the market, with 42% and market revenue of 89.4 million. The package size segment is divided into <2KG, 2-5 K.G., and >5 K.G. In 2021, the <2KG segment accounted for the largest share of the market, with 42% and market revenue of 89.4 million. Drones are widely used to deliver packages such as food supplies and medical products which usually weight less than 2 kg, driving the segment's growth. In 2021, the medical and healthcare segment accounted for the largest share of the market, with 48% and a market revenue of 102.2 million. The End-user segment is divided into medical and healthcare, and retails. In 2021, the medical and healthcare segment accounted for the largest share of the market, with 48% and a market revenue of 102.2 million. The segment has been growing owing to the high demand for medical products, vaccines, medicines, lab samples, etc., which need urgent delivery in the hospitals. Quick Buy - Drone Package Delivery Market Research Report: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/buy-now/12826/single Regional Segment Analysis of the Drone Package Delivery Market North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC) South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America) The Middle East and Africa (U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of M.E.A.) Among all regions, North America emerged as the largest market for the global drone package delivery market, with a market share of around 39.6% and 84.3 million of the market revenue in 2021. The drone package delivery market in the region has been expanding due to the presence of prominent manufacturers. Furthermore, the rising adoption of drone package delivery by the e-commerce sector propelled the market's growth in the region. Key players operating in the global drone package delivery market are: Amazon.com Inc. DHL International GmbH United Parcel Service of America, Inc. Zipline Matternet Inc. Airbus S.A.S. FedEx EHang Wing Aviation Boeing This study forecasts revenue at global, regional, and country levels from 2019 to 2030. Brainy Insights has segmented the global drone package delivery market based on the below-mentioned segments: Global Drone Package Delivery Market by Product Type: Fixed-Wings Multirotor Hybrid Global Drone Package Delivery Market by Package Size: <2KG 2-5 K.G. >5 K.G. Global Drone Package Delivery Market by End-User: Medical and Healthcare Retails About the report: The global drone package delivery market is analyzed based on value (USD Million). All the segments have been analyzed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyzes driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining critical insight into the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, raw material analysis, supply, demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis. Get more information: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com About The Brainy Insights: The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market. Contact Us Avinash D Head of Business Development Phone: +1-315-215-1633 Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT NO 39/2022 17 JULY 2022 The following correction is made to company announcement no. 38/2022 of 15 July 2022, as the enterprise value in DKK has been changed to around DKK 250 million from previously around DKK 300 million. The paragraph containing the enterprise value of the deal is therefore changed to: The acquisition of Amsterdam Brewery Co. Ltd. is based on an enterprise value of CAD 44 million (around DKK 250 million) on a debt free basis. Amsterdam Brewery Co. Ltd. has normalized revenue of around CAD 34 million (around DKK 200 million) and a normalised annual EBITDA of around CAD 5 million (around DKK 28 million). For further information on this Announcement: Investor and Media Relations: Jonas Guldborg Hansen, tel (+45) 20 10 12 45 www.royalunibrew.com Attachment The Formula 1 calendar is going to change considerably for 2023. The South African Grand Prix is imminent and the weekend in Las Vegas has already been confirmed for next season. On the other hand, the GPs in Belgium and France may not be on the programme. Verstappen would welcome a return of the South African GP. Article continues under ad "When you look at the continents where you race, I think we definitely need to try and pursue a bit more into Africa. At the moment, it looks the most likely place to go to is South Africa because they already have a track and they [F1] have been there before," Verstappen said in an interview with LADbible. Deal almost done The deal with the Kyalami circuit is said to be almost done. The intention is that a multi-year commitment will be signed. The last time the premier class of motor racing touched down was in 1993. The circuit is still in reasonable condition, as it was renovated not too long ago. This earned the track a Grade 2 licence. To host Formula 1, a Grade 1 licence is required. According to the latest rumours, this should not be too difficult to achieve. Extra run-off and an investment TecPro are the main requirements to receive the proper certification. Spa uncertain It is known from Max Verstappen that Spa-Francorchamps is his favourite track on the Formula 1 calendar. So it would be a bit harsh if his beloved Belgian Grand Prix disappears in favour of South Africa. The world would be a better place with Rosa DeLauros policies in effect. She is known as a liberal, but the longtime U.S. representative from New Haven is not pushing anything radical. Her ideas would mostly put the United States on par with other rich nations around the world paid family leave, higher minimum wage, better health care. Its clear she believes in such policies for their own sake, but also in their political potency. Make peoples lives better, in other words, and the party responsible will reap electoral gains. You have to put yourself in their shoes, she said in a recent interview. But its not clear those political benefits are real. DeLauro, who recently toured the state touting Connecticuts new paid leave law with promises to push for such a program nationally, is a big believer in so-called kitchen table issues. These are defined as the kind of problems families face getting by in a changing world, when everything is more expensive and red tape is harder to cut through. People just need a break, and politicians can help provide one. Paid family leave is a great example. Business groups fought against it, and everyone pays for it via state taxes, but the benefits for those who have availed themselves of the new policy are real. Nearly everyone has faced a situation where they need to care for a sick loved one, or maybe want some time with a newborn baby, but worry about the impact on their job. Workers in the United States are guaranteed time off without fear of losing their jobs, but its not paid. And few people can afford any significant time without a paycheck. So public servants step in and try to solve the problem. The result, in Connecticut, is a successful program that is meeting peoples real-world needs and should be used as a model for other states. That counts as a win for the politicians who backed it. Do voters then reward those politicians for having made their lives better? Thats much murkier. For example, take DeLauros signature policy, the expanded child tax credit. This was part of the pandemic relief package signed at the start of the Biden presidency, and it quickly put money into peoples pockets. And they spent it on things they needed survey results showed people using it on school expenses, food and other basic household costs. Kitchen table stuff, in other words. But even as voters reacted positively, it wasnt moving them politically. The same surveys showed that even people who needed the extra money werent necessarily crediting Democrats and werent likely to change their votes because of it. The evidence that individual policies can sway voters is scant at best people just arent paying enough attention, even in a period where everything is politicized. And it doesnt help that extending the child tax credit was doomed by Senate centrists like Joe Manchin, who claimed without evidence that recipients would use it to buy drugs. Despite questionable results, Democrats, typified by DeLauro and her close ally Nancy Pelosi, have steadfastly pushed forward with this approach, even when confronted by daily outrages from the Trump-led Republican Party. Consider the case for impeaching the former president, which grew from the day he took office. As scandals mounted, even someone as on-the-record cautious as Jim Himes in the Fourth District came around for impeachment in 2019. (This was before news broke of Trumps call to the president of Ukraine and the entire Connecticut delegation got on board). The day Himes announced his support for impeachment, DeLauro issued a statement saying she wasnt with him. We must not lose focus on the kitchen table issues that matter to working families, she said. None of this hurts DeLauro personally. She will likely win reelection in the Third District as long as she decides to keep running. But for Democrats nationally, its a different story. Theyre continually going on about kitchen table issues even as Republicans are running roughshod over the nation. The crisis of American democracy is clear and growing. Democrats are wont to blame their problems on messaging. If only more people knew about their great policies, they would be showered with electoral benefits. Its possible. But theyve been going down this road for a long time, with national Republicans pushing ever-more-extreme positions and Democrats retreating to the same themes as always. Its time to try something new. Its not an issue of insufficient partisanship. DeLauro and Pelosi fight hard for what their party believes in, unlike the cringe-inducing paeans to bipartisanship we still, in 2022, hear from the White House. But theres reason to question the partys priorities. Our democracy is at risk, Pelosi said just days ago. But what we are campaigning on are the kitchen table issues that affect Americas working families. Theres nothing wrong with the kitchen table. We need people like Rosa DeLauro fighting for things like food safety and cheaper prescription drugs. That needs to be central to Democrats mission. But when thats all the party has to offer, it leads to immense frustration. You cant have one party checking off its Supreme Court wish list while the other says, Were working to lower your insurance premiums. Not everything can be hashed out at the kitchen table. Hugh Bailey is editorial page editor of the Connecticut Post and New Haven Register. He can be reached at hbailey@hearstmediact.com. Week 28 in review: Nothing phone (1) is official, HMD announces cheap Nokia phones The biggest story this week was the announcement of the Nothing phone (1). But it was more of a confirmation as we pretty much had a complete image of the phone. The handset comes with a recycled aluminum frame, a 6.55-inch 1080x2400 120Hz OLED touchscreen with 1,200 nits peak brightness, 240Hz touch sampling rate, Gorilla Glass 5 on top, and symmetrical bezels on all four sides. The Snapdragon 778G+ chipset sits at the helm, and a dual rear camera system comprising of a 50MP f/1.88 Sony IMX766 1/1.56" main unit with OIS and a 50MP f/2.2 Samsung JN1 1/2.76" ultrawide camera with a 114-degree field-of-view. On the other side, embedded in the hole punch within the display, sits a 16 MP SonyIMX471 selfie shooter. The Nothing phone (1) will be priced at 469 / 399 / INR 32,999 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, 499 / 449 / INR 35,999 with 8/256GB, and 549 / 499 / INR 38,999 with 12/256GB. This last version will arrive later than the other two. Aside from the UK, the Nothing phone (1) will be offered in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Macau, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and UAE. HMD brought us back in time with the unveil of the Nokia 8210 4G, a throwback to the Nokia 8210 from 1999, as well as the Nokia 2660 Flip, and Nokia 5710 XpressAudio - a candybar handset with built-in wireless earbuds. Nokia 5710 XpressAudio is the most exciting offering out of the bunch thanks to its built-in wireless earbuds. The back of the phone features a sliding mechanism that houses the buds and charges them while not in use. You can use the buds to listen to music stored on the device (up to 32GB storage via the microSD slot) or FM Radio and you can also connect them to any other device like a smartphone or tablet. The phone also has a headphone jack if you prefer that route. Nokia 8210 4G takes its design from the classic model launched in 1999 but updates the hardware on all fronts. Theres a 2.8 QVGA color display, LTE connectivity and support for up to 32GB of storage via a microSD card. The phone is made from polycarbonate and comes in sand, blue and red colors. Theres a removable 1,450 mAH battery rated at up to 6 hours of talktime on 4G and up to 19 days on standby. Other extras include an FM Radio receiver that works with both wired and wireless earbuds, a built-in MP3 player and the fan-favorite Snake game. Nokia 2660 Flip is the third new entry and brings similar specs to the other two new Nokia feature phones but in a clamshell form. It has a 2.8 QVGA main screen, a secondary 1.77-inch panel, a VGA camera, and a 1,450mAh battery rated at up to 20 days on standby. All three phones are coming top the UK later this month. The Nokia 8210 4G and Nokia 2660 Flip will retail for 64.99 (59) while the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio will go for 74.99 (69). HMD also unveiled the Nokia T10 - an 8-inch (1280x800px) tablet with optional LTE, 5,250mAh battery, and a 159 ($159) price tag. An iPhone 14 Pro Max dummy surfaced, showing what the new pill-shaped notch will look like. Well, like a pill-shaped notch. It allows Apple to fit Face ID into a design familiar to Android users since the time Nokia still ran Windows Phone. You can find the full list of hot topics of the week below. Xiaomi 12S Ultra vs. Mi 11 Ultra shootout A full review of the 12S Ultra is on the way, but we thought you would appreciate a quick look at the capabilities of the new Leica-branded camera. iPhone 14 Pro Max dummy shows the dual punch hole design on the front A pill shaped opening will house the Face ID system, a round hole will hold the upgraded FaceTime camera. The best Amazon Prime Day Deals on smartphones in the US Amazon's big sales event ends today, here are some of the best smartphone deals that we picked out. Asus Zenfone 9 is coming on July 28 Leaked promo video revealed it will come with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and a 5.9" 120Hz AMOLED screen. First 200 MP camera sample from Moto Edge 30 Ultra emerges Company exec posts a photo with the phone thats going to be sold as X30 Pro in China. Motorola Razr 2022 design showcased It will feature a larger outward screen and a new hinge mechanism. Poco F4 5G teardown ends with an average repairability score The camera modules can easily be swapped but the charge port is cumbersome to get to. Huawei Band 7 review Overall, you cant go wrong with the Huawei Band 7 and wed definitely recommend it to a friend! Watch the Nothing phone (1) launch live here The event begins at 16:00 BST and there is a live stream on YouTube. Nokia T10 is an 8 tablet with optional LTE The slate arrives as a more compact and cheaper alternative of the Nokia T20. Red Magic 7S and 7S Pro unveiled with Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipsets Which replace the original 8 Gen 1 chips in the 7-series from February. The active cooling fan is still on board, the Ice Magic Cool system has been reworked. Samsung Galaxy M13 4G and M13 5G announced Both go on open sale in India on July 23. Apple is now barred from importing and selling iPhone 12 and 13 in Colombia As well as some newer iPads with 5G since Ericsson was granted a preliminary injunction against Apple for not paying licensing fees on standard-essential patents. It comes as no surprise the Xiaomi 12S Ultra has people excited. Were still working on the full review, but you can check out the camera samples from the phone in our impromptu 12S Ultra vs. Mi 11 Ultra shootout. Last weeks poll shows that 2 in 3 voters are interested in the new Ultra. Many will even consider importing the phone that 1 Sony sensor is unique and is supported by Leicas lens making know-how and the faster ISP inside the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. As some commenters point out, the import route may be just a pipe dream as Xiaomi doesnt intend for the 12S Ultra to be sold outside of China, it lacks support for certain 4G and 5G bands that may be vital in your region. That said, maybe it does have the right bands for your region. Or maybe Xiaomi will put together an international version (the chip shortage is easing, finally). Even if not, this is one of the most exciting smartphones of 2022 in terms of photography. That is an important qualification because if you dont care about the camera all that much, you would be better served by the Xiaomi 12S Pro. Those extra 22g of weight on the Ultra, the nearly full millimeter of extra thickness not to mention the massive camera bump really put some people off. At the end of the day, the 12S Pro has the same screen and chipset as the Ultra, faster charging too (120W vs. 67W) and it costs less, so why not. And this one is actually coming to global markets soon. Half of voters would be interested in picking up the Pro, though half of those will wait for reviews before making the final decision. Moving on to the Xiaomi 12S, the smallest phone of the trio was also the least convincing. Most people are not interested, though there are still quite a few that that might buy one. We will have to wait and see if they still feel the same way after Xiaomi reveals the global pricing. One recurring complaint in this poll and previous iterations is that some just dont like MIUI and Xiaomis software support schedule. Some enjoy Xiaomis software and are reporting timely updates, but others have had a negative experience. Xiaomi is all-in on MIUI now that the Android One attempts are over, but it might not hurt to have a lighter option available. Back in the day, OnePlus was a brand that worked on phones for enthusiasts the One even ran CyanogenMod. Over the years it transformed into a more traditional smartphone maker, but now one of its co-founders, Carl Pei, has started a new company. Is this a new beginning or just a continuation under a different name? The Nothing phone (1) was announced earlier this week. This is a phone, indeed a company, that prioritizes style. The goal is to break up the monotony of current smartphone design trends (the companys tagline on Twitter is We're here to make tech fun again.). A signature design element is the transparency like the ear (1) TWS buds, the phone (1) uses clear glass to show off some of the internals. Nothing leveraged that with Glyph interface, which uses several strips of white LEDs on the back for some light effects and notifications. The phone also comes with a custom launcher (which you can test drive on your current phone). There is also support for NFTs out of the box as well as for remote controlling certain features on your Tesla. Lets just say that the Nothing phone (1) was built for a particular crowd. Does that limit its appeal? Or does the perceived exclusivity (part of which is the invite-only sales system) make the handset seem all the more appealing? Because if you strip away the glitzy exterior, this could easily have been a OnePlus Nord model. This is a mid-range phone and with a 470/400/33,000 price tag, its not priced all that aggressively. This is for the 8/128GB model, the 8/256GB one is 500/450/36,000 and the 12/256GB one is 550/500/39,000. For that you get a Snapdragon 778G+ (customized to support wireless charging), a 6.55 120Hz HDR10+ OLED display with FHD+ resolution (not an LTPO panel) and a 50MP main camera (IMX766, 1/1.56 with OIS). There is also a 50MP ultrawide unit (114 JN1, 1/2.76), stereo speakers and a 4,500mAh battery with 33W fast charging (0-50% in 30 min, 0-100% in 70 min), plus 15W wireless charging. Theres no telephoto camera, though, nor microSD slot and 3.5mm headphone jack. Nothing is promising three years of OS updates (the phone starts on Android 12) and four years of security patches. That is comparable to Samsung Galaxy A series and the Google Pixel 6 phones. Lets have a look at the competition that the Nothing phone (1) faces. Well start with the OnePlus 9. Its display is basically the same and you get the more powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset. The cameras are comparable (and boast Hasselblad modes), as is the battery. An 8/128GB phone can be found for around 550 with some shopping around. The OnePlus Nord 2 is normally 400, but can be found for a bit less. It has a smaller 6.43 90Hz AMOLED display and is powered by the Dimensity 1300, which should edge out the Snapdragon. The ultrawide camera has only an 8MP sensor and there is no wireless charging. OnePlus 9 OnePlus Nord 2T The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G has a 6.5 120Hz Super AMOLED display (without HDR10 support) and runs on the not-so-exciting Exynos 1280 chipset. The camera department is also quite basic with a 64MP main (1/1.7, OIS) and 12MP Ultra wide. The 5,000mAh battery is larger, but slower to charge (also, no wireless charging). A 6/128GB unit is 360 on Samsung.com and a bit less elsewhere. You could also consider the Galaxy M53, which is more similar to the A73 than the A53. It has a larger 6.7 120Hz Super AMOLED (no HDR) and runs on the less powerful Dimensity 900 chipset. What it does have going for it is the 108MP main camera (no OIS), but the 8MP ultra wide disappoints. The 4,500mAh battery isnt great for this size, but at least it does wireless charging. A 6/128GB unit will set you back 400. The A53 and M53 have microSD slots, but no 3.5mm jacks. You may be better off with the Galaxy S21 FE. It has a 6.4 120Hz AMOLED display with HDR10+ and a Snapdragon 888 chipset, even in Europe. The 12MP main (1/1.76, OIS) and 12MP ultra wide (1/3.0) camera are nothing to write home about, but there is also an 8MP 3x telephoto module (with OIS). This one also has a 4,500mAh battery with wireless charging support. The S21 FE and A53 will be treated to better software support than the M53. The S21 FE (6/128GB) routinely falls under 500. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Samsung Galaxy M53 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G The Redmi Note 1 Pro+ 5G in Europe goes for 400, it has a 6.67 120Hz Super AMOLED display (HDR10) and is powered by the Dimensity 920. Like the M53, it has a 108PM main camera and an 8MP ultra wide. The phone does have a 3.5mm jack and a microSD slot, plus a 4,500mAh battery with 120W fast charging (0-100% in 15 min, no wireless, though). You can pick one up for 350 (6/128GB unit) and you will be getting both a microSD slot and a 3.5mm jack. The Poco F4 uses the old-but-gold Snapdragon 870 and it has a 6.67 120Hz AMOLED display (HDR10+), a 6/128GB unit goes for 400. The Poco X4 GT runs the more exciting Dimensity 8100 chipset and it has a 6.6 144Hz LCD (HDR10), plus a 3.5mm jack. Neither phone has particularly interesting cameras (64+8+2MP, with OIS on the F4). Battery wise, they have only wired charging (67W), the X4 GT battery is larger (5,080mAh vs. 4,500mAh). Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G Xiaomi Poco F4 Xiaomi Poco X4 GT The Realme GT Neo 3T also goes for the Snapdragon 870 and packs a 6.62 120Hz AMOLED display (HDR10+). The 64+8+2MP camera setup doesnt impress here either. There is also a 5,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging (wired only). An 8/128GB phone sells for 430, unless you want the Dragon Ball edition (8/256GB for 500). The Realme GT2 runs on the Snapdragon 888 and it has a 6.62 120Hz AMOLED display (HDR10+). The main camera uses the same IMX766 (50MP, 1/1.56 with OIS) as the Nothing phone, but the 8MP ultra wide is no match. There is a 5,000mAH battery with 65W charging (0-100% in 30 minutes, no wireless). An 8/128GB unit is fairly pricey at 550. Realme GT Neo 3T Realme GT2 If software support is your main concern, you will find the Pixel 6 in some countries at 530 (8/128GB). It uses Googles custom Tensor chipset and has a 6.4 90Hz AMOLED display (HDR10+). The main 50MP sensor is large (1/1.31 with OIS), the 12MP ultra wide camera is behind on resolution. The 4,610mAh battery supports both wired and wireless charging. Google Pixel 6 The Motorola Edge 30 also has a Snapdragon 778G+, though without the wireless charging modification. It has a 6.5 144Hz AMOLED display (HDR10+) and a 4,020mAH battery with 33W wired charging. The camera setup is competitive with a 50MP main sensor (1/1.55, OIS) and 50MP ultra wide (1/2.76). The price on Motorola Germany is 450 (for an 8/128GB unit), but you can find it for less too. The older Moto Edge 20 is also worth a look, it uses the original 778G chip and it has a larger 6.7 144Hz AMOLED display (HDR10+). The main camera boasts a 108MP sensor (1/1.52, no OIS) and there is an 8MP 3x telephoto lens, in addition to the 16MP ultra wide. Like its 30-series sibling, it has a small 4,000mAh battery. You can pick one up for 360. The Moto G200 has a similar setup, though with a 144Hz LCD (HDR10) and a Snapdragon 888+ chipset. The 108MP (1/1.52, no OIS) main camera is in place, but the tele module is gone. At least you get a larger 5,000mAh battery (still no wirelss charging). These go for around 499 (for an 8/128GB unit). Motorola Edge 30 Motorola Edge 20 Motorola Moto G200 5G Alright, time to vote who here will be becoming part of the community of Nothing phone (1) owners? PS. if youre having trouble voting using the poll widget above, cast your vote here. The Guam Department of Education will continue to tackle and address student mental health issues, combining new methods with those already in place for the upcoming school year. We, as a school-based behavioral health program, were looking at really how do we reach students with limited specialized people, said Nadine Cepeda, the departments lead school psychologist. When students returned to face-to-face instruction in November 2021, the abrupt changes in the different modes of learning resulted in learning loss, and the lack of in-person interaction took a toll on students mental health, according to PDN files. Before the school year came to an end, the number of psychological health assessments have greatly increased compared to prior years according to Cepeda. Increased assessments In one of her assigned schools, John F. Kennedy High, Cepeda said that she had to make 14 student assessments within the month of May alone an average usually received within a school year. Cepeda is assigned to more than one school. Im sure theres more students that are faced with challenges and struggle as they return back to school and perhaps are not even coming back to school, Cepeda stated. Their grades are dropping, theyre claiming theyre having anxiety, not wanting to come or refusing to come back to school. Thats what Im assessing to see if there is an impairment, but surely the numbers have gone up. I could see that in regards to the number of referrals. Triggers This year, Assistant Superintendent of Special Education Tom Babauta said the department is trying to emphasize understanding what triggers students, what alleviates the effects and how to better ensure they are able to catch the signs and intervene as soon as possible. Much of their work and training, including a three-day event held in June, focused on social and emotional well-being, reintegration of students, crisis intervention, de-escalation and understanding behaviors of concern. Were trying to get as many folks exposed to the information as possible, the more people that are aware of the behaviors of concern and different indicators, then the more folks that we can have to activate a response, Babauta said. Open dialogue Additionally, Babauta emphasized the importance of open dialogue in properly addressing students exhibiting possible signs. If you know your students and you know them well, and you see somebody that might not be in the proper state of mind or coming in on a consistent basis, maybe either posting something on social media or making certain comments, Babauta said. (Teachers and staff) want to reach out and see if we can intervene. Those are the situations that if not addressed, while theyre small, can end up impacting greater numbers later. According to Cepeda, although theres a public law with strict, stringent guidelines they have to cover within a 45-day wait period, it still is important for students to be screened to identify what level of services a student may need. LGBTQ, special needs students The lack of in-person social and educational support may have also had an even bigger impact on groups like special education students, students facing abuse or neglect at home and LGBTQ students. According to Cepeda, research and data points indicate that youth who identify themselves as part of the LGBTQ community are at greater risk of substance use and suicide. Partners In addition to partnerships with the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, the education department also provides services made possible through a grant with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance and Manelu. With grant support, GALA Executive Director Dr. Tim Dela Cruz has been able to implement a storytelling empowerment curriculum in some schools. According to former Superintendent Jon Fernandez, the pandemic has helped students take an active role in addressing behavioral health issues increasing the demand for mental health awareness and training. Im really glad to hear from the students that they want more discussions about (mental health) because what I worry about is the way we are the status quo is really, we dont talk about those issues at home and in the community, Fernandez said. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Haiti - Insecurity : The UN worried about the increase in violence, asks the authorities to act Saturday July 16 in Geneva, Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) declared at a press conference that the UN organization was deeply concerned by the worsening violence in Port-au-Prince as well as the increase in human rights violations committed by heavily armed gangs against the local population. OHCHR notes that heavily armed gangs are increasingly sophisticated in their actions, carrying out simultaneous, coordinated and organized attacks in different areas. As part of their tactics, some gangs have prevented the local population from accessing basic necessities, such as drinking water and food. This has further aggravated the prevalence of acute malnutrition in the affected areas, especially among children. From January to the end of June, the UN recorded 934 murders, 684 injuries and 680 kidnappings in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. Over a period of five days, from July 8 to 12, 2022, at least 234 people were killed or injured in the violence between rival gangs in Cite Soleil recalled the Spokesperson stressing "Most of the victims were not directly involved in gangs but directly targeted by gang members [...]" Since the beginning of June, gangs have also attacked key institutions in Port-au-Prince, such as the courthouse and the port authority. Threats of attacks have also been reported against the Parliament, the penitentiary services, the National Bank, the Superior Court of Auditors "The State authorities seem overwhelmed by the situation: the institutions are paralyzed by the lack of resources, the corruption and violence, which promotes impunity. Although the Haitian National Police reacted quickly and as much as possible, but its limited resources did not make it possible to stem the violence", explained Jeremy Laurence adding "in this context, the OHCHR calls on those responsible, and those who support this armed violence, to end it immediately, as well as to respect the lives and livelihoods of all Haitians, most of whom live in extreme poverty. Note that in this context, the socio-economic situation which has become critical has provoked street demonstrations, contributing to further deterioration of the security situation. While many residents have barricaded themselves in their homes, many businesses have closed, for fear of looting or reprisals. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37164-haiti-humanitarian-insecurity-prevents-un-agencies-from-providing-relief-in-cite-soleil.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37155-icihaiti-fuel-timid-resumption-of-activities-at-the-varreux-oil-terminal.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37149-haiti-flash-high-level-meeting-of-international-partners-to-discuss-durable-solutions-for-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37138-haiti-flash-thousands-of-brooklyn-residents-hostages-of-the-gang-war-cite-soleil.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37137-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37125-icihaiti-cite-soleil-already-at-least-20-dead-and-50-injured-in-armed-clashes.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37121-haiti-news-zapping.html HL/ HaitiLibre Metasphere Technologies Inc. proudly announces that the firms innovative hotel kiosk solution, called Self Check-In Hub, is approved for Singapores E-Visitor Authentication System. Singaporean hotels can now offer their guests a complete contactless check-in experience with Metaspheres Self Check-In Hub. The E-Visitor Authentication (EVA) System is an initiative by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to create a faster check-in experience. Participating hotels can use biometric facial recognition to authenticate the guests identities and send guest data to the Immigrations & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to verify their stay. We are extremely pleased to share todays news. At Metasphere, we continuously strive to reimagine hotel experiences by streamlining operations and enhancing guests experiences. By eliminating the mundane manual task of checking travel documents, we can reduce the check-in time and offer an entirely contactless self-service solution, said Frank Liu, President, and Founder of Metasphere Technologies Inc. Metasphere Technologies Inc. has already deployed its kiosk solution at Millennium Hotels & Resorts lifestyle hotel, M Social Singapore. The EVA system interface will be available in these hotel kiosks, offering guests a seamless check-in experience. In addition, the EVA integration will be widely available in all of the companys self check-in solutions. As an innovative hotel software company, we consistently invest in product development. For a long time, the biggest hurdle of hotel kiosks has been the manual human intervention to check guests travel documents. This will now belong to the history in Singaporean Hotels, said Frank Liu. Metasphere has an existing partnership with leading brands and firms, including Thales Group, and Assa Abloy, and an interface with Oracles Opera Property Management System. The companys Self Check-In Hub can support contactless check-in, check-out, walk-in reservations, and pre-check-in processes. Frank Liu CEO and Founder View source Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Mail-related check fraud has been rising since last August, according to the Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group at Georgia State University, which has been tracking the trend. It warns that criminals have a pretty easy time when it comes to getting their hands on your checks. In KPMG's survey of senior risk executives, 67% say their companies have experienced external fraud in the past 12 months, and 38% expect the risk of fraud committed by external perpetrators to somewhat increase in the next year. "Some of them simply go to your home mailbox and take the mail you left for the post office to pick up," said David Maimon, an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University and Director of the Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group. "Others simply go to the blue boxes with the keys that they were able to steal from some of the mailmen out there, empty the boxes, and get the checks that some of us send. That's how easy it is." The cybersecurity group found an average of 1,325 stolen checks up for sale every week during October 2021. This was more than double what it saw in September when the average was 634 a week and triple the 409 average in August 2021. More recent numbers indicate an even greater rate of incidents. M3, the hospitality sectors #1 Reporting & Accounting Software, is hearing from more and more customers that are experiencing check fraud that ranges from checks being replicated or physically altered somewhere between when the check is issued, mailed, received, or redirected. The companys goal is to minimize the potential of hospitality companies becoming a victim of check fraud, and has recommended the steps below be taken in order to mitigate the risk of check fraud. Implement Positive Pay with Name Verification . Positive Pay is a banking feature designed to help business owners protect themselves against fraudulent checks being written on their account. Once you give your bank details for each check you write, the bank verifies that your information matches the information on checks presented to the bank before it processes the payment. If any items dont match up, your bank flags them and sends them to you for review. You can then decide if you want to accept or decline the payment. Positive Pay is a banking feature designed to help business owners protect themselves against fraudulent checks being written on their account. Once you give your bank details for each check you write, the bank verifies that your information matches the information on checks presented to the bank before it processes the payment. If any items dont match up, your bank flags them and sends them to you for review. You can then decide if you want to accept or decline the payment. Implement an ePay system, which incorporates ACH and Virtual Credit Card (VCC) technology . ePay systems provide added security against fraudulent activities; especially when checks are eliminated and is easy to set-up and easy to use. It also adds efficiencies to your reconciliation process. In addition, ePay improves overall employee accountability. . ePay systems provide added security against fraudulent activities; especially when checks are eliminated and is easy to set-up and easy to use. It also adds efficiencies to your reconciliation process. In addition, ePay improves overall employee accountability. Complete Your Bank Reconciliations DAILY . Merely checking for similar numbers on the general ledger and bank statements is not good enough and is not offering the most protection against fraud. If you are only reconciling weekly or monthly, the horse may be out of the barn by the time irregularities or fraud is identified. Daily bank reconciliation allows you to nip bank errors in the bud as early as possible, leads to fewer issues and fewer errors, avoids working with outdated information, and helps track daily cash flow providing you the insight you need into the cash flow and spending habits of the property or corporate entity. If you are not reconciling daily, your books may not always equal reality. We are living in a world where, unfortunately, fraud is common and increasing at an alarming rate. Be sure you protect yourself and your company. If you currently are lacking the tools to keep your accounts safe, please contact M3 at [email protected]. About M3 Built by hoteliers, exclusively for hoteliers, M3 is a powerful cloud-based financial platform and services company serving over 7,000 properties across North America's hospitality industry by driving cost savings, revenue enhancement and business insight. After 24 years in business without increasing prices, M3 touts a 95 percent customer retention rate without contracts. Used by over 1,000 management groups and owner operators and hotels of all sizes, the platform works seamlessly with other key systems and tools in the hospitality industry and offers robust accounting and financial analysis across entire portfolios with optional operations and time management features. M3's Professional Services team provides on-demand support for hotels of any size by offering a full range of customized accounting solutions to scale with a hotel's needs. Privately held and employee owned, M3 continues to enhance products and services at no additional charge to its customers. Haley Wolf Marketing and Public Relations Manager +1 770 533 0545 M3 A few hours after polls closed the night of the 2018 midterm, Democrat Beto ORourke was clobbering U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas largest counties, seemingly within reach of an upset win. Then the rural votes poured in. By the end of the night, ORourkes nearly 800,000-vote advantage in the five largest counties had been wiped out by Cruzs million-vote edge in the other 249, powered by white conservatives in sparsely populated areas. Cruz won by 215,000 votes, out of 8.4 million statewide. Four years later, rural Texas remains a bulwark for Republicans as their support continues to erode in urban counties and the fast-growing suburbs. Statewide Democratic nominees, acknowledging they cant afford such lopsided rural losses, insist theyre making a more concerted push this year outside the cities. Theyre focusing their messaging in rural areas on less partisan issues, including shoring up the state power grid, building more rural hospitals, preventing private school vouchers and expanding broadband access. The Republican branding has been incredibly effective, that Democrats want to take your guns, that Democrats are not people of faith, said David Currie, chair of the Texas Democratic Partys Non-Urban/Rural Caucus. I like to talk about four things: education, health care, jobs, and Jesus. The Democratic Party gets labeled as a secular party, and I just don't think that's true. There's a lot of us that are here, because our faith says this is the way we can work with government to help people. The partys flagging performance in rural Texas took center stage in the lead-up to Saturdays election at the Texas Democratic Convention in Dallas, where party delegates narrowly voted to give Gilberto Hinojosa the chair since 2012 another term leading the party. Hinojosas main challenger, retired Air Force colonel Kim Olson, contended that the party has poured too many of its resources into cities and, in doing so, neglected rural areas where Democrats are struggling to recruit down-ballot candidates or even elect local party chairs. At a meeting of the Non-Urban/Rural Caucus Friday, Hinojosa acknowledged the state party hasnt provided enough support to local chairs and party activists outside the cities and suburbs, though he attributed part of the failure last election to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not that I haven't tried, but maybe I haven't tried hard enough, Hinojosa said. Because of the pandemic, he added, we didn't do what we needed to do to help build [in rural Texas]. And there are some issues that are important to you that we need to get better at for example, regional messaging, rural messaging. And I get that. Still, some Democrats said the party plays a limited role in the outcome of statewide elections, which come down instead to the candidates, their campaign tactics and their ability to fundraise. Susan Hays, the Democratic nominee for agriculture commissioner, said a number of Democratic candidates hurt themselves in rural areas last cycle by avoiding in-person campaigning, while Republicans mostly stayed on the campaign trail. People weren't getting out. And a famously terrible strategic decision, to not get out and talk to people, it put the world back online where the misinformation was worse, and where you can't have a dialogue, Hays said, adding that shes more bullish now that Democrats have returned to pre-COVID campaign tactics. Currie, a former chair of the Tom Green County Democratic Party, has also encouraged candidates especially those with less spending power than ORourke to promote their campaigns on the small radio stations and newspapers in rural communities, where ad space is affordable. The rural weeklies, take a half-page ad out. They don't cost anything, Currie said. In San Angelo, you could get a minute commercial on Spanish radio for $10. They ought to be running those things all over the Spanish communities, the rural communities. Everybody out there, theyre listening to those little country radio stations. But even with a more aggressive effort, cutting into the GOPs rural dominance poses a challenge to Democrats, who will have to overcome President Joe Bidens woeful approval among rural voters and the deeply entrenched antipathy toward Democrats in those areas, built over years of political neglect. Early Texas polls, however, have found ORourke and other Democrats are within striking distance of their Republican foes, despite Bidens high rate of disapproval. And some Democrats said they have found rural voters including Biden skeptics are willing to hear them out, especially if theyre running for positions that are less partisan in nature. We think this office actually is something that people can come together on, said Jay Kleberg, the Democratic nominee for land commissioner who is running against Republican Dawn Buckingham. It's land, it's our school children, it's veterans. It's caring for our neighbors in the wake of disasters. People are looking for decency, they're looking for competence. They're looking for something that we can agree on. Kleberg, a conservationist who grew up on his familys sprawling King Ranch between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, said hes also found success on the campaign trail emphasizing his rural roots to voters. In August, Klebergs campaign plans to launch a rural dance hall tour, where hell focus on educating people about the obscure role of the land commissioner and the office he would oversee, the General Land Office. The idea behind that is, weve got to bring people back to a place where we agree on a few things, Kleberg said, explaining the idea to the Non-Urban/Rural Caucus. And we think the dance hall might be a place to do that. jasper.scherer@chron.com Editors Note: To have calendar events posted on the Katy Rancher calendar, email editor Roy Kent at rkent@hcnonline.com. July 20 Kids Into Fashion: The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will be hosting the Kids Into Fashion Camp on Wednesday and Thursday, July 20-21. The camp will be from be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Join us as we venture on a two-day exploration through the fashion industry. The participants will have the opportunity to learn how to reconstruct a garment, design a fashion collection, learn photography basics and start an online fashion boutique. The camp will be held at the Fort Bend County Extension Office, located at 1402 Band Road Suite 100, Rosenberg, Texas 77471. The camp is open to youth ages 10 to 16 years of age. If you have any additional, questions please contact Victoria Zwahr at 281-342-3034. Pre-registration is required for the camp. The last day to register for the Kids into Fashion Camp is Thursday, July 14. Go to https://youthn2fashion.eventbrite.com to register. July 21 Podcast club: The next meeting of the University Branch Librarys Online Podcast Club will take place beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 21. The theme for the month is Fun with Music. A link to the Webex meeting will be emailed to all who register. Similar to a book club, the Podcast Club provides an opportunity for podcast listeners to get together to discuss podcast selections from a themed podcast-listening list and share their opinions on trending topics. Each month features a different theme, along with a short list of podcast episodes. The Online Podcast Club is free and open to the public. Registration is required; a link to the Webex meeting will be emailed to all who register. To register online at the librarys website (www.fortbend.lib.tx.us), click on Classes & Events, select Virtual Programs, and find the program. Participants may also register by calling the University Branch Library (281-633-5100). July 24 Farmers market: The Farmers Market at La Centerra is presented the second and fourth Sunday of every month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy. There will be local vendors and artisans at Heritage Square selling honey, cheese, fresh eggs, seasonal vegetables and more. To become a vendor email customer@yourneighborhoodfarmersmarket.com. July 25 Katy ISD board: The Katy ISD board of trustees is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Monday, July 25, in the Board Room of the Katy ISD Education Support Complex, 6301 South Stadium Lane in Katy. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/2458bbdc. City Council: The Katy City Council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 25, in Council Chambers at Katy City Hall, 910 Avenue C. For more information go to www.cityofkaty.com. July 27 FBCL Reads: Fort Bend County Libraries virtual book club - FBCL Reads - will meet online on Wednesday, July 27, beginning at 10 a.m. The book to be discussed is The Missing American written by Kwei Quartey. FBCL Reads book-club meetings will be live-streamed through Webex so that readers can participate virtually and interact with others in real time. The book club will meet online on the fourth Wednesday of every month. This book selection is available in print and digitally as an e-book through FBCLs e-Library OverDrive collection. Additional print copies are available at George Memorial Library in Richmond. The book club is free and open to the public. Registration is required; a link to the Webex teleconference will be emailed to all who register. To register online at the librarys website (www.fortbend.lib.tx.us), click on Classes & Events, select Virtual Programs, and find the program on the date indicated. Participants may also register by calling George Memorial Library (281-342-4455). July 28 Maker Station Summer Camps: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension presents the Maker Station Camps focusing on creating something from nothing. Campers will create, plan, and build and much more. The camp is open to third- through eighth-grade students from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 28, at the Fort Bend County Education Center at 1402 Band Road in Rosenberg. The cost $75 per camp which includes daily snacks. Campers should bring a packed lunch daily. For more information and to register visit https://agrilife.org/ftbend4h/beyond-the-project/workshops-clinics-camps. July 30 Market at Grisby: The Energy Corridor Districts Market at Grisby is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 30, on Grisby Road in Houston. The event will feature a signature artisan market presented by Your Neighborhood Farmers Market Association, live music duo with Josie Arias, gift card giveaways to one of the five Grisby restaurants and more. Jewelry, artisan crafts, handcrafted soaps and oils, and more will be available. Parking available across from Watsons House of Ales and in other Grisby parking lots. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3ase3t5u. July 31 Green Jobs: Green Jobs are all over the internet. What is the true intention of the term? Clearly, installing solar panels is a green job, but are green jobs limited to renewable energy positions? Join Steve Stelzer, Program Director of Houstons Green Building Resource Center, for a multi-faceted presentation on the topic of green jobs. Stelzers talk will explain the various green and not-so-green interpretations out there in the job market. And, hell offer suggestions for greening up a conventional job. Time for interactive discussion with the speaker will be provided. Register for the Sunday, July 31, 6 p.m. event www.eventbrite.com at https://tinyurl.com/mvhffcpa. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com with any questions. Aug. 12 Katy Summer Nights: Katy Summer Nights-Movie in the Park is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Park-Katy, 6202 George Bush Drive. Bring bug spray, blankets, chairs, food and drinks, and enjoy a family-friendly event in the park. The movie will begin at sundown. No alcohol, glass or pets are allowed. For more information on this free event email katypark@cityofkaty.com or call 281-391-4840. Aug. 16 Environmental Issues: The Big Four Major Global Environmental Issues: Their Causes, Effects & Solutions presented by Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church will be held online at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Aug. 16-30. Join five eminent speakers to learn about the causes of, effects of and solutions to: air pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, freshwater scarcity, and plastic pollution. Join this virtual lecture series to not only learn about these major global environmental issues, but also to consider how we can take action as individuals, households, businesses, schools, and faith communities to make a difference. The Tuesday, Aug. 16, presentation will be Water Resilience with Professor Robert Mace. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/5daz6r28. Aug. 17 First day of school: Students are scheduled to return to school for the 2022-23 school year on Wednesday, Aug. 17, in Katy ISD. Go to www.katyisd.org for more information. Aug. 18 Environmental Issues: The Big Four Major Global Environmental Issues: Their Causes, Effects & Solutions presented by Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church will be held online at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Aug. 16-30. Join five eminent speakers to learn about the causes of, effects of and solutions to: air pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, freshwater scarcity, and plastic pollution. Join this virtual lecture series to not only learn about these major global environmental issues, but also to consider how we can take action as individuals, households, businesses, schools, and faith communities to make a difference. The Thursday, Aug. 18, presentation will be Plastic Pollution with Professor Hyun-Min Hwang. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/5daz6r28. Aug. 23 Environmental Issues: The Big Four Major Global Environmental Issues: Their Causes, Effects & Solutions presented by Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church will be held online at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Aug. 16-30. Join five eminent speakers to learn about the causes of, effects of and solutions to: air pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, freshwater scarcity, and plastic pollution. Join this virtual lecture series to not only learn about these major global environmental issues, but also to consider how we can take action as individuals, households, businesses, schools, and faith communities to make a difference. The Tuesday, Aug. 23, presentation will be Air Pollution: Past, Present & Future with Professor Gunnar Schade. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/5daz6r28. Aug. 25 Environmental Issues: The Big Four Major Global Environmental Issues: Their Causes, Effects & Solutions presented by Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church will be held online at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Aug. 16-30. Join five eminent speakers to learn about the causes of, effects of and solutions to: air pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, freshwater scarcity, and plastic pollution. Join this virtual lecture series to not only learn about these major global environmental issues, but also to consider how we can take action as individuals, households, businesses, schools, and faith communities to make a difference. The Thursday, Aug. 25, presentation will be Climate Change: Simple, Serious, Solvable with Professor Sylvia Dee. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/5daz6r28. Aug. 30 Environmental Issues: The Big Four Major Global Environmental Issues: Their Causes, Effects & Solutions presented by Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church will be held online at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Aug. 16-30. Join five eminent speakers to learn about the causes of, effects of and solutions to: air pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, freshwater scarcity, and plastic pollution. Join this virtual lecture series to not only learn about these major global environmental issues, but also to consider how we can take action as individuals, households, businesses, schools, and faith communities to make a difference. The Tuesday, Aug. 30, presentation will be Biodiversity Loss with Professor Kerri Crawford. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/5daz6r28. Sept. 4 Car Culture Show 2022: Car Culture Show 2022 is held bi-monthly from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sundays in the Alamo Theater parking lot in LaCenterra at 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy. The next show is Sunday, Sept. 4. There will be more than 50 exotic and muscle cars on display, along with a DJ spinning tunes and other exciting amenities. See more details at thecarculture.org. Sept. 9 Katy Summer Nights: Katy Summer Nights-Movie in the Park is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Park-Katy, 6202 George Bush Drive. Bring bug spray, blankets, chairs, food and drinks, and enjoy a family-friendly event in the park. The movie will begin at sundown. No alcohol, glass or pets are allowed. For more information on this free event email katypark@cityofkaty.com or call 281-391-4840. Sept. 23 Arc of Katy Gala: The 2022 Arc of Katy Gala is scheduled for 6:30-11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, at Beckendorff Farms, 28533 Morton Road in Katy. For information on how to become a sponsor or underwriter, donate an auction item or puchase tickets go to www.thearcofkaty.org. For more information call 832-754-9802 or email info@thearcofkaty.org. Oct. 28-29 Texas Coastal Prairie Conference: Preserving lands and legacies: The Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative, made up of 25 conservation organizations, will bring landowners and conservation partners together to discuss the preservation of wide-open spaces in Texas. The conference will include a full day of workshops and presentations from 9 a.m-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, followed by field trips to remnant and restored prairies as well as working ranches and farms from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. The conference takes place at University of Houston-Clear Lake Bayou Building, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058. The cost is $85 or $45 for students. For more information and registration go to www.prairiepartner.org/conference. Nov. 6 Car Culture Show 2022: Car Culture Show 2022 is held bi-monthly from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sundays in the Alamo Theater parking lot in LaCenterra at 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy. The next show is Sunday, Nov. 6. There will be more than 50 exotic and muscle cars on display, along with a DJ spinning tunes and other exciting amenities. See more details at thecarculture.org. OnScene TV A mother is under investigation after leaving her two children in a Northside parking lot Sunday. The woman and a driver in another vehicle both sped off when they spotted an officer who was parking his patrol car to slow traffic near a crash site. The drivers nearly hit the children around 4 a.m. as they fled the parking lot of a Walgreens in the 6600 block of Airline Drive, according to OnScene TV. Houston Chronicle Houston police responded to two separate shootings that left one person dead and two others wounded Saturday within minutes of each other in west Houston, according to authorities. The first shooting unfolded around 7:30 p.m. in the 2500 block of Panagard Drive, in the Eldridge area, where police found on person dead and another who was then hospitalized. Minutes later, another shooting was reported about two miles east in the 12300 block of Richmond Avenue. Houston Chronicle Authorities are investigating the death of a man found Saturday in north Harris County following a shooting. Deputies found the man shot to death just before 7:30 p.m. in the 900 block of Gulf Bank Road, west of the Hardy Toll Road, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a tweet. Houston Chronicle A 55-year-old man drowned in Lake Conroe on Saturday after he jumped into the water to swim and went under, according to Montgomery County authorities. Relatives called 911 around 2 p.m. after Jesus Cabrera, of Humble, disappeared into the water. He earlier "jumped off his pontoon boat" into a swimming area. The boat started to drift and Cabrera struggled to stay afloat, said Sgt. Austin Gay, of the Montgomery County Constable's Office Precinct One, in a news release. A Texas National Guard soldier from San Antonio has died while supporting Gov. Greg Abbotts border mission, Operation Lone Star, military officials said Friday night. Sgt. Alex Rios Rodriguez, 52, died Thursday in what the Texas Guard called a non-mission-related incident at his quarters in McAllen. The guard said he suffered a medical emergency at the unit's hotel and was unable to be revived by emergency personnel. Rodriguez was a team leader for the 36th Infantry Divisions Delta Company, 536th Brigade Support Battalion, 72nd Brigade Combat Team. The guard provided no details about his service history or his family. The Texas Guard is investigating his death. Rodriguez is the latest Texas guardsman to die while carrying out Abbotts controversial border mission. Spc. Bishop Evans, 22, of Arlington, died April 22 after trying to rescue a migrant crossing the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass. On ExpressNews.com: Burial funds, lack of life insurance in spotlight after GIs death In a news release, Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, the operations commander, offered condolences to Rodriguezs family, saying, Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time. The Texas Guard did not immediately respond to a query from the San Antonio Express-News late Friday, but the paper has tracked six casualties so far connected with Operation Lone Star. Before the deaths of Rodriguez and Evans, four guardsmen committed suicide. The state-run border operation has been unprecedented in size and scope. Operation Lone Star has placed 6,128 guardsmen on the border, with an additional 3,700 elsewhere, making it the organizations largest mission in decades. The state also has assigned 1,600 Department of Public Safety troopers to the border. There is no fixed date for withdrawal. There are about 20,600 soldiers and airmen in the Texas Guard. Until last year, when Operation Lone Star began, the Texas Guard border missions had a relatively small footprint. Then-Gov. Rick Perry ordered one mission in 2014, dispatching 1,000 troops to be the tip of the spear in protecting Americans from these cartels and gangs. Like Perry, Abbott has repeatedly invoked troubles along the border in highly partisan rhetoric aimed directly at Democratic presidents. But the operation has proved costly, requiring hundreds of millions in state funding to maintain the heavy presence. It also has resulted in morale problems among troops whove endured everything from pay shortages to hardships tied to their service. On ExpressNews.com: On the border, chasing delays in pay and fewer migrants, some Texas guardsmen are losing faith As the operation continues, the Texas Guard is still emerging from a leadership shakeup. Its first female commander, Army Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, abruptly resigned Feb. 14, replaced by Suelzer. Two other high-level guard officials left as well. Maj. Gen. Charles Aris, who had led the 36th Infantry Division for less than five months, was replaced by Brig. Gen. Ronald Win Burkett II. The civilian chief of staff for Norris, retired Maj. Gen. James Red Brown, resigned after Abbott announced her exit. A new public affairs team is also now in place. sigc@express-news.net WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 17, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... South central Mohave County in northwestern Arizona... Eastern San Bernardino County in southern California... * Until midnight PDT/midnight MST/. * At 1113 PM PDT/1113 PM MST/, a severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles east of Buckskin Mountain Park, or 9 miles east of Parker Dam, moving northwest at 45 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs and trees. * Locations impacted include... Lake Havasu City, Parker Dam, Three Dunes Campground, Cattail Cove State Park and Black Meadow Landing Campground. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. If on or near Lake Havasu, get away from the water and move indoors or inside a vehicle. Remember, lightning can strike out to 15 miles from the parent thunderstorm. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Move to safe shelter now! Do not be caught on the water in a thunderstorm. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO SHREVEPORT Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 17, 2022 _____ HEAT ADVISORY URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Shreveport LA 214 PM CDT Sat Jul 16 2022 ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 7 PM CDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Heat index values above 105 degrees are expected. * WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, south central and southwest Arkansas and northeast Texas. * WHEN...From noon to 7 PM CDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. How do you feel about spam? Would you like to get more unsolicited messages in your email? Also, would you want them land directly in your email inbox, instead of being routed to your spam folder? Hold that thought. Because you'll want to know what's going on with Gmail. Earlier this month, attorneys for Google sent a 15-page letter to the Federal Election Commission asking for an advisory opinion on a plan to start exempting some political emails in Gmail from spam. Specifically, Google wants the FEC to weigh in "on a proposal to launch a pilot program" under which emails from some FEC-registered political committees would "not be affected by forms of spam detection to which they would otherwise be subject." Instead, Gmail users would need to mark these messages manually as spam, one by one, otherwise they'd keep coming. Google would also give data about how many emails wind up in people's Gmail inboxes to the candidates and political committees. Three quick observations: First, I write an email newsletter that goes to thousands of people every weekday, so I can speak with some authority: It would be an absolute dream to never have to worry about spam folders. But this proposal would apply only to political emails. Second, this would represent a very big change because of the sheer number of people who use Gmail -- somewhere between 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion people according to various estimates. In fact, I just checked my data, and just over half of my readers have email addresses ending in "gmail.com." Finally, this change is the last thing that most Gmail users actually want, at least if the hundreds of public comments the FEC has received since Google's July 1 request are any indication. In fact, having just read through 215 emailed public comments that the FEC made public in one of its batches last week, virtually every single comment opposed Google's request. (The FEC's case file can be found here. Most of the documents are PDFs.) A few representative comments: "Regarding the below, absolutely not..." "Please firmly and unequivocally reject.... This is a terrible idea." "Absolutely no. A thousand times no." "Do. Not. Grant. This. Request." "Anyone proposing this idea of political SPAM bypassing spam filters should be tied to a TV set with their eyes pried open and forced to watch hundreds of hours of 'my opponent is a scumbag' ads." "Allowing [G]oogle to prioritize political emails...would basically mean that Google was providing a large political donation to every politician sending emails to Gmail addresses." Actually, that last comment seems to point to what's going on behind the scenes. Earlier this year, Republican politicians complained to the FEC that Google was unfairly censoring Republican fundraising emails in Gmail by sending them to spam at a higher rate than Democratic emails. Republicans alleged this amounted to a series of "illegal, corporate in-kind contributions" to Democrats. Google vehemently denied any bias, and last month, CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly flew to Washington to meet with top Republicans and pitch them on the no-spam idea. As a no-longer-practicing attorney who still follows legal issues like this, I'm intrigued and eager to see how things play out. Apparently, I'm not the only one. Last week, the FEC announced it's extending the deadline by which people can file comments to support or object to Google's plan. The new deadline to chime in: August 5. "There's unusual public interest in this request," tweeted FEC commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub, "we should hear as much feedback as we can." If you'd like to register your opinion, you can do so by sending an email to ao@fec.gov, and including the reference number of Google's request: "AO 2022-14." Australia has had to kill millions of honeybees to stop a potentially deadly parasite infection named Varroa mite in the last two weeks. First spotted at a port near Sydney, the parasite is posing threat to Australias multimillion-dollar honey industry. AFP As per the report of the New York Times, the deadly insects were first detected near the Port of Newcastle, which now has spread to over 400 different sites and over 6 million bees have been killed to limit the outbreak. Varroa mites can kill and weaken colonies by feeding on them and transmitting viruses. Ecologist Jay Iwasaki terms this about 1.5mm long parasite as 'a little vampire', which affects the ability of bees to fly, collect food, and produce honey. What is Varroa Mite? Varroa Mite is a parasitic insect that infects and feeds on honeybees. It is also referred to as the varroa destructor. The disease caused by them is called varroosis and is majorly affecting the southeast region of Australia. AFP/Representational Image Reddish-brown in colour, it is capable enough to eradicate entire colonies of honeybees. The parasites live and feed on adult honeybees. According to the Australian beekeeping website Bee Aware, ...they mainly feed and reproduce on larvae and pupae in the developing brood, causing malformation and weakening of honey bees as well as transmitting numerous viruses. With the growing population of mites in bee colonies, the symptoms can worsen. Generally, heavy infestations result in crippled bees, impaired flight performance, a lower rate of return to the colony after foraging, and reduced colony productivity. Honeybee colonies are put in lockdown Unsplash/Representational Image As part of biosecurity measures, the honeybee colonies are put on lockdown to restrict the outbreak. Australian Honey Bee Industry Council stated, It is critically important that beekeepers in the Newcastle area do not move any hives or equipment in or out of the area. It travels from bee to bee and through beekeeping equipment like extracted combs. A global decline reported in honeybee colonies is reported due to the parasite only. Is this first time for Australia? Earlier, the Australian government was able to combat similar similar invasions in 2016, 2019 and 2020. While the government is facing several challenges to identify all the contagious hives at present. Since the first report of the detection, the authorities of Australia detected similar outbreaks at nine more locations. What is the importance of bees? According to a report published in The Indian Express, the honey industry of Australia depends on non-native bees primarily. Significantly, the parasites are adversely impacting them leaving the countrys native bees. AFP/Representational Image Several media reports suggest that the growth of several crops that relies on hives for pollination could be impacted. Some of the crops include almonds, macadamia nuts and blueberries. What is even unfortunate is that the problem has emerged when Australia is already facing bushfires, floods and a mouse plague within the country. For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News. There is no doubt about the fact that dogs are a man's best friend. If you do have any doubts, you haven't experienced the best friendship of your life yet because there is nothing better than having your four-legged furry buddy by your side. The bond between a human being and a dog is unshakable, and there is something indescribable and unique about it. If anyone needed any more proof of their undying loyalty and love, this should serve as one of the biggest examples. A loyal dog of a Ukrainian family who fled their home when Russia attacked their city also forced them to abandon their dog. But after four months when they returned, they found the dog alive and waiting for them. Forced to abandon their dog The Sun In March, when Russia began attacking the Hostomels strategically important airport in northern Ukraine, 35-year-old Jewellery maker, Kateryna Tytova and her family had to make a painful decision. Kateryna, her husband Olexandr and their two young children fled the city and left behind their white Siberian husky Belyi. It sounds cruel, but those were desperate times. The Russians were advancing and bombing the airport and there was no time to plan their escape. A photo of Kateryna holding her daughter and 5-year-old son as they fled an artillery bombardment made international headlines. But despite leaving Belyi behind, the family always expected him to be waiting for them when they returned. Dog patiently waited for its family Those hopes, however, have begun to wane in the past few months and they have seen their hometown reduced to rubble by the invading forces. Still, as soon as it was safe, they left their friends' house in Vinnytsia in western-central Ukraine, where they took refuge, and returned home. And guess who was patiently waiting for them when they arrived? kateryna tytova with her dog Belyi | Photo: The Sun A Ukrainian family who fled Russian missiles managed to return home four months after the escape. Upon arriving at the residence in Hostomel, the family found their nine-year-old pet dog waiting for them on the doorstep of their ruined house. Dog survived attacks and remained alive Kateryna Tytova told The Sun, "It was a miracle that the animal survived the bombing and remained alive during these months. Probably, according to the owner, the Siberian husky named Belyi looked for food in the rubble around the city." "Amidst the horror of being targeted by Russia and our desperate rush to leave, we had to make the painful decision to leave Belyi behind," Kateryna told The Sun. kateryna tytova with her kids at her ruined property | Photo: The Sun It is nothing short of a miracle that he survived without us. He was waiting patiently as if we were out shopping instead of being gone for months after running for our lives, she added. I cried when I saw what is left of our city now. Belyi being alive feels like a gift is something positive to hold on to as we try to rebuild our shattered lives. In March, the image of her and her 5-year-old daughter, Tajisia, holding hands as they dodged a Russian airstrike went around the world. Her husband, Olexandr, 35, and the couple's son, Makar, 10, also fled. The entire town has been destroyed by Russian troops The family said they stayed with friends in west-central Ukraine in Vinnytsia until it was safe to return after Russia withdrew troops from Hostomel. Despite being back home the family still feels scared, all the houses nearby them have burned down completely. Kateryna's is ruined and completely needed new doors, windows, and a roof. Hostomel itself is ruined. We have no shops, cafes, banks, pharmacies or post offices. Our park is destroyed. There is one market stall selling food and milk. Kateryna said 355 dogs died in animal shelters in Kyiv due to a lack of food and water. This was because of continuous Russian attacks that didnt allow officials to restock supplies for the dogs to live on. It further added that only 150 dogs survived the occupation, reported News18. For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. 1 |exhibition| Sailing the Rip Tide Ongoing; Lord Mayor's Pavilion, Fitzgerald's Park, Cork Celebrating the 30th Annual Art Therapy Summer School, Sample-Studios and MTU Crawfords Department of Arts in Health and Education present an exhibition of work by the Lecturers and Workshop Facilitators of the Art Therapy Summer School, looking into the medium and its effects. 2 |live music| Seasick Steve Tuesday July 19; Cyprus Avenue, Cork Blues troubadour Seasick Steve returns to Cork for the first time in a decade - having kept busy with two full-lengths and corresponding tours in 2021. 3 |streaming| Better Call Saul From Tuesday July 19; Netflix After a midseason break, the Breaking Bad spinoff series returns to air its last-ever six episodes, capping off an acclaimed and long-running story. 4 |cinema| Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time From Friday July 22; IFI, Dublin The first feature documentary on Kurt Vonnegut is an immersive dive into the American authors upbringing and creative output - a compelling introduction for the uninitiated. 5 |new music| Jack White - Entering Heaven Alive Friday July 22; streaming services and record shops Not content with battling the major labels over the vinyl bust, or the release of his fourth solo album just three months ago, former White Stripes and Raconteurs man Jack White is back at it with his fifth solo LP. South Florida and the Florida Keys was well represented in a new list of the 100 Best Hotels in the World, with three hotels in the Sunshine State making the list, including one in the Top 20 hotels in the world. The White Elephant Hotel in Palm Beach was ranked #19 in the world in the 2022 list released last week by Travel + Leisure. The small hotel 32 rooms scored a 98.13 and features Lola 41, a restaurant that T+L called a hot spot not just for its grilled catch of the day and fruit-forward cocktails but for the prime people-watching, too. The Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in Montalcino, Italy took the top spot, scoring 99.25 in a survey of readers who were asked to rate hotels on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Among the other Florida properties to make the list was the NOBU Hotel in Miami Beach, which was ranked #81, scoring 96.22. The list of world-class amenities at this David Rockwelldesigned beachfront hotel is impressively long: exceptional epicurean delights, a beautiful 22,000-square-foot spa, three pools, a private marina, and luxurious penthouse-level villas, T+L said explaining the ranking. At #94, scoring 95.83, was the adults-only Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, in Little Torch Key, a private island resort accessible only by boat or seaplane. The 30-bungalows on the island have no TVs. In all, 19 hotels in the United States made the Top 100 list, with the charming Pickering House Inn, in New Hampshire, coming in at #4, scoring 98.95, followed by the Lowell in New York City at #8. For the complete 2022 T+L Top 100 Hotels in the World list, click here. After a delicious Sunday meal at one of our participating #tasteofkeybiscayne restaurants, enjoy some of the best and most creative desserts on the island on this July 17. Gran Inka Open for Outdoor Dining, Takeout or Delivery. El Gran Inka brings to every dish authentic Peruvian gastronomy featuring a unique creation and a touch of gourmet. Go traditional Peruvian this Sunday After a delicious meal, enjoy the lustful & sweet suspiro limeno Offering Delivery or Take out directly from El Gran Inka. Order directly from us by calling (305) 365-7883 Open 7-days Noon to 10 p.m. 606 Crandon Blvd. Suite 4 / Key Biscayne (across from Winn Dixie) UberEats Available D'Lite Bistro & Bakery Who says eating healthy means sacrificing taste and flavor? Not at DLite! Come enjoy our terrazita for a relaxing time this Sunday, you will not regret making your Sunday a bit more special with our famous cappuccinos, golden milk and matcha latte. What a delicious threesome combination! It is hot! Stay refreshed with one of our healthy yogurt bowls or smoothies! We are a unique and healthy restaurant that serves salads, wraps, sandwiches, bowls, protein smoothies and cold press juices made fresh every morning including gluten-free, vegetarian and keto options. We open at 8 a.m. daily and close at 8 p.m. everyday except Sat and Sun when we close at 6 p.m. DLite is located in the Arcade Mall, 180 Crandon Blvd. To place an order, call (305) 882-9284 or visit us online by clicking here. Sake Room Complete your Sake meal with any of our delicious desserts, we guarantee the plate will be empty! This Sunday, how about Nutella Sushi? Yes! A Sake exclusive Free Crunchy Crab Salad with $50 purchase Special only good for orders called in to (305) 456-0488 We are open for Indoor & Outdoor Dining, Takeout or delivery daily from Noon to 10 p.m. Call (305) 456-0488 to place a takeout or delivery order directly Following all CDC safety protocols 328 Crandon Blvd Ste 108, Galleria Shopping Center Grub hub UberEats also available. Please if you can call us first Randazzo by Yesenia Open for Indoor & Outdoor dining, Takeout or delivery. Reservations recommended Today - Sunday - open at 2 p.m. for lunch! Throw your table a Tiramisu Party!!! Fall in love with our homemade Tiramisu dessert, we dare you resists it Please call (305) 456-0480 to place an order or make a reservation Open Monday, Wednesday to Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., open until 11 p.m. Friday. Closed Tuesdays 328 Crandon Blvd Ste 112, Galleria Shopping Center Delivery service with Postmates or UberEats Tacopolis In the mood for Chocolate? Or try any of our authentic Mexican desserts will complete your delicious Tacopolis meal It is hot! Stop by and enjoy a Mango Smoothie Tacopolis, where every day is Taco-Day!! Only eat tacos on days that end in a Y Tacopolis strives to serve Authentic Mexican food in a casual and relaxed family atmosphere Open 7-days a week from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Open for Outdoor dining, Takeout or delivery but our own service of find us on UberEats Located in the Square Shopping Center at 260 Crandon Blvd, Key Biscayne. To place a phone order, call (786) 703-5523. To order online, click here Boaters Grill & Lighthouse Cafe / Bill Baggs The restaurants inside Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park the popular Boaters Grill, located at No Name Harbor and accessible by boat, and the beachside Lighthouse Cafe. Safe and friendly. Great service and great food. Our lemon meringue pie takes a back seat to no one! On your Boaters visit, try Arroz con Leche and the Abuela Amparo recipe Boaters Grill is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lighthouse Cafe is open 7-days a week, from 9 a.m. to Sunset The restaurants are located inside Bill Baggs State Park, at 1200 Crandon Blvd., Key Biscayne. You can reach them at (305) 361-0080 32 Degrees by MG You deserve gourmet meal options that are fast and convenient. Sunday is a great day to plan for the week. Don't forget to add our delicious soups to compliment your meals! Fresh, fully cooked meals from 32 Degrees are a great mealtime option. We provide frozen, ready-prepared meals that are great for the busiest of lifestyles! We shop, prep, cook, and deliver to your doorstep, so you can experience the benefits of gourmet eating without the fuss or hassle. Our fully cooked meals are created with passion by our chefs using only the freshest ingredients. We never use additives or preservatives. Our meals are ready to eat in the microwave in 5 minutes. Place your order today by visiting 32-degrees.com Use code 32ISLANDER at checkout and receive 15% off* your first order. *Offer good on orders of $40 or more. Costa Med Bistro Enjoy Costa Med this evening either with it or at home this evening.. If our desserts look homemade, is because they are! This Sunday, indulge in something Costa sweet Order online for take out, click here! Costa Med, a TripAdvisor Traverlers Choice nominated restaurant, is located in the Square Shopping Center. 260 Crandon Blvd. Reservations suggested. Call (305) 361-7575 to make a reservation Hours. Lunch Mon to Sat: Noon a.m. to 4 p.m. Dinner Mon to Sat: 6 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. / Sun 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Golden Hog Your local independent grocer can deliver freshly prepared meals or all the groceries you need. Email us your order here. This weekend, visit our new Poke Bowl Station Weekend Special! Check it out in our juice bar section! =Call (305) 361-1300 for Sunday Chef's Choice special menu. The Golden-Hog has a complete line of specialty groceries for delivery. Golden Hog puts safety first, shop with confidence. To place an order online, click here Brasas KB This Sunday, share our 100% natural Peruvian Chicken Rotisserie with family and friends Weekend vibes! Pollo a la brasa con papas fritas, camote frito y salsas de aji caseras Have you tried our Peruvian Chicken Rotisserie for lunch or dinner that includes 2 sides and sauce of your choice: huancaina, aji amarillo, huacatay and olivas negras peruanas. We are open for Indoor & Outdoor Dining, Takeout or free delivery. Call (786) 615-2399 to place a takeout order. Open Noon to 8 p.m. for Dine-In, Takeout or delivery. 328 Crandon Blvd, Galleria Shopping Center La Scala Closed on Sundays The popular Italian Bistro now offers their delicious meals to enjoy at home and thanks your support during the last year To place a Monday takeout order call (786) 773-3633 or visit us online by clicking here. Open 5 to 9 p.m. 180 Crandon Blvd Arcade Shopping Center. Kazumi Closed Sunday. Our modern Japanese fusion restaurant offers creative treatments & creativity in our dishes To see our menu, click here Call us tomorrow at (305) 361-2675. Check back tomorrow for more specials as we add more restaurants to #tasteofkeybiscayne-To-Go And please remember to order from the restaurant directly before using one of the apps this way we support the local restaurants by saving them the commission they are charged, which at times is as much as 30% Hello and welcome to yet another This Week on iTP rundown! If this is your first time coming across This Week on iTP, it is pretty much a weekly list of the top five stories here on iTech Post. For this particular list, the rundown includes a guide on how to download the iOS 16 beta, the news of Colombia forbidding the sale of iPhones due to copyright infringement issues, and three other stories you should not miss. Let's start the countdown! It has been more than 10 years since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami led to the deaths of nearly 20,000 people in Japan as well as what eventually became known as the Fukushima nuclear disaster. However, the story is far from over when it comes to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as the first story on our list shows. Coming in at number five is the story that focuses on the court order that requires that executives of the power plant to may $97 billion as damages to the shareholders. According to our report, "The funds are intended to assist in decommissioning the reactors, cleaning up contamination, and compensating those who have been negatively impacted by the incident." If you are interested to try out the iOS 16 as an Apple device story, this is the story you have to read. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program. It also includes instructions on how to download and install the iOS 16 beta. Related Article: #ThisWeekOnITP: Google Chrome Patch for for CVE-2022-2294 Exploit, Genshin Impact Leak, and More! Colombia has banned the sale of 5G Apple, such as iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPad Pro due to copyright infringement issues. This due to the lawsuit filed against Apple by Ericsson. According to our report, "Ericsson, the top supplier of 5G network hardware in the US, claimed that Apple had violated its patents by using 5G chips in current iPhones." Our report adds that Apple failed to renew licenses when they expired. You have probably caught wind of news about companies laying off employees or halting their hiring altogether. Google is the latest tech company to join the list, although it is not laying off its workforce or completely pausing the hiring of new employees. However, the company has announced in an internal memo that it will be slowing down its hiring for the remainder of the year. Google instead prefers to focus on jobs related to engineering and other key roles, specifically those that are technical in nature. The top story in the past week here on iTech Post is about none other than YouTube's Picture-in-Picture feature. Picture-in-Picture, which allows users to stream videos even while using another app, has rolled out for iPhones and iPads. There is, however, a catch. If you are a non-YouTube Premium user, you can only use this feature for videos that YouTube considers as non-music content. Read Also: #ThisWeekOnITP: A Cruise Ship Headed to a Scrapyard for Its Maiden Voyage, 'Top Gun: Maverick,' and More! 27 Shares Share That the United States spends the most on health care is unsurprising. Whats questionable is paying so much for the worst health care system amongst high-income countries and being far behind many countries that could not be considered high-income by any stretch of the imagination. Other than doing brilliantly at mammograms and seasonal flu vaccines, the U.S. is found appalling. Not just Canada and Mexico, but when the likes of Chile, Saudi Arabia, India and Dominica are ahead of us, and we are in league with Slovenia and Lithuania, it is time to blush. What gives? Corruption. Or, to put it in morbidity and mortality conference jargon: Corruption causing system failure. Fixing the system is imperative. It is not particularly egregious if one ends up choosing an inept plumber. It can be fatal, innocently choosing a bad doctor. There are laws of the land, bylaws of health care facilities and a code of ethics for its practitioners. All read principled and high-minded. Yet, the practitioners from the top down are compromised or survive by see, hear and speak no evil. Integrity is frequently checked at the door. The problem arises out of an unnatural arrangement. The cat is expected to protect the mice. And, the mice, the cheese. The pharmaceutical and health insurance companies must turn a good profit for themselves and their investors, which conflicts with their raison detre. It necessitates diverting health care dollars, doled out as profits and bonuses. While just in the recent past, it was unconscionable not to prescribe copious amounts of pain medication at the whim of the patients (thus, enriching the pharma industry, never mind the addiction epidemic that destroyed lives). The current fad is to boot outpatients from hospitals as fast as possible (because they recover better at home!). It helps the industrys cause to deny necessary procedures or delay them by ensnaring physicians in interminable processes to justify their treatment. Imagine a surgeon fileting patients indiscriminately, causing complications and alarm. There are mechanisms available to check his (it usually is a his) mayhem. Except, doing so will deprive the hospital of the significant monetary gains from those misadventures in the guise of surgery. If you were an astute businessperson, which of the following steps makes sense? Following a modus operandi that a) will generate million(s); b) manage to just break even; c) leads to soaking in red. Choosing a makes one a good hospital administrator, endears one in the eyes of the financial beneficiaries, and results in generous bonuses for the fiscally prudent. As a fiscally prudent administrator, why would one kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? Far better to employ those quality control measures to show on paper that all is well or use them to upend those who rock the boat and endanger the windfall. If you choose b, your performance from a business perspective is lackluster, and expect to be replaced by a star. The star may be a CMO or CEO who blatantly demands at the peril of livelihood or financial setback to the hapless physician that patients be kept and referred within the particular hospital system, even to the patients detriment. So much for Stark laws! If you chose c), you are out the door. The problems of discrimination and cronyism are rife in U.S. health care. We do not see it because we search for villains with horns on their heads. We dont see the good neighbor, the great dad, the generous friend or the brilliant aunt. We see the kindly doctor who treats our mothers heart condition, and not that he refers patients to his friend who he knows is decidedly incompetent. We dont see that he indiscriminately performs tests and procedures that serve no purpose other than to enrich him. He is also confident about getting away with it because he and his friends always have. He also does the hospitals bidding by pulling in line or ostracizing colleagues who stood up for their patients welfare. Yet, his own family would be referred to the ostracized! There is nothing really to prevent birds of a feather from flocking together, be they the well-entrenched old boys clubs, soft-spoken and polite in the deep south. Or its first-generation immigrants in the Midwest who have surreptitiously taken over the hospital in numeric strength, causing the original natives to largely flee. Medical ghettos are thus created, espousing tactics more in line with the mafia. If there were any good left amongst the physicians or administrators, they would adopt that old saying, If you cant beat them, join them. So, what is a principled physician to do? If you attempt to bell the cat, the cat eats you. The answer, in some ways, is straightforward. Defang the cat. For starters, expel insurance companies from the stock market to remove at least one perverse incentive. Just as advertising cigarettes is banned, disallow pharma from touting their wares to the public as if they were candy. Other than perhaps the German army of WWII, there is no army in the world where the privates command the generals. Nor are the crucial logistical and administrative aspects outsourced to civilian MBAs so that the generals and soldiers can do what they are meant to do fight. They devise their own logistics and methods, getting the requisite education and training to do so. If anything is contracted out, the contractors are accountable to their clients, not turned into bosses. Therefore, something is wrong with a system when highly qualified physicians are managed by high school graduates or those with less-than-stellar credentials. Why complain when those who are from the finance and assembly line tradition run health care exactly like that? Given the opportunity, they would have done exactly the same to the military. Similar to the latter, health care should promote from its own ranks the most competent and able physicians and nurses with unquestioned integrity, who are untainted. If we study good health care models, the physicians are at the helm and in crucial roles rather than in token leadership positions. The prevalent system generally enables physicians who are morally weak, chameleonic in integrity and servile to the non-medical administrators to be incorporated into the administration. If led by those intent on feathering their caps and undermining their colleagues and profession, we can only be led further into the abyss. Administrators collecting bonuses for making a profit should be outlawed in medicine. With great power comes great responsibility. In health care, that should mean that if a physician is found guilty of malpractice and the hospital is found lacking in checking it, the heads of the CMO, CEO and associates must roll alongside the unsavory physician. They automatically go if seen retaliating against a nurse, physician or employee attempting to protect the patient and do the right thing. During such moments, suddenly, the administration protests their innocence due to their lack of medical background. Or they scapegoat the doctor or nurse. Just a few bootings in such circumstances will wonderfully fortify wavering integrities. Just as the state grants licenses to practice, the state or a transparently autonomous body should handle privileges at any hospital, independent of the hospitals but with provisos reflecting their particular goals. Sounds heavy-handed? We are dealing with mere humans, so not just self-interest but conscious and unconscious biases prevail. Why else would blinded music auditions cause the percentage of female musicians to rise from 6 percent to 21 percent in highly-ranked national symphony orchestras? Peer-review companies as a business are no better than the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies. He who pays the piper calls the tune, and so, peer-review companies commonly do the hospitals bidding in whitewashing unnecessary complications. Imagine a judicial system where one side could pay off the judge? Do away with any peer-review model where there is money to be made. When it comes to our wealth, the system works well enough. We need not fear that someone might run away with the contents of our bank account. When it comes to our health, for many, it is the luck of the draw between good treatment, being injured by someones greed or ending emphatically dead even as sickness and demise make possessing all the wealth in the world meaningless! As amply demonstrated here in the U.S., throwing a lot of money at health care is not the solution. All it does is create a free-for-all to make hay while the sun shines. The few who walk the straight and narrow stick out like a sore thumb. Once, we had the best health care in the world. Today, it is in dire straits. The ship will sink if we dont change course. The author is an anonymous physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here A preliminary report by the Texas House investigative committee probing the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre outlines multiple failures by several entities, including the overall law enforcement response, Robb Elementary school, the shooter's family, and social media platforms. Choi Young-bum, senior presidential secretary for press affairs, speaks during a press briefing at the presidential office on Sunday. Yonhap The office of President Yoon Suk-yeol immediately struck back at former Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong on Sunday after he defended the previous administration's 2019 repatriation of two North Korean fishermen against their will. Chung said earlier Sunday the then government of President Moon Jae-in determined the North Koreans' expression of a desire to defect as insincere and decided to deport them, as they had confessed to killing 16 fellow crew members. Chung also said the North Koreans "were rare, grotesque killers." "Some claim that we had to accept them into our society as defectors in accordance with our Constitution," he said in a statement. "However, our domestic law stipulates that nonpolitical criminals, like them, should be deported without being allowed into the country. Nonpolitical serious criminals are also not considered refugees under international law." Just hours later, Choi Young-bum, senior presidential secretary for press affairs, hit back at Chung. "What officials of the previous administration and the opposition party should do is not to engage in a political offensive, but to cooperate faithfully with the investigation," Choi said. Park Jin, right, nominee for foreign minister at the time, poses with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Seoul, May 9, when the latter visited Korea to attend the inaugural ceremony of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Foreign ministers of Korea, Japan to meet for first time in nearly five years By Kang Seung-woo The foreign ministers of Korea and Japan will sit face to face later this week for the first time in four years and seven months, offering a glimmer of hope of a thaw in chilled ties between the neighboring countries over wartime forced labor and territorial issues. However, the timing of Foreign Minister Park Jin's trip to Tokyo does not seem perfect for Korea to restore the frayed relations, which is one of President Yoon Suk-yeol's foreign policy goals, amid an increasing number of domestic issues within Japan that are significantly related to its ties with Korea. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Park will visit Japan from Monday to Wednesday, during which he will hold his first meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi since taking office in May. During the three-day visit, Park will also seek to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, while expressing his condolences to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed at a campaign event in Nara earlier this month. Park initially planned to visit Tokyo last month, but rescheduled it in consideration of the situation in Japan ahead of the Upper House election in the shadow of Abe's assassination. "In many respects, it is a pity that the foreign minister's visit had to be pushed back," said Choi Eun-mi, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. "However, while there are many pending bilateral issues between the two countries, it is a good idea to hold talks although it would not be easy to find immediate breakthroughs in their relations." Park's trip comes as bilateral relations have fallen to their worst level in years over the issue of Japan compensating Koreans who were forced to labor during World War II. And in this regard, the Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, has vowed to hold as many senior-level talks as possible with Tokyo. Initially, the Korean government had expected that there would have been room for Kishida to break away from the legacy of Abe, a kingmaker in intraparty politics despite his resignation two years ago, and wield his own leadership after the election, thereby guiding his cabinet to move forward in improving relations with Korea. However, the sudden death of Abe, who maintained a hawkish stance on Korea, has thrown cold water on Seoul's expectations, as Japan is expected to see sweeping support for the former premier and uphold his foreign policy objectives for the time being, leaving little room for the current prime minister to maneuver in terms of bilateral ties. Additionally, Abe's faction, comprised of some 90 lawmakers, still exists, although it remains to be seen if it will continue to have influence within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party under a new leader. "The current political situation in Japan is likely to last for at least a couple of months. In addition, the Abe faction is still a political force to be reckoned with despite his death," Choi said. "In that respect, it would be difficult for Kishida to show his own leadership and have dissenting views among the faction. Rather, he is expected to retain Abe's pre-existing policy toward Korea." Along with the current situation in Japan, signs of the Japanese government proposing constitutional amendments to expand its military's scope of operation and its unyielding claims that the Korean government should come up with an acceptable solution to the forced labor issue, could further thwart Seoul's efforts to mend ties with Tokyo. The issue of constitutional reform is a highly sensitive subject for Korea, which suffered under Japan's brutal colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. In separate 2018 rulings, Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies found guilty of exploiting forced labor during WW II to compensate surviving Korean victims. The companies Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have refused to pay and the victims are in a legal process of seeking to liquidate the firms' assets in Korea, with the Supreme Court's final call expected to come next month. The Japanese government has threatened to retaliate against Korea in the event of the court-ordered liquidation. The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States have agreed to hold talks in Washington next week to discuss the bilateral alliance and combined defense posture against North Korea, Seoul officials said Sunday. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup plans to meet his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, when Lee visits Washington, D.C. to attend a dedication ceremony for a Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, slated for July 27. The two sides are currently coordinating a detailed schedule and meeting agenda, according to the officials. It would be their second in-person discussion in about a month, following their meeting held on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore. The defense chiefs are expected to discuss how to strengthen their combined defense posture and extended deterrence against North Korea's growing missile and nuclear threats. Last week, South Korea and the U.S. conducted their first combined air drills involving F-35A stealth fighters, amid concerns over Pyongyang's preparation for its seventh nuclear test or other provocative acts. The allies are also considering the resumption of combined field training during their regular military exercise set for next month, according to informed sources. (Yonhap) National Assembly speaker Kim Jin-pyo on Sunday proposed pushing for a constitutional revision in an effort to disperse power heavily concentrated in the president and to promote national unity. Kim made the proposal in an address marking Constitution Day, reigniting the long-debated issue of constitutional revision just two months after President Yoon Suk-yeol began his single, five-year term. "Our society has had numerous discussions for a constitutional revision. As there is broad public consensus, it is time to act," Kim said in an address to parliament on the 74th anniversary of Constitution Day. The speaker said South Korea needs "a bigger plate" to accommodate high expectations of the people and deal with emerging challenges, such as the low birthrate, aging society and inequality, and overcome the political divide. "We have to push for the dispersion of power and cooperation," Kim said. "We should make a country where cooperative power operates the nation, not depending on the leadership of a superior individual." Kim said the parliament will form an expert advisory body to review the timing, scheme and scope of the revision, and asked ruling and opposition parties to form a special committee to discuss revising the Constitution. He also called for bipartisan efforts to complete the formation of parliamentary committees to promptly handle pressing issues related to people's livelihoods. Past attempts to revise the 1987 Constitution, which limited the presidency to a single five-year term, have failed due to political power split between a powerful presidency and a fractious parliament. In South Korea, the president or parliament can propose a constitutional amendment, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the assembly and then by a majority in a national referendum in which more than half of eligible voters participate. (Yonhap) Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Sunshine early followed by mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. High 79F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Participants in Geneva Lakes Family YMCAs summer camp program could be able to spend some time at the beach this year thanks to city officials. Members of the Lake Geneva City Councils finance, licensing & regulation committee unanimously approved, July 5, to allocate 60 Riviera Beach passes to the YMCAs summer camp program. The full city council was set to vote on the beach pass allocation July 11, but the meeting was cancelled because of a lack of a quorum. The passes would be used by the campers and YMCA staff. Elaine West, school aged child care and camp director for the Geneva Lakes Family YMCA, told city aldermen that the YMCA plans to use the passes during its Summer Hawaiian Luau Week, July 25 through July 29; survivor team challenge week, Aug. 8 through Aug. 12; and summer send-off fiesta during the final week of the camp. West said the YMCA would use the passes when the beach is not typically busy, and there would be a separate section roped off for the campers. We would only be visiting on the least busy weekday, West said. We would head to the beach at 10 a.m., have lunch, clean up and leave around 2 p.m. This would give our campers a wonderful Lake Geneva experience. We have campers who have never attended the beach before or even been to a beach. West said the YMCA would supply their own lifeguard, and the campers would have their own swim vests and floatation devices and would be monitored by camp counselors. All of our campers are swim tested, so we know their levels, West said. We would have counselors and myself and staff in the water. Alderman Richard Hedlund said granting the beach passes would not have much effect on the city financially. My way of thinking is it doesnt cost us anything, Hedlund said. It doesnt even cost us potential revenue because they dont take up a lot of space, and they will be there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., which isnt the busiest time anyway. Alderman Ken Howell said allocating the passes could encourage the camp participants to visit the beach on their own time. I think it might even promote business, because they might come back another day when theyre making a normal visit, Howell said. Srinagar, Jul 17 (PTI) Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Managing Director Rupinder Singh Sodhi on Sunday urged Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to identify a suitable land to set up a new dairy plant in the UT, an official spokesperson said. Also Read | Delhi: Drug Addict Who Used To Steal From Railway Station Waiting Room Held. Sodhi, accompanied by JKMPCL CEO Gaurav Sharma, informed Sinha that the implementation of Integrated Dairy Development Scheme has resulted in registering a three-time increase in the milk procurement of JKMPCL in three years. Also Read | NEET UG 2022: Medical Entrance Exam Reports 95% Attendance With Record 18.72 Lakh Applicants. While briefing about the achievements made by Jammu and Kashmir Milk Producers Cooperative Limited, Sodhi informed that JKMPCL is eyeing to achieve Rs 325 crore worth turnover this year, the spokesman said. He apprised the Lt Governor on the efforts being made for increasing the milk production capacity in J-K and also shared the need for identifying a suitable land for developing the new dairy plant. It was informed that JKMPCL has paid Rs 350 crore in the last two years for milk procurement to small and marginal farmers, providing them better livelihood especially during Covid times, the spokesperson said. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation sells products under the Amul brand. (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], July 17 (ANI): Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over air safety after three emergency landings at airports in the country in the last 48 hours. Scindia directed the officials in the meeting that, "there should be no compromise with the passengers' safety." Also Read | AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran Demands Ordinance To Ban Online Gaming in Tamil Nadu. Further he said, "safety is the top most paramount priority and directive has been issued by the ministry to adhere to strictness about the safety issues and maintain highest safety standards as per international norms." Earlier on Sunday, three aircraft of international carriers made emergency landings at various airports in the country in the last 48 hours, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines. Also Read | Delhi: Crime Branch Arrests 2 Accused of Robbing Man of Rs 34 Lakh. A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.All emergency landings happened because of various technical issues. The Air Arabia aircraft while operating flight G9-426 from Sharjah to Cochin was involved in a Hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely on the runway. The aircraft has been towed to the bay. In another incident, on July 16, an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport due to a pressurisation issue. In a third similar incident, on July 15, an aircraft of Srilankan Airlines made an emergency landing at Chennai airport due to a Hydraulic issue. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) The counting for the first phase of local urban body polls in Madhya Pradesh, including municipal corporations of Bhopal and Indore, began at 9 am on Sunday, a poll official said. Also Read | NEET UG 2022 Exam Today; Check Timings, Important Instructions And Other Details Here. Under the first-phase, polling was held in 11 municipal corporations, 36 nagar palikas and 86 nagar parishads on July 6. Also Read | Mumbai Civic Body Converting Asphalt Roads Into Cement-Concrete Ones to Fix Pothole Problem. The postal ballots will be counted first followed by votes recorded in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), the official said. Elections were held for the posts of mayor and corporators in these local bodies spread in 44 districts of the state. The BJP and Congress are locked in direct contests in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Ujjain, among other seats. The opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh has set up a special control room for the announcement of poll results in 11 municipal corporations and also arranged a helicopter for state unit chief Kamal Nath to rush to any city from where irregularities are reported. The ruling BJP laughed it off claiming Nath was just using the polls as a ploy to fly around, and that the results would anyway bring him "down to earth". The local bodies elections in the state for 413 municipalities, including 16 Nagar Palika Nigam, 99 Nagar Palika Parishad and 298 Nagar Parishad were held in two phases on July 6 and July 13. The counting for the second-phase of polls will be held on July 20, the official added. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) The Delhi Police is in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FM radio channels to give live updates about traffic congestions and diversions to commuters in the national capital, officials said on Sunday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic Dwarka Range and Public Interface Unit) Ankit Singh said that the information regarding the traffic will be taken from the ranges and forwarded to the public relations officer (PRO) to further pass it to the FM channels. Also Read | Monsoon Session of Parliament 2022: Opposition Focuses on Price Rise, Agnipath, 'Misuse' of Agencies at All-Party Meet. "There are over 1.22 crore registered vehicles in the national capital. People listen to FM channels while driving their vehicles. Through this system, we would like to enhance our reach to more people. The commuters would get the information of VVIP moments, special arrangements, dharna, protest, etc. so that they can plan accordingly. We have opted for this medium as we feel it is very convenient for us and the commuters. "The Public Interface Unit (PIU) of the traffic police gets details from all the ranges in the city about the traffic congestions or jams in the respective areas. It further passes this information to the PRO who will later share the information with the FM channels for the broadcast. The commuters will also be suggested about the diversions on the particular routes," Singh said. Also Read | IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad Flight Makes Precautionary Landing at Karachi Due to Engine Snag. The DCP said that the Delhi Police has also started taking information from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) about the weather conditions. The waterlogging after the rain also becomes a very crucial factor for the traffic jams. We have been using all the platforms, including social media and the application of the Delhi Police called Tatpar', through which we update people about the traffic situation across the national capital," Singh said. Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic Zone II) Surender Singh Yadav said, "We are signing the MoU as the FM radios have a wide and live reach especially with the commuters as well as auto and cab drivers. We want that they should have updates about the traffic congestion or the traffic movement. If there are some emergencies where we make diversion or wherein there is a prediction that the weather is not good and in our analysis, there is traffic congestion in later hours, so it is better to keep the public updated so that they can plan their journey accordingly." Police officials said that the traffic police regularly update the traffic situation in the city through its Twitter handle, but not everyone is on Twitter. But people do listen to FM channels and they can get the live updates about their routes if there is any change in it, a senior police officer said. The officer further said, "Many times, heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, break down during peak hours which leads to a traffic jam on that particular stretch. This kind of information can also be shared with commuters and they will be suggested alternate routes for their convenience. The MoU is yet to be signed but we have started passing the information to FM channels." Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said that this is another step of reaching out to the citizens of the city. "We are in the process of signing an MoU with the FM channels. This is another step of reaching out to the citizens of the national capital. We are planning to increase our reach with the public through FM radios and to keep them updated about traffic in the city," Nalwa 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, July 17: India and China will hold the 16th round of high-level military talks on Sunday with an aim to resolve the outstanding issues in remaining friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The talks are scheduled to take place at the Chushul Moldo meeting point on the Indian side of the LAC in the region, official sources said. The last round of talks between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) took place on March 11. In the fresh round of talks, the Indian side is expected to press for disengagement of troops as soon as possible in all the remaining friction points besides seeking resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok. The situation in eastern Ladakh figured prominently in talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bali on July 7. At the one-hour meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of foreign ministers of the G20 nations, Jaishankar conveyed to Wang the need for early resolution of all the outstanding issues in Eastern Ladakh. "Recalling the disengagement achieved in some friction areas, the external affairs minister reiterated the need to sustain the momentum to complete disengagement from all the remaining areas to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in a statement after the meeting. The MEA further said that Jaishankar "reaffirmed the importance of fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols, and the understandings reached between the two ministers during their previous conversations". The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) A day before the presidential poll, NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu Sunday said tribals and women in the country are excited and delighted over her nomination for the country's top constitutional post, according to sources. Murmu interacted with NDA MPs on Sunday and thanked them for nominating her as their presidential candidate. Also Read | The Debutant #AAP Has Made Its Entry in #MadhyaPradesh Politics After Winning Mayoral Post Latest Tweet by IANS India. She was also facilitated at the meeting. "With my nomination there is excitement among tribals and women," Murmu told the meeting, according to the sources. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. "There are around 10 crore tribals with more 700 communities, and all are delighted with my nomination," she said. Before her arrival, a mock drill for voting in the July 18 poll was carried out at Parliament. BJP leaders having parliamentary experience and members of the party's legal cell guided the MPs about the process to cast the votes. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 17 (PTI) Extensive training for doctors and officials of local bodies as well as help desks in all the four international airports in Kerala are some of the latest steps taken by the State government to deal with monkeypox which was recently reported from here. Also Read | ISCE Class 10 Results 2022: Yashvi Jain Is Delhi Topper With 97.6%, Aryan Garg Close Second With 97.4%. Giving details of the intensified preventive measures, State Health Minister Veena George said help desks have been started at Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin, Kozhikode and Kannur International airports. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. The help desks, manned by trained personnel, would help detect symptoms of monkeypox in those coming from abroad, provide them with expert care and would also be used for resolution of queries, the Minister said in a release. Apart from this, those returning from countries where monkeypox was reported in the last 21 days and are showing symptoms like fever, rash, or blisters, headache, body aches, muscle pain, sore throat, and difficulty in swallowing food should contact the help desks at the airports, the release said. The Minister further said in the release that isolation systems have been set up in the districts and those showing symptoms should stay at home in a ventilated room for 21 days. During this period, they should not come in close contact with pregnant women, children, or immuno-compromised people in the house, the release said. Call Disha 104, 1056, 0471 2552056 immediately if you notice any symptoms, it said. It further said that after organising a training programme for 1,200 government and private sector doctors, the Health Department is organising an extensive training programme for monkeypox prevention. The training would be provided to doctors in private hospitals, private practitioners and doctors in the field of AYUSH in collaboration with Indian Medical Association, it said. Besides that, training is also being organised for the employees of the local institutions with the cooperation of the Health Department, the release said. The training programme for health volunteers like Asha workers would be held on July 18 and the public can also watch it live through the link -- https://youtu.be/FC1gsr9y1BI. Any doubts that people have can also be cleared during the programme, it said. The Minister had on Saturday said the Health Department was also observing those with chicken pox or similar symptoms in order to ensure that they do not have monkeypox. She had also said random samples would be tested to ascertain whether anyone else was infected. "The surveillance at the airport will be intensified. As part of it, the Health Department will hold discussions with the airport authorities. If anyone is found with the symptoms, steps will be taken to isolate them and ambulances have been arranged to shift them to hospitals," Minister had said in a release. After the first case of monkeypox in the country was reported from Kerala on Thursday, a central team had been sent to the State. The first case is that of a Keralite who returned from the UAE on July 12. All his contacts were identified and 11 of his co-passengers, his family members, an auto-driver, a taxi driver and a dermatologist of a private hospital, where the infected person sought treatment first, are under observation. A special alert has been issued to five districts as people from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam were co-passengers of the infected person on the Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram Indigo flight that landed here on July 12. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) The pass percentage in class 10 Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) examination continued to be better than pre-pandemic years with 99.97 per cent of the candidates clearing the exam this year. The results were announced by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Sunday. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. The pass percentage last year was at 99.98 per cent. However, the results were announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme as exams could not be conducted in view of the pandemic. In 2020 too, exams had to be cancelled midway following the announcement of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. The board had not announced any merit lists in 2020 and 2021. Also Read | Margaret Alva, Ex-Union Minister To Be Opposition's Joint Candidate for Vice-Presidential Poll. In 2019, the pass percentage stood at 98.54 per cent while in 2018 it was 98.51 per cent. For the first time in the history of the board, the CISCE conducted two examinations in a single examination year for the 2021-22 academic session. While semester one exams were held in November-December 2021, the second semester exams were conducted in April-May 2022 for class 10 and 12. Marks of both the semesters have been given equal weightage in computation of the final score this year. (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, July 17: India and Nepal need to address diplomatically some of the issues "left by history" to realise the full potential of the bilateral cooperation, former Nepalese prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda, has said. In an address at an event here last evening, the visiting leader particularly highlighted the need to resolve matters relating to the 1950 India-Nepal friendship treaty, boundary issue and the EPG (Eminent Persons Group) report. India and Nepal Unveil Joint Vision into Bilateral Cooperation in Power Sector. The chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal was on a three-day visit to India from July 15 to 17 at the invitation of BJP President J P Nadda. "There are some issues left by history that need to be addressed in good faith to fully realise full potentials of Nepal-India relations and cooperation," he said in his address on India-Nepal relations. "The matters related to the 1950 Treaty, boundary and EPG report need to be resolved through diplomatic efforts and dialogue. In the spirit of good neighbourliness, we can make our relations problem-free," he said. The EPG was constituted a few years back to look into various aspects of India-Nepal ties including to look at the 1950 friendship treaty between the two countries. Nepal has been demanding a review of the treaty. The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations between the two countries. Ties between the two countries came under strain after Kathmandu published a new political map in 2020 that showed the three Indian territories - Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh - as part of Nepal. On its part, India reacted sharply, calling it a "unilateral act" and cautioned Kathmandu that such "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims would not be acceptable to it. In his address, Prachanda said India and Nepal have been aware of each other's "concerns and sensitivities" and that Kathmandu has not allowed its land to be used against the "interests of our neighbours and it expects similar assurance from India." He said, "mutual trust" and respect for each other's sensitivities have helped in overcoming some "misunderstandings" in the past. Prachanda said the present coalition government of Nepal headed by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba attached great importance to its relations with India. "We, as coalition partners, are of the view that our two countries should work together to fully harness the development potentials in order to uplift the living standard of our peoples who deserve a dignified life," he said. Prachanda said Deuba's visit to India in April, and subsequent trip to Lumbini by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May generated a "new momentum" in the ties. "For Nepal, India remains the most important trade partner. It is the largest source of Nepal's imports as well as the largest destination of Nepal's exports," he said. The Nepalese leader also described achievements made by India in economic, social, scientific and other frontiers in recent years as "remarkable". "India's development has been truly spectacular and inspiring. The people of Nepal stood by India during its struggle for independence. Nepal had provided moral as well as material support. Today, they are standing by the people of India in their quest for development," he said. The former Nepalese PM said India's 'Neighbourhood First Policy' and its approach of Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' (together with all, development for all) can provide momentum to both regional and sub-regional processes in South Asia, particularly in the areas of trade, transit, connectivity and hydropower. "Nepal is eager to welcome more investment from Indian investors and private sectors in hydropower," he said. Prachanda also recalled India's support to Nepal in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as well when it was struck by a devastating earthquake in 2015. "India has continued its support to Nepal including by unhindered supply of goods, medical supplies and much-needed vaccines. We are thankful to the government and people of India for the generous assistance extended to Nepal during difficult times, including in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in 2015," he said. Prachanda said the response from India in the wake of the earthquakes was "swift, spontaneous and substantial". "We greatly value India's support in post-earthquakes reconstruction," he added. Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship. The country shares a border of over 1850 km with five Indian states Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services. Nepal's access to the sea is through India, and it imports a predominant proportion of its requirements from and through India. (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], July 17 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday and sought permission to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government and the Centre locked horns over Kejriwal's proposed visit to Singapore to attend the global conference in Singapore. Also Read | AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran Demands Ordinance To Ban Online Gaming in Tamil Nadu. In his letter to Modi, Kejriwal said, "The Government of Singapore has invited us to present the Delhi model at the global summit. During the summit, the Delhi model has to be presented in front of many big leaders of the world. Today the whole world wants to know about the Delhi model. This invitation is a matter of pride and honour for the country." He said he had written to the Centre on June 7 seeking permission to attend the summit but no response was received till today. Also Read | Delhi: Crime Branch Arrests 2 Accused of Robbing Man of Rs 34 Lakh. He said, "It is a matter of pride for India as the world is inspired by the health and education model of Delhi. The country will feel proud when I will present the model of Delhi's schools, hospitals, mohalla clinics, free electricity and others. My Singapore visit will elevate the country's pride and stature." "In such a situation, it is against the interest of the country to stop a Chief Minister from visiting such an important platform. I request you to give permission as soon as possible so that I can elevate the name of the country in this summit," urged Kejriwal. The AAP convenor said the country's internal differences should not reflect on the global stage. The World Cities Summit is a forum for leaders and industry experts to address the challenges of a livable and sustainable city and to deliberate on integrated urban solutions. This year the summit is being held between July 31 and August 3. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Jul 17 (PTI) A 37-year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at her home in outer Delhi's Alipur area, police said on Sunday. The accused, a married man from Jindpur, is the son of a Delhi Police personnel, they said. Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Landlord Arrested for Sexually Assaulting 10-Year-Old Minor Girl at Her House in Alipur. According to police, the matter came to light when a woman head constable went to a school to create awareness among students about 'good' and 'bad' touch. During interaction with students, a 10-year-old girl spoke to the head constable about a possible sexual assault that took place in May with her when she was alone at her house. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Election Results 2022: PM Narendra Modi Thanks Voters for BJP's Win in Local Polls. The head constable informed her senior officers about the incident. During inquiry, a man was identified as suspect, who later confessed to the crime during questioning, a senior police officer said. The victim lives with her family in a rented accommodation in one of the houses owned by the accused. Her father works as a labourer while mother runs a small tea stall to feed her family, he said. The landlord of the property molested the girl when she was alone at her home and her parents away at work. He also threatened the girl of dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident, the officer said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Bhopal, Jul 17 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh on Sunday recorded 218 new cases of COVID-19 that raised the tally of infections to 10,46,700, an official from the state health department said. Also Read | AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran Demands Ordinance To Ban Online Gaming in Tamil Nadu. The toll remained unchanged at 10,746, while the count of recoveries rose to 10,34,801 after 123 patients recovered during the day, he said. Also Read | Delhi: Crime Branch Arrests 2 Accused of Robbing Man of Rs 34 Lakh. With a positivity rate of 3 per cent, the state currently has 1,153 active cases, the official said. As many as 7,247 swab samples were examined during the day, taking the total number of tests conducted in the state to 2,96,19,023, he added. As per a government release, a total of 12,13,21,534 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, of which 3,998 jabs were given on Sunday. Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 10,46,700, new cases 218, death toll 10,746, recoveries 10,34,801, active cases 1,153, number of tests so far 2,96,19,023. (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, July 17: Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour. The polling will take place in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies for which ballot boxes have already reached their destinations. The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25. With the support of regional parties such as BJD, YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and now JMM, Murmu's vote share is likely to reach nearly two-thirds and she is set to become the first woman from the tribal community to occupy the top constitutional post. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee now has over 6.67 lakh votes after the support of various regional parties, out of a total of 10,86,431 votes. Presidential Election 2022 Date And Schedule: President And Vice President Polls to be Held on July 18, Counting of Votes And Results on July 21. The electoral college which elects the president through the system of proportional representation comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative assemblies. Nominated MPs and MLAs, and members of legislative councils are not entitled to vote in this election. The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in this presidential poll due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir. In states, the value of vote of each MLA varies in different states. In Uttar Pradesh, the value of vote of each MLA stands at 208, followed by 176 in Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. In Maharashtra, it is 175. In Sikkim, the value of vote per MLA is seven, while it is nine in Nagaland and eight in Mizoram. Before naming Sinha, a former Union minister and a BJP leader, the opposition camp had approached Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and a former governor of West Bengal, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah to contest the poll. After their refusal to be part of the electoral battle, Sinha, then the Trinamool Congress vice president, was named as the opposition's candidate. The election of the President is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. In accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences, as there are candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1,2,3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the candidates, in the order of preference, in the space provided in column 2 of the ballot paper. Vice President Election 2022: Jagdeep Dhankhar Named NDA Candidate for the Post of Vice President of India. This is the reason why electronic voting machines are not used in this as well as vice presidential, Rajya Sabha and legislative council polls. The EVMs are based on a technology where they work as aggregator of votes in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. According to Election Commission's directions, while MPs will get a green-coloured ballot paper, the MLAs will get a pink ballot paper to cast vote. Separate colours help the returning officer ascertain the value of vote of each MLA and MP. Seeking to maintain secrecy of voting, the EC has issued a specially designed pen with violet ink to enable voters mark their ballot papers in the presidential poll. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) The National Medical Commission (NMC) has formed a group of experts to frame guidelines for a proposed exam to enable medical graduates from among the persecuted minorities from Pakistan, who migrated and took Indian citizenship, to acquire permanent registration for practising in India. The move comes as a ray of hope for many doctors who after migrating from Pakistan are not able to practice medicine in India legally. Also Read | A Meeting Was Held to Discuss Nationwide Rollout for #HarGharTiranga Chaired by Union Home Latest Tweet by Prasar Bharati News Services. For decades, many people belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Christian minority groups from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have migrated to India and sought citizenship. The Ministry of Home Affairs had informed Parliament during its winter session in 2021 that 8,244 citizenship applications were received from non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan of which 3,117 were approved. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. Significantly, Parliament has passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019 which facilitates granting of Indian citizenship to the persecuted non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. However, the law has not been implemented as rules under CAA are yet to be framed. Dr L N Jangid, 49, who has been living in Jodhpur after migrating to India from Pakistan's Umerkot in 2004 has been working as an assistant to a doctor in a private clinic. He got Indian citizenship in 2019. Despite having an MBBS degree from Jinnah Sindh Medical University in Karachi, his job now entails noting down patient history, checking their blood pressure, and making them understand the doses of medicines prescribed by the doctor. "I feel very disappointed while working as a medical assistant. I keep going back to my days in Pakistan when I was working as a doctor and would see patients and prescribe medicine. I feel that I have failed to live my dream of serving patients," Jangid told PTI. It is not just Jangid, many like him are forced to do odd jobs in India after migrating from Pakistan with a medical degree. The National Medical Commission (NMC) notification on the formation of the Group of Experts, issued on June 20, read, "It is hereby stated that Ministry of Health through its holistic endeavour decided that appropriate guidelines/ regulations may be framed to give effect to the decision of conducting proposed examination for persecuted minorities migrating from Pakistan under the direct supervision of National Medical Commission to test their knowledge of modern medicine and granting permanent registration to practice medicine in India." Dr Nakhat Singh Sodha (54), who migrated to India from Pakistan's Sindh in 2005 and is now working as a maintenance supervisor at a private hospital in Jodhpur said he would need nine to 10 months to prepare for Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) exam. He graduated from the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) in Karachi in 1994. "I graduated over two decades ago. I don't understand how I would be able to appear for a qualifying exam once more. We will need at least nine to 10 months of preparation if we are to crack the FMGE exam. While doing so, we won't be able to continue with our work and who would feed our family?" "It would be great if the government brings a policy to give us permanent registration to work as doctors," he said. Indians with medical degrees from foreign universities can practise in India only after they clear the FMGE. However, postgraduate degrees from five English-speaking countries -- the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand -- are recognised in India and they do not need to appear for the exam. In a public notice on April 28, the NMC had urged Indian students not to enrol themselves in any college or educational institution in Pakistan. "All concerned are advised not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing Medical Education. "Any Indian national/Overseas Citizen of India who intends to take admission in MBBS/BDS or equivalent medical course in any medical college of Pakistan shall not be eligible for appearing in FMGE or seeking employment in India on the basis of educational qualifications (in any subject) acquired in Pakistan except those who had joined Pakistan degree colleges/institutions before December 2018 or later after obtaining security clearance from MHA till date," the public notice issued on April 28 read. However, migrants and their children who have acquired a medical degree or higher education in Pakistan and have been awarded citizenship by India would continue to be eligible for appearing in FMGE/NEXT or seeking employment in India after obtaining security clearance from MHA, it had added. The proposed Terms of Reference of the five-member Group of Experts constituted by NMC is to provide a roadmap for granting permanent registration to persecuted minority migrants, who are now Indian citizens, to practice medicine in India. The group of experts is also mandated to obtain the demographic and academic information with work experience, if any, of the candidate, to verify the documents submitted and to decide the methodology and mode of special examination to be conducted by the NMC. "Once the guidelines are framed, the candidates will be asked to register on a portal for appearing in the proposed exam," an official source said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Aizawl, July 17 (PTI) As many as 30,316 Myanmar nationals, including 11,798 children and 10,047 women, have taken refuge in various parts of Mizoram since the military seized power in the neighbouring country in February last year, a senior official said on Sunday. Fourteen lawmakers are also among those who fled the trouble-torn country and moved to Mizoram, the official said, citing data compiled by the state home department earlier in the month. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. Of the 30,316 people, profiling of 30,299 has been completed, he said. Also, identity cards, certifying the holder as a refugee, have been issued to over 30,000 refugees. Also Read | Margaret Alva, Ex-Union Minister To Be Opposition's Joint Candidate for Vice-Presidential Poll. The card, being issued by the state government, could only be used for identification purposes in Mizoram and would not be a valid document for availing government schemes. "Identity cards are being issued for proper documentation of Myanmar nationals. It will also keep at bay individuals who might want to grant them Indian citizenship for vested political interests, the official told PTI on condition of anonymity. Each identity card stated that the bearer was a Myanmar national residing in Mizoram. "This is just for identification and shall serve no other purpose, official or otherwise. It isn't transferable," specified the ID card, one of which was accessed by PTI. According to the official, at least 156 makeshift relief camps have been set up by the government, NGOs, village authorities and Myanmar nationals in different parts of the state, with Siaha district housing the maximum number of shelter homes at 41, followed by Lawngtlai at 36 and Champhai 33. He said that the state has so far sanctioned Rs 80 lakh as relief. The official added that no Myanmar refugee had so far been involved in any law and order problem. Six Mizoram districts -- Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Serchhip, Hnahthial and Saitual -- share a 510-km-long international border with Myanmar's Chin state. Most Myanmar nationals are from Chin state, and share ancestry with the Mizos. (PTI COR) (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, Jul 17 (PTI) The Philippines is looking at procuring a batch of advanced light helicopters from India to crank up its combat capability, months after sealing a USD 375-million deal to acquire three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile. The Southeast Asian nation has been focusing on modernising its military in the face of myriad security challenges as well as decades-long territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Also Read | COVID19 | India Records 20,528 New Cases & 49 Deaths in the Last 24 Hours; Active Latest Tweet by ANI. Top officials in the security and defence establishment told PTI on Sunday that the Philippines has shown keen interest in procurement of a number of advanced light helicopters (ALH) to replace its ageing chopper fleet. It is learnt the two sides are holding talks on the proposed acquisition. Also Read | Mumbai Civic Body Converting Asphalt Roads Into Cement-Concrete Ones to Fix Pothole Problem. The indigenously developed ALH helicopter is a twin engine, multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 ton weight class and is considered to be an effective platform for various military operations. The officials said the Philippines has also been impressed by the performance of India's indigenously-developed Tejas light combat aircraft and could consider procuring it as the country continues its hunt for a fleet of fighter jets. The Philippines is a key strategic partner of India in the Southeast Asian region and the bilateral defence and security ties have been on an upswing in the last few years, especially in the maritime domain. The Philippines is also a key member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an influential bloc with whom India's ties have witnessed major expansion in the last one decade. In January, the Philippines concluded a USD 375-million deal with India for procurement of three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile. BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms. In a related development, India signed a framework agreement with the Philippines in March that provided for government-to-government deals for supply of defence hardware and equipment. India has been looking at supplying critical military hardware and platforms to countries with whom it has strong strategic ties and convergence of interests. The Tejas aircraft has already emerged as the top choice for Malaysia as the country is looking at replacing its ageing fleet of fighter jets. Malaysia has already narrowed down on the Indian aircraft notwithstanding stiff competition from China's JF-17 jet, South Korea's FA-50 and Russia's Mig-35 as well as Yak-130. Tejas, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, is a single-engine and highly agile multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments. In February last year, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF). India has already started work on the MK 2 version of the Tejas as well as on an ambitious USD 5-billion project to develop a fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The sources said India is also keen to set up an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility in the Philippines to provide services to its civil and military aircraft. "The talks on several projects are underway," said one of the officials. The Defence Ministry has set a goal of a turnover of USD 25 billion (Rs 1.75 lakh crore) in defence manufacturing in the next five years that included an export target of USD 5 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) worth of military hardware. In the last few years, the government has taken a series of measures to promote domestic defence production. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) The two rivals, Jagdeep Dhankhar and Margaret Alva, for the chair of vice president also have several things in common: both have been governor, union minister and have a Congress background to list a few. Both also have a law degree, have been one-time Lok Sabha member and share a Rajasthan connection. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance candidate Dhankhar (71) is a native of the state, the Opposition's pick Alva (80) has been its governor. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. Dhankhar, who was in the Janata Dal and the Congress before joining the BJP, distinguished himself as a lawyer in the Rajasthan High Court and then in the Supreme Court, while Alva has had a more vast legislative experience. She has been a four-term Rajya Sabha MP and was governor of Uttarakhand and Rajasthan when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre. She was also a minister in the governments headed by Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao. Also Read | Margaret Alva, Ex-Union Minister To Be Opposition's Joint Candidate for Vice-Presidential Poll. Dhankhar, also a former MLA, was a minister in the short-lived Chandra Shekhar government and was appointed West Bengal governor in July 2019 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power again. A day after the BJP named him as the ruling alliance's candidate, opposition parties on Sunday decided to field Alva as their joint candidate for the election scheduled for August 6. With the BJP enjoying a majority on its own in the electoral college for the vice presidential poll, Dhankhar is all but certain to beat his more experienced rival to the important constitutional post. (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, Jul 17 (PTI) Amid the row over a new set of unparliamentary words, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Sunday said he would treat the list as indicative rather than definitive, and "speak normally" in the House and see whether it is applied in a "draconian manner" to stifle meaningful criticism. In an interview with PTI, Tharoor said the list is a compilation of words that have been deemed unparliamentary by various presiding officers in the last couple of years, and asserted that what will matter is how it is applied in practice. Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Man Accuses In-Laws of Kidnapping His Wife Over Love Marriage in Banaskantha, FIR Lodged. Some are regular words which feature in parliamentary debates all the time and it is possible they were expunged in a specific context that would not apply in other contexts, the former Union minister said. "In any case a ruling by one presiding officer is not necessarily binding on another. So I would treat this list as indicative rather than definitive, I would speak normally and see whether it is applied in a draconian manner to stifle meaningful criticism," Tharoor said. Also Read | Margaret Alva, Ex-Union Minister To Be Opposition's Joint Candidate for Vice-Presidential Poll. As always, implementation is the key, not the list itself, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram asserted. Asked about some seeing the list as a "gag order," Tharoor said it is not an instruction but an indication. "Expunging always takes place after unparliamentary words have been spoken and not in anticipation. So no one needs to feel gagged," he said. There has been massive Opposition uproar over certain words of common use being categorised as unparliamentary in a booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Use of terms like 'jumlajeevi', 'baal buddhi', 'Covid spreader' and 'Snoopgate' and even commonly used words like 'ashamed', 'abused, 'betrayed', 'corrupt', 'drama', 'hypocrisy' and 'incompetent' will henceforth be considered unparliamentary in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, according to the new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. After the outrage over the issue, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had stepped in and made it clear that no word has been banned from use in Parliament but will be expunged on a contextual basis. Asked about the circular by the Rajya Sabha secretariat stating that demonstrations, dharnas or religious ceremonies cannot be held in the precincts of Parliament House, Tharoor said there are many such rules, but the evolution of parliamentary practice in India has featured frequent violations of rules and disruptions, often preceded by slogan-shouting, demonstrations with placards and thronging the well of the House, all of which are explicitly prohibited. "Personally I have never been in favour of such behaviour but the Opposition, whichever party is in Opposition, often tends to feel the system does not give them a fair opportunity to raise their issues and so they resort to such conduct to make their point," he said. "We would all prefer debate to disruption but the government needs to step forward and offer innovative ways to allow the Opposition to set the agenda one day a week, for instance, as happens in other parliamentary democracies. Otherwise we will keep issuing such rules and they will keep getting violated," he said. A circular by the Rajya Sabha secretariat said demonstrations, dharnas or religious ceremonies cannot be held in the precincts of Parliament House. The circular drew ire from the Opposition, even as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla insisted that such notices had been issued for years. Tharoor also said there are several issues that the Opposition and the Congress would look to raise in this session such as seeking the withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme, stresses caused by unmitigated price rise, mounting unemployment, the collapse of the rupee driving up the prices of imports, the situation on the border with China and the impact on India of the war in Ukraine. "But will the government allow us to raise all these vital issues?" he said. Asked about the controversy surrounding the emblem installed atop the new Parliament building, Tharoor said he had not seen it with his own eyes yet. "If it has indeed been modified to make it look hostile and powerful rather than calm and benevolent, that would be a travesty," the Congress leader said. "But if the architects are able to demonstrate and prove that it's only a matter of perspective and they have been faithful to the original, we would have less cause to complain," 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) Lahore, Jul 17 (PTI) The counting is underway in the closely-contested by-election on 20 assembly seats of Pakistan's Punjab Assembly held on Sunday - the first major political battle between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) since the latter was ousted from power in April. The 20 seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on May 23 disqualified 25 PTI dissident lawmakers, including five lawmakers elected on reserved seats for women and minorities, due to Khan's petition against them. Also Read | Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says 'Russia Doesn't Want To End War'. The election's outcome will determine who will rule politically crucially province Punjab Prime Minister Sharif's PML-N or Khan's PTI. The initial trends show a 'neck-to-neck' contest between the PML-N and PTI. Going by an early lead, the PTI candidates are ahead of PML-N's in most constituencies. Also Read | Afghanistan: Citizens Call for Reopening of Girls' Senior Secondary Schools. Earlier on Sunday, the by-election was held in a relatively peaceful manner with scattered incidents of violence. A heavy contingent of police was deployed in five 'sensitive' constituencies of Lahore and Multan. A couple of political workers were injured in Lahore during a clash between the PML-N and PTI supporters. A violent clash was reported between the two arch-rivals in Muzaffargarh (some 350 kms from Lahore) too. Turnout in most constituencies reportedly remained low. According to Punjab police, they arrested 15 persons near different polling stations for indulging in violence and carrying arms. The police have also arrested PTI Chairman Imran Khan's close aide Shahbaz Gill from Muzaffargarh for keeping armed guards. Khan strongly condemned Gill's arrest and alleged that the PML-N-led Punjab government had brazenly violated the Supreme Court's verdict by resorting to rigging. "Today Punjab government has brazenly violated SC orders [and] election rules by openly using all government and state machinery to rig Punjab elections through illegal ballot stamping [and] harassing voters while arresting PTI leaders, he said. He also accused the Election Commission of turning a blind eye and said "courts must open now [and] act." Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb rejected Khan's rigging claim, saying "not a single complaint" of rigging was reported in these 20 constituencies. She said these were rigging free by-polls unlike the ones held during the tenure of Imran Khan as premier. This contest is seen as a matter of life and death' for both major competitors who practically have their political futures in the province on the line. If the opposition PTI manages to grab majority seats, it could dethrone Hamza Shehbaz as the Punjab chief minister, which the Sharifs, especially Hamza's father Prime Minister Shehbaz, cannot afford, as it could restrict the junior Sharif's rule to the Centre only. The PML-N has also hinted that if it loses the Punjab chief ministership to PTI, it may leave the federal government too. For the PTI, Sunday's by-polls mean a lot more than defeating the Sharifs and Zardaris. Khan and his companions have painted the contest as a fight between good (his party) and evil (the ruling coalitions in the Centre and Punjab)' and a matter of the country's sovereignty in the face of alleged foreign (US) meddling in its affairs. The PML-N-led coalition needs at least 11 seats of the 20 to achieve the magic 186-member majority in the assembly for Hamza to survive as the CM, whereas PTI-PMLQ joint candidate Chaudhry Parvez Elahi requires 13 to oust Hamza. The Punjab Assembly currently stands at 349 members: the PTI has 163 lawmakers and its ally PML-Q 10. The PML-N has 163 members while its coalition partners PPP seven, four independents and one Rah-i-Haq Party. Three-time premier Nawaz Sharif who has been in London since November 2019 in 'self-exile' had monitored his party campaign. As per rules, a party or coalition needs a minimum of 186 out of the 371 seats in the assembly to elect a chief minister of its choice. (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], July 17 (ANI): China's meteorological department has issued a high-temperature warning for 12 days as severe heat waves grip the country, affecting 900 million people and over half of the national territory within a week. The prolonged heatwaves have threatened crops and people's lives and pushed China's power usage to record-breaking levels, the Global Times reported. Also Read | China Infiltrating US Judicial System, Says Reports. The National Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration said that the heatwaves that continued to affect the regions across China since June 13, will last until at least mid-August, the Global Times reported. The heat waves of over 40 degrees Celsius would strike regions including the southeastern part of Northwest China's Shaanxi and the northeastern part of East China's Zhejiang, the National Meteorological Center said. Also Read | Arms Trafficking in Ukraine Will Feed Violence in Criminal Networks in European Union, Says EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson. A senior researcher at the National Climate Center affiliated with the China Meteorological Administration, Sun Shao said that the heatwave in 2022 has come earlier, and the average temperatures for June have hit the highest since 1873. Turpan city of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region which is known as the hottest and driest region in China recorded temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius as well as the southeastern parts, parts of Shanghai, East China's Fujian, Central China's Henan, and Hunan, and Southwest China's Chongqing also surpassed the temperature above 37-degree celsius, the Global Times reported. Since June, China has experienced this year's first regional hot weather. In total, 71 national weather stations across China have broken records with the highest temperature recorded at 44.2 C in Lingshou, North China's Hebei Province. China's Meteorological Center said that the south and southeast parts of China will witness hot weather until 26 July. From July 31 to August 15, most regions of the country will record temperatures higher than the previous years, the Global Times reported. Some cities in southern China have been gripped by the dual challenges of heatwaves and sporadic clusters of COVID-19 infections. For the third time this summer, Shanghai issued a red alert, the highest in China's four-tier, a colour-coded weather warning system for extreme heat on Thursday, as temperatures were expected to hit 40 C and above. Shanghai recorded the highest temperature of 40.9 C on Wednesday, a figure not eclipsed since 1973. Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang issued 54 red warnings of extreme heat on Tuesday, breaking the number of local heat warnings issued on a single day. Notably, the city which recently emerged from a severe outbreak is also seeing rising COVID-19 cases, with 26 local cases including 24 asymptomatic cases reported on Sunday, as per the National Health Commission. Apart from this, the Chinese mainland reported around 600 new cases of COVID-19, marking the number as the highest daily tally in the month of July. Over the past three days, the daily tally in the Chinese mainland has surpassed 400. As per the official data on Sunday, 106 new cases with 474 asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 were found in different provinces of the country on Saturday. The daily new cases are the highest reported in July 2022. China has incurred severe effects on the livelihoods of its inhabitants in the first half of 2022 as a result of rigorous lockdowns and demanding testing procedures in different parts of the nation. The economic impact of the zero-COVID strategy has also dented income. Fiscal revenue fell 4.8 per cent on the year for the four months through April, according to the Finance Ministry, owing mainly to tax refunds aimed at supporting businesses. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad [Pakistan], July 17 (ANI): Ahead of by-polls in 20 Punjab constituencies, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday urged the masses to think of the "economic disaster, corruption, patronage of mafias and destruction created in the name of change" during the Imran Khan-led PTI's tenure while casting their votes. Shehbaz said, "Pakistan has moved away from its destination during the tenure of PTI. You have to express it with your vote," reported Geo News. Also Read | Global Food Crisis: G7 Alliance Offers $14 Million Aid to Sri Lanka, Reveals President Ranil Wickremesinghe. He urged people to reject politics of division, hatred, and chaos through the power of their vote. Lashing out at the PTI, the prime minister said Punjab was subjected to the worst governance during the last almost four years, adding that citizens were deprived of free medicines and students of scholarships, reported Geo News. Also Read | Sri Lanka Crisis: Lankans in US Held Protests Against Gotabaya Rajpaksas Son in Los Angeles. He maintained that there was an open sale of government jobs, postings and transfers in the tenure of PTI. "Civic facilities were in shambles and lawlessness was at its peak during the Imran Khan-led government," the prime minister added. Over 4.5 million voters are exercising their democratic rights amid by-polls in 20 Punjab constituencies. Voting for by-elections on 20 provincial seats in Punjab began around 8 am on Sunday morning. It will continue till 5 pm without any interruption, reported Geo News. A total of 3,131 polling stations have been set up in the 20 constituencies, of which 676 have been declared "highly sensitive" while 1,194 have been declared "sensitive". The 20 seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) unseated 25 PTI dissident lawmakers on May 23 -- which included five lawmakers elected on reserved seats for women and minorities -- for voting against PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz in the Punjab chief minister's election. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that security is on high alert in all constituencies to ensure peace and security during the by-elections. He said that the civil and armed forces have been deputed in all relevant areas as per the Election Commission of Pakistan's request. The ECP has set up central and provincial control rooms to monitor the polling process in the province. The polling stations in the 20 constituencies have been witnessing a massive turnout of voters as young, elderly and persons with disabilities come to exercise their right to vote. The Punjab police can be seen assisting the elderly and disabled at polling stations. Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out between the PTI and PML-N workers during the polling process in Lahore's constituency PP-158. As a result, one of the PTI worker's sustained a head injury. Meanwhile, PML-N candidate Rana Ahsan Sharafat engaged in a heated argument with PTI leader Jamshed Iqbal Cheema. Punjab witnesses intense political activity today as make-or-break by-elections on 20 hotly-contested provincial constituencies take place. Political pundits are expecting a tough contest between PML-N and PTI in the by-polls that will decide who will become the next chief minister of the province. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dar es Salaam [Tanzania], July 17 (ANI/Xinhua): Tanzanian authorities on Sunday announced measures they were taking to boost the production of sugarcane that will lead to ending sugar scarcity in the East African nation. Hussein Bashe, the minister of Agriculture, said the measures included the construction of irrigation schemes for small-scale sugarcane growers in sugarcane growing regions. Also Read | ICYMI: The Shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 Pipeline Has Europe on Edge. What Are the Energy Latest Tweet by Reuters. Bashe directed the Sugar Board of Tanzania and the National Irrigation Commission to earmark areas in sugarcane growing regions for the construction of irrigation schemes. "Most of the sugarcane grown by smallholders in the country is rain-dependent. We should stop this and use irrigation," Bashe told a meeting of sugar stakeholders in the Morogoro region organized by the Sugar Board of Tanzania. Also Read | China Infiltrating US Judicial System, Says Reports. He said another measure was to mobilize production and use quality sugarcane seedlings that will produce better yields. Bashe also directed the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) to research high-yielding sugarcane seedlings. Kenneth Bengesi, the director general of the Sugar Board of Tanzania, said the lack of sufficient sugarcane was the reason behind the poor production of sugar in the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Tanzania's annual demand for domestic sugar is about 470,000 metric tons while the country's five sugar processing factories only have the capacity of producing 378,000 metric tons annually. (ANI/Xinhua) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Colombo, Jul 17 (PTI) Sri Lanka's interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday told the West that the sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine will not bring Moscow to its knees, but instead badly hurt the rest of the third world in terms of food shortages and spiralling prices. The remarks of the interim leader of the crisis-hit island nation came days after the World Food Programme said that skyrocketing food and fuel prices, shortage of essentials and loss of income were pushing adequate food out of reach for over six million Sri Lankans. Also Read | Arms Trafficking in Ukraine Will Feed Violence in Criminal Networks in European Union, Says EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson. Speaking at an international panel discussion on Preventing Hunger and Famine, Wickremesinghe urged all sides to agree to a ceasefire on the war in Ukraine and end further sufferings of the people across the globe. "Our issue in Sri Lanka is partly self-made and partly due to the global crisis," he said. Also Read | Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Former Nepal PM, Says 'Issues With India Should Be Resolved Diplomatically'. In his address, Wickremesinghe expressed his views on Russia's aggression in Ukraine and its effects to the third world countries, questioning that whether sanctions are meant to assist in overcoming the global shortage or is it hampering the world. "Do you think sanctions will help? it will only drag the prices up. So lets start with the doables. Let us look at the sanctions that are being imposed and ask ourselves if this is necessary. The sanctions wont bring Russia to its knees, but it will bring the rest of the third world to its knees, he was quoted as saying by the Sri Lankan media. Following Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine in February, the US-led West has imposed crippling sanctions on Moscow. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said that there are more than 20 million tonnes of grain that are sitting in silos in Ukraine that can't get out to feed people around the world because Russia is blockading Ukraine's ports in Odessa, the Black Sea. "So we're seeing the impact of this Russian aggression play out everywhere. It, again, may have contributed to the situation in Sri Lanka. We're concerned about the implications that it has around the world," Blinken said in Bangkok on July 10. Wickremesinghe, considered to be the frontrunner in the race for Sri Lankan presidency to be held on July 20, pointed out that just as much as other countries have granted Sri Lanka a sum of USD 14 billion dollars, 100 billion dollars is being spent on the Ukraine war by all the parties concerned. "That cannot go on. Its not only the fault of the European Union. Russia has a responsibility too. They must call for a ceasefire and should not put the world for further sufferings, he said. Wickremesinghe said that the issues facing Sri Lanka with regard to hunger are man made. He acknowledged that after the decision to ban chemical fertiliser, which impacted the country heavily, resulted in Sri Lanka having to import 1/3rd of its rice requirement from overseas. In April, the government of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned imports of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides, to encourage organic farming. Wickremesinghe said that currently Sri Lanka possess enough stocks of rice for five months and imports for three months. However, in the absence of a solution for the ensuing four months, Sri Lanka will have to depend on other substitutes. Sri Lanka is also facing problems with the importation of fertilizer, as the country will require USD 600 million to import but as at the moment the government has only USD 300 million. Sri Lanka's economy is contracting and it will be about -6 per cent this year, he said. Moreover, he emphasised that the loss of jobs during the year will be high, in addition to widespread hunger and the fuel crisis. Pointing out that all this has resulted in political turbulence, Wickremesinghe questioned as to what other countries would do in such a situation. "Asking people to tighten their belts alone will not do. We have to think out of the box, we cant be thinking in conventional terms. What we need is a solution," he added. PTI (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, July 17: Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of "unparliamentary words" at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session. Sources said the leaders were unanimous in their demand for the immediate withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and called for a discussion on important issues like price rise and the status of the economy during the session starting Monday. Parliament Monsoon Session 2022: Govt Calls All-Party Meet on July 17; Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, M Venkaiah Naidu to Meet Floor Leaders. Addressing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government was open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of Parliament. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge asked how 32 bills, lined up by the government, will get passed in 14 days in Parliament and said, "What is the government is trying to do?" "We raised 13 issues including price rise, Agnipath, attack on the federal structure of the country and misuse of investigative agencies such as ED and CBI," Kharge told reporters after the meeting. Leaders from almost all parties including Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh, DMK's TR Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, TMC's Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and NCP's Sharad Pawar, besides BJD's Pinaki Misra, YSRCP's Vijaysai Reddy, TRS' Keshav Rao, RJD's AD Singh and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were present. The government was represented by Union Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, his cabinet colleague and leader of the house in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. "Today, in the all-party meeting, many political parties, including those supporting NDA, pointed out the contradiction in the Modi government claiming credit for its presidential candidate on the one hand and killing off the Forest Rights Act, 2006 on the other hand," Congress' Jairam Ramesh tweeted after the meeting. He earlier raised strong objections over the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the all-party meeting to discuss issues that will come up in Parliament. IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer said every opposition party raised the issue of Agnipath, price rise and the row over the words listed in a new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat that will be considered "unparliamentary". BJD leader Pinaki Misra came out in support of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over the issue, saying he was "unfairly targeted" as listing out such words has been a routine practice in Parliament. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader also pressed for the passage of the women's reservation bill besides demanding a legislative council for Odisha, where the party is in power for many years now. "It is high time we insisted that government should bring the women's reservation bill," said AIADMK leader M Thambidurai. DMK's TR Baalu and AIADMK's Thambidurai also raised the Sri Lankan crisis and said India should intervene to settle the issue. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, however, hit out at the opposition and accused them of belittling Parliament by making issues out of non-issues. He said the opposition is doing so as it had nothing against the government and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being recognised within the country as well as abroad. Condemning the Opposition for creating a row over unparliamentary words and circulars issued in routine for the past several years, he said such a practice is being carried on since 1954, when the first such list was brought out, and the opposition was doing so as it was devoid of any issues against the government. Joshi claimed the government was "doing good work" and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was recognised not just by people within India but also those abroad. "The Opposition is trying to make issues out of non-issues as they do not have anything against the Government... It is trying to belittle the image of Parliament," he said on the row over unparliamentary words. "Actually there is no major issue against the government as it is functioning well under PM Modi's leadership and it is being hailed in may elections," he said. Joshi said presiding officers in previous years also released such a list of unparliamentary words, but the Opposition did not raise it then. He said the words are expunged on the demands made in Parliament and the Chair takes the final call. "No word has been barred from use in Parliament and the Lok Sabha Secretariat has been bringing out such a list of unparliamentary words since 1954," Joshi also said, adding that it is the Lok Sabha Secretariat and not the government that brings out such a list. Similarly, he said a normal circular was issued by Rajya Sabha Secretariat on not holding any dharnas and protests in Parliament, but the Opposition raised it as if it is something new. Such circulars are issued ahead of every session, he said. On criticism over the absence of the prime minister from the meeting, he said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised the issue. "The prime minister never attended all-party meetings before 2014 when the Congress was in power. "It was his good gesture to do this from 2014. They are trying to make an issue that is a non-issue. Our senior colleague Rajnath Singh and deputy leader of the house chaired the meeting," he said. "We are open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of parliament," Joshi said when asked about the opposition demand on the Agnipath scheme. He also stated that the government would hold an all-party meeting on the Sri Lanka situation on Tuesday which will be chaired by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar. Chennai, July 17: Two contractual workers were buried alive after a landslip occurred while they were working inside an underground for laying drainage pipelines. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Sunday at Suttur in Virduhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. The two were engaged in laying under ground drainage pipelines. Police said that the deceased N. Sakthivel (45) and K. Krishnamoorthy (51) are both residents of Kallakurichi. According to information available, 35 contractual workers were employed by an Andhra Pradesh-based private company for carrying out underground drainage pipelines. Bihar: 4 Sanitation Workers Dead While Cleaning Sewer in Madhuban Kanti Village of Muzaffarpur. Seven workers including Sakthivel and Krishnamoorthy were working in the Mukkrundathal area in Suttur on Saturday night. In the early morning on Sunday, Sakthivel and Krishnamoorthy went inside the deep pit to join the pipeline, when a landslide occurred and both were buried alive. Fire and rescue force personnel and police reached the spot and the bodies of the two men could be pulled out after two hours. The bodies have been sent to the Virudhunagar Medical college hospital for postmortem and further investigation in the matter is on. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2022 09:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Hyderabad, July 17: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday expressed doubts about some conspiracy behind the floods in Godavari river. During a visit to Bhadrachalam town affected by Godavari floods, he said that sudden cloud bursts are said to be a conspiracy of some countries. "Cloud burst is something new. It is said that there is some conspiracy behind it. I don't know how far it is correct. It is said that some countries are causing cloud bursts in our country. This happened earlier in Kashmir and Uttarakhand," he said while addressing flood affected people at a relief camp. Heavy rains in Godavari catchment area in Telangana and upstream Maharashtra over the last few days triggered flash floods, inundating low-lying villages and towns along the river in some districts of Telangana. The intensity of floods is stated to be unprecedented during July. Telangana Floods: CM K Chandrasekhar Rao To Conduct Aerial Survey Over Godavari Basin in Bhadrachalam The chief minister said since the weather department has forecast rains till July 29, the officials should be on alert. "The danger is still not over. You have to remain alert," he told officials. He also asked officials to continue the relief camps till the rains recede completely. Telangana Floods: K Chandrashekar Rao Government Extends School Holidays Till July 16 Due to Heavy Rains Referring to the problem of inundation of residential areas in Bhadrachalam town and villages downstream, the chief minister said the government will find a permanent solution. He announced that the government and Singareni Collieries Company Limited together will spend Rs 1,000 crore to address the problem in Bhadrachalam and Pinapaka constituencies. The chief minister said a colony of 2,000 to 3,000 houses will be built at an elevated place so that it faces no threat of inundation even if the water level in Godavari rises to 90 feet. CM K.C.R, who inspected the river bund, said the government will rope in experts from the Central Water commission and professors from IITs to find a permanent solution to floods by strengthening the river bank. He announced Rs 10,000 financial assistance for every affected family. The government will also provide 20 kg free rice to each family for the next two months. A total of 7,274 families have taken shelter in relief camps opened by the government. Earlier, accompanied by ministers and top officials, KCR performed puja at Godavari river to pray for an end to floods. He appreciated the district collector and officials in preventing loss of life despite unprecedented rains. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2022 04:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). While talking to ANI, Raut said, "Droupadi Murmu is a woman.. belongs to tribal society..Maharashtra is largely tribal..Many of our MPs and MLAs are tribals..There is a sentiment with Murmu..Our party leaders also have sentiments about Droupadi Murmu, that's why President of Shiv Sena has spoken of supporting Murmu as a candidate, while Shiv Sena will support Margaret Alva as its Vice Presidential candidate." ... A 27-year-old woman from the #US, who arrived in #India as a tourist, staged a drama of being physically and emotionally abused by some unknown people to emotionally blackmail her parents back home, a #DelhiPolice (@DelhiPolice) official said. pic.twitter.com/YEJ6Vt7wEf IANS (@ians_india) July 17, 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.) A makeshift cross now marks the spot where Zachary Stoners bullet-riddled SUV crashed into a lamppost one year ago in downtown Chicago with the street reporter left clinging to life with a gunshot wound to the head. A note scratched on the cross reads, Zack: Chicago legend, alluding to his fame in hip-hop circles and his trailblazing work in a uniquely perilous genre of gangland journalism. The fact that police have made no arrests in Stoners May 30, 2018, slaying despite multiple potential witnesses and the street being lined with surveillance cameras highlights a troubling statistic about Chicago homicides: About 80% of them go unsolved within the year they occur. And with gang-related killings, the chances of someone getting away with murder are even greater. Investigators havent spoken publicly about Stoners case, but police and medical examiner documents obtained by the Associated Press through an open records request provide previously unreported details and indicate that detectives seem to have significant evidence. Stoner, who was 30 and known by his nickname, ZackTV, was attending a rap concert at the Refuge nightclub just before the shooting. Footage recorded by videographer Raheem McCaskill shows Stoner smiling and mixing with people in the small, packed club. McCaskill, 24, recalled in a recent interview that gang members were among the more than 100 concertgoers. But everything was cool, said McCaskill, who was inspired by Stoner and last year launched his own hip-hop and gang news site, 16 Shot Em Visualz. I would never have expected what happened to Zack later. Advertisement Dozens of videographers nationwide risk their lives going onto gang turf to interview gang members and aspiring rappers among them, then post the videos on YouTube. Stoner, who dubbed the field hood CNN, had said they reported on human-interest stories from places mainstream media were often afraid to go. Stoner had given several rappers who were on the club stage that night their big breaks by featuring them on his ZackTV1 YouTube channel. That included rapper Thomas T-Streetz Davis, Stoners close friend. A week later, on the day of Stoners funeral, Davis was killed on a South Side Chicago street in a shooting with possible links to Stoners. A police report noted Davis had a large ZackTV tattoo on his back. Davis slaying is also unsolved. The circumstances of Stoners killing suggest he could have been targeted because of his work in gangland journalism, said Alexandra Ellerbeck, North America program coordinator for the New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists. She said for now, though, her group is categorizing the slaying as an unconfirmed case of a journalist being killed over his work, with plans to recategorize it as a confirmed one if clearer evidence emerges. She said its rare that U.S. journalists are slain for their work inside the United States. According to the police report, a car pulled up next to Stoners sport utility vehicle around 1:30 a.m. two blocks from the club and at least one gunman opened fire. The report says there were four attackers in all. The documents dont mention a possible motive. Stoner spoke frequently about his fear of getting shot, possibly by a gang that perceived a report on his channel favored enemy gangs. In one video, a somber Stoner pulled a handgun from his pocket, saying he carried it everywhere because you just gotta be prepared. It appears he was taken by surprise the night he was shot. His legally registered .40-caliber pistol was recovered at his feet inside his Jeep, the documents say. It was fully loaded but he never got a shot off, according to a police report. An autopsy report says the fatal bullet entered the back of the head by his left ear, lodging in his brain. He also had a nonfatal gunshot wound to his shoulder. Paramedics found him unconscious, slumped over the console of his SUV, but with a strong pulse. He was pronounced dead at a hospital at 4:20 a.m. His death certificate lists his occupation as, Self-employed video professor. The evidence that investigators have includes six shell casings and the fatal bullet. They also have cellphone video taken from a nearby apartment moments after the shooting. The footage shows young men running around Stoners vehicle. One appears nervous about the prospect of getting shot and hides behind a car when someone drives by. The men, who could have been Stoners friends from the club following farther behind his vehicle, get into a car minutes later and speed away. Davis livestreamed himself at a police station days before he was killed, saying he was there to quash false rumors he helped Stoners attackers. Theres nothing to indicate he did. An officer in the video calls him a witness to the shooting. That cellphone footage is not included in the documents released to the AP but was widely shown on social media. At least a dozen surveillance cameras are visible in the short stretch Stoner drove before the shooting. Randy Cohen, who owns the Royal Pawn Shop next to the Refuge club, told the AP detectives retrieved surveillance video from a parking lot where they told him Stoner may have been arguing with someone before he drove off. The evidence that investigators have also includes a sedan that police note was involved somehow and then abandoned in the street. The police report includes the car owners name and adds that the vehicle wasnt stolen. Chicagos homicide clearance rate was around 18% for 2017, according to the most recently available data on the police website. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says those figures are misleading, partly because it takes 18 months on average to solve a homicide. The percentage of homicides solved in total is 48%, he said. The national average is 62%, according to FBI data. Guglielmi said getting witnesses to tell what they saw is a major obstacle. If we get testimony from a witness, well solve every homicide, he said. Just because a homicide isnt officially solved doesnt mean the identity of the killer isnt widely known, gang experts say. Some gangs want it known that they killed a high-profile person within their circles, believing it can bolster their reputations and help scare off rivals. McCaskill, the videographer who lives in the same part of the South Side where Stoner grew up, said its likely that many people in the city have known who killed Stoner for months. The streets know what happened, he said. Tarm writes for the Associated Press A man who told Gardai to f**k off after he was found lying beside his bike on a road has been fined 305. Frank Byrne, 42, of Hillside Drive, Naas, Co Kildare was admitted being abusive on the Borris Road in Portlaoise and at Portlaoise Garda Station on June 20 last. Sgt Michael Tarpey said the gardai had found a male lying on the ground after falling off his bike in an extremely intoxicated state on the Borris Road at 1.30am on the night in question. When they approached he began telling them to f**k off. Sgt Tarpey explained that at 6am the man had arrived at the public office of Portlaoise Garda Station where he became abusive to gardai. He told the court the man had eight previous convictions. Solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrict said her client accepts his behaviour on the night was outrageous. She explained that his employment had ended a few days earlier and he had been drinking in his sisters house on the night. Ms Fitzpatrick noted he compounded matters when he visited the garda station and he is extremely embarrassed about his behaviour. She said he was a qualified electrician and he had cycled to the house as he knew he would be having a drink. The defendant brought 200 to court and had written letters of apology, she said. The man is conscious that there will be background vetting done on him for any new employment, added Ms Fitzpatrick. Judge Patricia Cronin said the gardai were there to help him. He was uncooperative and aggressive. She said: If he had complied with what the gardai were saying there wouldnt have been a difficulty. Describing the behaviour as entirely unacceptable, Judge Cronin fined him 105 for being intoxicated on the Borris Road and 200 for being abusive at Portlaoise Garda Station. She fixed recognisance in case of appeal. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said he hopes legally binding targets for cuts in emissions will be signed off before the end of this month. The Environment Minister said all three parties in the Government backed the Paris Climate Accord and predicted they would reach agreement for cuts in emissions in the agriculture sector. Ireland is committed to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. Asked when sectoral targets would be published, Mr Ryan told the RTE This Week programme: Hopefully before the end of the month, that is what we are aiming to do. It is important we do. It sets the sectoral targets of what each sector, transport, energy, commercial buildings, public buildings, agriculture. It is a real challenge because the scale of change is beyond compare. It will only work and we will only deliver it quickly if it is a change for the better. A lot of the discussions I am having with the Department of Agriculture, the Minister of Agriculture, is how we can do this and also increase incomes to Irish farmers. Mr Ryan added: I think transport is going to be the most significant. That will require huge commitments for change at a local level where we switch to more public transport, more active travel, where we reduce the volume of transport as well as changing fuels. Each sector has its own challenges. No one sector can be left out. The Climate Change Advisory Council has recommended carbon cuts of 22% to 30% from the agricultural sector. Mr Ryan was asked if he was confident that he could persuade his coalition partners to agree a 30% cut. He said: I am confident we will get agreement. Mr Ryan said that some of the measures envisaged for agriculture will involving reducing the number of animals. He added: Some of the measures would increase income to Irish farming but would also see a reduction in animal numbers. You dont look at it just on the numbers, you also have to look at it on the income side. The vast majority of our produce is sold across the world. We get a premium because in peoples minds they think of this as a beautiful green island. We have to do it not just for climate reasons but also to restore water quality, to restore biodiversity, so we have every reason to make this change. There is a common understanding. We will reach a final agreement on the sector. All three parties in the Government agreed to Ireland playing its part in meeting the Paris Climate Accord. We need that, we have just heard that what we have been talking about for decades is now coming to pass. Treasure Leitrim is organising an important public meeting on local mining issues, which will take pace on Monday night, July 18 at 8pm in Manorhamilton's Bee Park Community Centre and everyone is cordially invited to attend. This meeting will discuss the potential damage to the health and the environment of the wider Manorhamilton area following the decision of Eamon Ryan, Green Party Minister to grant a prospecting licence for gold, silver and base metals. Regarding this Monday night's public meeting on mining, for which Manorhamilton adjacent prospecting licences have been granted, the local Treasure Leitrim organisation states on May 19th the Green Party Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan TD granted prospecting licences to mine for gold, silver and other base metals in 47 townlands in North Leitrim. He granted the licences despite the objections of every county councillor in Leitrim and against the wishes of the 2,500 people who petitioned him. Notwithstanding his disregard for all those who raised objections, it is important that people inform themselves as to the invasive and destructive effects gold and silver mining can have on our community. The minister has granted prospecting licences to include the following areas (townlands): Amorset, Ballyglass, Barracashlaun, Barrackpark, Cartronatemple, Castletown, Clooneen, Cornaneane, Deerpark, Drumdillure, Drummans (E.D. Glenade), Drumnacross, Fivepoundland, Gortinar, Killymeehin, Kilroosk, Largantemple, Lisnabrack, Milltown, Mountainthird, Mullanyduffy, Mullies, Nure, Poundhill, Shancurragh, Barr of Shancurragh, Shanvaus, Tawnymoyle, Tullynasharragh, Twigspark, Carrickleitrim, Cornastauk, Gortnaskeagh, Killenna Glebe, Kinnara Glebe, Pollboy and Srabrick. The meeting will hear from people with first hand knowledge of the detrimental effects mining has had on their communities. Just consider this: to produce enough gold for an average wedding ring alone generates 20 tons of waste; now visualise the changes mining for gold will make to the place we are all proud to call home. This is your opportunity to find out just how you can play your part in ensuring your area can be preserved for the generations to come free from the threat of environmental destruction Treasure Leitrim emphasises in conclusion. Regarding Monday night's meeting a prominent resident in one of the townlands for which a prospecting mining licence has been granted remarked this meeting will help you, our community and landowners to understand what prospecting and mining might mean, how it can damage a community, the environment and pollute our waters, etc. There will be speakers (coming to the meeting) from communities in Northern Ireland and the US, who have been affected in these ways, and there will also be local input about how you can help to stop the exploitation of our communities in North Leitrim by mining interests. Please attend and let others know and invite them to attend also. Benefact Groups Movement for Good Awards is giving away a further 500,000 to support charity projects that have a lasting impact on communities. For the fourth year running, the Benefact Group is giving away 1million to charities through its Movement for Good Awards. Applications for the larger grants of 10,000 or more are now open and close on Friday, 5th of August. Charities supporting education and skills, rural or community development, heritage, arts or culture, climate or environment, and human rights or equality are invited to apply online at: www.movementforgood.com/ largergrants In 2021, Dublin-based charity, Common Ground, which is an arts development organisation; and Sligo based charity, Kids Own, which is a children's arts organisation and publishing house; both received a 10,000 grant to fund great projects. This year Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland is inviting more charities to apply. The funding can be used within three years and for a blend of project and core funding costs. Siobhan Geoghegan, Director at Common Ground, said: We were absolutely thrilled to hear we were one of the winners of the Movement for Good Awards 2021. Winning 10,000 made a huge difference to the work we do locally. The grant also came at a perfect time as we had been navigating a difficult period following the Covid 19 Pandemic. These resources are helping us support and empower local people to create greener neighbourhoods through creative greening initiatives, and we hope other Irish charities benefit from this great initiative. David Lane, Managing Director for Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland, said: We understand the importance of longer-term funding for charities, especially when trying to bring ambitious new ideas to life and get larger transformative projects off the ground. Through our larger grants, we are actively championing innovation, giving charities the backing they need to propel their plans forward and turn creative ideas into practical solutions that benefit society. As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do. We hope to see a number of strong applications from Ireland between now and the 5th of August, so we can continue to help charities at a time when they need it most In June, 250 1,000 awards were donated. A further 250 1,000 grants will be awarded in September and a further 120 1,000 grants will be given away in December. For more information and an application guide which details how to apply for the larger grants visit: www.movementforgood.com/ largergrants Movement for Good is funded by EIO plc, part of the Benefact Group. U.S. President Joe Biden takes notes during the Security and Development Summit in Saudi Arabia's city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. MANDEL NGAN / AFP President Joe Biden on Saturday assured Arab leaders the United States would remain fully engaged in the Middle East, as he wrapped up his first tour of the region since taking office. "We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran," Joe Biden said during a summit in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. U.S. ties to Gulf powers in particular have been roiled by multiple issues in recent years, notably Washington's push for a deal to curb Iran's suspect nuclear program and its tepid response to attacks on Saudi oil facilities in 2019 claimed by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels. The summit, the final stop of Joe Biden's Middle East tour, brought together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. Mr. Biden had been looking to use the trip to discuss volatile oil prices and outline his vision for Washington's role in the region. On Friday he met Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler who US intelligence agencies assess "approved" the 2018 operation that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi. After a fist-bump with Prince Mohammed, Mr. Biden said he raised the Khashoggi case and warned against future attacks on dissidents. Prince Mohammed, who chaired the opening of Saturday's summit, has denied any role in the death of Khashoggi, who was dismembered in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate and whose remains have never been found. Read more Subscribers only Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman: The revenge of an outcast Mr. Biden told the assembled Arab leaders that "the future will be won by countries that unleash the full potential of their populations... where citizens can question and criticise leaders without fear of reprisal". 1 billion dollars in food aid to the Middle East Air Force One took off from Jeddah on Saturday afternoon, bringing Mr. Biden's four-day visit to a close. Hours later a joint statement was released in which the leaders committed to "preserve regional security and stability" and deepen their defense and intelligence cooperation. It also underscored diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and notably called for enhanced joint deterrence capabilities "against the increasing threat" posed by unmanned aerial vehicles a likely reference to Tehran, which on Friday unveiled ships capable of carrying armed drones. Joe Biden said Washington would commit 1 billion dollars in food aid to the Middle East and North Africa amid rising food insecurity induced by the war in Ukraine. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exposed a once unthinkable divergence between Washington and key Middle East allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the oil giants that are increasingly independent on the international stage. The wealthy Gulf nations, which host US forces and have dependably backed Washington for decades, have notably refrained from supporting the Biden administration as it tries to choke Moscow's lifelines, from energy to diplomacy. Read more Subscribers only Joe Biden in the Middle East: A tour haunted by two dead Arab journalists Analysts say the new position reveals a turning point in Gulf relations with the United States, long the region's protector against neighbour Iran. In their joint statement, the leaders "recognized ongoing efforts of OPEC+ towards stabilizing the global oil market," and welcomed the recent announcement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to "increase supply over the course of July and August." 'A new era of joint cooperation' Saturday brought some conciliatory gestures, with Mr. Biden inviting Emirati leader, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to visit the White House before the year is up. Read more Subscribers only UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed arrives in Paris for controversial visit And in his summit remarks, Saudi Prince Mohammed said he hoped it would "establish a new era of joint cooperation to deepen the strategic partnership between our countries and the United States of America, to serve our common interests and enhance security and development in this vital region for the whole world." Riyadh and Washington signed 18 agreements Friday on areas including energy, space, health and investment, including developing 5G and 6G technology, a Saudi statement said. The two nations, in a joint statement, also voiced a "commitment to the stability of global energy markets," while acknowledging the importance of cooperation "in light of the current crisis in Ukraine and its repercussions." Saudi Arabia agreed to link the electricity networks of the Gulf Cooperation Council to Iraq, which relies heavily on energy from Iran, "in order to provide Iraq and its people with new and diversified electricity sources," the White House said. 'I'm doing all I can' Washington wants Riyadh to open the oil floodgates to bring down soaring gasoline prices, which threaten Democratic chances in November mid-term elections. But Mr. Biden on Friday tried to tamp down expectations his trip would yield immediate gains. "I'm doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America," he said. Read more Subscribers only Mahmoud Abbas meets with President Joe Biden, rejects rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia White House officials used the trip as a bid to promote integration between Israel and Arab nations. That process appeared to get a boost Friday when Saudi Arabia announced it was lifting restrictions on civilian air carriers, a move that allows flights to and from Israel to use its airspace for the first time. We are interested in your experience using the site. Send feedback But Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters after Mr. Biden's departure that the move had nothing to do with Israel and was "not in any way a precursor to any further steps." Read more Subscribers only Biden visits Middle East looking to strengthen US alliances Le Monde with AFP System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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Highest temperatures in Limerick of 23 to 28 degrees in light to moderate south to southeasterly winds. Fans travelling to see Limerick versus Kilkenny at Croke Park will be basking in temperatures of up to 30 degrees celsius come the 3.30pm throw-in time. So pack your sunglasses, hats and high-strength suncream! Met Eireann has issued a yellow weather warning for all of Ireland, warning of exceptionally warm weather across the State today. It has cautioned of heat stress, especially among vulnerable parts of the population, a high-solar UV index, and the risk of water-related incidents for people trying to cool down. The warning came into effect at six o'clock this morning, and remains valid until 9pm Tuesday night. NATIONAL OUTLOOK Temperatures could even climb as high as 32 degrees by tomorrow, with the spell of hot weather set to continue into early this week. In general, temperatures will reach the mid-to-high 20s and possibly the low thirties. It will also be very warm by night, particularly as tomorrow evaporates into Tuesday. As for tonight, another fairly warm night with temperatures remaining above 13 to 16 degrees. Staying dry and mostly clear with just light southerly winds. Hot conditions continue across the country tomorrow with widespread temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees. Dry for most, with just a few isolated showers, mainly in western parts. Mostly sunny with light south to southeast breezes, turning a little cloudier in some parts later in the day. By Tuesday, it will begin to get cooler along the west coast, with highs of just 18 degrees. Mostly dry to start off, although showers will gradually give way to more persistent rain, possibly becoming heavy and thundery later on. Light to moderate variable winds. Rain will continue on Tuesday night, possibly turning heavy in some places. Lowest temperatures of around 12 or 13 degrees in light to moderate northwesterly winds. Wednesday will see an end to the very warm conditions as temperatures return to more typical levels, with highs of 15 to 19 degrees. A mostly cloudy day with scattered showers. Northwesterly winds, light to moderate in strength. Mixed conditions for Thursday and Friday with further scattered showers. Highest temperatures staying in the mid to high teens. Tata Steel has planned capital expenditure (capex) of 12,000 crore on its India and Europe operations during the current financial year, the company's Chief Executive Officer T V Narendran said. The domestic steel major plans to invest 8,500 crore in India and 3,500 crore on the company's operations in Europe, Narendran, who is also the Managing Director (MD) of Tata Steel, told PTI in an interview. On Tata Steel's CAPEX plans for FY23, he said: "We have planned for about 12,000 crore of capex for the year of which about 8,500 crore will be spent in India and the balance in Europe." In India, the focus will be on the Kalinganagar project expansion and mining activity, and in Europe, it will be focussed on sustenance, product mix enrichment and environment-related capex, Narendran said. The company is in process of expanding capacity of its plant in Kalinganagar, Odisha to 8 MT from 3 MT. In addition to this, Tata Steel will be spending about 12,000 crore on inorganic growth in India in the NINL acquisition, he said. Tata Steel through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Steel Long Products Limited (TSLP), completed the acquisition of Odisha-based one Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) steel mill NINL for a consideration amount of 12,000 crore. Elaborating on the European business, he said it has been divided into the Dutch business and the British business. "This allows us to run Tata Steel as one integrated company with five major sites, three in India and two in Europe. This brings greater focus on each of our operating sites. The European sites have been tasked with becoming self-sufficient," he said. On Tata Steel's interest in acquiring state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), he said the company did not have a dedicated large site to produce long products in its portfolio. However, the NINL acquisition has plugged this gap. On the duty-related measures taken by the government, Narendran said "I fully understand and appreciate the compulsions of the government in taking actions that they did to control inflation. However, in the medium to long-term, we should actively be positioning India as one of the best places to produce steel in the world." Narendran, who is also part of the Executive Committee of the apex steel body World Steel Association said the Russia-Ukraine conflict has impacted the global geopolitical order and the global economic order and hence the steel industry in multiple ways. The pandemic had already encouraged companies to look not just at cost efficiencies in supply chains but also to build resilience in supply chains. "On the supply side input costs like cost of coal and cost of gas have been significantly impacted by the war. Russia and Ukraine together used to export about 30 to 40 million tonnes of steel into the global markets and that supply has also got disrupted. Inflationary pressures arising out of the war have disrupted plans for government infrastructure spending across the world," he said. On the outlook for the steel sector, the industry veteran said the first half of the financial year was disrupted due to the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war, the COVID-related shutdowns in China, and the imposition of export duty on steel in India. "I expect the second half of the financial year to be more positive than the first half as I expect the demand growth for steel in India to be strong based on the continued focus on infrastructure spend. "Steel pricing would have also stabilised after absorbing the impact of the export duties. I also expect China to recover from the economic impact of the COVID shutdowns in the first half. So overall I am positive about the prospects of the industry for the rest of the year," Narendran said. Tata Steel is among the top three steel producing companies in the country. According to Narendran the company produces close to 20 million tonnes in India. As per the World Steel Association, India's crude production was at 118 million tonne (MT) in 2021. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. The latest round of talks comes after a gap of at least four months. According to sources, the meeting will be held in continuation with the discussion of the disengagement from friction points along the Line of Control (LAC) in the region. In continuation with the talks on disengagement along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, the 16th round of talks will be held on the Indian side at Chushul-Moldo Meeting Point on July 17, said the source. As per sources, apart the focus on disengagement at Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area, the effort would also be on to discuss disengagement from Demchok and Depsang, which have been sticking points in the last few rounds of talks. Last week, India sought an early resolution of all outstanding issues on the LAC, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar pressing his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to complete the disengagement of troops in order to restore peace and tranquility in border areas. The border standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh, which has cast a shadow over the bilateral relationship, entered its third year in May 2022. The Indian Army and Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) last held talks on the matter on March 11. The gap between successive rounds of talks has been the longest since the standoff began in May 2020. Before this, the longest gap in talks was between the 11th and 12th rounds last year three months and 22 days A full resolution is still not in sight even though the two sides have had partial success in disengaging rival soldiers fr The 15th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was also held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side earlier this year on March 11. Since the last round of talks, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has visited India in March while he and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar met last week on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Bali, where they discussed the situation with regard to the LAC. The two armies held eight rounds of talks in 2020, with the first held in June that year, five rounds in 2021, and two rounds so far this year. Despite these talks, issues at Patrol Point-15 near Kongka La, Depsang Bulge in Daulet Beg Oldi sector and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok sector are still on the negotiation table. Over the last two years, India and China have hardened their stance on the LAC with increased military activity on both sides of the boundary, deployment of modern weaponry, infrastructure development, and a series of combat manoeuvres by both armies The New York City Council have finally approved a measure to name a Lower East Side Manhattan intersection Beastie Boys Square, a corner popularized by the trios Pauls Boutique. The vote Thursday marked a happy end to a nearly decade-long grassroots campaign by Beasties fans to anoint the corner of Ludlow and Rivington streets as seen on the cover of their 1989 masterpiece after the pioneering New York rap trio: In 2014, the city council voted against Beastie Boys Square by a staggering vote of 24-to-1. Cultural advocate LeRoy McCartney, who spearheaded Beastie Boys Square as well as similar landmark-naming campaigns celebrating the Wu-Tang Clan (Wu-Tang District in Staten Island) and the Notorious B.I.G. (Brooklyns Christopher Wallace Way), credited NYC council member Chris Marte with helping to push the renaming through eight years after that initial rejection. As many of us know, once the Beastie Boys hit the scene, it really changed the hip-hop game, Marte told PIX11. I see it as a celebration. A celebration for the Lower East Side, a celebration for hip-hop and especially a celebration for our community who has been organizing for a really long time to make this happen. Thanks to the local residents, businesses, politicians, and organizations, who supported & fight for the right of the street name over the years, plus those who supported from far away, the campaigns Instagram wrote in a celebratory post Saturday. [Beastie Boys] are NY Champions, and its about time the City gives its shine to them and to Hip Hop, lookin good LES, nYc, Hip Hop is on the map! It has been a long road to get Beastie Boys Square accomplished, but I am happy to see New York government formally embracing the indigenous arts and culture of hip hop, and the street sign is very appropriate because hip hop is from the NYC streets, McCartney told the New York Post. Mayor Eric Adams will have to sign off on the Beastie Boys Square measure before a dedication date can be scheduled. Click here to read the full article. The New York City Council has voted to officially bestow the name Beastie Boys Square upon the intersection of Ludlow Street and Rivington Street in New York City the corner popularized by the rap trios 1989 album, Pauls Boutique. Council member Christopher Marte confirmed in an interview with local news channel Pix11 that the effort, which had been pushing for the official dedication for about nine years, had officially achieved its goal. In 2014, the Community Board had rejected a petition to rename the Lower East Side corner. Now, the New York City Council accepted the renewed application under the name, Beastie Boys Square, on July 14. Marte said the bill will be called up for a vote in several weeks and then it will be passed shortly thereafter. As of now, the bill is awaiting the signature of the citys mayor Eric Adams. Beastie Boys Square will honor the group and members Michael Mike D Diamond, Adam Ad-Rock Horovitz and the late Adam MCA Yauch, who died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 47. As many of us know, once the Beastie Boys hit the scene, it really changed the hip-hop game, said Marte. I see it as a celebration. A celebration for the Lower East Side, a celebration for hip-hop and especially a celebration for our community who has been organizing for a really long time to make this happen. The Beastie Boys Square campaigns Instagram shared a post celebrating the official renaming and thanking council member Marte for championing the once trashed bill. Thanks to the local residents, businesses, politicians, and organizations, who supported & fight for the right of the street name over the years, plus those who supported from far away, reads the campaigns statement. [Beastie Boys] are NY Champions and its about time the City gives its shine to them and to Hip-Hop, lookin good LES, nYc, Hip-Hop is on the map! Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Billy Corgan has announced a livestream benefit concert to raise money for the victims of the July 4th mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman and Chicago native will host the July 27 show dubbed Together and Together Again at his Madame Zuzus tea house in Highland Park, where hes lived for 20 years. (Corgans teahouse was so close to the scene of the shooting that it had to remain closed for a week due to the FBIs investigation.) TOGETHER and TOGETHER AGAIN, July 27 at 8 CST, a benefit for the Highland Park Community Foundation directed to its July 4th Victims Response Fund. Join us for a special virtual concert on Youtube https://t.co/QUSgpeRmxj pic.twitter.com/jz0inbEvTk William Patrick Corgan (@Billy) July 15, 2022 The virtual concert will stream for free on YouTube, with viewers able to make donations during the livestream to the Highland Park Community Foundations July 4th Victims Response Fund. While Corgan didnt reveal the full lineup, he promised drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, saxophonist Frank Catalano and other parts of the Pumpkins family would be in attendance. Seven people were killed and over 45 injured in the mass shooting at a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, where the gunman opened fire on the crowd from a nearby rooftop. Robert Bobby E. Crimo III has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder in the mass shooting. Five of the seven people killed were residents of Highland, Park. There are so many people here affected by this tragedy, Corgan and his partner Chloe Mendel said in video announcing the concert. Its very close to our hearts, and we hope youll participate and support as well. Zone Ngyuen has practiced law in Laredo for over 16 years and was appointed as the permanent city attorney by interim city manager Keith Selman in late June. Through his experiences and time as a lawyer, Ngyuen told LMT if all goes well, he believes he is ready to settle his career down as the permanent city attorney for years to come. Im 52. This is more than I expected in my life and career. I am not looking for a next position. Id like for this to be my last chapter to be honest, but again, if someone is better, I am not going to push them out, he said. If someone is better, I have no problem stepping aside. After numerous departures and interim attorneys filling in the vital role of legal counsel to the mayor, city management and councilmembers, Nguyen brings years of experience to the position. This includes litigation and government work in Houston during the implementation of the Metro light rail and its economic impact for the city. I am here to work. We have a good team and I think we can make it run better and do good for the city, he said, adding that in the words of his deputy commander, his decisions and experience is based on the word of the law and only the word of the law, not his own opinion. Its been approximately three weeks since Nguyen was appointed city attorney, where he has steadily been brought up to speed regarding the citys litigation cases, projects, etc. He added he is also working with a good legal team and views Laredos legal department as a strong law firm. I see myself as a head of a law firm, not just a manager of attorneys, he said, adding that delegating or outsourcing the work he was hired for is not his plan as city attorney. Nguyen hopes this law firm approach will bolster the current team of city attorneys as well as him lending out his experience to them. Furthermore, while not criticizing outsourcing legal work, Nguyen said if the work tasked to him can be done himself or with his team, he will prefer the in-house work and support his team as the boss he never had. He noted in some cases, some external law firms that work is normally done by are firms he has won legal battles against, thus enforcing his in-house work mentality. Nguyen graduated in law with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas and is board certified in labor and employment law as well as a senior professional in Human Resources. Licensed at 23, he said he went to several UT system schools during his undergraduate and graduate career including the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. He graduated in December 1993, in which he graduated early and passed the state bar exam, and the firm he was working for hired him on account of his early graduation. He later moved to a school law firm that had him representing over 300 school districts throughout the state. This variety of legal experiences led him to study employment law for the following 20 years. Soon after, he became the only board-certified employment lawyer in Webb, Nguyen added. He was later designated as a Webb Countys only super lawyer, or a title given to lawyers across the country who have reached high achievements and standards within their respective fields, according to the Bonjour, Thorman, Burns and Dahm law firm. Selman listed these experiences and a number of recognitions from different magazines and websites when he appointed Nguyen as the permanent city attorney in June. He also highlighted Nguyens 20 total years of government experience as a retired military major. I joined the Army Reserves in 2000 before 9/11 just to help out, because thats what we used to do -- just help that community -- but then 9/11, I was a first lieutenant and hadnt practiced law for like 10 years at that point, so I was one of the first 13 prosecutors for the Office of Military Commission, the ones that tried the detainees at Guantanamo, Nguyen said. He called it an honor to be a part of the Office of Military Commission, saying the last time the commission tried someone was after World War II. Prior to that, they tried the murderers of Abraham Lincoln. According to Professor Douglas O. Linder, the order of the president established a military commission to try the Lincoln assassination conspirators and the opinion of the attorney general affirmed the legality of using a military commission to try the conspirators. Nguyen added he was involved in the writing of the Patriot Act, as it was tearing the wall of law enforcement and the CIA. Some time later, he was a law planner and then an observant trainer before retiring in December 2020. However, as a father, he continuously emphasizes to his children the plethora of opportunities available to those who dedicate themselves to what they want to do. Prior to his career as an attorney, Nguyen said he wanted to do anything but be a lawyer, as it was being encouraged by his family. His goal was to find a career that allowed him to help others, which, regardless of the money, caring for family and others is how he found himself as an attorney. Take care of your family, help out the community, find love. Thats what I strive for, thats what I strive for my boys, he said. Literally, by the grace, I can be making Nike shoes back at Vietnam still. Its been nice to have opportunities. Still, he spoke proudly of his service and the service of veterans throughout all the wars. Nguyen cited the Vietnam veterans for their impact on his future and way of life, saying he would be uncertain of where he would be as he was a Vietnam child during that time. This is why he emphasized that as servicemen, he believes in helping communities throughout the world where they are stationed, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc. In the same vein, he hopes his tenure as Laredos city attorney helps in making the city a better place to live for all its residents, and that the next city attorney is left with a thriving city. This comes after a brutal run into COVID-19, in which Nguyen said he had to enter the ICU and was on oxygen tanks for eight months. Still, he returned to work soon after, but a city attorney may prove different to his previous cases as he will both be working to protect the city and its residents. As he mentioned, he hopes to work for the betterment of his community, but that may come at odds with lawsuits such as the AGUAS organization that stated intentions to sue the city for the multiple water issues that have affected south Laredo. Nguyen said he has to defend the city for the benefit of the people, but cases like this see the people suing the city because the city did not provide the proper care. He added that his way wouldnt see the city and the residents as two opposing teams but find the best resolution for all. We are all pushing the city to be better. I defend the city yes and I can win points in Law, but I think there is some empathy thats required to understand the other side and where they are coming from so you can come to a resolution, Nguyen said. To me, it is about getting the right result, and when you are dealing with the city, you got to see them again, you treat them well, explain and show why you are going a different direction. Most times, they are not going to be mad at me afterwards. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate UVALDE, Texas (AP) Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, but egregiously poor decision-making resulted in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman who took 21 lives was finally confronted and killed, according to a damning investigative report released Sunday. The nearly 80-page report was the first to criticize both state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in the South Texas town for the bewildering inaction by heavily armed officers as a gunman fired inside two fourth-grade classrooms at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and two teachers. Altogether, the report and more than three hours of newly released body camera footage from the May 24 tragedy amounted to the fullest account to date of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. Some families blasted police as cowards and demanded resignations. At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety," the report said. The gunman fired approximately 142 rounds inside the building and it is almost certain that at least 100 shots came before any officer entered, according to the report, which laid out in detail numerous failures. Among them: No one assumed command despite scores of officers being on the scene. The commander of a Border Patrol tactical team waited for a bullet-proof shield and working master key for the classroom, which may have not even been needed, before entering the classroom. A Uvalde Police Department officer said he heard about 911 calls that had come from inside the classroom, and that his understanding was the officers on one side of the building knew there were victims trapped inside. Still, no one tried to breach the classroom. The report the most complete account yet of the hesitant and haphazard response to the May 24 massacre was written by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives. Swiftly, the findings set in motion at least one fallout: Lt. Mariano Pargas, a Uvalde Police Department officer who was the city's acting police chief during the massacre, was placed on administrative leave. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said an investigation would be launched to determine whether Pargas should have taken command of the scene. He also disclosed for the first time that some officers had left the force since the shooting but did not provide an exact number, saying it was as many as three. Its a joke. Theyre a joke. Theyve got no business wearing a badge. None of them do, Vincent Salazar, grandfather of 11-year-old Layla Salazar, who was among those killed, said Sunday. Anger flashed in Uvalde even over how the report was rolled out: Tina Quintanilla-Taylor, whose daughter survived the shooting, shouted at the three-member Texas House committee as they left a news conference after the findings were released. Committee members had invited families of the victims to discuss the report privately, but Quintanilla-Taylor said the committee should have taken questions from the community, not just the media. Im pissed. They need to come back and give us their undivided attention, she said later. These leaders are not leaders, she said. According to the report, 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school. The overwhelming majority of those who responded were federal and state law enforcement. That included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials. Other than the attacker, the Committee did not find any villains in the course of its investigation, the report said. There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making. The report noted that many of the hundreds of law enforcement responders who rushed to the school were better trained and equipped than the school district police which the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state police force, previously faulted for not going into the room sooner. Investigators said it was not their job to determine whether officers should be held accountable, saying that decisions rests with each law enforcement agency. Prior to Sunday, only one of the hundreds of officers on the scene Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief was known to have been on leave. Everyone who came on the scene talked about this being chaotic, said Texas state Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican who led the investigation. Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol did not immediately return requests for comment Sunday. The report followed weeks of closed-door interviews with more than 40 people, including witnesses and law enforcement who were on the scene of the shooting. No single officer has received as much scrutiny since the shooting as Arredondo, who also resigned from his newly appointed seat on the City Council after the shooting. Arredondo told the committee he treated the shooter as barricaded subject," according to the report, and defended never treating the scene as an active-shooter situation because he did not have visual contact with the gunman. Arredondo also tried to find a key for the classrooms, but no one ever bothered to see if the doors were locked, according to the report. Arredondos search for a key consumed his attention and wasted precious time, delaying the breach of the classrooms," the report read. The report criticized as lackadaisical the approach of the hundreds of officers who surrounded the school and said that they should have recognized that Arredondo remaining in the school without reliable communication was inconsistent with him being the scene commander. The report concluded that some officers waited because they relied on bad information while others had enough information to know better. Hours after the report was released, Uvalde officials separately made public for the first time hours of body camera footage from the city's police officers who responded to the attack. It includes video of several officers reacting to word from a dispatcher, roughly 30 minutes after the shooting began, that a child in the room had called 911. The room is full of victims. Child 911 call, an officer says. Other body camera video from Uvalde Staff Sgt.. Eduardo Canales, the head of the city's SWAT team, shows the officer approaching the classrooms when gunfire rings out at 11:37 a.m. Canales asks if hes bleeding, and later says hes bleeding from his ear. A minute later, Canales says: Dude, weve got to get in there. Weve got to get in there, he just keeps shooting. Weve got to get in there. Another officer can be heard saying DPS is sending their people. It is 72 minutes later, at 12:50 p.m., when officers finally breach the classrooms and kill the shooter. Calls for police accountability have grown in Uvalde since the shooting. The report is the result of one of several investigations into the shooting, including another led by the Justice Department. A report earlier this month by tactical experts at Texas State University alleged that a Uvalde police officer had a chance to stop the gunman before he went inside the school armed with an AR-15. But in an example of the conflicting statements and disputed accounts since the shooting, McLaughlin has said that never happened. Officers told the committee that the person they thought was the gunman was actually a school coach. The earlier report had been done at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which McLaughlin has increasingly criticized and accused of trying to minimize the role of its troopers during the massacre. Steve McCraw, the head of Texas DPS, has called the police response an abject failure. The committee didnt receive medical evidence to show that police breaching the classroom sooner would have saved lives, but it concluded that it is plausible that some victims could have survived if they had not had to wait 73 additional minutes for rescue. Michael Brown, whose 9-year-old son was in the cafeteria at Robb Elementary on the day of the shooting and survived, came to the committees news conference Sunday carrying signs saying We Want Accountability and Prosecute Pete Arredondo. Brown said he has not yet read the report but already knows enough to say that police have blood on their hands. Its disgusting. Disgusting, he said. Theyre cowards. ___ Weber reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed from Dallas. ___ More on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings DNA evidence helped to crack the unsolved murders, some dating to 1980, of three women and a teenage girl in California, leading to the arrest of a 75-year-old man in Texas, authorities said Friday. Detectives from the Los Angeles and Inglewood, California, police departments traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, to arrest the man, Billy Ray Richardson, whom the police linked to the murders of Kari Lenander, Beverly Cruse and her sister, Debra Cruse, in 1980 in Los Angeles, as well as Trina Wilson in 1995 in Inglewood. All the victims had been raped, prosecutors said. DNA evidence helped tie the crimes to Richardson, although authorities did not elaborate on what new evidence had led to him. It was unclear whether Richardson had been known to any of the victims. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office said Richardson was charged Thursday with four counts of murder and related charges. As of Friday afternoon, he was in a jail in Tarrant County, Texas, awaiting extradition to Los Angeles. An arraignment date had not been set. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement Friday that he was thankful for those whose work had led to the arrest. I cannot imagine the pain that these families have endured, he said. Their loss is immeasurable. We hope that together we can bring justice to the families who have endured so much and have waited years for this moment. Attempts to reach surviving family members of the victims Friday were unsuccessful. In 2001, cold-case detectives in Los Angeles reopened an investigation into the murder of Lenander, who was 15 when she was killed. Her body was found in a South Los Angeles neighborhood July 26, 1980, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Officials said she was murdered and that she was the victim of a sexually motivated crime. In 2012, Los Angeles City Council approved a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for her murder. At a news conference in 2012, when the reward was announced, Detective Tim Marcia of the Los Angeles Police Department said investigators had some significant leads about the murder. But we need a name, he said. On the night Lenander was murdered, she and her best friend, 15-year-old Toni Garfield, were alone at Garfields house getting ready for a party and drinking tequila, Marcia told the Los Angeles Times Magazine in a 2010 profile. The girls decided to go dancing and hitchhiked on their way back. They were picked up by a white man, who said his name was Ken and that he was visiting from Canada. Garfield was dropped off at home, but Lenander said she was going to keep partying with Ken, the magazine reported. The girls separated at about 10 p.m., and Lenanders body was found about five hours later. Marcia said there was a big break in the case in the mid-2000s after a DNA profile determined the race of the suspect. It had long been believed that the girls had been picked up by a white man, but a test by a private lab indicated that her killer was Black. It was unclear how much of a role that test played in identifying Richardson, who is Black. That information limited the direction I needed to go, Marcia told the magazine. Instead of having one big, whole pie, I got it down to a quarter of the pie. A few months before Lenanders murder, the naked bodies of Beverly Cruse, 25, and Debra Cruse, 22, were found March 5, 1980, by their brother in a West Los Angeles apartment, the Los Angeles Times reported. The brother told police he went to the apartment because he had not heard from his sisters for several days. The prosecutors office said the women had been shot in the head. More than 15 years later, Wilson was found near an Inglewood park on Dec. 31, 1995, according to city records. The circumstances of her death were not immediately clear Friday. In 2012, the Inglewood City Council adopted a resolution offering $25,000 for information that could lead to the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible for Wilsons murder. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 40th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting announced for October 21 - 22, 2022 AMSAT announces the 40th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting will be held on Friday through Saturday, October 21 - 22, 2022 in Bloomington, Minnesota. The annual AMSAT Space Symposium features: * Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations * Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World * Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members * Opportunities to Meet Board Members and Officers * AMSAT Annual General Membership Meeting * Auction, Annual Banquet, Keynote Speaker and Door Prizes !! The Crowne Plaza Suites, 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN, is centrally located between the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, Mall of America, Minneapolis Zoo, and Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park. Crown Plaza Suites provides a complimentary scheduled shuttle to and from the airport. Additional information about the 2022 AMSAT Symposium will be posted on the AMSAT web site, www.amsat.org as it becomes available. Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT President for the above information ANS Jill Biden on President Joe Biden's hindered progress: 'He had so many hopes' If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A man in his 60s has died following a tragic accident at a popular amenity in the midlands. Gardai have confirmed the death of the man at the Derryounce Lakes on the outskirts of Portarlington on the Laois / Offaly border at around 3.30pm on Saturday, July 16. The man, who is originally from Portlaoise, is understood to have lost his life following what's described as a 'tragic accident'. Gardai, ambulances and fire services rushed to the scene and the man was removed to Portlaoise hospital. Despite the efforts of the emergency services, gardai were unable to save the man's life While drowning is suspected as being the main cause of death, a post mortem will be carried out The lake is part of a amenity on the Offaly side of Portarlington, however swimming is not advised or permitted at the lake. Signs advising people not to swim and life saving devices are also available. There is no lifeguard presence. It's understood that the amenity was busy today and the public continued to enter the water despite the presence of the emergency services. Laois Gardai urged the public not to swim in unsafe locations over the the weekend which is expected to be the hottest of the year so far in Ireland. In advance of the warm weather spell across Ireland, Water Safety Ireland issued advice to help swimmers stay safe from drowning. It says an average of nine people drown every month nationwide and Water Safety Ireland is urging the public to be mindful of the following advice during the current spell of warm weather. 1. Swim within your depth and stay within your depth. 2. Swim between the red and yellow flags at a Lifeguarded waterway, listed at www.watersafety.ie/lifeguards otherwise swim in areas that are known locally as safe and where there are ringbuoys present for rescues. 3. Avoid swimming in unfamiliar areas that are potentially unsafe. Ask for local knowledge to determine local hazards and safest areas to swim. Pay attention to any safety signage. 4. Make sure that the waters edge is shallow shelving so that you can safely enter and exit. 5. The air temperature is warm but open water is cooler than air avoid extended stays in the water as your muscles will cool, making swimming more difficult. 6. Never use inflatable toys in open water as a gentle breeze can quickly bring a person away from shore. 7. Always supervise children closely and never leave them alone near water. 8. Alcohol is a factor in one third of drownings. Do not mix it with water activities. 9. To escape a rip current, swim parallel to the shore and then swim back ashore. See www.watersafety.ie/rip-currents/ 10. If you see somebody in trouble in the water: SHOUT REACH THROW a. SHOUT to calm, encourage and orientate them; b. REACH with anything that prevents you from entering the water (clothing/stick); c. THROW a ringbuoy or any floating object to them. 11. When boating, always wear a correctly fitting lifejacket and have to hand a VHF radio and a fully charged mobile phone in a waterproof pouch. Visit www.watersafety.ie for more information. Iceland provides practical training for new radio hams The national amateur radio society of Iceland, the IRA, held an 'open day' on Saturday, July 16, to help those who had just passed their ham radio exam A translation of the IRA post reads: The organization of the IRA 2022 spring course, which ended with an exam from Fjarskiptastofa for an amateur license on May 21, provided for a special day (after the exam) in IRA's social facilities in Skeljanes. It says, among other things: Go to IRA's social facilities and check the telecommunication room and antenna. Students do test broadcasts under the name TF3IRA with the station manager. Implemented later with time ". For various reasons, this special day was postponed until this morning, Saturday, July 16, at 10:00. An e-mail was sent to those who passed the exam (a total of 11 people) with an invitation to attend Skeljanes a week in advance. Responses were received from 6 who were either abroad or on summer vacation in Iceland, so it was clear that a maximum of 5 would be able to attend. Nevertheless, it was decided to stick to the advertised day and two new licensees came to Skeljanes. We started the day with a morning coffee in the hall, where the main aspects of IRA's activities were reviewed and was based on a new address letter and the IRA's brochure. Among other things, social work was discussed under "normal circumstances"; now that the Covid-19 epidemic is over. Attention was drawn to the IRA's spring and winter programs, which are available in the period February-May and in October-December. A brief report was given on electronic communications on behalf of IRA, i.e. Easter games, VHF / UHF games and TF outdoor games. The publishing activities were also reported, ie. the social magazine CQ TF, annual report and website and attention is drawn to the sub page of CQ TF where you can read all the social magazines from the beginning. The availability of transmitters in the VHF and UHF frequency bands was also reviewed, attention was drawn to the four receivers over the network and the two radio beacons at 50 and 70 MHz. In TF3IRA's telecommunication room, TF3IRA's pre-printed telecommunication diaries were distributed and the registration was reviewed in a "log". Traditional radio amateur telecommunications [and] what CQ and CQ DX mean were explained. Participants asked questions and practiced how a QSO works several times. The conditions were not directly desirable; The K-value was high and there were no signals on 20M SSB except some Russians, the Russian Radio Team competition lasted from 0700-1500 on Saturday. In light of this, it was decided to call CQ but no answer. It was not possible to get any contacts, so we decided to call Oinn or Hallgrimsson, TF2MSN, who immediately got on the band and contacted both Antonia (TF3ST) and Gumundur (TF3VL). When those contacts were coming to an end, a Dutch licensee who was /P and was just over S9 came to the fore and they both talked to him. It can be said that their first QSO - both with the Icelandic licensee and the DX station - went smoothly. Apart from that, Odin Thor was very encouraging; welcomed them to the air and told his experience from when he first started in the air in 2011. Despite the unexciting conditions, they were both happy. It was therefore suggested that they arrive in Skeljanes one Thursday evening in the near future and then they will be trained to take to the air. They took it well. We then moved to the QSL office room and the QSL Bureau's functionality was explained. Finally we went back down to the hall and talked a lot. When it was 13:30, the meeting ended. Thanks to Jon Bjornsson, TF3PW IRA course supervisor and Kristjan Benediktsson NRAU / IARU contact IRA for coming to the place, helping and answering. Special thanks to Oinn or Hallgrimsson, TF2MSN for coming on 20M and talking to the new licensees. Last but not least, thanks to Antonia Sabrina Stevens, TF3ST and Gumundur Veturlii Einarsson, TF3VL for coming to Skeljanes. A fun and successful Saturday! Source IRA https://tinyurl.com/IARU-Iceland MANISTEE A concert held near First Street Beach on Saturday could be a sign of things to come, as organizers of the event hope to use its success as a launching off point to create a beachside amphitheater. The proposed concert venue has been a long-term goal of Salt City Rock and Blues, organizers of this and another Manistee celebration, Laborfest. "Our focus is the same every event we hold brings us closer to our ultimate goal of building an iconic amphitheater on the shores of Lake Michigan, stated Bob Ogilvie, vice president of Salt City Rock and Blues in a news release. The inaugural Smoke on the Water concert, is also aimed at celebrating the regions cannabis industry. The first-of-its kind event in Manistee was also sponsored by Authentic 231, a local cannabis retailer who managed cannabis sales and consumption areas during the concert. The fact that Manistee, a small town in northern Michigan, is kind of on the forefront of some of these things in the cannabis industry, approving an event where cannabis sales (and) consumption are OKd by the community, said William McKenzie, chief executive officer for Left Coast Holdings and co-founder of Authentic 231 in a prior interview. To me, it speaks to how far the industry has come. I feel like we really get a warm reception from the community for our level of involvement that we have. In 2019, Salt City Rock and Blues committed $10,000 to fund a feasibility study for the proposed amphitheater. Preliminary plans call for an open air, multi-use facility that can host concerts, theatrical presentations, graduations and other public events. While funded through the auspices of Salt City Rock and Blues, the facility would be owned by the City of Manistee and managed by the Department of Public Works, according to a 2017 News Advocate report. The inner strength of each individual who came out in protest, according to Marcus Aurelius, was spurred on by the trust and confidence placed in the collective: If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think that it is impossible for man; but if anything is possible for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by thyself too. by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal In our youth, our hearts were touched with fire Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Inasmuch as the most fecund outcome of the Aragalaya - as the social uprising in Sri Lanka is called has been its resounding success in deposing without the use of force an unacceptable regime, arguably its most interesting and intriguing feature was that there was no discernible leader or leaders who could be individually identified as leading from the front. To this phenomenon one could invoke the famous saying of Lao-tzu: a leader is best when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. Indeed, they did it themselves, as though the spirit of Plutarch (46 -120 AD) had inspired them with his city before self motto to be achieved with moral rectitude. This approach impelled the thousands of youth and elders to invoke and exercise what is now called collective leadership - a form of leadership that has become a trend where multiple individuals exercise their leadership roles within a group whereafter the entire group collectively provides group leadership to the entire populace involved in protesting. Collective leadership has been further explained by David Trafford, Co-author of Beyond Default and Managing Director of Formicio, a strategy and change management consultancy, and Peter Boggis, Co-author of Beyond Default Its a fluid and flexible approach to leadership, where roles and resultant accountabilities evolve in response to changing circumstances. Leadership teams are often described as being aligned in their decisions and actions; they act as one and are linked up in their thinking and behaviour. A key aspect of collective leadership is collective accountability where the outcomes of decisions and actions are felt by every leader in equal measure. As a result, the power of a leadership team practising collective leadership is greater than the sum of the individual leaders. The most effective form of collective leadership can be seen when individuals consider themselves to have a mission and band together in pursuance of a common goal. David Gergen, in his excellently researched treatise Hearts Touched with Fire quotes Walt Disney who said: if you can dream it, you can do it. Gergen says further: most great groups have characteristics that separate them from average organizations. They tend to be motivated internally and like to be problem solversone caution about great teams: They should not be confused with great stars. A team of stars is made up of individuals looking out for themselves; players on a great team look out for each other. This epitomises the principle that it is not the best players that win, but the right players. Perhaps the greatest protagonist in the Aragalaya is Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) who said: A man should always have these two rules in readiness; the one, to do only whatever the reason of the ruling that may suggest for the use of men; the other; to change thy opinion, if there is any one at hand who sets thee right and moves thee from any opinion. When one sees in the media the many protesters who say they voted for the incumbents in the 2019 election but are now impelled by the surge of credible public opinion to change their loyalties,, the fundamental thrust of Marcus Aurelius emerges. The second limb of Marcus Aurelius statement movement from belief to reality is also seen in the fact that the protests were not merely and exclusively based on deprivation, discontent, and frustration which the impoverished felt, but was based on the overall plight of a people a fact evidenced by the participation of the privileged class as well. The inner strength of each individual who came out in protest, according to Marcus Aurelius, was spurred on by the trust and confidence placed in the collective: If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think that it is impossible for man; but if anything is possible for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by thyself too. The protesters were relentless amidst threats and acts of violence fraught with risks to their own lives. Marcus Aurelius infused his great oratory with the incantation for unyielding strength of conviction which the protesters showed in their uprising: How can our principles become dead unless the impressions (thoughts) which respond to them are extinguished? But it is in thy power continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame. I can have that opinion about anything, which I ought to have. If I can, why am I disturbed? Finally, the protesters gave a valuable lesson in the context of the words pertaining to the extinguishing of impressions created by the flaws of constitutional democracy. When they fought for removal of the existing leadership, the argument given by the rulers was that leadership could be changed only through a constitutional process which allowed the leadership to remain for a couple of years more. The attempt to kill the principles of the protesters by this argument seemingly based on democracy was obviated by the protesters who showed collective strength of the principle salus populi est suprema lex (the welfare of the populace is the supreme law). The Aragalaya has also done something very significant and valuable for Sri Lanka and its present and future generations: it finally put to rest the perceived implacability of the so-called democracy and parliamentary process behind which mendacious leaders take solace. The protesters exposed this fallacy. The folly of democracy has always been that its history throughout the 20th century is a story of repeated crises during which politicians and the public have been at loggerheads between the duality of overreacting and indolence to the dangers, without ever coming to grips with the balance between them. The initial problem with democracy is itself serving parochialism and the monotonous regularity in which it has evolved as a condescending social construct between the affluent elite and the poor masses. No one doubts that democracy is an ancient concept, but not many would know the disturbing truth that ancient Greek and Roman civilizations practiced a democracy that was deeply reliant on their sustenance through slavery and an expanding slave population that they needed to control. In ancient Greece the Athenian government which was governed by the people excluded many categories on non-citizens such as slaves, women, foreigners, prostitutes and others of questionable morals and birth from the process of democratic governance. William G. Gardner, in his book The Trouble with Democracy makes the clear statement that democracy is just a technique for deciding the distribution of power in society. In other words, it is a tool for deciding which individuals and institutions would be sharing the fruits of power by coercion. Gardner calls democracy a theory of power where once an election is over, there is nothing said about the rights or freedoms of those who voted for the losing party, except that they have the right to grab power the next time in the same manner. Another problem with democracy is that one is never certain whether some who are democratically elected have an understanding of the philosophy of democracy and how it has evolved. Such persons inevitably ascribe to themselves power on the tendentious basis that the wining of an election bestows on them godly powers to decide for all the people without consulting them when necessary. In this perspective, the meaning, purpose, and evolution of democracy through centuries of philosophical thinking have been far too rigid. All that has now been upended. Submitted to the Tribune Nietzke & Faupel, P.C. Certified Public Accountants of Pigeon recently announced that Carly Valentine received the Emerging Leader of the Year Award from the CPA Firm Management Association. This national award was presented at the June 2022 annual CPAFMA meeting in Portland, Maine. The CPAFMA Emerging Leader of the Year Award honors an individual who demonstrates a dedication to the CPA firm management profession through strong leadership, teamwork, and integrity, while continually developing their knowledge and experience, necessary in this ever-changing business. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PALAIOCHORI, Greece (AP) Experts investigated a cargo plane crash in northern Greece on Sunday, finding no evidence of dangerous substances but saying there's a lot of ordnance that the plane was carrying spread around the crash site. Serbia's defense minister confirmed that all eight crew members died in the crash. The An-12 cargo plane from Serbia was being flown by a Ukrainian aviation crew before it smashed into fields between two Greek villages late Saturday. The plane crashed shortly before 11 p.m. about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kavala International Airport. Minutes before, the pilot had told air traffic controllers he had a problem with one engine and he had to make an emergency landing, officials said. He was directed to Kavala Airport but never made it there. The fuselage of the Soviet-era four-engine turboprop dragged on the ground for 170 meters (nearly 190 yards) before it disintegrated. Locals reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash. Drone footage showed that small fragments were all that is left of the plane. Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told a news conference Sunday that the plane's eight crew members were dead. He said the plane was carrying 11.5 tons of Serbian-made mortar ammunition to Bangladesh, which was the buyer. It had taken off from the Serbian city of Nis and had been due to make a stopover in Amman, Jordan. These were illuminating mortar mines and training (mines). ... This flight had all necessary permissions in accordance with international regulations, Stefanovic said. The plane was operated by Ukrainian cargo carrier Meridian. The Ukrainian consul in Thessaloniki, who arrived at the crash site, told local officials that the crew were all Ukrainian. The Greek armys Special Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Unit cleared two paths Sunday for Fire Service forensics experts to move in before leaving. By sunset, that second team had retrieved all the bodies, the commander of the army's Landmine Field Clearing Battalion told reporters. Explosives disposal experts were also working at the site. It is only when their work is done that Civil Aviation Authority experts will try to retrieve the plane's black boxes. The fire service and police created an extended security perimeter because of the widespread ordnance. Nearby dirt roads were closed to vehicles. Firefighters who rushed to the scene Saturday night were prevented from reaching the crash site by smoke and an intense smell that they feared might be toxic. Residents were allowed to leave their homes Sunday after being told to stay inside and keep their windows closed Saturday night. But officials told locals their fields may not be safe to work in because of the likely presence of explosives. ___ Nellas reported from Athens, Greece, and Gec from Belgrade, Serbia. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SANTIAGO, Mexico (AP) Restaurant owner Leticia Rodriguez celebrated the construction late last year of a new lakeside boulevard in this northern Mexico town that she hoped would draw more people to her business. But now with La Boca reservoir nearly empty, tourists have stopped coming to boat, water ski or just eat a meal. Rodriguez had to let go most of her staff in April and now runs the restaurant with her husband and children. A deepening drought in northern Mexico is not only making everyday life challenging for residents, but also in some cases is threatening their livelihoods. The only hope is that it rains, Rodriguez said. That even the tail of a hurricane arrives so that the reservoir can recover, because that is what is killing us the most. Last week, Mexicos National Water Commission declared a drought emergency allowing the government to take steps to guarantee the water supply. The countrys Drought Monitor placed almost half the country -- nearly all of the north and central regions -- in drought conditions. The drought is related to the weather event known as La Nina, whose effects have intensified with climate change. La Nina is a natural and cyclical cooling of parts of the equatorial Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide. In some areas like northern Mexico and the U.S. southwest, that has meant increased drought. The drying up of Santiagos reservoir is not the only problem for the industrial hub of Monterrey, about 22 miles (35 kilometers) to the north. Another reservoir that feeds the city, Cerro Prieto is at less than half of 1% of its capacity - basically empty - leaving a third reservoir called El Cuchillo, which is 46% full, said Juan Ignacio Barragan, director general of the Monterrey Water and Sewer Services. In normal conditions, 60% of the citys water comes from the reservoirs and the remainder from deep and shallow wells and subterranean water capturing tunnels. In the next two weeks, Barragan said the city plans to expand the use of tankers to deliver water to more outlying neighborhoods. To mitigate the worsening situation, Nuevo Leon states industrial and agricultural sectors agreed to cede a significant amount of their water rights to the state. Even so, experts say the next few weeks will be critical. If the usual arrival of rains in late August are delayed, water restrictions in the city will have to be extended. Aldo Ivan Ramirez, a professor in Monterrey Technological Universitys engineering school, said that while Monterreys situation is worrisome - it accounts for 12% of Mexicos GDP - it is much worse in other localities of the country. The city faced serious drought in 1998 and 2013, but its more complicated now because only El Cuchillo still has water, he said. This years water crisis still caught many in the city by surprise. Few homes had tanks to store water. Many people have now adopted measures to conserve water. I think this crisis has made the people think a lot, Ramirez said. I wouldnt want to see a hurricane come and alleviate this crisis and everyone forget about it because that would be the worst thing that could happen to us. Back in Santiago, Rodriguez, the restaurant owner, said that before it dried up hundreds of tourists came to the reservoir every weekend. On a recent day, she pointed across the muddy lake bottom to an abandoned restaurant well into the lake where diners used to arrive by boat. It closed earlier this year when the water receded and the tourists stopped coming. For me this is worse than the pandemic, because at least in the pandemic there were people, the 54-year-old Santiago native said. Now ducks walk in the shallow water around the end of the dock where tourists used to board boats for lake cruises. Sitting on one of the seats of the formerly floating dock, 65-year-old Juan Perez said he lost his job along with 60 others when the company that gave boat tours went under earlier this year. Now he survives working as a janitor for the town. Its sad to see it like this ... its worse than a cemetery, Perez said, remembering the festive atmosphere that used to reign on weekends here. Authorities are trying to get as much of the remaining water out of La Boca as possible. They installed a floating pump that they hope will extract some 105 gallons (400 liters) of water per second that will be piped to Monterrey, said engineer Raul Ramirez, whose company installed the pump. They planned to leave enough water to keep alive the remaining aquatic life. Standing on a dry lake bed that months ago was covered with water, Ramirez said: We were warned of the possibility that this could occur since last year and unfortunately as a society we didnt listen, we didnt want to understand. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PARIS (AP) Firefighters battled wildfires raging out of control in Spain and France, including one whose flames reached two popular Atlantic beaches on Sunday, as Europe wilted under an unusually extreme heat wave. So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain, but authorities in Madrid have blamed soaring temperatures for hundreds of deaths. And two huge blazes, which have consumed pine forests for six days in southwestern France, have forced the evacuation of some 16,200 people. In dramatic images posted online, a wall of black smoke could be seen rolling toward the Atlantic on a stretch of Bordeauxs coast that is prized by surfers from around the world. Flames raced across trees abutting a broad sandy beach, as planes flew low to suck up water from the ocean. Elsewhere, smoke blanketed the skyline above a mass of singed trees in images shared by French firefighters. In Spain, firefighters supported by military brigades tried to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. Spains National Defense Department said that the majority of its fire-fighting aircraft have been deployed to reach the blazes, many of which are in rugged, hilly terrain that is difficult for ground crews to access. Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after a dry, hot spring that the European Union has attributed to climate change. Some countries are also experiencing extended droughts, while many are sweltering in heat waves. In Spain's second heat wave of the summer, many areas have repeatedly seen peaks of 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit). According to Spains Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily, 360 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 10 to 15. That was compared with 27 temperature-related deaths the previous six days. Almost all of Spain was under alert for high temperatures for another day Sunday, while there were heat wave warnings for about half of France, where scorching temperatures were expected to climb higher on Monday. The French government has stepped up efforts to protect people in nursing homes, the homeless and other vulnerable populations after a vicious heat wave and poor planning led to nearly 15,000 deaths in 2003, especially among the elderly. The fire in La Teste-de-Buch has forced more than 10,000 people to flee at a time when many typically flock to the nearby Atlantic coast area for vacation. French authorities have closed several spots to the public along that coast because of the fire, including La Lagune and Petit Nice beaches that the fire reached on Sunday, and Europes tallest sand dune, the Dune du Pilat. The Gironde regional government said Sunday afternoon that the situation remains very unfavorable" due to gusting winds that helped fan more flare-ups overnight. A second fire near the town of Landiras has forced authorities to evacuate 4,100 people this week. Authorities said that one flank has been brought under control by the dumping of white sand along a two-kilometer (1.2-mile) stretch. Another flank, however, remains unchecked. People who were forced to flee shared worries about their abandoned homes with local media, and local officials organized special trips for some to fetch pets they had left behind in the rush to get to safety. Overall, more than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of land have burned in the two fires. Emergency officials warned that high temperatures and winds Sunday and Monday would complicate efforts to stop the fires from spreading further. We have to stay very prudent and very humble, because the day will be very hot. We have no favorable weather window, regional fire official Eric Florensan said Sunday on radio France-Bleu. Some of the most worrisome blazes in Spain are concentrated in the western regions of Extremadura and Castilla y Leon. Images of plumes of dark smoke rising above wooded hills that have been baked under the sun have become common in several scarcely populated rural areas. Drought conditions in the Iberian Peninsula have made it particularly susceptible to wildfires. Since last October, Spain has accumulated 25% less rainfall than is considered normal and some areas have received as much as 75% less than normal, the National Security Department said. While some fires have been caused by lightning strikes and others the result of human negligence, a blaze that broke out in a nature reserve in Extremadura called La Garganta de los Infiernos, or The Throat of Hell, was suspected to be the result of arson, regional authorities said. Firefighters have been unable to stop the advance of a fire that broke out near the city of Caceres that is threatening the Monfrague National Park and has kept 200 people from returning to their homes. Another fire in southern Spain near the city of Malaga has forced the evacuation of a further 2,500 people. The office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that he will travel to Extremadura to visit some of the hardest-hit areas on Monday. Hungary, Croatia and the Greek island of Crete have also fought wildfires this week, as have Morocco and California. Italy is in the midst of an early summer heat wave, coupled with the worst drought in its north in 70 years conditions linked to a recent disaster, when a huge chunk of the Marmolada glacier broke loose, killing several hikers. Scorching temperatures have even reached northern Europe. An annual four-day walking event in the Dutch city of Nijmegen announced Sunday that it would cancel the first day, scheduled for Tuesday, when temperatures are expected to peak at around 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit). Britain's weather agency has issued its first-ever red warning of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England may reach 40 C (104 F) for the first time. College of Paramedics Chief Executive Tracy Nicholls warned Sunday that the ferocious heat could ultimately, end in peoples deaths. ___ Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain. Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands. ___ Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate. BIG RAPIDS Being able to learn with your peers and give back has allowed Kelsei Rushmore to flourish in the Mecosta County 4-H program. Rushmore has been a longtime member of the 4-H program in Mecosta County. Starting in the program 15 years ago, Rushmore has been able to show almost every animal except poultry at the Mecosta County Fair. This ranges from cattle to rabbits, and everything in between. I started at the fair as a baby little kid showing a baby calf." shed said. "My family actually comes from a farming background. And so I came from the cattle background and all my stepdad and his whole family was in it." Rushmore explained why 4-H meant so much to her, touching on the many relationships that she built over the years, communication skills, time management among other life skills. In the grand scheme of things, I think for each person it is a very good program that teaches you things throughout each age group," she said. "You're kind of developing throughout the years you're involved. The biggest thing she learned over the years is to have grace in defeat. You're not always going to win, but you need to win gracefully, you need to lose gracefully and be proud of others doing well. Rushmore said. Rushmore's My Last Bootprint project highlighted the many accomplishments she has had over the years. This included going to Kansas to help with wildfires in that area, charity work in the community and many educational ventures in Mecosta County. Some of the most memorable things I think I've done, in 2019, one of my mom's best friends lost her house two days before fair. So I auctioned off my goat, and they went for $16 a pound, and Meijer bought it and all the proceeds are donated back to the families. When asked what her favorite animal was to show, she went with the animal she is showing this year. It's my first year showing sheep, and I think she's been one of my favorites. Rushmore said. I just clicked with my sheep, and I've always been a cattle person before that. While she is only 18, Rushmore is well into her college years, going to school at Michigan State University to study livestock industries. For more information on the Mecosta 4-H program, visit www.canr.msu.edu/mecosta/4-h. NEWTOWN Blood splatter marking his stomach, legs, arms and athletic shorts, Lawrence Clarke stood barefoot and shirtless next to a chicken coop as the first Environmental Conservation officer arrived at his Newtown home just after 11 a.m. on May 12. An off-duty Ridgefield police officer, Clarke stated that he was not injured and the blood was from the bear, according to the initial incident report signed by the responding officer with the states Environmental Conservation Police, a unit of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, or DEEP. The bear referred to the female black bear Clarke killed earlier that day using his AR-15 rifle from a distance he said was roughly 20 feet away and whose pair of four-month-old cubs, now orphans, sheltered in a tree outside a nearby neighbors house. According to the initial incident report, Clarke said in a statement the bear was still alive after he took the first shot and then noticed the bear appeared to be having a seizure. He stated he felt horrible, according to the narrative and, he could not allow himself to watch the bear suffer, so he walked closer to the bear and fired 7 or 8 more rounds until it died. Clarke then had his wife call DEEP. DEEP officials would eventually capture and relocate the cubs to a rehabilitation center in New Hampshire as authorities investigated the circumstances of the killing and whether or not it was justified. On July 8, the agency announced the States Attorneys office would not bring charges against Clarke for the killing of the bear, finding insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against [him]. The investigation determined that the homeowner had numerous encounters with the same bear over multiple days that caused him to fear for the safety of his family, for himself, and for his livestock, DEEP said in a press release. Attempts to reach Clarke on Friday were unsuccessful. Obtained by Hearst Media Connecticut through a public records request, the cache of documents showing the work behind DEEPs inquiry into the bear shooting includes photo evidence, data on the history of the bears interactions with humans, a necropsy and a summary of the follow-up interview with Clarke less than a month after the incident. After a complete review of all of the evidence provided by DEEP including police reports, body cams, maps and diagrams, social media, and witness interviews, the Danbury States Attorneys Office determined that a crime had not been committed, a spokesperson for the States Attorney said Friday. With the long-awaited investigation finalized, advocates are now slamming its findings, citing the details in the report and even in Clarkes own account of the incident that they say raise questions over the legality of the shooting. Mystified over investigation Katherine Throckmorton, a Connecticut attorney who lends her time in support of animal welfare, including those championed by the Connecticut Coalition to Protect Bears, followed the Newtown incident closely and chimed in on the legal implications of the investigation and the State Attorneys office decision not to bring charges against Clarke. Im mystified, even after talking to the states attorney, by the states failure to file charges, she wrote in an email. Per Throckmortons interpretation, state laws make it illegal to take a bear in Connecticut, with no statutory exception for protecting yourself, livestock, or poultry against a bear. Thats not to say common sense exceptions shouldnt or wouldnt be made when the facts call for it. But justifiable exceptions require compelling circumstances which, in my opinion, these incident reports just dont offer, she added. As the attorney explained, the laws definition of taking a bear includes the word killing, and also identifies pursuing bear as a separate stand-alone offense. As a result, she said, when the homeowner left the safety of his house armed instead of calling DEEP, he chose to pursue and confront the bear. Once doing so he killed her, justifying his action by claiming fear. Under state law, only DEEP is legally charged with managing bears that are somehow considered a problem, she said. Needless to say, the states response to this matter sets stunning precedents that open the door to future wildlife abuses, both seen and unseen, Throckmorton said. In a statement released announcing the investigations conclusions, DEEP officials confirmed: Bears are protected in Connecticut; there is no right to kill a bear. There is also no articulated right to defend yourself or livestock against bears, the agency added. When a bear is killed, Environmental Conservation Police investigate. It is the States Attorneys duty to determine if a chargeable criminal offense has occurred. The spokesperson for the States Attorney said the office normally does not get involved in cases where a bear has been killed. This initial decision usually rests with DEEP. The Danbury States Attorneys Office only became involved in this case at the request of DEEP to review the evidence since this shooting occurred in a residential neighborhood. The initial determination of criminal charges into the killing of a bear is usually made by DEEP, the spokesperson added. If DEEP initially determines that based upon the circumstances of the death of a bear the individual should be prosecuted for a violation of a specific statute, the case is referred to the States Attorneys Office. If a warrant is submitted, the States Attorneys Office reviews it to determine if there is probable cause for an arrest. Clarkes story Sitting in the back of a DEEP Environmental Conservation police patrol vehicle outside his home in the early-afternoon of June 7, Clarke told the investigating officer that he wanted to be transparent. He left the blood on him to show how close he was when he shot the bear, according to the DEEP officer who would summarized the recording of the 40-minute follow-up interview less than a month after Clarke shot the bear. Clarke also told the officer questioning him, the only thing he did wrong was pick up his rounds, except for one, the interview summary reads, with the officer noting that, due to the location of where the round he did not pick up was found, it is believed that this was the round that Clarke initially fired, the report notes. That revelation shocked Laura Simon, president of the Connecticut Wildlife Rehabilitation Association. Apparently this man didnt have the time to get dressed, put on a shirt, remove blood from his body but had time to remove six out of seven shell casing? she said. There was a clear lack of a basis here, he wasnt acting in self-defense, there was no imminent harm, she said, later adding he seemed to torment the bear for an hour before he finally shot her. According to the initial incident report, Clarke said he noticed a bear tipped over his chicken coop and took three chickens on the morning of May 10. His wife later confirmed the incident, telling the responding officer about the chickens lost to the bear and adding that the chickens are free range. After contacting a DEEP biologist that day and receiving advice on how to protect chickens from the bear, Clarke said his wife purchased a solar-powered fencing kit, (that they later learned would take three days to charge,) before he again saw the bear multiple times while repaired the damaged chicken coop later that afternoon. He said he used a starter pistol, a gun that shoots blanks, to scare the bear away. On May 12, the day Clarke shoot the bear, and he said in a sworn statement provided to the responding officer that his son saw the bear was looking at his grandson and not the chicken coop, and that his wife and son saw the bear huffed and stomped on the ground in their direction before getting inside. Clarke then reports he chased the bear off before it returned and was on its hind paws on the top of the chicken coop attempting to pull it over. Thats when he grabbed the AR-15, he said, before he walked towards the bear, yelling, and then fired the shot, according to his statement included in the initial incident report. In his follow up interview, Clarke estimated his grandson to be 30 feet from the bear and said once being alerted to the bear and getting his family safely inside the house he yelled at the animal, watching it run toward a neighbors driveway before walking back toward his home, and that is when he went inside and retrieved his AR, which he refereed to as his safety blanket, according to the summary. I knew where this was going, I was going to be dealing with this bear, Clarke is quoted as telling the officer in the follow-up interview. He reported an hour elapsed between when he retrieved his rifle and first shot the bear, saying he would scare the bear away, the bear would run into the woods along the property line, and then within five minutes the bear would come back. He also told the investigator that the chickens free ranged approximately two to three weeks prior to this incident, but he that, he had to put a stop to it, because every summer they would start with fourteen chickens and by summers end they would have six or seven left. The culprits getting the chickens in the past, he said, were fox and he did admit to borrowing what he described as a cage trapfrom his agency [Animal Control Officer] to trap the fox but never was successful, according to the interview summary. In conclusion, Clarke defended his response to the bears presence, telling the investigator, What am I going to do? he asked the DEEP investigator conducting the follow-up interview. Am I going to sayhey everybody lets just watch tv and lets roll the dice and hope this bear doesnt freakin kill my chickens? You know, everyone is upset about the bear and I am upset about the bear too, but lets not forget, I got a lot of money invested in that, the interview summary notes Clarke saying as he pointed to his chicken coop. And them chickens mean a lot to me, just as much..you know..[as] a freakin dog. Is DEEP equipped for bear-season? Speaking to Hearst Media Connecticut on July 8, hours before the investigation would be released, Col. Chris Lewis, commander of the states Environmental Conservation police force, explained how environmental conservation officers in the state investigate the bear-involved shooting incidents. Lewis reported DEEP environmental officers and biologists have investigated 40 bear-involved shootings since 2018. Ranging from unsolved cases to cases where an individual shot at, and missed a bear, the colonel said about 30 percent of those cases resulted in the States Attorney pressing charges. We have a high level of what we are looking for, so was it really necessary for that person to shoot at the bear? he said. Lewis described an officers calculation around whether or not the bear-shooting is justified is left to the responding officer and involves determining answers to questions like: Was there time and distance, could you have removed yourself from the situation? Were there other methods they could have done? We have seen it both ways over the years, he added. We have seen once where yes, a normal reasonable person would have taken the same action if they were literally at fear for themselves or they are watching their livestock, like their goat literally being eaten, dragged off in front of their eyes and yelling and shouting has no effect on it, and its like the second or third time its happened so you can understand how they are at their whits end. For property owners with crops damaged by a bear, Lewis said officers, would expect a little more patience or lenience. In those situations, he urged landowners to call the environmental conservation police who can work with DEEP wildlife biologists to address the issue, especially if it is a new problem. If we can train the bear that this is bad behavior, if you come over here it is going to be bad for you, you are not going to like the outcome, it will hopefully learn to avoid those areas, Lewis said. If we can set a trap, we can start hazing the bear, he added, that is the preferred method. To haze a bear requires catching it early enough to influence its conditioning away from human sources of food usually with a loud siren or a bean-bag round shot from a rifle. But the intervention becomes more difficult when the volume of bear calls peaks during the summer months, a trend combined with staffing levels for the states Environmental Conservation police force that make the effort even harder. According to Lewis, the months of June and July are when the sightings go through the roof, as the black bears hit peak levels of activity for the year. In our Northwest Corner, our sector for the officers that are assigned to that area, it is predominately all they do, Lewis said. We have our normal duties and then in June and July the bear stuff just explodes, almost, and it is what they do constantly, he added. If they are not doing something else, they are not out on a call, they have bear calls pending. Whenever officers do arrive at a bear call, they do not always fill out a report or investigate, the colonel continued, and the bear in question is usually not present. Most of the time its just education we just share with [the reporting party], the colonel said. A lot of times its the first time they encountered it, so we just give the education, we share with them like, hey this is why you have a bear here its just passing through; or you have a bird-feeder out or you have trash out, whatever is causing the issue. The more time-consuming calls are those that generate the most public interest, Lewis added, offering examples like when bears break into homes, cause property damage or threaten pets. The strain on staffing is an obstacle for wildlife biologists making up DEEPs bear team, according to the agencys Wildlife Director, Jennifer Dickson, who joined Lewis in the interview with Hearst. Following a retirement in April, she said one of two biologist positions assigned to the bear beat is vacant, but the wildlife division is working to fill it soon and hopes to add a half-position to help shoulder the work-load. That should at least get us back to the capacity we had pre-April and hopefully give us a little bit more, Dickson said last week. But when it gets busy, I am not going to kid you, that is probably not enough folks to respond to what the public would like us to respond to. That is the challenge. Dickson noted members of the bear team are also assigned to deal with other types of animals they are working with coyotes, and bobcats, and fisher [cats], and river otter and basically anything else that is considered a fur-bearer [animal]. Bears are probably what they spend most of their time on, she said. But they are not doing bears exclusively and that is what I think is sometimes challenging for folks. There is always a greater desire for people to be out in the field and helping landowners and requests for us to do that or providing assistance to [the environmental conservation police] and we just dont have the bodies to do it. In a statement released following the completed investigation into the Newtown bear-shooting, DEEP officials implied staffing is not the only obstacle for effective bear management in Connecticut. Due to the increase of human-bear conflicts and bears breaking into homes, further legislative clarity is needed to address bear-related incidents, the statement said. For example, DEEP has proposed legislation for multiple years that, if passed, would ban the feeding of bears. One hundred and forty New York Army National Guard soldiers assigned to the Syracuse-based 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed Friday on a mission that will take them to Germany to help train Ukrainian military personnel. According to a news release, the soldiers will replace 160 Florida Army National Guard soldiers from the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team's Task Force Gator, who are deployed in support of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission. Those troops had been training Ukrainian personnel at the Combat Training Center-Yavoriv near Lviv in western Ukraine since November 2021. They were ordered to leave Ukraine for Germany in February 2022 prior to Russia's invasion. The Florida team is now leading the training of Ukrainian troops in Germany and other locations. The farewell ceremony took place at the Thompson Road Armory on Hancock Field Air National Guard Base north of Syracuse. The New York team will train at Fort Bliss, Texas, before deploying to Germany. They are expected to replace the Florida team to support the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission in September. In 2017, the New York National Guard sent 220 soldiers to Ukraine for a 10-month rotation training Ukrainian soldiers at the Combat Training Center-Yavoriv. The team was headed by the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry, which is headquartered at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, but included soldiers from across New York. They replaced a team from the Oklahoma Army National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in November 2017. The New York Army National Guard team was replaced by soldiers from the Tennessee Army National Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment in August 2018. The Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine has been and continues provides training and advisement to Ukrainian military forces since 2015. Army National Guard brigade combat teams provide the main support to the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission in nine-month rotations as part of the army's rotational model. Other nations that have supported the JMTG-U mission while it was at Combat Training Center-Yavoriv include Canada, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on organizing the activities of Az?rs??orta OJSC. In accordance with the decree, in connection with the implementation of the Order of the President of Azerbaijan No. 2907 dated September 22, 2021 "On the transfer of Azer-Turk Bank OJSC and the State Insurance Commercial Company to the management of the Azerbaijan Investment Holding" and the settlement of a number of issues arising from this, it is decided: 1. Reorganize the state insurance commercial company of Azerbaijan by reorganizing it into Az?rs??orta OJSC (hereinafter referred to as the society). 2. Determine that: 2.1. The Company is a commercial legal entity carrying out insurance activities in the manner prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Insurance Activities"; 2.2. To carry out general management and control over the activities of the company, a Board of Directors is created, consisting of three members, including the chairman; 2.3. The board of directors of the company exercises the powers stipulated by Articles 26.1.426.1.6 and 29.1 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Insurance Activities". The full text of the decree can be found here. Will be updated The majority of Ghanaians have evolved into addicts that crave something more and more as their suffering increases. Even though it had been made clear to ordinary Ghanaians previously that the NPP government was doomed to failure, which would result in a political and economic abyss, owing to tribalism, the majority of Ghanaians demanded "Four more years for Nana," to their disadvantage today. I'm not one of them, so please don't call me a prophet. Even though I don't believe I have the qualifications to polish the shoes of Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, or Jeremiah, I am able to predict the future because I am familiar with the scriptures and apply them to political events in Ghana, where I live. In my publications, I have repeatedly shown how this works, and it has all actually happened. Never trust what others say because their fabrications reveal their true selves. A quarter of a cab of seed pods sold for five shekels and a donkey's head went for eighty shekels of silver during the city's severe famine. The Bible mentions it. To put it simply, Ghana will be difficult, even though it is unlikely that Ghanaians will queue up for a chicken's head, entrails, or undercooked kenkey, as it did during Ghana's last food shortage. Avoid being duped by con politicians. The few remaining years will be utilized as a lure to wow the average Ghanaian by commissioning pointless projects and cutting new sods. The years under the NPP government have been completely wasted. You need to find your way out of the dark tunnel you've already entered, so please don't fall for their deceptions. I am battling as a Ghanaian to experience Ghana at its best so that when I return home, I can live a respectable life like any other average person, whether black or white. The significance of my articles is not that because I am a tribal bigot, part of the NPP or NDC. My aim is to see Ghana as a great country. Political parties by themselves do not advance a nation; rather, a strong nation is built by the wisdom of its leaders. The way things are going under the current administration is not only disturbing but also frightening, as this is a government that has performed abjectly poorly, failed to combat corruption, create meaningful jobs for the general populace, run up an abnormally high national debt without any accountability, and yet they assert that they have to break the eight-cycle system. Every time I hear about the NPP breaking the eighth cycle, my heart races in my chest with anxiety because I have no idea how Ghana would be after what we are currently seeing there. They don't care for the average person just because they talk about breaking the eighth cycle. The goal is to make it so the next political party in power can't see how deeply corrupt they've dug themselves. Therefore, every educated or non-educated Ghanaian, especially the young, should stop the NPP government from taking office so that you and I can know what they are hiding from us. The common Ghanaians must battle to learn the reasons behind Ken Ofori-Atta's refusal to step down as finance minister and why President Nana Akufo Addo, a relative, has also refused to hear their concerns. The dishonest remarks Nana Akufo Addo made while vying for office. A president who lies to the public must step down right away in many developing nations, let alone developed ones. A president who failed to keep their campaign promises must also step down. Not only once or twice, but countless times, Akufo Addo has lied. More crucially, he used taxpayers' money to support his adultery, yet he is still in office as president of Ghana. Why are Ghanaians flawed? Is it the influence of religion that has rendered Ghanaians weak and dependent on divine intervention? Or have most pastors, who were supposed to guide the lost sheep, gone astray and are now endorsing every crime, act of corruption, and carelessness committed by the NPP government? The worst mistake made by man is trusting in God and waiting for him to create our factories, corporations, hospitals, schools, etc, in order to make us happy. Each for himself, God for us all. Religion is faith, and it offers consolation to the heart because we believe in God to behave in a godly manner. Unless you construct them by yourself, that miracle will never happen. Select the appropriate leaders to realize your dreams. Morocco has detained a seventh suspect in a sexual abuse and trafficking case against French insurance tycoon Jacques Bouthier, while a seventh woman has lodged a case against him, lawyers said Saturday. Bouthier, 75 and one of France's richest men, is being held in Paris on suspicion of child rape and trafficking. He is also under investigation in Morocco along with several of his employees, for alleged "people trafficking, sexual harassment and verbal and moral violence". "In total, seven cases are now pending against Bouthier and his accomplices" in Morocco, lawyer Abdelfattah Zahrach told a news conference in the northern city of Tangiers. "The victims have decided to break the silence, and others will follow." Aicha Guellaa of the Moroccan Association for the Rights of Victims (AMDV), also a lawyer, said a French national, the seventh suspect to be detained in Morocco, was remanded in custody and set to appear before prosecutors on Saturday. Five employees of Bouthier's insurance group Assu2000, later renamed Vilavi, were detained in Tangiers on July 6, while a sixth was charged but released. Sexual abuse victims in Morocco often face social stigma, but five young women appeared at Saturday's press conference, wearing dark glasses to hide their identities. Those who spoke said they had faced intimidation in the media and online. "The nightmare continues. They have threatened us, insulted us and even tried to bribe us, but without success," one said. The alleged victims say they had faced repeated sexual harassment and intimidation between 2018 and this year, as well as threats of being sacked, a serious prospect in a country where many struggle to find work. The latest revelations come after French prosecutors last month indicted two men -- one of them a police officer -- in relation to the Bouthier sex trafficking case. Bouthier is also facing charges of plotting kidnap and possession of child pornography. Guellaa said Bouthier and his co-accused had formed "an organised criminal gang" and that more Moroccan victims would likely come forward. "He thought he could sexually exploit young women with complete impunity," she said. Another woman who spoke at Saturday's press conference said she had been "really scared of reprisals" after coming forward. "I saw that they were capable of everything," she said. "But we won't back down. We won't stop until the entire Bouthier mafia is behind bars." South Africans' annoyance at power cuts has given way to worry, with business owners complaining that the prolonged energy crisis for which no end is in sight is eating into profits and hobbling economic activity. At Native Rebels, a colourful second-floor bar flanked with a large balcony in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, the cost of running a generator to keep lights on for weeks has been a huge burden, co-owner Masechaba Nonyane told AFP. "We thought Covid was bad... now that has been replaced with eight hours of no power," the 33-year-old entrepreneur said. "It's been really, really crippling," she added. Scheduled blackouts, known locally as load shedding, have burdened the country for years but recently reached new extremes. This month, the country has endured almost two weeks of stage-6 load shedding, which entails multiple power cuts a day, each lasting between two and four hours. Each of the up to eight stages of load shedding costs the country's economy an additional R500 million (US$29 million) a day in lost activity, according to government estimates. The crisis was exacerbated by a labour dispute at monopoly power provider Eskom's coal plants. The dispute was resolved earlier this month as Eskom agreed to a pay raise for its striking workers -- but power cuts have yet to significantly abate. Load shedding = job shedding "Load shedding will lead to further job losses, which will lead to lower production. It will affect spending. It will further affect economic growth," said Ismail Fasanya, senior lecturer of economics at the University of the Witwatersrand. Firms have had to spend money on generators, raising the cost of running a business -- something that risks dissuading local entrepreneurs looking to start new ventures as well as foreign investors, said Fasanya. The impact on jobs is particularly worrying in a country grappling with 34.5 percent unemployment in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, he said. Addressing the South African Communist Party congress on Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has been under pressure to resolve the issue, said he would soon be announcing measures to tackle the crisis. While details remain unclear, the president said one solution might entail setting up other state-owned power utility firms to compete with Eskom, which currently generates more than 90 percent of the country's energy. "We have to use every available means and remove every regulatory obstacle to bring extra electricity onto the grid as soon as possible," Ramaphosa said. 'Very worried' Energy experts and even debt-ridden Eskom have called for rapid government investment in renewables, particularly solar, as the best option to quickly boost energy production. "That will go a long way for (supporting) small businesses and reducing job loss," Fasanya said. In May, Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told parliament that while renewables are slated for procurement, gas, coal and nuclear projects are also in the pipeline. Whether those measures come fast enough to keep businesses from closing their doors remains to be seen. In Soweto, bar owner Nonyane said she's already had staff close up early on slow nights to reduce diesel consumption. "I'm very worried about how we're going to survive, I'm worried for people's jobs, how many people we can save," she said. "If people are not working and they are not getting an income, you're in a lot of trouble as a country." When Muhammed Sandeng first learned that his father, political activist Ebrima Solo Sandeng, had been tortured to death at the Gambian national spy agency's headquarters, he felt one emotion above all else. "It was all fear -- fear, fear, fear -- you had to be wise for your life because you didn't know what would happen," the student, 19 at the time, told AFP. On Wednesday, Sandeng felt something new, "fulfilment and relief", after the High Court of Banjul found five ex-intelligence officials guilty of the 2016 murder. His father's violent death was one of the most high-profile abuses committed under ex-president Yahya Jammeh's brutal 22-year regime and galvanised a political movement that eventually ousted the dictator. The former head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Yankuba Badjie, its former operations chief, Sheikh Omar Jeng, and former officials Babucarr Sallah, Lamin Darboe and Tamba Mansary were all handed death sentences. They will be converted to life sentences because The Gambia has a moratorium on executions. "We were always there, during the preliminaries, and listening to all of those (hearings) was not easy -- it was painful and made us relive most of the trauma," said Sandeng, now 25. "The persistence has paid off." 'Beginning of the end' Solo Sandeng, a key member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), was arrested at an April 2016 anti-Jammeh protest and died in custody two days later. According to Abdoulie Fatty, a Gambian lawyer, that was "the beginning of the end" for the dictator, who is accused of committing a litany of crimes, including rape, witch hunts and forcing bogus cures on AIDS patients. Only two trials have been held within The Gambia over Jammeh-era crimes. By ROMAIN CHANSON (AFP) The killing encouraged the political opposition to unite behind Adama Barrow, who beat Jammeh in the December 2016 presidential election. Launched in 2017, the trial was fraught with tension, reflected by brawls outside the court. The accused blamed Solo Sandeng's murder on Jammeh's private death squad despite it taking place on the intelligence agency's grounds. Witnesses recounted how men took turns beating him in custody "until his whole body was bleeding and blood was coming out from his head". "These were people who symbolised Jammeh's dictatorship -- the NIA symbolised Jammeh's dictatorship," said Fatty. Badjie, the agency's director, was "probably the second most powerful individual in the country", he added. On Wednesday, security guards had to remove several members of the public when shouting broke out after the guilty verdicts were pronounced. Scepticism The ruling offers some hope to other Jammeh-era victims. "For me, personally, as a victim, it means a lot," said Isatou Jammeh, whose own father -- Yahya Jammeh's brother -- disappeared and was later killed after challenging the ex-president. "Seeing them sentenced means that there is rule of law, and it serves as an example to all those who have committed gruesome crimes," she said. But the Solo Sandeng case was an outlier -- one of only two domestic trials tied to Jammeh-era crimes. After it began, the justice ministry opted to wait for a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to conclude before launching other investigations. Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia with an iron fist for 22 years. By afp (AFP) "The TRRC was not a judicial body and it's the state's responsibility to conduct prompt and impartial investigations in parallel," said Nana-Jo N'dow, a campaigner whose father disappeared in 2013. In May, following the publication of the TRRC's final report, the government vowed to prosecute Jammeh, who remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea, and more than 200 others accused of abuses. But victims' groups say it has not shown how it will make good on those promises. "In the meantime, Jammeh allies are in positions of power in Gambia," N'dow said. President Barrow, who was re-elected in December, last year formed a political alliance with Jammeh's former party and has since nominated two of his supporters as speaker and deputy speaker of parliament. 'We will get him' In late May, Barrow travelled to Equatorial Guinea, but there was little mention of Jammeh during his talks with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, a government spokesman said. The state says it has hired foreign and domestic lawyers to work on trying the ex-president, and in mid-June the Justice Ministry said it would suspend any current state employees accused of abuses in the TRRC report. President Adama Barrow last year formed a political alliance with Jammeh's former party. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) A ministry spokesman on Friday did not respond to requests to confirm whether those suspensions had taken place. But in late June, the Attorney General indicated to a parliamentary committee that the government presently lacks the financial resources to implement the TRRC recommendations. "There's more that needs to be done around security reforms and institutional reforms," said Muhammed Sandeng. But as for Jammeh, he said: "It is very evident that justice is catching up on him and surely, sooner or later, we will get him." Sudanese police and soldiers deployed in large numbers Sunday across the capital Khartoum, ahead of mass protests planned by pro-democracy groups against coup leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Security forces erected road blocks on bridges crossing the Nile river linking Khartoum to its suburbs, AFP reporters said. Undeterred, protesters vowed to take to the streets in large numbers following a period of relative calm over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha which ended early last week. The demonstrators oppose Burhan's October power-grab and are also highlighting heavy fighting in Sudan's southern Blue Nile state, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) south of Khartoum. Sudan's latest coup derailed a transition to civilian rule, sparking near-weekly protests and a crackdown by security forces that has left at least 114 killed, according to pro-democracy medics. Nine were killed on June 30, the medics said, when tens of thousands had gathered and their deaths reinvigorated the movement. On July 4, Burhan vowed in a surprise move to make way for a civilian government. But the country's main civilian umbrella group rejected the move as a "ruse". Protesters have continued to press the army chief to resign. They accuse the military leadership now in power and the ex-rebel leaders who signed a 2020 peace deal of exacerbating ethnic tensions for personal gain. In Blue Nile on Sunday, witnesses reported troops deployed in the town of Al-Roseires, after at least 33 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in violence between rival ethnic groups, according to the health ministry. Map of Sudan locating the capital Khartoum. By (AFP) Guerrillas in Blue Nile battled former strongman president Omar al-Bashir during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war, picking up weapons again in 2011. Bashir was ousted in 2019. The following year, the transitional administration reached a peace deal with key rebel groups, including from Blue Nile as well as the war-ravaged western Darfur region. The current violence in Blue Nile is between two local groups, the Berti and the Hausa. The exhibition "Escaping Slavery, the Art of Breaking One's Chains" introduces us to the history and artistic work of the "bushinenge" descendants of African slaves who escaped the Dutch plantations in Suriname, in South America, and fled to French Guyana. The Maison de l'Amerique Latine in Paris brings to the fore traditional objects and contemporary art of the descendants of the African slaves or "Maroons" from Suriname and French Guyana. When they escaped the Dutch plantations in Suriname in the 18th century, the Maroons found shelter in the Amazon rainforests nearby. The planters waged war against them in 1772, sending 1,200 mercenaries in pursuit. Some of the fugitives then crossed over to French Guyana, where they recreated communities: the Samamaka, Dyuka, Paamaka, Boni-Aluku, Matawai and Kwinti. Around 1860, these "bushinenge" meaning "men of the woods'" in the nenge tongo language that was built on English, French, Portuguese and Dutch started to develop a specific form of art made up of geometric patterns. Tembe art "When they found themselves in the forest, the only means of expression that the 'bushinenge' had, was through wood," says Genevieve Wiels, curator of the exhibition called "Marronnage, l'Art de Briser ses Chaines" in French. "For a long time, they only used wood to make practical objects: houses, paddles ... eveything they needed. And then, when they were liberated, around 1860, they discovered something amazing, a resilience through art and creating beauty that they call 'moy'." The Maroons took these ordinary objects, the house, the paddle or the comb that they used to offer to their wife, to their mother, they added motifs and they transformed them into something beautiful. "We may call it art, but they say making 'tembe'. This art is both a way of creating beautiful motifs as well as a way of expressing themselves, of saying things to villagers, to their wives and of making beautiful things." "In this art, we see geometric patterns. In fact, it is an art of expression, you could even say 'speech'. It talks a lot about love and sex, and so on ... One of the artists in the exhibition who made the pediment of the Maison de l'Amerique Latine in Paris, Carlos Adaoude, says that what he does is to create geometric poetry." 'Resilience through art' The art encompasses resilience in the face of grief, distress and also the desire to please women, says Wiels. "When a man returns from a trip, carrying things in a dugout canoe or chopping wood, he returns to the village with objects that he carved for his wife when he missed her," she says. And the women respond to the men's gifts. They create fabrics, with embroidery, patchwork, crochet. They offer them to their husbands, to make loincloths (pangis), and take the fabrics out during mourning ceremonies. "Men put the cloths in metal canteens and when they get old, they take them out regularly ... each cloth reminds him of the love a woman had for him. "And at the time of burial, they will decorate the sky of the funeral hut which will be his coffin. There will be all these fabrics on display and he will be wrapped in one of these fabrics to be buried." Women continue to carefully keep the items they have been given. They display in their house the most beautiful objects that their husband or companion has made for her. Contemporary tembe art Antoine Dinguiou was one of the first bushinenge artists to paint on canvas, creating motifs that represent "eternal love" or "the whirlpool, the navigation on the river". Antoine Lamoraille, an artist of the previous generation, painted doors or house pediments. He was an independentist, condemned for his political activities and incarcerated in Paris, at the Sante prison, in the 1970s. He agreed that his paintings, which could not be transported, could be reproduced. For him, the important thing is the political and philosophical message they carry. Marronnage, l'Art de Briser ses Chaines runs until 24 September 2022 at the Maison de l'Amerique Latine in Paris. The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in collaboration with the national leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has held a Consultative Forum for Volta Regions Regional and District leaders of the Scheme in Ho. The forum which was held on Wednesday, 13 July 2022 is themed Understanding the Value Proposition of SSNIT, the Role of Organized Labor as Partners in Promoting the Scheme Among Workers in Ghana. It was aimed at addressing the concerns of beneficiaries, clarifying misconceptions, and improving transparency among workers and pensioners in the formal sector. The forum forms part of an effort to improve public knowledge of the operations of the Scheme. Speaking on behalf of the Director-General of SSNIT, the Chief Actuary of SSNIT, Mr. Joseph Poku said that the SSNIT Scheme is the best as it covers 25% of workers' monthly contributions of GHS55 or less. He further indicated that if these workers were to retire on the basic salaries of GHS 500 or less, they would earn a monthly pension of GHS 300.00. He explained that pensions are a direct reflection of the basic salaries on which contributions are paid, therefore the higher the salaries on which members contribute, the higher their pension. Mr. Opoku added that the longer the period of contribution, the higher the pension right earned, therefore members who contribute for 35 years and above earn the maximum pension right of 60%. In his presentation, Mr. Opoku revealed a data that shows over 87% of workers have declared basic salaries of GHS 3000 or less to the Trust. The Chief Actuary indicated that the pensions paid by SSNIT are only a reflection of the basic salaries workers have declared. He described the Scheme as generous because even though workers contribute 11% of their basic salaries, the Scheme guarantees them up to 60% of the average from their three years best salaries and pays them a pension for life in annual increments. Mr. Opoku further disclosed that what Pensioners are receiving is better than what they would have received if they had invested their contributions in the 91-Day Treasury Bills. For Pensioners who have been on the Pension Payroll for 20 years, they have received more than five times what they would have received from Treasury Bills. Mr. Opoku said. The Chief Actuary encouraged participants to focus on the value the SSNIT Scheme offers and contribute to their correct salaries to enjoy an enhanced pension. He added that SSNIT will this year roll out a comprehensive campaign to register self-employed persons and informal sector workers onto the Scheme through an App. The Trust will soon launch a SSNIT App and Mobile Money payment platform to ease doing business with Members especially the self-employed He added. The Deputy Secretary General of TUC, Mr. Joshua Ansah urged SSNIT to implement measures that will help their members track their contributions from the first day of joining the Scheme till the day they retire. The Trust is hopeful that the engagement with members of the Congress will also help to deepen the knowledge of stakeholders about the Scheme, and the value it offers and increases the level of awareness among Members. Mr. Ansah said. The chairman of the Health Services Workers Union for Volta/Oti region, Mr. Emmanuel Gator commended SSNIT for partnering the TUC to educate members about the Scheme. He said that there was the need for similar engagements to be held continuously so that more workers could be better informed about the Scheme. The Forum was well attended by the Corporate Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Ms. Afua Sarkodie, Manager in charge of Volta and Eastern Area of SSNIT, Mrs. Regina Esi Quaynor, Head of Corporate Affairs, National Pensions Regulatory Authority, Nana Sifa Twum, the Head, Occupational Safety, Health, Social Protection Unit of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ms. Theresa Nadia Abugah, Volta Regional Branch Manager, Mr. Newlove Alovoh, Mr. Dan Sosu, Volta Regional Chairman of the Trades Union Congress and Regional TUC Executives. John Egbeazien Oshodi 17.07.2022 LISTEN For the first time in African history, a sitting Nigerian governor, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, asked the American government and allies to see President Muhammadu Buhari and his circle as a troubled administration where the well-being, freedom, safety, and justice for all Nigerians is not just a threat to Nigeria but to America itself as well as the advanced world. Last year at this time, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah, informed American lawmakers that under President Buhari, insecurity, nepotism, and persecution of Christians had worsened. The Buhari administration emotionally continuously accused the bishop of hatred of its regime and of using the pulpit to play politics. However, as a sitting Governor, Ortom is now directly informing Western governments, including the Biden administration and the United Kingdom, that religious freedom and persecution of Nigerian Christians are at an all-time high under Buhari, a Muslim Fulani President. The American government and the international community should decide to monitor Buhari and his circle as the expanding food crisis, increased deaths of innocent citizens, arbitrary terrorism, politization of religion, and mass fear of the government could expose America to migration problems from Nigeria. For far too long, Buhari continues to tell the western world that the herders/farmers crisis is more of a cultural and traditional land dispute than a religious issue, but Ortom pointedly informed the western world that under Buhari, who is ethnically linked to Fulani herdsmen, the situation now appears as a religious genocide. With America and Britain as historically Christian nations, Ortom, who speaks for the vulnerable Christian farming and other communities across the nation, tells the international community they cannot keep ignoring the systematic killing of Christians in Nigeria. And yet, Ortom appears to understand that under Buhari, a Fulani and a Muslim man, who still has a good number of months left in office, could not be ignored knowing that he is not reportedly openly against the importation of religious violence into Nigeria. As such, the western world could see more communities in disarray and Nigerians seeking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, and displaced persons fleeing, risking migration beyond Nigeria. The Buhari administration, known for its close ties to Turkey, Russia, and China, nations that promote poor accountability for human rights violations, should not be allowed to continue behaving indifferently as violent attacks on communities in Benue State continue, with alleged threats to Governor Ortom's life by Fulani herdsmen. Theres no need for Biden, or anyone else, to soft-pedal human rights and security concerns in Nigeria as Ortom is expressing, especially when religious-based violence remains widespread. While I would not directly say Ortom accuses Buhari of stirring turmoil in Nigeria, the daily killings and sufferings are becoming too much for a nation in distress. Buhari, a man who is always on the move, traveling outside the country during times of distress in the streets of Nigeria, is a testament to his apparent indifference to human suffering and his apparent endorsement of unhinged violence, insecurity, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses. Under Buhari, widespread human rights abuses by government security agents and armed groups of Islamic Fulani extraction are a daily occurrence in the north, and in the south, vulnerable Nigerians and state government sanctioned security networks are denied gun licenses to defend themselves against armed groups reportedly of Islamic Fulani background. The United States especially remains proud to be the largest single donor of humanitarian, democracy, and human rights assistance all over the world, so it cannot ignore Buhari and his circle, as reported by Ortom, with Nigeria getting more and possibly dangerous for its people, America, and the international community. The Buhari presidency Instead of thinking loudly that the governor harbors hatred towards Buhari and his administration, it should find objective ways to correct unjust social, economic, and religious fears across the country, before the American government and its closest allies start to take a firm and precision-guided look at Buhari as a leader and as a person. Internationally, to ignore Ortom regarding Buhari under the principle of noninterference is to allow Nigeria to keep tilting towards destructive and very dangerous times. 17.07.2022 LISTEN The many number of times I listen to the audio recording of the meeting held on the campus on Monday, 20 June 2022, regarding the recall of the said affected students, the more I get frustrated that the students are still denied their right despite the intervention by the Minister of Health, Hon Kwaku Agyemang Manu. In the audio, one could clearly attest to the fact the principal had not made any efforts to implement whatever directive the Health Minister had given to her. She asked the attendee students what they knew about the directive and ended up telling them that the Minister had asked her to recall them to repeat their class but not to be promoted as they have been seeking. Again, she had not made any attempt to notify the affected students about the directive so given. She is simply a wicked person harbouring malicious intentions against not only the affected students but the entire school population. Subsequently, the writer calling for her removal from the school. Before proceeding any further, let me pause to briefly inform the general Ghanaian public of how supportive a said husband of the principal is to his wife, Mrs. Gifty Helena Dwamena Amoah. This man living in the United States of America (USA) who should have known better to understand how incompetent, ignorant and a total misfit his wife is, is rather applauding her for her action taken to dismiss and or, demote some one hundred and sixty-eighty students. To the husband, does he know how his wife arrived at her unprofessional, incompetent and callous decision to dismiss/demote the students? Does he understand how students are rated on Grade Point Average (GPA) to determine whether they qualify for promotion or not? To the layperson, GPA is a number that indicates how well or how high you scored in your courses on average. From my investigations and evidence available to me, all or most, of the affected students, did obtain GPA that qualifies them for promotion. Why were their GPA constantly changing on their student portal? This is just by the way. The husband, Mr. Amoah, in his telephone conversation with a journalist in Ghana, said, what does that Rockson Adofo living in London know, an armchair journalist as he is? Mr. Amoah asserts to be a journalist himself when he was in Ghana. Let me define an armchair journalism for people to understand how the alleged husband of the principal, who although currently sojourns in the USA, does not know how Covid-19 impacted schools to culminate in students being promoted without sitting for final or end of year examinations. Armchair journalism is a term used to describe reporting that is done by a reporter from his/her office without going out into the field to interview the sources If my reporting from London does reveal the veracity of stories prevailing on the ground, and the contents are correct, does it matter how I obtain my information? Is it not better to deal with the content rather than where and how it is obtained? Anyway, the husband may be as bad as the wife since the birds of the same feathers flock together. And, as it is like father like son, so it is like husband like wife. Back to my main story, the principal is running the college as though she is irrational and lacks any knowledge in school administration. My nearly hour-long conversation with one of the tutors in the school revealed many malpractices in perpetration by the principal. The eye-catching one among them, serious of course, is how she forces the tutors to teach subjects other than those they have studied and qualified in. To make it vivid to those of us without medical knowledge hence may not understand when I mention the subjects learnt at Nursing and Midwifery Training Colleges, I will use the subjects known to be taught in normal schools to demonstrate how badly the principal is running the college. A tutor gone to the university to study, graduate and qualify in say, geography, is forced by the principal to teach say, chemistry, this semester and then mathematics the next semester. When the tutors raise any objection, she tells them that as long as they are employed in the school as tutor, they should be able to teach any subject assigned to them by her. What a complete madness! The tutor continued to tell me that the most annoying part is if she asked you to teach say physics, whereas your specialization is history, and you have taken about two weeks to do a research to prepare notes on physics, a day to starting your physics lessons with the students, she phones to ask you to rather start teaching biology. Therefore, the tutors are always not up to the task; becoming a blind man leading another blind man. Both persons will end up falling into a pit. The tutor as well as the students will not benefit from the subject or lesson hence impacting their results. Again, she has ensured all the long-serving and experienced tutors were transferred from the college. She makes sure any tutor that raises objection to her style of administrating the college is removed from the school. There are many things the tutor confided in me that do not augur well for both the tutors and the students. I will end here by appealing to the Health Minister to investigate this allegation and those he may already be aware of. She is not for the good of the tutors, students and the Mampong community. By all that I have been told about her from reliable sources, an armchair journalist as I am, I call for her removal from the college. She is unfit to be the principal of the school if anyone cares about the welfare of the students, tutors and the Mampong community. Rockson Adofo Sunday, July 17, 2022 President Nana Akufo-Addo has commissioned a 680-bed residential facility for students of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in the Ho municipality to climax the University's 10th anniversary. The facility situated at the UHAS permanent campus at Sokode-Lokoe was christened the 'Sokode Hall of Residence' in appreciation of the Sokode traditional area. A similar facility named 'Asogli Hall of Residence' was commissioned a few months ago at the Trafalgar campus near the Ho Teaching Hospital. Both edifices were financed through the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of the University. Speaking at the anniversary durbar, President Akufo-Addo applauded the leadership of UHAS for the judicious use of the university's IGF to provide such critical infrastructure and said it was worthy of commendation and emulation by other institutions of higher learning in the country. He said the governments commitment to supporting UHAS to deliver on its mandate of training quality healthcare professionals, and engaging in research and community service remained resolute. He, therefore, assured that the second phase of the UHAS main campus project which he cut sod for in September 2021 will be completed on schedule. The project which comprises the School of Nursing and Midwifery and a Central Administration is being funded at the cost of 68 million dollars by China Aid. The Government of Ghana is providing a GHS 6.2 million in counterpart funding for the provision of public utilities, including access roads to the site. It is currently 36 percent complete and scheduled for completion in March 2024. He commended the past and present council, management, and staff of UHAS for their dedication to duty, which has seen the infant university established during the tenure of late President Atta-Mills by an Act of Parliament, Act 868 of 2011, growing from 155 in 2012 to over 7000 presently. He added that the achievements of UHAS have seen it rub shoulders with other age-old institutions in the country and beyond with over 5,000 graduates globally. President Akufo-Addo commended UHAS for its impeccable health research credentials and various global rankings, including the recent Times High Education Impact Rankings 2022, which ranked the university number one in the SDG 3 category. Chairman of UHAS Council, Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse commended the foundation council and first Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fred Binkah for laying a strong foundation. He commended successive governments for their support and prayed for the speedy completion of all ongoing projects at both the Ho and Hohoe campuses of the university to address the infrastructure inadequacies. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Owusu Gyapong whose 6-year tenure ends on 31st July, said has so far established ten out of eleven academic units. Additionally, it has rolled out 19 undergraduate and nine postgraduate programmes across its nine schools and two institutes. He stressed that UHAS is now a household brand with so much recognition and acceptance among its peers and stakeholders by dint of hard work. DGN online July 17, 2022 The MoA Week In Review - (NOT Ukraine) OT 2022-111 Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: The Ukraine's military House of Officers in Vinnytsia after the attack on it. bigger --- Other issues: Brexit: Spies: Biden's scandal: Covid-19: Wokeism: Cryptocrime: Return of the Great American Bubble Machine - Matt Taibbi Postil stuff I had missed: Use as open thread for issues not related to the war in Ukraine ... Posted by b on July 17, 2022 at 11:59 UTC | Permalink Comments next page July 17, 2022 Ukraine Open Thread 2022-112 Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ... The current open thread for other issues is here. Posted by b on July 17, 2022 at 12:20 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) Police were searching Sunday for a suspect in a shooting at a San Francisco Bay Area bowling area that left a man dead and two other people wounded, authorities said. Someone pulled out a gun and opened fire Saturday evening during a fight inside a bar at Granada Bowl near downtown Livermore, police said. MBABANE- Move over Bitcoin, welcome Non Fungible Tokens! Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a new way to make money by artists and the public. NFTs are currently taking the digital art and collectibles world by storm. Digital artists are seeing their lives change, thanks to huge sales from a new crypto-audience. NFTs tokens are used to represent ownership of unique items namely; art, collectibles and real estate. Every NFT is unique to its user name and can only have one official owner. The beauty of the NFTs is that they are digitally unique. Advantages Every NFT must have one owner whois of public knowledge and easy for anyone to identify. The other advantages of this platform are; * Content creators can sell their work anywhere and can access the global market. * Creators can retain ownership rights over their own work, and claim resale royalties directly. * One can use digital artwork as collateral in a decentralised loan. Its secured by the Ethereum block chain, which means no one, can modify the record of ownership or copy and paste a new NFT into existence. In laymens terms, Ethereum is a technology that is home to digital money, global payments and applications. According to research done by this publication NFTs and Ethereum, will helpsolve some of the problems that exist on the internet today. As we have moved to the digital space, there is a need to replicate the properties of physical items like scarcity, uniqueness, and proof of ownership. Digital items often work in the context of their product. For example you cannot re-sell an iTunes mp3 that you have purchased, nor can you exchange one companys loyalty points for another platforms credit even if there is a market for it. The industry has built a booming digital community which serves as a way for creators to earn money online. The advantage of this platform is that anyone can use it, all you need is internet. Mandla Luphondvo, who is Head Strategy and Communications at The Central Bank of Eswatini, when reached for comment said In the past few months, we have briefly interacted with a few artists who have interest in converting their works of art, drawings or paintings that have intrinsic value as determined by the artists. The value of such assets could also be influenced by public perception of the asset, hence some drawings would be more expensive than others, depending on how the artists and their works are perceived by the public. encourage He continued to say However this is not the space we work as the Central Bank of Eswatini. We encourage Emaswati to conduct extensive research and thoroughly evaluate their risk appetite before investing or transacting in different kinds of assets. When reached for comment, the CEO of the National Council of Arts and Culture, Stanley Dlamini said It is time that artists take advantage of the digital space. The world has moved into a digital age and I believe there is ample opportunity here for our artists to be seen by a worldwide audience. When reached for comment, Sisimile Mndzebele known as Hani G said NFTs are the future, in the digital space, they are going to be another platform to create revenue. Every company with a digital presence will have to adopt and have NFTs just like they have Facebook or Instagram. Everything is going digital. Right now a lot of people have not understood the whole concept of it as yet though. MBABANE The names Mohammed Bouazizi and Thabani Nkomonye have something in common they both catalysed political unrests. For Bouazizi, it was the Arab Spring of pro-democracy protests that took place in the Middle East and North Africa in 2010 and 2011; for Nkomonye, it was nationwide protests that escalated into Eswatinis political unrest.Tunisian Fruit and vegetable vendor Bouazizi, 26 years old in 2010, set himself on fire in the town of Sidi Bouzid and triggered the Arab Spring, University of Eswatini law student Nkomonye, aged 25 in 2021, died under mysterious circumstances following a traffic accident at night and a #JusticeForThabani movement began, as blame was apportioned on the police for his death. It is now just over a year since May 8, 2021, when Nkomonye is believed to have died, and the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) has since acted on this death. An impeccable source within the REPS revealed that as per the recommendation of Coroner Nonhlanhla Dlamini, disciplinary action has commenced against the four police officers who were on duty on the night of Nkomonyes death and they all face a charge of negligence.Dlamini presided over the inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Nkomonye and further compiled a report of the findings.The officers who have been charged are: Constable Bhoncozi Kunene, who was the investigator of the road traffic accident; Constable Isaac Msibi, who attended the accident with Kunene; another officer identified as Thusi, who was part of the team that attended the accident; and Sergeant Ntombikayise Sithole, who was the senior officer on duty that night. Kunene, Msibi and Thusi are from the Matsapha traffic police department and they attended the scene of the accident on May 8, 2021 and towed Nkomonyes motor vehicle to the Matsapha police station, where it was kept until his body was discovered at the scene of the accident five days later (May 13, 2021). Coroners recommendations The coroner made the following recommendation, which was one of four: Administrative disciplinary action should be taken against all the officers who were involved in this matter, to answer for their failure to follow procedure and for their negligence. The highly-placed source said it was now expected that the four officers would now appear before a tribunal that consists of the police executive, where their matter will be dealt with. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati did not refute the information that the officers had since been charged. The National Commissioner is working on the recommendations as articulated by the Coroner. Reports will be submitted to a relevant body if need be, she said. During the inquest, the evidence of Constable Kunene was considered of most relevance in determining the circumstances surrounding the traffic accident that caused Nkomonyes death. Kunene testified that he was in the company of officers Msibi and Thusi when they came across the road accident at Nhlambeni along the MR9 Public Road Yithu Abantu Highway, while on routine road patrol around Hlobile-Masundvwini area. Upon their arrival at the scene, Kunene said they found members of the public already gathered and searching for the driver of the motor vehicle. It was his testimony that the report they got at the scene was that the driver was not found in the car or at the scene, immediately after the accident. It is the evidence of this officer that the driver of the motor vehicle could not be located at the scene of accident despite a search, which lasted for about two hours. According to the officer they searched for the driver for a distance of seven metres from where the car had landed and also about 18 metres from where the car had landed to where it had veered off the road. After they failed to locate the driver, it was then that they directed that the motor vehicle be towed to the police station, where it was kept until May 13, 2021, when the body of Thabani was found at the scene, reads the coroners report. Officer Kunene told the inquest that after failing to locate the driver, they assumed that he might have fled the scene since they found empty beer bottles, which led them to conclude that he might have been intoxicated at the time of the accident.Kunene stated that the motor vehicle was seriously damaged, had its front left wheel missing and had a visible hole on the right rear bumper.He also observed that the motor vehicle veered off the road and overturned several times before it landed on a branch at the scene. He further stated that he prepared a draft sketch plan showing where the vehicle veered off and also identifying the point of impact and also where the car landed thereafter. A developed plan was later prepared, which identified the position of the driver at the time he was discovered on May 13, 2021. The officer stated that he noted the accident on the Occurrence Book and further compiled a docket for the road traffic accident. The motor vehicle was registered at the police station as an exhibit. The accident was reported to the supervisors in the morning of May 9, 2021. The evidence of the Occurrence Book was tendered as exhibit G, the coroners report states. During cross examination, Kunene failed dismally to give a response when asked to explain the procedure during the search and also specify the range or radius which should be covered during the search. It was put to Kunene that he failed to follow procedure when investigating the accident and that he was involved in the death of Nkomonye, but he denied that he was involved in the students demise. The coroner noted that during his appearance, Kunene exhibited arrogance when being cross-examined by counsel regarding his failure to follow procedure during the course of his investigations. Kunene also failed to present a docket for the accident despite having said he had compiled one, and had been questioned at length about it. The coroner wrote: The evidence by officer Kunene that he had compiled a docket cannot reasonably be true, since the witnesses found at the scene were never recorded statements on the day in issue and or on any earlier day. The witnesses were recorded statements after the body of Thabani was found on May 13, 2021. The sketch plan the officer presented was for the day the body of Mr. Nkomonye was discovered. It was also found that Kunene never sourced information from the government data system to identify the owner of the motor vehicle, despite that within the police force there are such facilities under the Serious Crimes Unit.The officer exhibited serious ignorance when he was questioned about his duties as a traffic officer and procedure he must follow when attending to an accident, wrote the coroner. Cops incomplete docket The evidence of Sergeant Lucas Motsa, who was the acting Head of the Matsapha Traffic Department, at the time the accident occurred, was that the docket compiled by Kunene was incomplete. Kunene was found to have left an incomplete docket in the morning of May 9, 2021 after he had attended to the accident and proceeded to take his day off, notwithstanding that the matter had not been investigated and the occupant(s) and/or driver of the car had not been located. The coroners report adds that Kunene, even though he stated that due to the seriousness of the damage to the vehicle, he was troubled by the fact that the driver could not be located, he never went back to the scene in the morning of May 9 and he never made a follow up on the matter when he resumed duty on May 12, 2021, nor did he investigate the matter further after that. Kunene told the inquest that his supervisor detailed other officers to revisit the scene on May 9.Constable Msibi, who is among those who have been charged, confirmed before the inquest that he was one of the officers who attended to the accident together with officer Kunene. Msibis evidence was found to corroborate that of Kunene on all material aspects, in that he confirmed that they were patrolling around Hlobile/Masundvwini, when they came across the accident; confirmed that the driver was not located at the scene; and that they searched the scene before towing the car to the police station. Did assumptions kill the cat? Sergeant Sithole the senior officer on duty that night conceded that there was laxity in the manner in which her department handled the accident. She admitted that there was gross negligence on her part and also on the part of the officers, who attended the scene of the accident. According to the officer, they assumed that the driver was intoxicated and had fled the scene of the accident, based on the presence at the scene and also within the car, states the coroners report. Officer Sithole revealed to the inquest that she never received the contents of the motor vehicle driven by Nkomonye, despite the fact that she was the sergeant on duty. According to Sithole, she reported the accident to Sergeant Lucas Motsa who had the duty to report to the station commander and the latter would then further report the matter to the regional commander. When asked about the missing person report notice, Sithole stated she became aware of it on May 13, 2021. Sithole told the inquest that on May 8, 2021 they took things for granted and assumed this to be what usually happened in accidents, where drivers were not found. The coroner then wrote: Officer Sithole admitted that there was negligence in the manner in which they handled Mr. Nkomonyes accident. The officer revealed that this incident has been an eye opener for them as police not to take for granted accidents which occur on a daily basis. The evidence of Sergeant Motsa (then acting head of the Matsapha Traffic Dept) was that the docket of the traffic accident, which was made to him by Sithole, had challenges and did not contain crucial information that would have enabled further investigation of the matter. According to Motsa, despite being the immediate supervisor to Kunene, he failed to enforce compliance of police procedures by his subordinates. he failed to recall Kunene to attend to the docket and did not make means to facilitate further investigations of the read traffic accident. Motsa also conceded that there was gross negligence on the part of his department in the manner in which they handled the accident. The power to discipline police officers rests with the National Commissioner, as provided for in Section 189 (3) of the Constitution, which reads: Subject to any lawful superior orders, the command and overall superintendence of the Police Service shall vest in the Commissioner of Police who shall also be responsible for the administration and discipline of the Police Service. The Police Act, in Part V, addresses the subject of discipline and in Section 47 states that the National Commissioner, as per his constitutional powers, shall establish administrative boards in all or selected police stations, including regional police headquarters and at other posts as deemed necessary and with similar or varying powers and responsibilities. It is these boards that deal with officers who have committed a breach or an offence. Section 49(1) (c) (i) states that; A police officer commits a disciplinary offence or the officer neglects duty, that is, if the officer having a duty to attend to, or to take action on any matter, neglects to do so, without good cause. When conducting a disciplinary hearing or trial, a board, as per section 53 of the Act, shall not be bound by the strict rules of judicial procedure but shall be guided by the rules applicable in disciplinary tribunal and shall honestly apply its mind on any issue which is the subject matter of the hearing and observe the requirements of natural justice.The accused officer, according to Section 54, shall be entitled to be represented by a lawyer who shall be paid by the accused officer, or be represented by another officer. Punishments for police offences There are varying punishments that the boards might impose and these include: (a) reprimand and/or maximum E1 000 fine; (b) reprimand and/or maximum E800 fine; (c) reprimand and/or maximum E600 fine; (d) reprimand and/or E400 fine plus maximum 14 days confinement to police lines or quarters with or without extra guards, fatigues or other duty in addition to normal duty. Also, the board may, in addition to the punishments, order such police officer to make restitution or make good any loss or damage to government or person who suffered loss or damage. Section 60 provides that board may, upon conviction of the officer, in addition or in lieu of any of the penalties, recommend that the officer be dismissed from the police service or be reduced to a lower rank in the case of a police officer above the rank of constable but below the rank of deputy national commissioner. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Yankee soldier stares at us with a hard glint in his eyes. Wiry and weathered, hes ready for action. No name, no date, no unit. Just a young man whose face shows the strain of war. What makes this photo remarkable is the 971 in faded red ink in the lower-left corner, two empty slots at the top and bottom, and Alexandria, VA in period handwriting. They indicate the Civil War image came from the post offices Dead Letter Office (DLO). Postal workers stayed incredibly busy from 1861 to 1865. Some 2.5 million men served in the Union army alone. Many wrote letters home. And the folks there wrote back. Meaning tens of thousands of pieces moved through the mail every day. But there were logistical headaches. Some soldiers were barely literate. Others had sloppy handwriting. They didnt always affix adequate postage. And many letters were improperly addressed. By the time some letters reached their destination, they were so badly marked up by various postmasters that they looked as if they had come through combat themselves. Whenever one couldnt be delivered, it wound up in the DLO in Washington. Operating since 1825, it was a must-see stop for D.C. tourists for much of the 19th century, along with the Pension Bureau and Patent Office. It was so popular it even had a small museum displaying oddities discovered inside letters whose owners were never located, such as a loaded pistol and a human skull. By the wars end, 4.5 million pieces of mail had piled up in the DLO. Special clerks examined each one for clues about the addressee that local postmasters had missed. When external examination failed, clerks had authority under a law passed by Congress to open an envelope to see if the letter contained hints about the recipients identity. Those clerks were often women and ordained ministers since it was believed they were more trustworthy when handling sensitive data. They were so skilled at their work that more than 40 percent of DLO letters were eventually delivered. Soldiers letters sometimes contained photos meant for mothers, wives, sweethearts and friends. They were saved and the pictures were added to the DLOs mini-museum. Each soldiers photo was numbered in red ink and attached to a cardboard display panel with two brass clips. Four rows containing nine pictures each, or 36 per page. It is estimated there were somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500 images in all. Visitors scanned the pages. If they came upon someone they knew, they got the letter. The display was such a hit that a special wooden case was built to hold the photo panels. Emotions often bubbled to the surface during the viewing; women frequently sobbed while looking for a lost loved ones face. The photos were taken to world fairs, where tens of thousands of attendees saw them. Consider the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exhibition in Omaha, Nebraska, where a woman spotted an image of her father taken 35 years earlier. (That letter was returned to the elderly veteran in Indiana.) In 1902, another aging veteran claimed the letter he had mailed precisely 40 years earlier! Veterans organizations, such as the Grand Army of the Republic (similar to todays VFW and American Legion), and newspaper and magazine feature stories were also used to publicize the effort. A newspaper article reported that 2,000 letters were eventually delivered thanks to the photos. But thousands more went unclaimed. When the post office moved into its new Washington building in 1911 (now a Trump hotel, by the way), the DLO went with it. Its little museum, however, didnt. With the Civil War becoming a distant memory, fewer people asked to see the pictures. The display was put in storage. It was decided to sell the images in the 1940s. (Nobody knows what happened to the letters that inspired the display. They seem to have simply vanished over the decades.) After World War II, one group of 300 DLO photos wound up in a New York booksellers hands. They were later sold to the George Eastman Museum. A second batch was acquired by a Sons of Union Veterans commander. Those images were eventually auctioned in the 1980s. Where did the Dead Letter Office photos originate? Well never know. The identity of the soldiers shown in them, or who they intended to receive their photographs, went to the grave with them. Maybe thats why they glare at us unhappily nearly 160 years later. In their own small way, their pictures were also a casualty of that saddest of all wars. MBABANE The police have confirmed the arrest of two men who were found with a gun a few hours after an officer was shot and killed yesterday morning. Although Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati did not link the two to the officers murder, unverified information from sources was that those arrested were allegedly being questioned regarding the fatal shooting. Vilakati could only say: We arrested two men in Manzini who were found in possession of a gun. The Times SUNDAY spoke to two sources who were in the vicinity when the men were arrested near the William Pitcher College. One of the sources disclosed that he heard gunshots and when he looked in the direction they were coming from, he saw that one man was already on the ground. There were quite a number of police officers and they were pointing their guns at the man who was already on the ground. Unfortunately, I could not go any closer to see what was happening. I then saw the police lifting the man into the back of one of the police cars and they drove off, the source said. He said he managed to talk to one other person who was closer than him to the shooting and the person reportedly told him that apparently the man had been wanted by the police. Screaming He said the man was screaming as he lay on the drainage next to the road, but he couldnt see if he had been shot or not and could not take pictures with his mobile phone because he was afraid of the police officers, stated the source. He said from the look of things, the police had received a tip-off and acted on it. It is not the first time they came this way looking for someone and I suspect it is one of the people they arrested today. Just a few days ago they were here and apparently they were acting on a similar tip-off, because I then heard them saying its not him, its not him, said the source. Another source, who lives closer to the scene where this happened, said she heard a number of gunshots but could not go any closer for fear of being hit by a stray bullet. We waited for the police to leave and then went to the drainage where one of the persons was lying, thinking that we would find blood because we suspected he had been shot, but there was none. We therefore concluded that the shots were fired in the air as a warning and then they were able to arrest the person, said the source. She said there were four police vehicles she managed to identify and also noticed that there were other people who were at the back of the police bakkie in which the other suspect was put. Skirmish When a team from this publication was shown the scene where this happened, there was no sign of any skirmish or shooting having taken place. A total of three police officers have been killed and no one has been charged amid the political tension in the country that has made State security officers to be targets of unknown gunmen. The security personnel are blamed for the deaths that occurred during violent pro-democracy protests in June/July 2021. PALAIOCHORI, Greece (AP) An Antonov cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed Saturday near the city of Kavala in northern Greece, authorities said. Local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash. Greek Civil Aviation authorities said the flight was heading from Serbia to Jordan. The An-12, a Soviet-built turboprop aircraft, was operated by cargo carrier Meridian. Greek media reported there were eight people on the plane and that it was carrying 12 tons of dangerous materials, mostly explosives. But local officials said they had no specific information on the cargo and provided varying numbers of people on board. As a precaution because of a strong smell emanating from the crash site, a coordinating committee made up of municipal, police and fire service officials told inhabitants of the two localities closest to the crash site to keep their windows shut all night, to not leave their homes and to wear masks. Authorities say they do not know if there were dangerous chemicals on the plane, including those contained in batteries. Greeces Civil Aviation authority said the pilot managed to alert authorities about a problem in one of the plane's engines and he was given the choice of landing in either the Thessaloniki or Kavala airports, and he opted for Kavala, which was closer, saying that he had to make an emergency landing. Communication with the plane ceased almost immediately afterwards. The plane crashed about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the airport. We were hearing explosions until a few minutes ago," Filippos Anastassiadis, mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, told the Associated Press a little over an hour after the accident. I am about 300 meters from the site of the crash." One of Anastassiadis' deputies told state broadcaster ERT that explosions were heard for two hours following the crash. Locals reported seeing a fireball and a plume of smoke before the crash. ERT reported that army and explosive experts were en route to the site, located on farmland close to two villages that are part of the Paggaio municipality. But they are not expected to start working before dawn. Experts from Greece's Atomic Energy Commission will join them. The fire service has cordoned off the area at a radius of about 400 meters. The cordoned-off area will be expanded at dawn, fire service officials said. Nellas reported from Athens, Greece. This article, Amazon Drone Deliveries Coming to Texas City as Prime Air Expands, originally appeared on CNET.com. Amazon said Friday it'll begin delivering packages to residents of College Station, Texas, later this year, the second location in the United States for its Prime Air delivery service and the latest in an expansion of the technology that emerged this week. College Station, about 80 miles northwest of Houston, is home to Texas A&M University, which has a drone research program that's already several years old. The e-commerce giant in June also announced plans to begin drone deliveries in Lockeford, California, near Sacramento. Amazon helped kick off the drone delivery idea with the 2013 announcement of Prime Air. But abundant challenges slowed the technology's arrival: safety, regulatory approval, autonomous navigation, bad weather, cost, and finding a good way to hand off packages. Now drone delivery is picking up, promising one-hour delivery times for thousands of items in Amazon's warehouses and other options from drone delivery rivals. This week, Zipline announced medical package delivery plans near Tacoma, Washington, and Alphabet's Wing debuted new drone designs for larger and smaller packages. With partner DroneUp, Walmart expects to deliver packages via drone in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia for a $4 delivery fee. UPS, Flytrex, Manna and others also are delivering packages around the world. After testing many models, Amazon settled on drones that use a hexagonal design and take off vertically. They tilt in flight so some struts of the hexagonal frame become wings that generate lift and improve range. They fly 400 feet above the ground at speeds up to 50 mph carrying packages up to 5 pounds. Amazon's drones have a 15km range -- about 9 miles. The US Federal Aviation Administration has certified Amazon's operations, but Amazon is working with FAA and local authorities overseeing its Lockeford and College Station projects, Amazon spokesperson Av Raichura Zammit said. Delivery drones can raise hackles among people concerned about safety, privacy and noise. To address those kinds of concerns, Amazon has been talking to local residents and plans events to get community feedback and show them what's planned, Zammit said. BREADSPRINGS, N.M. (AP) Efforts continue on building a museum in Tse Bonito that honors the Dine men who used the Navajo language to transmit secret military messages during World War II. While there have been some studies done on the land that will eventually hold the museum, the project needs money, presenters told New Mexico lawmakers on the Indian Affairs Committee during a July 11 meeting at the Baahaali Chapter house. Were at a crossroads now to where we are pursuing any avenue of funds to build this museum, said Regan Hawthorne, chief executive officer of the Navajo Code Talkers Museum Inc. With four code talkers still alive, it is urgent to have the museum built and operating, he said. His father, Roy Hawthorne, was part of the elite group that numbered about 400. The elder Hawthorne died in April 2018. Approximately 300 acres has been designated for the structure near the Navajo Division of Transportation complex and its cost is estimated at $46.6 million, according to presenters. Regan Hawthorne said the nonprofit organization is committed to seeking funding for the museum. In 2019, the Navajo Nation received $1 million in capital outlay money from the state Legislature for the museum, the Daily Times reported. About $191,000 was used to pay for planning and survey services, leaving roughly $800,000 for the project. Hawthorne asked that the remaining amount be transferred to the nonprofit organization. However, he said that he understands if regulations prevent that type of action. Paulson Chaco, chief of staff of the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, said the presidents office is making sure the capital outlay money is used accordingly and the office supports having the museum come to fruition. While updates about the project are welcomed, the state is not allowed to fund nonprofit organizations with capital outlay money or through the general fund, said state Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup. We dont do that with state dollars. If it happens, it has to flow through another government and its usually through a contract process. I dont know if they would qualify for sole source or not, Lundstrom said. State Rep. Anthony Allison, D-Fruitland, said he supports the museum but is concerned about the tribal government overseeing its operations and maintenance because that tends to be neglected. I do not want that to happen to this Navajo Code Talker Museum, Allison said. State Sen. Shannon Pintos grandfather was a Navajo code talker. The Tohatchi Democrat asked how much money the Navajo Nation has put into the project and whether the tribal government allocated any money for it from its annual budget. Chaco said the tribe has not distributed any money for the museum. Hawthorne informed the committee that the Navajo Code Talkers Association, which had been advocating for the museum, no longer exists and in its place is the Navajo Code Talker Museum Inc. with its board of directors. We are responsible for pursuing and attaining and successfully operating the national code talkers museum, he said. According to the nonprofit organization, the association was registered as a charity organization and the IRS required its membership to consist of a high percentage of code talkers. As our men, those who served in the United States Marine Corps as Navajo Code Talkers grew elderly, and less able to actively participate in NCTA functions, the need to create an alternative for their legacy became clear, the organization stated. The organization will hold a groundbreaking for the museum at its site on Aug. 14, which is Navajo Code Talkers Day. Lambert here: Substitution is not as easy as we might think. By Ula Chrobak, a freelance science writer based in Nevada. Originally published at Undark. In early April, a storm swept central Montanas plains with 70-mile-per-hour winds. The gusts clawed at wheat fields, sending soil flying. Erik Engellant, who farms 6,000 acres of mostly wheat in the region, went out to his fields of Kernza, a tall and deep-rooted grain-bearing grass. While dust billowed from other nearby fields, he recalls, the Kernza just swayed in the gale. It was like nothing was happening, he said. There was just so much ground cover that the land was completely protected. Kernza is a perennial grain, which means it grows over multiple years from the same root system. Most of the worlds calories today come from annual grains, which are seeded and harvested every year. While annuals produce vast amounts of food and livestock feed, they also fuel environmental concerns: Tilling soil each year leads to soil erosion and the loss of stored carbon, while the fertilizer applied to fields leaches into water bodies, threatening drinking water and ecosystems, and can also escape into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide gas, the third most important contributor to climate change. Some researchers think that replacing waves of annual grains with Kernza could be an antidote to intensive agriculture. To prevent soil erosion and nitrogen loss, its important to have roots growing all year, said Priscila Pinto, an agricultural engineer studying Kernza at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kernza advocates envision a sort of restoration of the prairie in the Midwest. Native prairie grasses also grow extensive roots that build soil carbon and water holding capacity and support a biodiverse grassland community aboveground. Its hard to imagine anything better than a plant that would do all the perennial stuff we want it to do, like the prairie did, and we could eat it], said Lee DeHaan, lead scientist in the Kernza domestication program at the Land Institute, a sustainable agriculture-focused nonprofit. Recently, federal funding has accelerated Kernza research and breeding programs, and some scientists say if large companies replace just a portion of their annual grain acreage with Kernza, it could make a substantial environmental impact. Consumers can already buy Kernza-containing cereal, pasta, pancake mix, and flour often in boxes touting the grains climate-friendly and pollution-fighting properties. In 2022, the outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia announced a new beer made in partnership with Dogfish Head brewery that would feature the earthy-tasting grain. But whether Kernzas potential can be realized on a meaningful scale hinges on one measure of agricultural productivity yield per area and some skeptics say that its time to stop counting on the perennial. In a recent review of published yield data, agronomists expressed doubt that Kernza can reach yields high enough to replace wheat without requiring more land to grow food. Following an initial surge in academic interest nearly two decades ago, theres no evidence at all that theres been any progress, said Kenneth Cassman, an agronomist with the University of NebraskaLincoln. He later added, we have to have solutions to climate change ready to go in 10 to 20 years we cant wait. Kernza development has been in the works for about 40 years. The Rodale Institute, a nonprofit supporting organic farming, picked intermediate wheatgrass, Thinopyrumn intermedium, in the 1980s from a pool of almost 100 perennial grasses after deeming it to have the best traits for a future as a cereal crop, such as growing relatively fast and producing large seeds. In 2003, the Land Institute took up breeding efforts for the perennial grain. After several cycles of breeding, the MN-Clearwater variety became available as a cereal crop in 2019 to farmers under the Kernza trade name. The trademark is intended to protect its reputation, said Jacob Jungers, an agronomist studying Kernza at the University of Minnesota. That way, he said, a farmer cant market a grain as Kernza unless its seed comes from the official breeding programs. Today, nearly 4,000 acres of Kernza are grown commercially by 36 active growers according to the Land Institute. Minnesota holds the largest acreage, followed by Kansas and Montana. In 2021, the USDAs Natural Resource Conservation Service extended its support services to farmers planting Kernza in order to improve soil health. The increased interest and acreage has been buoyed by a $10 million USDA grant toward a research project with 10 university partners as well as 24 non-profits, farms, and food organizations. The collaboration is focused on breeding, growing, marketing, supply chain, and food science research (thats the maximum amount given for sustainable agriculture grants). Nicole Tautges, an agroecologist with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute who is on the agronomy and on-farm knowledge team for the project, said the team hopes to increase acreage by 10 times over the next couple years. To bring Kernza into greater production, researchers across five Kernza breeding centers are hoping to make progress on measures of yield. According to the Land Institute, Kernza grown today averages 409 pounds of grain per acre, an improvement from early generations producing 100 to 200 pounds per acre. But todays yields are still less than a quarter of comparable wheat yields. Breeders say they are making consistent progress, though. To demonstrate increases in yield, DeHaan sent Undark two papers: a chapter he wrote for a 2013 FAO report and a 2020 report prepared for the Cereal & Grains Association (both non-peer reviewed publications). The former reported that in two generations of selective breeding, Kernza seed yield had grown 77 percent. At this rate, Kernza could match annual wheat yields in Kansas after 12 more generations, the team stated. The other report included a figure showing grain yield increasing 144 percent over five cycles, with the last generation having yields above 400 pounds per acre. But Cassman was not impressed, calling some of the data misleading. For example, he wrote in an email to Undark that the authors compared rain-fed annual wheat yields to irrigated Kernza yields, noting that this comparison is quite a slight of hand. Cassman said the rates of improvement depend heavily on initial yield data. Nearly all of the 77 percent increase came from the first year of improvement, which started with a very, very low yield of 350 pounds per acre, he added, so claiming a steady increase is misleading. In Cassmans review of peer-reviewed yield data on Kernza and other perennial grains, he found six studies published since 2005 that provide sufficient detail about plot size and harvest methods to determine if reported yields are reasonably representative of production-scale crop stands. In the paper, he presented data on first, second, and third year Kernza yields along comparable wheat yields and the best yield was only 24 percent of a comparable wheat yield. The yields also tended to decline in the third year. Cassman and his coauthor, David Connor of the University of Melbourne, concluded that they saw little evidence that yield of Intermediate Wheatgrass or perennial wheats have improved to the point they are viable alternatives. (DeHaan declined to comment directly on the review because, at the time, he was working on a rebuttal article.) This is a blow for Kernza as a more sustainable crop, Cassman said, because yields must be close to annual wheat to avoid having to convert more natural land into agriculture. Compared to annual wheat, if yields are only 20 percent, and youre proposing it as a substantial solution to annual grain production, it means you need 80 percent more crop area, he said. And, of course, thats not even a feasible proposition today with limited land and water resources. While Cassman isnt against Kernza as a niche crop for high-end health food markets, he added, he doesnt think it could be a large-scale solution to environmental problems in agriculture. Some experts also think that perennial grains in general are unlikely to reach the yields of annuals even with improved breeding. Annual grains grow like weeds to live fast, die young, said Chris Smaje, the owner of a small farm in Somerset, England and author of a 2015 review on the trade-offs of perennial agriculture. These crops devote much energy from the sun into forming seeds for the next generation (and thus ensuring harvests for humans), but perennials invest more in roots and shoots with less attention to maximizing annual seed production, said Smaje. Still, Kernza breeders say they are making consistent progress. The early decades of breeding were stymied by limited funds, said DeHaan. After breeding began in greater earnest in 2003, he added, new generations have improved in yield per area, shatter resistance (not dropping seeds on the ground prior to harvest), free-threshing seeds (making them easier to remove from the hull), and seed size. New breeding technologies, such as genomic selection, are shortening the time between Kernza generations and allowing researchers to rapidly improve traits like yield, said Jungers. DeHaan said hes been able to shorten the breeding cycle from five years down to one year and wants to speed it up even more. If Kernza is indeed increasing its yields with every breeding cycle, that means it can now make faster progress than before. My extrapolation is that we could reach the current yield of wheat in Kansas within about another 17 years of breeding, said DeHaan. Yields have increased in the Land Institutes breeding program over time and their scientists are optimistic that this trend will continue to improve with the right resources. Were not saying everyone needs to switch over to Kernza now, but to not invest in it as one of the important tools in our toolkit for improving agricultural sustainability seems unthinkable at this point, said Tautges. Critiques that point out the lack of peer-reviewed data are valid, she said, but Kernza breeding programs are small and researchers have limited resources to dedicate to publishing papers on yields. And while Kernza yields decline after three years, Tautges said the crop can still be profitable for both harvesting and as livestock forage. Even if farmers replant Kernza after three years, Jungers said thats enough time to improve the soil and water quality. Even so, Cassman said, current yields are still far too low to replace wheat. A 2010 economic analysis conducted by Australian researchers found that perennial grain yields must be around 40 to 65 percent of annuals to be profitable. Back in Montana, Engellent said his Kernza yields, grown organically, have thus far yielded about 350 pounds per acre (though hes added that hes hopeful a more recent batch of seed will do better). Organic annual spring wheat yields in the area are around 1,500 pounds per acre, but Engellent said its better to compare the two crops on a longer timescale because annual wheat is rarely planted in back-to-back years; farmers rotate annual crops to maintain soil fertility, whereas Kernza can be harvested every year. Even so, since he can sell the grain at a premium primarily to Patagonia and make additional money through baling it for hay, he said hes made a profit on his 260 Kernza acres. But Engellent said Kernza still wont replace annuals at a large scale without a boost to yields. To break out of the niche market, the perennial grain needs to be competitive with annual crop yields, he said. I certainly hope that it can become more mainstream, because it is a great tool for not only just taking care of but helping improve the land. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Trains are big: (By Doug Wertman from Rogers, AR, USA Cajon Intermodal, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11342686) Not only that, the railroad industry is both big and extremely complex; railroads were the first big business. So theres a lot of history here, including the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Pullman Strike of 1894, some of it tortured. Now as then, railroads were essential to the supply chain. Recently, however, railroads and especially railroad workers arent doing so well. From the always fun and interesting Freight Waves: Americas railways are in an unusually chaotic state as Class I lines struggle to find employees. Thats led to congestion that analysts say is even worse than 2021, which saw some of the biggest rail traffic in history. Outside being stuck behind a miles-long behemoth, one does not think often about the importance of the humble train. It isnt as ubiquitous as the truck, as swift as the cargo plane or as cosmopolitan as the container ship. It may seem even a bit antiquated. Indeed, the cargoes on railcars arent usually goods exposed to the consumer think gravel, grain, coal and chemicals. These are crucial components for our larger economy. Gravel becomes the foundations of our homes and roadways, grain our food (and our foods food), coal our electricity and chemicals the basis of many everyday products. So, while you may not have been keeping up to date with rail congestion, industrial bigwigs and lawmakers alike are furious. The coal industry is slamming rail for the meltdown in service capacity and grain shippers said they had to spend $100 million more in shipping costs to get their product moved amid poor rail service. The Port of Los Angeles is taking to the press to demand rail move those gosh darn containers away, saying that railroaders could cause a nationwide logjam with the unmoved containers sitting around. As readers probably know, railroad union members voted 99.5% to authorize nationwide strike. That doesnt mean that there will actually be a strike, as we shall see. However, railroad labor relations will assume increasing salience over the summer and into the midterms (especially for Joe Biden, who vowed to become Americas most pro-union President), so it will be useful to have some familiarity with all the moving parts. In this post, I will glance at labor law, railroad unions, the railroad business model Precision Scheduled Railroading and the railroad workplace. I approach this topic with some diffidence, because of its complexity, so I hope that readers will correct or expand on what i wrote. (Alert reader Upstater, an actual railroader the NC commentariat is the best commentariat has already commented on Precision Scheduled Railroading here, here, here, here, and here.) Railroad Labor Law Is Complex By beginning with the strike vote, we began in medias res. Railroad workers are governed by a slew of complex labor laws and a strike threat doesnt necessarily mean a strike. Freight Waves: Rail unions have been negotiating with their employers since January 2020, with a dead end in negotiations reported two years later. Now, President Joe Biden is being charged with appointing a Presidential Emergency Board to nail down a new contract. If he doesnt do so by Monday, railroad crews could legally have their first nationwide strike since 1992. (You would think the threat of a disastrous strike would give workers a lot of power. Read on.) Here are the next steps in the convoluted process, from Railway Age: President Biden on July 15 established a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) [by Executive Order] to investigate a wage, benefits and work rules dispute between most major railroads (and many smaller ones) and their 12 labor unions representing some 145,000 unionized rail workers.. The Board shall report to the President with respect to the disputes within 30 days of its creation, [during which] no change in the conditions out of which the disputes arose shall be made by the parties to the controversy, except by agreement of the parties. By the end of this 30-day investigative period, the PEB will issue non-binding recommendations for settlement. The sides will then have 30 additional daysextending to Sept. 18to reach a voluntary settlement based on those recommendations. If no agreement is reached, the Railway Labor Act has run its course and unions may strike or management may lock out. Typically, in such situations, Congress acts quickly to write a back-to-work order that also typically contains third-party and binding settlement terms . Biden appoints all the members of the PEB, so his choices will be closely watched. (Here is Bidens Executive Order.) But holy moley. Congress writes a back-to-work order? Between September 18 and the midterms on November 8? (To be fair, a crippled supply chain will concentrate their minds. Nevertheless.) To reduce the complex to the simple: Railroad labor law is designed to disempower workers by nullifying their ability to strike. NOTE: Railroad union leadership seems to view moving the stately process of negotiation onwards to the PEB as a victory; they pleaded for it. Im not going to cover union leadership in this post because if I did Id probably stroke out. But WSWS has a lot of good stuff. Railroad Unions Are Complex There sure are a lot of them. From the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers: The unions comprising the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition are: the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA); the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / Teamsters Rail Conference (BLET); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); the International Association of Machinists (IAM); the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB); the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers/SEIU (NCFO); the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); the Transportation Communications Union / IAM (TCU), including TCUs Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division (BRC); and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMARTTD). The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division and SMART Mechanical Unions are also bargaining as a coalition. Collectively, these Unions represent approximately 115,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations national agreements, and comprise 100% of the workforce who will be impacted by this round of negotiations. This long list I count fourteen reminds me of nothing so much as the myriad of German petty states, ecclesiastical principalities, and free cities of the Holy Roman empire. Im sure theres a lot of hallowed history here, but arent there a lot of cats to herd? Clearly, these institutional structures have failed to protect workers: The Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that regulates the railroad industry, said that the largest railroads laid off so many workers in the past six years that the industrys overall workforce dropped 29 per cent. Reducing once again the complex to the simple: Why isnt there one union of all railroad workers? (Leaving aside the more generic question: Why is there not one big union?) The Railroad Business Model Is Complex Six of the seven Class 1 railroads practice Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), with Warren Buffets privately held BNSF the one holdout[1]. PSR was devised by the late Hunter Harrison, who helmed the Illinois Central Railroad, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, and CSX Corporation, dying in the saddle at CSX. Needless to say hold on to your hats, here, folks, the customers are saying that PSR does not provide service, assets are not maintained, safety is not the top priority (schedule, as suggested by the name, takes pride of place), and people are not being cultivated (or if cultivated, theyre leaving in droves, whether fired or because they cant stand it. Technically, PSR reconcieves railroad network design: As airlines (from the perspective of the passenger) were once point-to-point, but changed under deregulation to hub-and-spoke, railroads were once (from the perspective of the freight car) hub-and-spoke, but changed to network. One question is whether its as easy to schedule freight car drop-off and pick-up with the precision of air travel; the answer seems to be no, although as we shall see, that doesnt matter very much to the railroad owners. Here is what management will tell you PSR is, from Trains: In his book, How We Work and Why, published while he was chief executive at CN, Harrison outlined five guiding principles. They are: Provide Service: Do what you say youre going to do. Control Costs: Eliminate unnecessary costs. Optimize Assets: Use assets more efficiently and productively. Operate Safely: Safety is the top priority. Develop People: Cultivate the best team of railroaders. Youll see nearly identical versions of these foundations on the websites of the Class I PSR systems As things turn out, however, Harrisons bafflegab boils down to optimizing a time-honored railroading metric called the Operating Ratio (OR): Through both the benefits and challenges that accommodate this methodology, the ultimate goal is to achieve a lower operating ratio (OR) the industrys most widely used measure of operational efficiency. At the end of the day, consolidating networks, eliminating less efficient lanes, increasing speeds and sizes of trains, and reducing payrolls are all in the name of decreasing ORs. The OR is the most common metric used to measure the success rate by a railways investors. The operating ratio represents how much a company needs to spend to make a dollar. In other words, if a railways operating ratio is 60the common level most railways implementing PSR aim to achievethe company would make 40 cents for every 60 cents spent. A variety of strategies can decrease OR like decreasing the workforce costs, removing older trains or railcars from the fleet, and implementing newer more efficient equipment and technology, as mentioned above. PSR is the most popular and lucrative means of decreasing OR. However, this focus on OR may have certain drawbacks because the priority is placed on short term gains. Certain drawbacks is delicately put! Alert reader Upstater translates the simple into the complex: Precision Scheduled Railroading] is basically an Orwellian term for massive reductions in physical plant, employment, abandonment of whole business sectors, asset stripping and massive executive compensation schemes. You say massive executive compensation schemes like thats a bad thing! (Wall Street, of course, loves PSR). The Railroad Workplace is Complex (Irreducibly So) This Politico headline tells you a lot about the state of contemporary journalism, so-called: The supply chains little-known weakest link: Railroad workers. Ah, well, nevertheless. We noted that the start of this post that trains are big. Long, very long trains are one outcome of the quest for OR driven by PSR. From Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in Fortune: One of the many impacts of PSR is the uncontrolled growth in train lengths. A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that between 2008 and 2017, train length grew by 25% for two Class I railroads (which comprise the seven largest railroads in the U.S.), and officials from each Class I stated they operate longer trains, including some that extend for several miles. Freight railroad investor calls continue to boast annual train length increases every year. Fazio, being a Democrat, naturally focuses on traffic jams and not workers, so let us remedy that PSR means longer trains, and longer trains mean more derailments. From Railway Track and Structures: Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) has introduced a new dimension and meaning to the old adage, Uphill Slow, Downhill Fast, Profits First, Safety Last , too wit. Gravity carries great sway over train speeds on river (level) grade, ascending and descending railroad trackage. Everyone who manages train operations or operates trains knows that, and the following: Short trains are easier to operate than long trains, no matter what the grade. If you are operating a train over long descending grades, or long ascending grades, followed by long level grades, there are relatively few in-train forces, slack action, run-in, run-out. But, if you are operating a train over undulating trackage, commonly referred to as hog-backs, where I come from, you have a whole new ballgame, one that increases the probability of an accordion-like derailment[2]. Normal is the type of trains they ran before PSR. If you expect them to get your monster trains over the road safely and efficiently, you might want to invest a little more time in education and training, even if that adds a smidgen to your operating costs. Of course, education and training cut your OR, and who wants that? Education and training also imply a greater degree of employee retention than the railroad firms are currently able to achieve PSR means fatigue, and fatigue means accidents. From the AFL-CIOs Transportation Trades Department: Rather than maintaining appropriate staffing levels, carriers are mandating overtime for workers who are already stretched thin. In an industry where fatigue is a constant risk factor, exposing employees to additional fatigue by asking them to work longer and faster while performing multiple jobs is a recipe for disaster. (There are also issues of getting workers from where they are sleeping or living, to the train to which they have been assigned; they arent paid for this time.) PSR means decreased inspection, and decreased inspection means accidents. From Freight Waves: Another change is PSRs impact on the timing of the inspections, according to Randy [(a signal maintainer)]. Because the trains run on a fixed schedule, the dispatchers are reluctant to give the signal maintainers the time they need to conduct a thorough inspection because they dont want to delay the trains. Management: We dont need no steenkin signals! [Jason] Cox argues that carmen arent given enough time to inspect the railcars because of the drive to keep the trains schedule. Inspectors used to take up to three minutes per freight car but have now been encouraged to take one minute per car, according to Cox. That time includes the amount of time to walk around the equipment, he said. You see the size of those cars. This isnt possible. Finally, PSR means violating craft boundaries, which means unskilled people doing skilled work. Again from the AFL-CIO: Carriers are also compensating for reduced staffing by requiring remaining employees to perform work outside their craft in addition to fulfilling their regular duties. At best, this may involve employees performing tasks with which they are not experienced. At worst, employees may be forced to do work for which they are not qualified. One responding machinist reported being sent, by himself, to work with dangerous and heavy equipment that once required two workers, and expressing fear that no one would know to call for help if he was injured. A carman wrote that at his yard, management now demands brake inspections be performed at the extraordinary and unsafe pace of just 60 seconds per car. Employees of both crafts say critical safety rules designed to protect employees from being hit by equipment are being ignored in the name of speed. Numerous employees stated that re-shift safety briefingsa common industry practiceare being eliminated in order to better utilize man-hours. And commonly, carmen are being forced to ignore FRA defects. One consistent theme emerged throughout the responses: railroads value getting trains moving and moving quickly above all else, including safety. Finally, the railroad firms would like to move to Single Employee Train Operations. Look again at the picture; this is obvious lunacy. Railroad Workers United raises the obvious safety issues: Without a second crew member to assist the train operator, an endless number of distractions would come into play. The lone crew member would now not only have to operate the locomotive, but would also have to do all of the talking on the radio, not just with the train dispatcher, but with signal maintainers, gang foremen, other train crews, etc. The single operator would be responsible for properly giving a visual look-over or roll by to other trains that are met and passed. And the single crew member would be responsible for all paperwork including the trains manifest and the position of all hazardous materials in the train. Currently these duties fall to the conductor, thereby alleviating the trains engineer from the muti-layered distractions that this work can cause, taking the engineers attention away from the immediate task at hand running the train. But more subtly: With a single employee crew, valuable mentoring time would be lost. Many conductors work for years in the left hand seat, gaining valuable understanding of the signal system, operating rules, air brake system, etc., long before they ever become an engineer. Without the two person crew, this university will be lost forever, and the entire operating employee workforce would over time invariably become less professional, less seasoned, and less safe. And this loss of education that surely would ensue by running single employee trains would have a detrimental effect on all operating employees, not just those who are new or inexperienced. The lack of two employees in the cab means a lack of informal conversation, reflection, storytelling, discussions of rules and signals, etc. Much of the learning that takes place every day a railroad worker goes to work is in the cab of the locomotive, as the two employees share their collective knowledge, experience and wisdom that each has acquired over the years. Without the two person crew, this ongoing day-to-day classroom is lost. So PSR, in addition to gutting the workforce, is making the workers who remain more stupid. Conclusion In fact, a strike seems unlikely, even to the workers who voted overwhelming for it. From Jason Furman: The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a Teamsters affiliate and one of a dozen and a half unions involved in national rail bargaining with the largest freight carriers, are taking a national strike vote. The vibe I get from workers Im in touch with is that a national rail strike is never going to happen (depending on who you ask having to do with the Railway Labor Act and its reliance on a Presidential Emergency Board, or because the unions just could never actually get organized to pull it off in their sorry state, or because the rail union leaders just dont have it in them) The upshot is nobody really thinks 120,000 railroaders are going to strike in a midterm year during a supply chain crisis but then again people keep being wrong about things. So far, the contract talks have not gone well, so its unclear what value the PEB will add: The contract talks remain mired in mediation while the railroads pursue unpopular proposals to cut rail crews from two people down to one in certain circumstances. The unions also dont want to make major concessions in workplace rules after seeing nearly one-third of all railroad jobs eliminated over the past six years as the major freight railroads have overhauled their operations. (I did manage to find one contract proposal, but oddly the question of Single Employee Train Operations was not addressed, which is either goofy or ignorance on my part of how contract negotiations proceed.) Once again, if workers could strike, they would have extraordinary leverage: There hasnt been a rail shutdown in the U.S. since 1992, when machinists at CSX Transportation went on strike. Their work stoppage actually shuttered all American rail operations, including passenger service, which operates on some freight rail. At the time, the White House estimated that the shutdown cost Americans $1 billion per day, or more than $2 billion in todays dollars. The 1992 strike, just two days long, was still incredibly disruptive. The Chamber of Commerce fears that a work stoppage this time around could be similarly crippling. Any breakdown would be disastrous for U.S. consumers and the economy and potentially return us to the historic supply chain challenges during the depths of the pandemic, wrote Suzanne P. Clark, CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce, in a July 8 letter to the administration. On the Trillbillies podcast (starting at 23:39) music star Sturgill Simpson[3] describes one of the jobs he had: I worked for Union Pacific. I started out as a conductor at an intermodal switching facility outside of Salt Lake City. Wed pull in trains from all over the country, break them apart, consolidate the freight, and build other trains. It was great until I screwed up and took a management position. Then it became no fun very quickly. Simpson also describes the pressures of the job: If a train was as little as fifteen minutes late, shippers would call, generally yelling. It strikes me that Precision Scheduled railroading would be highly vulnerable to wildcat strikes at strategically located yards. Or accidental derailments at the throats of said yards. Something to watch for? NOTES [1] From Freight Waves: If BNSF was publicly traded, it is likely that management would be pressured by activist shareholders to adopt a more PSR-like approach to cost management. There might even be an attempt by shareholders to replace the management by proxy with managers with PSR experience. That was the case referenced above with Canadian Pacific Railway in 2011-2012 as a proxy battle led by Pershing Square Capital Management replaced CEO Fred Green with Hunter Harrison. But, well likely never know, assuming that Berkshire Hathaway holds on to BNSF for an extended period of time. Pershing Square Capital Management is a hedge fund run by Bill Ackman. [2] We saw one such recently at Santa Fe Junction, in Kansas City, MO. [3] I lifted the extremely dry thats a damn shame from Sturgill Simpson. (Natural News) A federal magistrate ruled that the Air Force and Space Force, including the Air Force Reserve, cannot discharge or penalize service members who request religious exemptions to Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination. U.S. District Judge Matthew McFarland said in a July 14 decision that no punishment, discipline or adverse action may be taken against service members who submitted a religious accommodation request for exemption from the vaccine mandate. His 14-day injunction applied to the Air Force and the Space Force, which was established in December 2019 by former President Donald Trump. The magistrate of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio gave the government seven days to respond and explain why the court should not grant a class-wide preliminary injunction, reported Just The News. McFarland noted in his decision that the Air Force violated the constitutional freedom of affected service members by its clear policy of discrimination against religious accommodation requests. Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel R. Davis Younts, legal counsel for the service members who lodged religious exemption requests, lauded the federal judges decision. My clients and I are grateful for the attorneys working on this case and the efforts they have made for religious freedom in the military. While the current temporary restraining order is set to last for 14 days we anticipate that it will be extended. Younts said that several airmen he represented already have their administrative hearing scheduled. He added that if the injunction stands, the Air Force cannot proceed with their termination as litigation of the military branchs alleged violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the constitutional rights of military members is still ongoing. Air Force Master Sergeant Nick Kupper, who had served in the military for 19 years, was among those facing expulsion for rejecting the vaccine. However, he cited data from the Department of Defense that showed a three-fold increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths every month since the mandate was put in place. Im just one of hundreds of thousands of [service members] who are being kicked out because we wont take an illegal, emergency-use vaccine, Kupper told Fox News host Tucker Carlson. July 14 injunction followed earlier victory McFarlands July 14 ruling was not the first time a magistrate ruled in favor of military service members fighting for their health freedom. Back in February, an unnamed airwoman was permitted to remain unvaccinated on religious grounds. U.S. District Judge Tilman E. Self III granted a preliminary injunction for the female Air Force Reserve officer on Feb. 15. The magistrate of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia ruled that the Air Force had infringed on her First Amendment rights when internal military reviewers rejected her initial request for exemption. (Related: VICTORY: Female Air Force officer becomes first to win injunction against covid jab mandate.) The airwoman completed a religion-based exemption form in 2021, in which she cited her Christian faith and opposition to abortion as reasons for declining the vaccine. She later appealed the initial rejection in December of the same year. Self, who served as an Army field artillery officer for four years, described the Air Forces persistent rejections of COVID-19 vaccine exemptions on religious grounds as illusory and insincere. It seems illogical to think, let alone argue, that plaintiffs religious-based refusal to take a [COVID-19] vaccine would seriously impede military function when the Air Force has at least 3,300 other service members still on duty who are just as unvaccinated, the magistrates ruling stated. The only difference is that plaintiff is unvaccinated because she followed her religion, and the others were granted either a medical or administrative exemption from receiving a vaccine. Visit HealthFreedom.news to read more stories about military members pushing back against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Watch the video below as Gabor Gabe Zolna talks about the fate of three Air Force cadets who refused the COVID-19 vaccine. This video is from the zolnareport.com channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Airman fighting possible DISMISSAL for refusing to get the COVID clot shot. Air Force to WASTE millions in taxpayer money by discharging trained, experienced, pilots over COVID-19 vaccines. Air Force rejects requests from soldiers seeking medical exemption from covid vaccine mandates (are they trying to kill off the military?) Sources include: WND.com JustTheNews.com DailyMail.co.uk Brighteon.com (Natural News) Not only does Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) not protect against COVID, but official government data from the Canadian province of Manitoba show that the shots actually increase a persons risk of death. The latest figures available for May show that only nine percent of deaths and 14 percent of hospital admissions in the province were unvaccinated people, despite them representing 17 percent of the population. An analysis of the data further shows that vaccinated, but unboosted people are about 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized or die from covid compared to unvaccinated people (Related: Last summer, the Canadian government forced people to get injected in order to travel). People who had received boosters had roughly the same risk of hospitalization or death as the unvaccinated, notes Alex Berenson about the data. Two illustrative charts, which you can view on Berensons Substack, show that hospitalizations and deaths are most prominent among the fully jabbed, all things considered. These figures and estimates differ markedly from those the Centers for Disease Control have provided for American COVID deaths, Berenson further writes. But they are likely to be far more accurate. American hospitals and health authorities classify COVID deaths and hospitalizations as occurring in the unvaccinated until proven otherwise. How many lives have been lost BECAUSE of covid vaccines? One of the drawbacks of the American data collection model is that it relies on self-reporting within a system of privatized insurance. In Canada and elsewhere with nationalized health insurance, jab registries can more easily be matched against hospital admissions and deaths. In every country where nationalized health care exists, it is obvious from the data that far more fully vaccinated people than unvaccinated people are getting sick and dying from what they are calling covid. Still, the data from Manitoba appear to mark the first time that any government agency has actually found a higher risk of death in vaccinated people, Berenson notes. The Manitoba data fully implicate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for crimes against humanity, seeing as how he was the ringleader in that country for mass injection. When will Canadian citizens demand that Trudeau is arrested, tried and executed for blatant violations of the Nuremburg Code? asked one of Berensons subscribers. When will we all stop soft-pedaling genocide by globalist parasites? Keep in mind that Trudeau, like most politicians, is just a figurehead puppet who likely takes orders from some invisible entity far up above him. And they deserve the same prosecutorial treatment as he does. They just approved the shots for children, added another commenter about how the mass injection campaign is now targeting babies. Where the FDA goes, Health Canada follows like the little corrupted lapdogs they are. Its criminal to give these shots to babies and kids, interjected someone else. Someone else quoted Luke 17:1-2, which reads, citing the words of Jesus Christ himself: Then said He unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones. If those who perpetrated and continue to perpetrate these crimes against humanity do not repent, then they deserve nothing but incomprehensible, ineffable, unfathomable and unimaginable misery, pain, suffering, torment, wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Lake of Fire where the worm dies not and the fires are NEVER quenched, this same commenter added, receiving an Amen to that! from another. The latest news about the death toll from Fauci Flu shots can be found at Genocide.news. Sources include: AlexBerenson.substack.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The crime of theft from vehicles is being handled so poorly by police in London that it has effectively become decriminalized, according to reports. An analysis of Home Office data carried out by The Telegraph revealed that Scotland Yard only solved 271 out of 55,000 thefts in the city last year, which means their success rate is just 0.5 percent. Only two major police forces in the country fared worse, with the police forces of Surrey and West Midlands recording a 0.4 percent rate of charging car thieves. In comparison, forces such as the Dyfed-Powys Police in Wales had a recording rate of 5.6 percent, which is 10 times the rate of Scotland Yard. London is known for having the highest rate in the UK of thefts of belongings from vehicles, at 687.51 per 100,000, according to data analysis. The city also made headlines recently for being the UKs worst region for car theft, with 68 cars stolen there each day, on average. The director of UK independent policing think tank The Police Foundation, Dr. Rick Muir, said that London has seen an effective decriminalisation of car thefts. He added that this failure is emboldening more thieves as they believe they are unlikely to be apprehended. Although he noted that the victims of such crimes naturally do not expect their cases to be prioritized over more serious offenses, the public does expect them to at least investigate bread and butter crimes. Policing is going to have to look at these levels and decide if it has got it right. Where the charge rates are at that level, there is no deterrence to commit these kinds of offences and it might encourage people to commit them in future, he commented. Controversial police commissioner resigned amid controversy, rising crime rates A few days prior to the reports release, it was announced that controversial Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick would be replaced by Sir Mark Rowley. Sir Mark is said to be a proponent of the broken windows philosophy of policing made famous by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. At the heart of the approach is the idea that vigorously enforcing crimes that may seem minor, such as vandals breaking windows, sends a strong message to criminals that worse behavior will not be accepted. It is widely believed to reduce overall crime, something Giuliani demonstrated during his time in charge of the city. In 1998, he explained: Obviously murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes. But they are part of the same continuum, and a climate that tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other. Last month, Londons Metropolitan Police Service was placed under special measures after failing to record around 70,000 crimes and allowing a persistent and sizeable backlog of cases involving online child abuse to build up. They will now be subjected to strict monitoring by the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. Dick resigned after London Mayor Sadiq Khan told her that he was dissatisfied with how she responded to an ultimatum to improve. She was the forces first female commissioner, as well as its first openly gay commissioner. Her tenure was marked with increasing rates of homicide and rampant knife crimes. In the year before Covid lockdowns, London recorded its biggest number of homicides in a decade at 150. In 2020, when the city was under one of the strictest lockdowns in the country, they still saw 126 homicides, 15 of which were teenagers. Offenses with knives or sharp blades, meanwhile, numbered 15,600 in 2019-20 prior to lockdown; the figure for 2014-15 was just 9,700. Sources for this article include: InfoWars.com Express.co.uk Breitbart.com (Natural News) The Biden regime reminds tens of millions of Americans of a comedy show. It is filled with absurd characters doing some of the dumbest things. But unfortunately, Joe Biden is really the president, thanks to the Deep State stealing Donald Trumps reelection. And the way his administration is being staffed, youd think you were watching an old-style traveling show. Theres a trans man a biological male posing as a woman who was appointed to a ranking position in the Department of Health and Human Services, and just to poke the majority of the country in the eye, the Obama sycophants running the regime made her a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps so they could check a box. Then we have Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the nations top diplomat, who is a wannabe rock-and-roller (which is why other countries friends and enemies alike dont take him seriously). We also have Sam Brinton, a high-level hire at the Department of Energys Office of Nuclear Energy, whose past as a drag queen and defender of underage gay prostitution sites has stirred controversy, The National Pulse reported. Not only is his taxpayer-funded salary of around $178,000 in the top one percent of government employees, but he also has a top-secret Q clearance, a level so high the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. That means one of the nations most vulnerable administration staffers due to his lifestyle and his past is also one of our biggest national security risks, given that he could be easily blackmailed into surrendering vital information that would harm our country. In a real world, not the clown world were currently in, Brinton and people with backgrounds and personal histories like his would never be able to get within a thousand miles of a high-level security clearance. Those days ended when Trumps presidency was stolen and the cartoon show rolled into D.C. The Energy Department uses its own terminology to classify security clearances, describing the Q-level clearance as similar to what is completed by other agencies for a Top Secret National Security Information access clearance. Access to Secret Restricted Data requires a Q access authorization, the agency noted further. Brintons personal social media posts have laid out the vital importance of his position. I lead a staff of hundreds and a budget of millions (with a Nuclear Waste Fund Im responsible for at over $45 billion) as the leader of the office overseeing the management of the nations spent nuclear fuel, he posted to Twitter June 29. In the past, Brinton defended Rentboy.com in a September 2, 2015 op-ed in Advocate magazine: The Real Ramifications of the Rentboy Raid. The article followed Department of Homeland Security officials raiding Rentboys Manhattan offices and arresting CEO Jeffrey Hurant and six employees on charges of promoting prostitution. The following year, the CEO of the site, which connected male prostitutes and escorts with potential clients, was indicted on a charge of promoting prostitution. He ultimately pleaded guilty. According to an Energy Department insider, there were substantial irregularities in the hiring process for Brinton, who is also a homosexual prostitution defender sometimes going by the drag queen alter ego of Sister Ray Dee OActive. In a Feb. 2 letter addressed to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Deputy Inspector General Norbert Vint, the anonymous insider claimed that prohibited personnel practices were used in order to tap Brinton for his position of deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition. Undue political influence and preferences were applied at the Energy Department in selecting Brinton for the job, the stated the letter, the signatory of which is designated as Long-serving public servant at the U.S. Department of Energy. Its no wonder our country is mocked and disrespected. Sources include: GuitarWorld.com TheNationalPulse.com Energy.gov Advocate.com NaturalNews.com MBABANE A 16th incident of shooting involving members of the security forces occurred yesterday morning. Of all the 16 shooting incidences, three police officers and two soldiers have been killed, while the rest of the members of the security clusters escaped or survived the shooting. In May 2022, a soldier was killed by unknown people at New Village in Manzini. Popularly known as Me Dlamini, he was killed after attending a prayer session. The latest casualty in the security cluster is a 46-year-old policeman who was shot dead at Mathangeni in Matsapha at around 6:30am yesterday. He was reportedly shot once on the head by an unknown person who, after the incident, is understood to have crossed the road and walked towards Logoba direction. The deceased police officer was stationed at the Matsapha Police Academy, said Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati in a press statement.In less than 24 hours, the residents of Mathangeni heard two gunshots one in the evening and the other in the morning, telling the Times SUNDAY desk that they were now worried and puzzled by these shootings. Still at Mathangeni, a 49-year- old soldier was shot on the stomach by an unknown man at about 8pm on Friday.Now believably depicting a shooting zone, there are two fatal incidents involving police officers to have occured at Mathangeni in Matsapha in less than a month the killing of Sibusiso Matsebula and yesterdays death of the 46-year-old policeman. Shooting However, pertaining to incidents of shootings at Mathangeni, there are three that have happened there when taking into account the 49-year-old soldier who was shot in the stomach on Friday. Observably, this place is not far from where police officers are trained and equipped. They are equipped at Matsapha Police Academy. Mathangeni, synonymous with market stalls and shops on the sides of the road, is within reasonable proximity from Matsapha Police Station. It is also not that far from Matsapha International Airport where there is an army base. Superintendent Vilakati said Matsapha Police were investigating cases of murder and attempted murder. The 46-year-old officer who was stationed at the Police Academy was shot once on the head by an unknown person, she said.On the other hand, she said the 49-year-old man resided at KaShali in Manzini. Vilakati requested the public for any information that would assist the investigations into the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting of the officer and the attempted murder of the army personnel. She said any information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect(s) should be forwarded to Manzini Regional Crime Branch Officer (RCBO) Thabo Hlophe at 7606 8570 or Matsapha Desk Officer, Inspector Langa at 7668 6833. Hlophe himself is a victim of a shooting as he escaped bullets at KaKhoza in November 2021.Meanwhile, triggered by yesterdays shooting, police officers from the Operation Support Services Unit (OSSU) and plain clothes officers rushed to Mathangeni in the morning to provide security to their colleagues who were collecting evidence through the use of technology. This is the Ballistic Unit. The OSSU officers allowed the people to continue with their daily routines as they did not barricade the place. Gunshot Most of the people said they heard the gunshot, but didnt identify the shooter. They could only see a uniformed police officer lying on the ground. This was after he had been shot on the head. Another one said she was about 500 metres away from the crime scene where the officer was gunned down, but she heard the gunshots, which terrified her to an extent that she considered relocating to Mhlaleni or Ngwane Park. Its no longer safe here, she said. It is not certain where the policeman was heading to as there are several theories about his death. One theory suggests that he was going to work at the academy and another one assumes that he was from a nightshift as he was attached to the Royal Protection Unit. Last month, Constable Sibusiso Matsebula was shot at around 7pm at Mathangeni.His death occurred 48 hours after the killing of Zinhle Mavuso who was shot dead by unknown people at the traffic circle near Manzini Club. Mavuso was in the company of Philani Mntungwa who was rushed to Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital after sustaining injuries. Constable Matsebula was a police officer attached to the Traffic Department at the Matsapha Police Station. He is said to have left the police station with a colleague to attend to a reported road traffic accident around Mathangeni. The purported road traffic accident was reported through a phone call to the Matsapha Police Station. It was also reported that Matsebula, when approaching Mathangeni, drove slowly on assumption that there was an accident. It turned out the reported accident was a hoax as men emerged and fired gunshots at the car he was driving. The bullets hit him while the passenger, a police officer, managed to bolt out of the car and ran away. Two policemen at Lubulini were also attacked.In May 2022, two traffic police officers stared death in the face when gunmen opened fire on the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) caravan normally parked at the cooling station for trucks at Mangwaneni. Incident The cooling station is situated along the MR3 Public Road, behind the prime ministers residence. The shooting incident happened at around 12 midnight. One of the police officers was shot in the chin while going about his duties inside the caravan. His colleague escaped with no injuries. The gunmen also fired several shots at a truck that was parked near the cooling station. This was after the truck driver had raised the alarm after hearing the gunshots. The truck driver, who was only identified as Matse, was not injured. He told this publication that he was travelling to the Republic of South Africa, and after ascending the Malagwane Hill; he felt sleepy and decided to take a nap. He said he parked the truck adjacent to the cooling station and slept. He said he was woken up by several gunshots and he screamed, which might have angered the gunmen, who later came for him. He stated that moments later, the assailants emerged on the passenger side of the truck, near the overhead footbridge behind the prime ministers residence, and opened fire. In February 2022, Bheki Maziya, a member of the army based at Mbuluzi Army Barracks, was shot dead by unknown people at Lonhlupheko in the Lubombo Region. The killing happened near Gugulethu Bar situated next to the T-junction from Manzini-Simunye and Siteki at around 11pm. It is understood that Maziya was enjoying alcoholic beverages with friends on the day of the incident. One resident said a sedan parked about 50 metres away from where he and friends were enjoying their alcoholic beverages. One man is said to have alighted from a Honda Fit and began to open fire at Maziya. This happened a few days after an attempt to shoot warders at OK Stores, Kwaluseni. A police officer stationed at KaPhunga was also shot while he was driving a car. It is understood that he was driving to the police station when he heard gunshots. The bullet hit him on the back and came out in his chest area. Four gunshots were fired and one hit him. He died on the spot. Last year, Constable Bongani Bernard Maphalala was shot after about five armed men staged a robbery at the Siphofaneni Buy Cash Hardware store, where an amount of about E200 000 was reportedly stolen. Burnt Members of the security forces have not only experienced shootings, but their homes were also burnt. Senior Superintendent Clement Sihlongonyanes rondavel was burnt by unknown people in September 2021. Narrating to the Times of Eswatini, Sihlongonyane said the arsonists crawled through a fence and threw the petrol bomb that ignited fire on the thatched rondavel. He said his dogs ran away after the explosion. In its performance report, REPS mentioned that it incurred losses amounting to about E2 million when properties, homesteads and vehicles of officers and the organisations were damaged. It is stated in the report that the compensation of the officers for the losses was being addressed by government. The compensation of the officers is covered in terms of Sections 85 (1) and 86 (1) of the Police Service Act, No. 22 of 2018. The section reads: Police officers whose properties were damaged through acts of sabotage and terrorism are eligible to claim and be compensated for the damaged property at governments expense. The report further states that the period under review also saw the acts of violence, in particular those manifesting through arson attacks, that were being perpetrated around the country, continuing to the detriment of the quest for peace and socio-economic development. It is said that the sporadic arson attacks have affected individuals, businesses as well as the police service in terms of the organisations facilities and properties of individual police officers. Damaged police infrastructure happened at the following places: KaShewula, Luve, Mpaka, Ngculwini, Madlangempisi, Fairview North, Phumulamcashi, Matsapha Police Camp, Malkerns, Lubulini Station Commanders house; It is said that the activities linked to the civil unrest in the country had taken a new twist and shocking dimension, whereby police officers were targeted by gunmen. According to the report, there were five cases where police officers were shot, two of which had fatal outcomes that were recorded during the reporting period. A house belonging to Prince Sicalo, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, was petrol-bombed in February 2022. The house was under construction at Mbekelweni. crossroads. Asked what can be done to stop the killing of members of the security clusters, Thulani Maseko, the Chairman of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF), said they understood the situation to mean emaSwati were at crossroads. He said the organisations in MSF and the broad Mass Democratic Movement had long committed to a peaceful form of struggle. He mentioned that the sad and painful fact was that all methods of peaceful engagement had been met with violent force from the State. We have warned and we repeat it here for emphasis that violence from the State can only do one thing and one thing only: Trigger more violence, Maseko said. The MSF chairman said: The attack on members of the security forces is but one form of violence, which is plainly regrettable. He went on to say that it had always been the view of the pro-democracy movement that the violence from the State and from elsewhere could only be arrested if the King and government earnestly commit to the process of dialogue and negotiation. He stated that the King holds the key to the road to genuine and lasting peace. He added: There is absolutely no reason at all why the process has been unduly delayed yet the situation of stagnation is fertile ground for more violence. He emphasised that the targeting and killing of members of the security forces was most unfortunate. We who are fighting for democracy are actually fighting for the very life and soul of the nation, he said. Struggle He further said: The regime has taken so many lives. Maseko lamented that lives were being lost allegedly in the name of the struggle for democracy. He added: The loss of life must be avoided. The pain of losing life cannot be taken for granted, from either side.Death is unbearable no matter the victim. He said the fact that Tinkhundla had allegedly killed so many innocent lives did not justify the killing of members of the security forces. The senior lawyer and revered politician said there had to be a way to resolve the impasse, but targeting life is not the way, even if the State had the audacity to do so. We say this understanding that there may be those who feel compelled by conscience to defend themselves and defend the people against State terrorism, he said. All in all, Maseko said if anyone was responsible for the ongoing violence and unfortunate deaths of members of the security forces, the King and government should consider the violence that culminated in the death of over 40 people last year. He said those citizens were innocent and defenceless. He said it was very bad that they continued to deliberately refuse to engage in an all-inclusive, participatory and meaningful dialogue. It is our view that to prevent further loss of life and damage to property, the King and government must unequivocally commit to creating a climate conducive to talks, he appealed. He said such an environment required first and foremost; the release of all political prisoners, in particular the two Members of Parliament; Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube and the withdrawal of charges against Mduduzi Gawuzela Simelane. He said the environment also required the unconditional return and safe passage back home of all exiles; the total and unconditional unbanning of all political parties, including the removal of the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) from the list of terrorist entities. He also called for the following to be done The creation of a political climate where all political leaders can interact freely with the people and unfettered access to communities to share ideas; An enabling environment for the free operation of the media to guarantee media freedom, both private and the public media; The removal of all laws, including traditional and customary practices that hinder free political activity. Facilitate Of course in order for these to happen, the King and his government must allow SADC to facilitate the dialogue process, he suggested. As the SADC Organ Troika meets next week Thursday (July 21, 2022) in Pretoria, he said they would seek to impress that the dialogue process should start without any further delay and that it be locked to specific timelines and be time-bound. We cannot afford a situation where the King is allowed to undermine both SADC and the people of Swaziland (Eswatini). Life is sacred. The violence must stop, he insisted. Based on the ongoing destruction of property and killing of members of the security forces, Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini had said the environment was not conducive for the dialogue.Some shooting incidences involving police, Police survivors (number may not be conclusive), Two at Cooling Station in Mbabane, Two at Lubulini; Thabo Hlophe at KaKhoza; One at Mathangeni who ran away; One survived at Manzini Traffic Circle; One at KaPhunga. (Natural News) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been accused of doing the bare minimum in addressing the presence of so-called forever chemicals in drinking water. A July 16 article published by the Guardian revealed that the type of water testing relied on by the EPA is limited in scope and probably missing significant levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollutants. The British newspaper examined water samples from nine PFAS hot spots in the U.S. using two types of tests: the EPA 537 and the total organic fluorine (TOF) test. EPA 537 can only detect 30 types of the approximately 9,000 compounds. Meanwhile, the TOF test looks for the presence of organic fluorine a marker present in all PFAS. It found that seven of the nine drinking water samples showed higher PFAS levels when tested using the TOF method. It also showed higher concentrations of the forever chemicals as much as 24 times greater. The undercount leaves regulators with an incomplete picture of the extent of PFAS contamination and reveals how millions of people may be facing an unknown health risk in their drinking water, the Guardian reported. Water samples from Portsmouth, New Hampshire showed a concentration of 164 parts per trillion (ppt) using TOF, way higher than the 10 ppt found using EPA 537. The Guardian attributed the high PFAS concentration of the Portsmouth water samples to the Pease Air National Guard Base, located at the citys international airport. Samples taken from Cape Canaveral, Florida home to Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration facilities had a 176 ppt concentration on the TOF test. The EPA 537 test only showed a 15 ppt concentration. A water sample from Madison, Wisconsin measured 83 ppt using EPA 537, but TOF testing revealed a 191 ppt concentration. Another water sample from Navassa, North Carolina returned 45 ppt when tested using the older method, but showed a high concentration of 231 ppt on the newer test. Kyla Bennett, policy director of the nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the EPA is doing the bare minimum it can and thats putting peoples health at risk. EPA urged to step up its PFAS testing method PFAS gained the forever chemicals moniker because they do not fully break down in the environment. Scientists have linked long-term PFAS exposure to many health issues such as cancer, immune system damage and more. Recent studies, however, have found PFAS in 97 percent of blood samples and 100 percent of breast milk samples. These have also identified PFAS at unsafe concentrations in the drinking water of more than 200 million Americans. Back in June, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced aggressive action against PFAS including a $1 billion allocation to slash forever chemicals and other emerging contaminants. However, groups such as the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Food & Water Watch (FWW) remarked that the agencys actions on the PFAS issue were lacking. (Related: EPA pledges to regulate PFAS in drinking water.) Melanie Benesh, EWGs legislative attorney, said: The EPA must move quickly to set limits on industrial discharges of PFAS into the air and water, require testing for sludge that may be contaminated with PFAS [and] immediately designate [forever chemicals] as hazardous substances under federal cleanup laws. Mary Grant, director of FWWs Public Water for All campaign, said the EPAs modest action only represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of adequately acknowledging and mitigating the hazards from PFAS. She called on the agency to implement strong, enforceable regulations on the entire class of PFAS chemicals that are sickening communities around the country. Visit CleanWater.news for more stories about PFAS contamination of drinking water. Watch this video talking about how a laboratory found PFAS in water samples collected from several U.S. cities. This video is from the ZGoldenReport channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Forever chemicals from almost 42,000 sources threaten to contaminate drinking water. PFAS chemicals are now in the drinking water of about 16 million Americans, new study concludes. EWG analysis reveals 800,000 residents in Kentucky are exposed to TOXIC forever chemicals in their drinking water. Tap water near hundreds of US military bases and thousands of industry areas CONTAMINATED with forever chemicals, warn experts. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org TheGuardian.com CommonDreams.org Brighteon.com (Natural News) European researchers put together a study revealing that government-run Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) information websites are a privacy-invading nightmare let the public beware! Entitled Measuring Web Cookies in Governmental Websites, the paper, which was funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the European Union (EU), and the Spanish government, explains that government websites are basically being used as a single point of monitoring and tracking for the entire population of a country using web cookies. Researchers looked at three different types of websites, including the official governmental websites of G20 countries around the world; websites of international organizations such as the United Nations; and popular websites used by the public for Fauci Flu tracking and information. They looked at each sites use of cookies and came to the conclusion that upwards of 90 percent of government websites create cookies of third-party trackers without any consent from users. Web cookies have been exploited to collect information about users online activities and interests, the paper explains (Related: The Transportation Security Administration [TSA] also spies on air travelers). Non-session cookies, that are created by trackers and can last for days or months, are widely present even in countries with strict user privacy laws. We also show that the above is a problem for official websites of international organizations and popular websites that inform the public about the COVID-19 pandemic. Heres a tip: dont visit any government COVID websites in the first place and you wont be tracked The worlds largest economies, in other words, are engaging in undisclosed and potentially illegal spying and surveillance schemes via official government websites that the public uses to learn about COVID and engage in other forms of propaganda consumption. Of the 5,550 governmental websites and more than 118,000 URLs administrated by governments, more than 50 percent of their cookies belong to third parties, while anywhere from 10-90 percent originates from known trackers. Most of these cookies have a life span of more than a day and many an expiration time of a year or more, the study reveals. Roughly 60 percent of government websites use at least one third-party cookie while 95 percent, or nearly all, of them, are creating cookies without user consent. Third-party cookies, by the way, are known to be tracking users for data collection purposes, the study explains. Government websites about the Chinese Virus are the worst offenders, as 99 percent contain hidden cookies that were placed there without user consent. For example, the very popular website with global maps about the COVID-19 cases, maintained by Johns Hopkins University, add cookies from 7 trackers, the paper further reads. All the other Top 10 websites are official national information websites in European countries that have three trackers or more. The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also in the Top 10, with cookies associated with three trackers. It used to be that this type of thing only occurred in overtly communist countries such as China, which leads the way in totalitarianism. As of late, however, the United States and other Western powers appear to be emulating the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) model by imposing social credit score-type systems in their respective countries. The Fauci Flu quickly became a catchall excuse to invade peoples privacy, force certain restrictive behaviors, and even commit medical rape in the form of mandatory masking and vaccination. It turns out that even on the web the government is violating peoples rights and tracking their behavior without permission. The full scope of why the government wants to track peoples online behavior has yet to come into view. More related news can be found at BigGovernment.news. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked his industry minister to have up to nine nuclear reactors operational this winter as he warned of a potential energy crunch. Kishida announced this move on Thursday, July 14, during a news conference as part of measures to deal with rising energy prices worldwide. There are concerns about a power shortage this winter, said Kishida. We must prevent this situation. Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it will do what it can to get nine nuclear reactors operational by winter. These reactors will cover roughly 10 percent of Japans power consumption and will help reinforce the countrys energy supply during peak hours. Japan is currently struggling with tight electricity supplies due to the retirement of older power plants and extreme weather. The ministry has issued at least two energy warnings this year, once in March and again on June 27. The most recent warning was about the countrys tight power supply during the heat wave. In addition to the nine nuclear reactors, Kishida has also ordered that an additional 10 thermal power plants need to be in operation for the winter. If these measures are realized, we will be able to secure the largest amount of electricity supply capacity weve had compared with the past three years, said Kishida. Long way to go before more nuclear reactors restart operations and produce power for Japan Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, Japan has only allowed 10 of its 33 operable nuclear reactors to restart operations. But rising energy prices and the threat of energy shortages during extreme weather, including the current heat wave Japan is experiencing, have pushed the government to reactivate more. (Related: Nuclear ground zero Fukushima remains largely abandoned ten years on.) Kishida has been ratcheting up his rhetoric regarding the countrys use of nuclear power. He has requested that the ministry speed up its restarts for facilities that have cleared safety reviews. Unfortunately, the central government in Tokyo doesnt actually have a lot of authority regarding when the nuclear reactors can resume operations, since there is a rigorous regulatory process that must be followed before they can restart operations. Of the 10 reactors that are allowed to restart, only five are actually providing the country with power, with one slated to go offline for the winter to undergo necessary safety reviews. Economy and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda indicated that he plans to meet the prime ministers goal of having nine reactors online and producing power for the winter by reviewing their current construction plans. These reactors are being restored to meet new safety standards that are required prior to restarting operations. Hagiuda added that he will also examine their plans for regular inspection periods, which shut down the reactors for weeks at a time. Well place the highest priority on safety, he said. If the Nuclear Regulation Authority approves their restart, well proceed. The minister added that the central government will start consultations with local communities to seek their approval for restarts. Learn more about energy crises around the world at NewEnergyReport.com. Watch this video of the Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about the energy crisis in Europe. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related articles: In anticipation of widespread gas shortages, Germany announces warm up spaces for freezing citizens. Cataclysmic energy bills coming soon: British economist warns citizens will face shortages this coming winter thanks to UKs insane green energy policies. INSANELY VULNERABLE: If Russia cuts off supply of enriched uranium to US power companies, Americas nuclear energy reactors will close within a year. Another nuclear plant closed down in Michigan as Americas energy grid gets systematically dismantled. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Bloomberg.com JapanTimes.co.jp Brighteon.com (Natural News) It should become obvious by now to most people that the grinding war in Ukraine following Russias invasion has only one inevitable conclusion, and that is a victory by Moscow. The only factors not yet known are how many more people are going to die and how much more of Ukraine will be totally destroyed before Russias victory. The Ukrainians have fought admirably and much more fiercely than most military experts gave them credit for. But the fact is, Russia has a far larger population and more extensive industrial base from which to manufacture war materiel, while Kyiv has to depend on the generosity of other countries. Plus, Ukraines forces do not have the capability of taking the war to Russian territory; Moscow would likely respond with at least tactical nukes if that were to happen. More signs of Russias inevitable victory appeared last week when Vladimir Putins forces took Lysychansk, the sister city of the former Ukrainian stronghold of Sievierodonetsk. This puts Russian forces in full control of the Luhansk province. According to reports, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu affirmed that his troops were in control, while the Ukrainian regional governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said the city is on fire. Sergei Shoigu has informed the commander in chief of the Russian armed forces, Vladimir Putin, of the liberation of the Peoples Republic of Luhansk [LPR], the defense ministry said in a statement. The Russian military along with its separatist allies are now in full control of Lysychansk and other nearby towns, notably Belogorovka, Novodruzhesk, Maloryazantseve and Bila Hora, the statement noted further. Haidai, meanwhile, noted on Telegram that the Russians are reinforcing their positions in Lysychansk. The Russians are entrenched in the Lysychansk district, the city is on fire. The occupiers probably deployed all their forces at Lysychansk. They attacked the city with inexplicably brutal tactics, Haidai said. Russias stated goal prior to the invasion was to liberate two key regions that form Donbas Luhansk and its breakaway pro-Moscow republic. Now that these two key cities have fallen, Moscow is much closer to its Donbas objective. Andrei Marochko, a representative of the LPR militia, said the city was being cleared of Ukrainian nationalists while adding that victory flags have already been installed near Lysychansk, as reported by CNN. Other reports, meanwhile, have said that local pro-Russian citizens have actually put up a Soviet flag at a central city monument, harkening back to the bad old days of the former Soviet Union (USSR). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a battlefield update last week, noting that more than 2,600 Ukrainian towns and cities are now under Moscows control. The Russian army continued to fire missiles at our cities, Zelensky said, urging people to help the army, help volunteers, help everyone who was left alone at this time and to use their contacts to spread the truth about the war and about the crimes of the occupiers on our land. Meanwhile, U.S. and NATO continue to deplete their own weapons stockpiles to give to Ukraine in what is increasingly being seen as a lost cause. A Ukrainian soldier launching a Javelin ATGM from the back of a pick up truck. https://t.co/qvHg6LU1Li pic.twitter.com/gj9P03zLFJ Rob Lee (@RALee85) July 2, 2022 An Al Jazeera war correspondent observed and describe Lysychansks capture by Russian forces: That is strategically significant because that is where the Russians moved their military attention to after they failed to move into Kyiv in the early days of the war when they were beaten back from the capital. Ukraine is losing this war and the longer we supply Kyiv with weapons, the longer the killing will continue. Sources include: TheMoscowTimes.com Edition.CNN.com ZeroHedge.com AlJazeera.com (Natural News) There are common underlying causes in most cases of surgical errors, including surgical incompetence, lack of skill, inadequate preparation, negligence, lack of necessary equipment, or a rookie performing his/her first operation of a certain nature. Some surgeons fail to sterilize equipment and others are not prepared for potential complications. Plus, many surgeons are fatigued, reckless, or heavy handed. Lastly, some of these doctors and nurses have substance abuse problems themselves, and easy access to the drugs. These situations are not uncommon in US hospitals, believe it or not, and often result in major malpractice cases and loss of medical licenses. Whats worse is these problems pose serious, quality-of-life altering injuries, or loss of life itself. Shocker: Over 10% of all deaths in the U.S. are due to surgical errors and other never events Of course all surgery is dangerous, but thousands of patients are placed at disproportionate risk of injury or death just because of negligence and never events, to the tune of $1.3 billion in malpractice compensation every year, and thats according to the JAMA statistics found at jamanetwork.com. Have you or a loved one been a victim of US medical industrial complex negligence and medical malfeasance? Maybe youre entitled to a slice of the next $1.3 billion or more about to be paid out this year in America. These never events are inexcusable, and should be caught before they ever occur, by checks and balances and following proper procedures, steps and verifications of proper, sterilized equipment. Still, they happen, and its much more COMMON than youre probably thinking. The 9 scariest hospital and surgery mistakes that are quite common in the USA So here we go. These are real. This is happening. These are the 9 scariest hospital and surgeons surgery mistakes that are quite common. Imagine how much more these are occurring during the pandemic, as many hospitals deny access of family members to their loved ones before and after surgery, due to the Fauci Flu. #1. Surgical tools left inside the body #2. Surgery is done on the wrong side of the head #3. Wrong leg, foot, arm, or hand is amputated #4. Wrong organ is removed #5. Patient given blood transfusion of the wrong blood type #6. Wrong sperm used at fertility clinic #7. Patient wide awake during surgery (wrong dose of anesthesia can paralyze patient, but they still feel all the pain and cant signal or tell the surgeons) #8. Both breasts removed unnecessarily #9. Wrong testicle removed Handle of screwdriver left by surgeon inside patients body Oh, yes, it does happen. While inserting titanium rods in a mans spine, the surgeon couldnt find the rods he was supposed to use. Due to a busy schedule, the doctor decided to remove the handle from a screwdriver and use that as a makeshift rod. Sure enough, after a few days the screwdriver handle broke, causing horrific pain and an unstable spine for the patient/victim. The patient died less than two years later, after several more surgeries. His family sued the surgeon and won $5.6 million for his malpractice. This happens with other medical instruments like retractors and scalpels. The state of medicine in this country is in shambles, resulting from less staff, more stressed staff, less personal care, and more terrible mistakes (many of which are covered up). Another never event involves surgeons operating on the wrong side of someones head, and this is quite common, happening multiple times per year at multiple hospitals. People die from this mistake, and the surgeons often only get slapped on the wrist, with their medical license suspended for just a couple months, then its right back at it. Surgeons have removed the wrong breast or testicle to treat cancer, so guess what happens next? Get the wrong testicle or breast removed by a careless surgeon and guess what happens next? Thats right, they still have to remove the bad one. Sometimes its not really cancer anyway, but a misread of diagnostic tests and x-rays. Surgeons often fail to mark the correct testicle or breast, removing the healthy one out of carelessness. Usually once they figure out what happened, its far too late to save it or replace it. Then the other one must still be removed, leaving the patient with neither. This marking and records mistake also happens with eyes, hands, fingers, feet, toes, arms and legs. Other mistakes involve fertility clinics using sperm donated from the wrong man, sometimes resulting in a different race baby. Bookmark Censored.news to your favorite websites for truth news about hospital mayhem and COVID vaccine-induced death cover-ups that are being censored from the rest of media as you read this. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com Censored.news GroverLewisJohnson.com LeightonLaw.com (Natural News) Another wave of anger and suffering reverberated through Uvalde on Tuesday, July 12, with the emergence of surveillance footage showing the inaction of law enforcement during the Robb Elementary School mass shooting. The surveillance footage showed police officers in body armor just hanging around the schools hallway while the gunman was killing 19 children and two teachers inside the fourth-grade classroom. The footage published by the Austin American-Statesman is an 80-minute recording from a hallway camera inside the school. It showed Salvador Ramos, the gunman, entering the building with an AR-15 style rifle. A teacher was heard screaming, Get down! Get in your rooms! Get in your rooms! Just minutes later, two officers approached the classrooms, then ran back amid the sounds of gunfire. About 20 minutes before police breached the room, the video showed a man wearing a vest that says sheriff using the hand sanitizer dispenser mounted on the corridor wall. According to the Associated Press, the screams of children were redacted throughout the video. Texas House Representative Dustin Burrows, who is leading the investigation, said that watching the entire segment of law enforcements response, or lack thereof, is also important. The recording revived the distress and exasperation of the Texas city community and redoubled calls for accountability and explanations. Some residents at a Uvalde City Council meeting said they had not been able to bring themselves to watch it. Jesus Rizo said the police are being paid with taxpayer dollars to protect people and they should not have sat there knowing that the childrens lives are in great danger. You couldve saved some lives. You could have held somebodys hand as they were dying, he said. Other members of the community demanded consequences for police and more information in an investigation marked by puzzling statements that had to be retracted at times. Give these families some closure, said Daniel Myers, a pastor in Uvalde and family friend of one of the victims. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said in an interview with AP that this has been the most unprofessional investigation or handling of it that he has ever seen in his life. He added: These families get blindsided constantly. Learn to defend yourselves and your family Parents and families have been questioning why the police took more than an hour to finally stop and kill Ramos. Uvalde families were left in angst as the cops just waited while children and teachers were getting murdered. (Related: Uvalde mass shooting proves that people can no longer trust the police to keep them safe.) The Health Ranger Mike Adams emphasized the importance of firearms these days during an episode of PrepWithMike. When the police cannot help you, you are going to have to help yourself. If there is a mad shooter in a school or a mall or a grocery store these days, then it may come down to you and your efforts to defend innocent life. Perhaps before the police arrive, or even after they arrive if they refuse to do anything, Adams said. According to Adams, its very advantageous to have a pistol or rifle with a folding stock if you are trying to save lives and stop lunatic shooters. This, he said, is convenient to carry and can be easily deployed and folded. The Health Ranger also pointed out the need to check local laws and keep everything legal. Its not worth the hassle to try to buy or sell illegal guns or engage in illegal behavior like that. Keep it legal, Adams said. But even on the legal side, it is pretty amazing what you can get that works in self-defense. And all of these tools are owned by law-abiding Americans who are trying to stop violence and stop crazy people from hurting innocents. Moreover, he advised people who are considering getting handy pistols to get good training. Ive trained with a lot of cops, former military, U.S. Marines and special forces, Adams related. Visit SecondAmendment.news for more news related to responsible gun ownership. Watch the full segment of PrepWithMike featuring folding pistols below. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Uvalde mayor sounds alarm, admits there was a cover-up in police response to shooting. Uvalde shooting: Federal marshals handcuffed mom for trying to save her children. LAWYERED UP: Uvalde police now refusing to cooperate with state investigation into mass shooting. Mom who rescued sons during Uvalde shooting now being harassed by same coward cops who refused to act. Sources include: APNews.com Statesman.com Brighteon.com Authorities confirm that all 44 missing people were found alive in the Virginia floods Officials in southern Virginia were relieved to learn that there were no fatalities due to severe flooding that happened Tuesday and Wednesday. The mountain stream outside our hotel in Gatlinburg was calm before the storm. Now its roaring!!!!!!! @spann pic.twitter.com/fE0QMEBPog Beth Emerson (@BethEmerson41) July 13, 2022 Confirming the Numbers The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday morning that it has made contact with all 44 persons reported missing on Wednesday, as cleaning work continues and floodwaters recede in flood-ravaged southwestern Virginia. The sheriff's office commended the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM), and several other local and state services for locating the missing persons. At approximately 6:30 a.m. Authorities searched for 17 missing people on Thursday, including unreachable locations due to floods on Wednesday. By 10 a.m., the number had been reduced to three. Officials said they had contacted the last three people during a press conference at midday. Also Read: Hurricane Darby Causing Trouble Across the Eastern Pacific Already Receding According to officials, Floodwaters are receding, and the county is collaborating with the Virginia Department of Transportation to clear debris and muck from highways to reopen them and assess damage to properties. "There have been no reports of fatalities or injuries due to the continuous floods," said the sheriff's office. Flooding rain slammed Virginia and parts of neighboring Tennessee hard Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Four hundred people were forced to evacuate from a campsite near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, due to water. Officials expected the number of missing persons to decrease if rescue crews could get out and cover more land. According to Buchanan County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Eric Breeding, the number of unaccounted-for folks is based on a family attempting to reach an area residence where phone connection may be limited or entirely cut off. "It doesn't always indicate they're in difficulty or danger," Breeding explained. "They're simply informing us that we need to check on these guys." On Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management was aiding local personnel after heavy rains Tuesday night caused flooding and power outages in the Buchanan County region. On the state's western border, the county had radar estimations indicating more than 6 inches of rain fell in the region during the middle of Tuesday night. While no particular number of properties were reported damaged, VDEM indicated that a "substantial" number of residences were injured due to the floods, perhaps numbering in the hundreds. State of Emergency As a result of the heavy rain and catastrophic floods, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin proclaimed a state of emergency in Buchanan County to aid with a response and recovery operations. The nearest U.S. The nearest Geological Survey river gauge to Pilgrim's Knob is 17 miles distant on the Tug Fork River in Litwar, West Virginia. During the floods, the same equipment reported a 2-foot jump in water levels in an hour. "I'd want to thank our first responders and employees on the ground for assisting us with our continuing activities in Buchanan County," Youngkin stated in a press statement. "As rescue and recovery efforts continue, please join me in prayer as we raise our fellow Virginians who have been affected by this tragedy." Late Tuesday, flash floods wreaked havoc on Virginia's southern neighbor. At around 11 p.m. EDT, the Gatlinburg Fire Department in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, received a call that 14 people were stranded at the nearby Greenbrier Campground, with first responders at the scene telling WVLT News that water had reached the height of the campground's picnic tables. The rapid flooding at the campground resulted in the rescue of the trapped people and the evacuation of over 400 people. Immediate Update As of Wednesday, there had been no reports of injuries or trapped people, according to local officials. Affected neighbors who needed refuge until Wednesday morning were given a temporary evacuation safe zone at adjacent Pittman Center Elementary School, where the American Red Cross assisted those in need. For the night, 69 people sought refuge at the school. The Greenbrier Campground is about 5 miles northeast of Gatlinburg and 30 miles southeast of Knoxville. The campground is also around 10 miles from Dollywood, a theme park owned in part by famed performer Dolly Parton. Previously tranquil streams were observed surging past houses in Gatlinburg on Tuesday night. Because there were few river gauges in the vicinity, the closest reading of flooding levels was recorded 12 miles downstream of the campsite in Sevierville, Tennessee. According to the USGS river gauge, the river climbed more than 4 feet in 30 minutes and 6 feet in 2 hours. On top of adjacent Mount Leconte, observers reported 3 inches of rain on Tuesday. At the same time, radar estimations suggest that double that much may have fallen in a nearby section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park drains into the valley where the Greenbrier Campground is located on the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. Related Article: Exposure to Major Disasters Can Cause Long-Term Mental Health Problems For more climate and weather updates, don't forget to follow Nature World News! Hammerhead or tiger sharks: which has a more powerful bite? Two of the largest predatory sharks in the world have had their bite forces quantified for the first time in the wild by an underwater photographer. Apex Predators Sharks are renowned for their hunting skills as the top predators in the water, whether it be the Greenland shark's stealth ambush or the thresher shark's whip-like tail. However, there is still a great deal that specialists don't understand about the creatures in motion, such as their top speed and biting force. Most scientific understanding of biting force comes from computer modeling or trials with sharks in captivity. According to Dan Huber, a scientist who studies sharks at the University of Tampa via the National Geographic, dealing with "live, huge, fascinating sharks in the wild poses substantial practical difficulties." But Shark Explorers diving business co-owner and underwater photographer Brocq Maxey wants to take on that task. In an experiment, Maxey captured the bite force of two of the biggest predatory sharks in the world: a great hammerhead shark and a wild, free-swimming tiger shark--in what is thought to be a first for both species. Studying Bite Forces According to Huber, who wasn't part of the new experiment, studying bite force helps scientists better understand how sharks' hunting techniques have changed over the past 400 million years to make them such effective predators. The more information scientists have on sharks and their activities, the better their ability to create plans to preserve them, the scientist claimed. This information is also crucial for conservation efforts. Also Read: Sharks Have Been Around Longer Than Trees: 5 Astounding Facts About This Apex Predator! Studying the Species According to Huber, understanding what these dwindling species consume is crucial, especially because the tiger shark is classified as near threatened and great hammerheads severely endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There will be severe consequences if a species that has evolved to specialize in a particular prey, such as endangered sea turtles, loses access to that food source. Maxey ordered a specially-designed gauge to assess the power of the shark bites for the experiment. He built it to be durable and sensitive enough to survive the strong teeth while still providing accurate readings. Then, he lured sharks to the gauge using bait in the Bahamas. A nine-foot-long tiger shark gave Maxey and his crew a reading of 864 pounds and a reading of 505 pounds from an 11-foot-long hammerhead. The tiger shark possessed a biting force of 70% greater while being two feet smaller than the hammerhead. Scientific Measures Based on his mathematical models, Huber claimed that it is what he would anticipate. Tiger sharks, sometimes known as the "dustbins of the sea," are not only more ferocious but also known for chowing down on a variety of prey, including marine turtles. They shake their heads to cut through the turtles' hard shells while encircling their victim with their wide lips. Hammerheads can quickly bite into their prey with little effort, including stingrays and squid. Although sharks can have powerful bites, Huber claimed that this is frequently "by virtue of their massive size." In contrast to other species, such as the hippopotamus (1,827 pounds) and saltwater crocodile-whose 3,748-pound bite is the strongest in the animal kingdom-their bite power is comparatively modest when body size is taken into account. According to him, giant sharks don't require a powerful relative to bite to eat since they have a "mouth full of steak knives." Challenging Study Huber and Porter warned that estimating an animal's maximal speed or biting power might be challenging. For example, Huber noted that the voluntary bite forces from wild sharks are probably "dramatic underestimates" since baiting them "isn't a genuine predatory scenario." "Yes, the sharks will bite, but there's no need for them to push themselves to their absolute limit." Related Article: On Point: Research Shows How Animals Develop the Pointy Parts of Their Body For more animal news, don't forget to follow Nature World News! A Virginia shelter received an unexpected "delivery" of five malnourished huskies, among them a puppy. According to the Norfolk SPCA Adoption Center and Veterinary Clinics, an animal rescue transporter brought the huskies to the shelter late on July 9, after the shelter had shut down for the day. No prior plans had been made for this transfer, according to the agency's Facebook post, and it came as a complete surprise. According to the post, the transporter had driven four hours to get the dogs from North Carolina to Norfolk. About 100 miles to the southeast of Richmond is Norfolk. As reported by Norfolk SPCA spokesman Matt Wurzburger to McClatchy News, staff members were called in to assist with receiving the dogs on Saturday night. He claimed that the dogs appeared to have been neglected and were underweight. Staff members chose to accept the dogs despite the shelter being at capacity at the time. According to the agency, the group is currently attempting to raise $25,000 to cover the costs of the huskies' emergency medical care, socialization training, and adoption placements. The huskies' past is unknown, according to Wurzburger, but staff members think a backyard breeding operation produced them. The ages of the huskies are also unknown, but veterinarians will be able to determine much of the needed information once the physical examinations for each dog are completed. Hookworm, heartworm, and whipworm, three types of intestinal parasites, were found in all of the dogs' tests. Wurzburger says that the dogs won't be available for adoption for at least a few weeks, News Observer reports. Abandoning Pets The community as well as the animals affected by pet abandonment suffer as a result, according to FOUR PAWS International. When dogs and cats are abandoned, they are left to fend for themselves on the streets where they may experience hunger, thirst, injuries, and diseases. They are also distressed and bewildered because their owner has abandoned them alone in a strange location. The animals may pose a road safety risk if they run out in front of cars looking for their owner, which is another effect of dumping animals that many people are frequently unaware of. They might be a "nuisance" to the neighborhood by looking for food, barking at other canines, or even biting someone out of fear. The global organization for the welfare of animals directly influenced by humans, FOUR PAWS International exposes suffering, rescues animals that are in need, and defends them. Read also: Starving Siberian Husky Eats Other Dog After Owner Leaves Them for Holiday Trip Dog Breeding Regulations Small-volume breeders are typically exempt from existing dog breeding regulations, which are generally intended to prevent mass breeding for commercial purposes. The Animal Welfare Act, which governs animal care at the federal level, exempts businesses that breed fewer than four females from its requirements, as well as breeders who sell their animals directly to consumers. Similarly, small-volume breeders are disregarded by state laws that mandate commercial pet breeders obtain licenses. For instance, a 2011 Nevada law restricting dog breeding exempts hobby breeders from its provisions while imposing restrictions on operators of puppy mills and other commercial breeders. Notably, a study of states with licensing laws discovered that almost one-third of the inspectors of kennels reportedly made no effort to find unlicensed breeders. Related article: Dog Adoption is More than Playing All Day, Vet Costs, Training Beluga whales migrating from the Arctic Waters into the Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada is being recorded through a livestream online in celebration of the Arctic Sea Ice Day on Friday, July 15. This was made possible in collaboration between Arctic conservation, non-profit organizations Polar Bears International and explore.org. The live video consists of covering 55,000 beluga whales migrating from the Churchill River Estuary, which flows into the said Canadian bay. The recording is being done through the research vessel Delphi, which broadcasts the beluga whale livestream on the organizations' platforms and across their social media networks. The ongoing coverage of the migrating whales are reportedly part of the objective to raise public interest on sea ice and advocate improved awareness of its significance to the Arctic ecosystem. It also highlights the environmental repercussions caused by climate change and human-induced factors that place the Arctic in potential peril. Beluga Boat Cam The beluga cam livestream has been uploaded by the YouTube channel Explore Oceans, wherein it shows the underwater view of the Churchill River Estuary in Manitoba, Canada, an area known to be a migration route of thousands of beluga whales every summer. The live coverage was uploaded on Friday and has been going on to show how the marine animals navigate through the frigid sea. It also portrays how the massive animals adjust to the challenges posed by food scarcity and the climate crisis. Alysa McCall, Polar Bears International's staff scientist and director of conservation outreach, told Live Science that the importance of their efforts are compared to the ocean as what a soil is to the forest. Arctic Sea Ice Day is an annual event created by Polar Bears International observed every July 15. Also Read: Lone Beluga Whale Discovered More than a Thousand Miles Away From Home in Seattle Beluga Whale Migration Stephen Petersen, the director of conservation and research at Assiniboine Park Conservancy in Canada, says that the "ice locked" Hudson Bay during the winter forces the belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) to head northward into the more open seas, as cited by Live Science. Still, the group of approximately 55,000 beluga whales return to the bay during the summer season, which spans in North America from late June to September. Petersen also told Live Science that the whales may find that the bay's sheltered waters can serve as protection from killer whales or orcas (Orcinus Orca). In addition, Petersen said the estuaries also provide hungry belugas a substantial amount of food, and may also be beneficial for young calves. Climate Change Impact While the beluga cams go live each year, the scenario could also show a glimpse of the impact of the changing climate and global warming in the Arctic waters. Both in recent studies on the ongoing climate crisis, the Arctic region has been experiencing the most brutal effects of the warming planet, based on the evident ice melt and glacier retreat. Since the 1990s, the Arctic's Hudson Bay has warmed by three degrees Celsius, seeing evident ecosystem shifts in these lakes, according to John Smol, a paleolimnologist from Ontario, Canada, as cited by the National Geographic. Related Article: A Lost Narwhal Joined a Group of Beluga Whales Has a Possibility to Hybrid? Oman Air, the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman, will shortly launch its Future Leaders Commercial Graduate Programme exclusively for Omani graduates on the airline's website. The intensive 2-year programme will offer up to 12 selected candidates the opportunity to gain internationally recognised qualifications while being exposed to all commercial functions at Oman Air. The programme designed for the most talented Omani graduates, and expands on Oman Air's excellence-focused culture. With job rotations that will expose students to six core commercial departmentsStrategy & Planning, Revenue Management, Sales, Marketing, Product Development, and Service Deliverygraduates will receive practical experience from inside the airline's commercial department. The programme will help students reach their potential as commercial managers and provide them with the skill sets needed to enter the airline sector.-- TradeArabia News Service Extreme weather has placed some countries in Europe into a standstill over recent days. The United Kingdom just received its "red extreme heat warning" for the first time, with France and Portugal battling massive wildfires as heat waves wreak havoc across the continent as of Saturday evening, July 16. In the UK, temperatures could soar above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. In France, two wildfires have engulfed a total land area of at least 27 square miles in the country's southwestern region. There were no immediate reports of casualties from both countries. In Portugal, wildland fires saw continued dangerous natural disaster, which led to the injury and evacuation of hundreds of people since the fires started last week. Similar fires have also been reported in Spain and parts of North Africa, including Morocco, and as far as China in East Asia. The ongoing catastrophic event highlights previous assessments of scientists regarding global warming, which made storms and natural hazards more frequent and intense. In the case of extreme heat, various research indicated that the rising global temperatures are making heat waves to occur earlier and last longer in line with their seasons. UK's Red Extreme Heat Warning UK's Met Office issued on Friday its first red extreme heat warning, which mostly covers southern England where temperatures could spike to approximately 40 degrees Celsius or around 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The warning is placed for Monday and Tuesday, July 18 and July 19, wherein local authorities cautioned the public to travel only when necessary due to the health risks, including heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses, posed by the abnormally hot weather. According to The Weather Channel Senior Meteorologist Jonathan Erdman, there is no living person that has witnessed a 40-degree-Celsius temperature in the UK. The meteorologist compared it to be a hot day at this time of the year to the cities of Dallas or Houston in Texas, United States; and much less in London. The UK meteorological agency also reportedly said that a temperature that high has never been forecasted in Great Britain. The highest currently on record was a scorching temperature of 38.7 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) in Cambridge back in July 2019. Also Read: "Cooked Alive" - Baby Swifts Are Suffering from Extreme Heat Wave Reaching 100 Degrees European Wildfires Wildfires due to a massive heat wave in Europe have led to thousands of people to be evacuated in France, Portugal, and Spain, as well as in Morocco over the past week. This comes as the extreme heat brought temperatures reaching more than 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) to most parts of Europe and North Africa, according to The Guardian. The brunt of the heat wave-triggered wildfires in Portugal left one person dead and at least 135 people injured. The country's Civil Protection Authority reportedly said around 800 people have been evacuated from their homes since Sunday, July 10. Portugal had registered 28 active fires, prompting the deployment of at least 2,000 firefighters to quell the blaze as of Thursday, July 14. Flames started to erupt as some regions of the country recorded unprecedented temperatures on Wednesday, July 13. Related Article: Certain UK Counties To Experience Scattered Showers Before Massive Heatwave LeConte Nix: We have to normalize that going to therapy is great and is needed just like going to a movie or your regular doctors appointment. We all have stuff that we hide mentally or avoid. Now, think about a young adult who only knows how to deal with anger by violence of some sort, because he or she has never been taught how to handle certain situations." Gold worth Rs 1.5 crore seized Kannur, July 17 (UNI) Customs sleuths on Sunday seized gold worth around Rs 1.5 crore from three passengers who arrived at the Kannur International Airport from Abu Dhabi and Muscat in separate flights. Customs sources said, they detained Muhammed Shakeer and Ibrahim Badusha, the duo hails from Kasaragod district and Muhammed Shanu of Palayad in Kannur District in this connection. 745 grams of gold was seized from Muhammed Shakker and 350 grams from Ibrahim Badusha. Both of them arrived from Abu Dhabi in an Air India Express flight. (Newser) The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of Africa's poorest and most populous nations, with nearly 90 million people, all of whomlike other humansneed to eat. But only 17% have access to electricity, and gas-burning stoves are a luxury. That leaves charcoal as the staple fuel for 90% of the population. As a result, the world's second-largest rainforest is suffering, according to New York Times reporter Dionne Searcey. It doesnt take much charcoal to meet one familys daily needs, but millions of families rely on it. There are multiple environmental effects, starting with deforestation, although logging and slash-and-burn agriculture also contribute. Charcoal production also releases atmospheric carbon, and charcoal use releases even more carbon and degrades air quality in homes and towns throughout the country. The people Searcey interviewed are aware of the damage, but they say they don't have a choice. Charcoal is vital to their survival, not only for cooking but also for income, as production and trade provide jobs of last resort for millions of Congolese. International groups have worked for years to raise awareness and develop alternatives, but scalable solutions have not emerged. The mighty Congo River itself could offer the best hope. Researchers say it has enough potential hydroelectricity to power the entire country, but dam-building projects have been "mired in disputes between international companies bidding for the work," writes Searcey, and the existing patchwork of hydropower plants has fallen into disrepair. (Read more Democratic Republic of Congo stories.) (Newser) Skittles famously wants fans to "taste the rainbow," but a new lawsuit says the chemical used to create that rainbow is a toxic health threat. The suit filed in Oakland last week calls Skittles "unfit for human consumption" because maker Mars Inc. continues to use titanium dioxide to produce the candy's vibrant colors, reports Today. Nonsense, replies Mars. While we do not comment on pending litigation, our use of titanium dioxide complies with FDA regulations," the company says in a statement. The FDA does indeed allow the chemical to be used for coloring, notes USA Today, providing it does not exceed 1% of the food's weight. The lawsuit filed by consumer Jenile Thomas is seeking class-action status, alleging that those who eat Skittles "are at heightened risk of a host of health effects for which they were unaware stemming from genotoxicitythe ability of a chemical substance to change DNA." The filing notes that Mars promised to phase out the use of titanium dioxide in 2016 but has failed to do so. Thomas also alleges that Mars deliberately makes it difficult to read the ingredients on the package. Insider notes that titanium dioxide is used in everything from paints to plastics to roofing materials to sunscreens. However, its application in food products has increasingly been called into question, particularly overseas. France, for example, already has outlawed its use in food, and a similar ban goes into effect throughout the European Union next month. The lawsuit asks that all US consumers of Skittles be covered, though it says that number is too big to estimate. (Read more Skittles stories.) (Newser) A 37-year-old NASCAR driver was stabbed to death at a gas station in California this week, and police killed his alleged assailant two days later, reports Fox News. Police in Westminster say Bobby East, who competed in the United States Auto Club division, was attacked at a gas station Wednesday evening after he stopped to fill up. Police identified 27-year-old Trent William Millsap, a transient, as the suspect and say he fled the scene, per the AP. Officers shot and killed Millsap on Friday after they say he became confrontational when they arrived at an Anaheim apartment to arrest him. Millsap was on parole for armed robbery, notes the Los Angeles Times. East was a renowned driver in his division, having won 56 career races in USAC, which called him "one of the most prolific drivers in his era." He was a three-time USAC national champion driver, per the AP. He also had 11 career starts in what is now known as NASCAR's Xfinity Series, and he logged two top-10 finishes in Truck Series races. "He was one heck of a wheelman," tweeted two-time NASCAR champ Todd Bodine. East's father, Bob East, is a Hall of Fame USAC car builder. (Read more NASCAR stories.) (Newser) The highest point in Great Smoky National Park is now on track to revert to its Cherokee name. The Native American tribe's eastern council last week backed a plan to request that Clingsman Dome be renamed Kuwahi, reports WBIR. The request will now be forwarded to federal officials, specifically the US Board on Geographic Names and the National Park Service, per Outside magazine. The process could take awhile, but there is precedent: Yellowstone this year changed the name of Mount Doane to First Peoples Mountain, and then-President Obama changed the name of the nation's highest peak from Mt. McKinley to Denali. Clingsman Dome is not only the highest point in the park but the highest point in all of Tennessee, notes the NPS. An observation tower at the site provides a panoramic view of the surrounding peaks in both Tennessee and North Carolina. Two Cherokee women drafted the tribal legislation to seek the name change, per the One Feather, and Outside provides the background. Geologist Arnold Guyot (who supported "the superiority of certain races" in his research) named the peak in 1859 after Sen. Thomas Clingman, who would later become a Confederate general. The history of the renaming of Kuwahi to Clingmans Dome shows that the name of Clingman was designated by a proponent of scientific racism (Guyot) on behalf of an avowed racist (Clingman), in an action that was disrespectful to Cherokee people, culture, history and tradition, reads the tribal resolution. The site is a sacred spot to the Cherokee, and its name of Kuwahi means "Mulberry Place" in English. The locale is also popular with thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail. (Read more Great Smoky Mountains stories.) Washington, July 17 (UNI) As the US continues to report monkeypox cases, top health official Dr Anthony Fauci said that the outbreak needs to be handled in more rigorous manner. CNN quoted Fauci as saying: "This is something we definitely need to take seriously. We don't know the scope and the potential of it yet, but we have to act like it will have the capability of spreading much more widely than it's spreading right now." Most of the US has reported monkeypox cases, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the cases reported include New York, California, Illinois and Florida. As of Friday, the country confirmed at least 1,814 cases. Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, said, "Whenever you have the emergence of something like this, you are always probably looking at what might be -- might be, we don't know -- the tip of the iceberg, so that's the reason why we've got to get the testing out there in a much, much more vigorous way. "Because you want to protect the people at risk, not only the people who might have had an exposure that they know of, but also people, by the virtue of the fact that they're in a risk situation, that they need to get vaccinated," he added. The US has more than tripled its monkeypox vaccine doses since last week, CNN reported US Department of Health and Human Services. UNI RNJ (Newser) Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who recently performed an abortion on a 10-year-old Ohio girl, has faced threats beforeincluding one to kidnap her daughter reported by the FBI. The Indiana OB-GYN stopped going to a clinic in South Bend, 2 hours away, to provide abortions after her daughter was threatened, the Guardian reports. "I felt it would be best for me to limit my travel and exposure during that time," Bernard testified in 2021 in a case about abortion restrictions. "I was concerned that there may be people who would be able to identify me during that travel, as well as it's a very small clinic without any privacy for the people who are driving in and out, and so therefore, people could directly see me." In addition, Bernard is named on a website by an antiabortion group based in South Bend, called Right to Life Michiana, per the Washington Post. Her name, education history, and workplace locationalong with information on five other doctorsare listed under the header: Local Abortion Threat: The Abortionist. In January, the group's executive director said it "does not condone or encourage harm, threats or harassment towards anyone, including abortion doctors, abortion business employees and escorts." Says Dr. Alison Case, one of the other doctors named: "What's the point of putting out a list like that unless youre encouraging people to take action against us?" It's the same group that publicly linked a future Supreme Court justice to its cause. Amy Coney Barrett signed a newspaper ad placed by Right to Life Michiana in 2006, when she taught law at Notre Dame University, denouncing "abortion on demand." The ad seems to be the first time Barrett took a public stand on the issue, per the Post. She had neglected to disclose the ad during her Senate confirmation in 2020, and a court spokesperson did not immediately answer whether Barrett is still involved with the group or endorses naming providers. Despite the threats and outcry from abortion rights opponents, Bernard tweeted Friday night that she'll "continue to provide healthcare ethically, lovingly, and bravely each and every day." (Read more abortion rights stories.) (Newser) Experts were poised to investigate the site of a plane crash in northern Greece Sunday to determine whether any dangerous chemicals or explosive cargo remains. The An-12 military cargo plane smashed into fields between two villages late Saturday, per the AP. Local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash, which killed all eight crew members. Firefighters who rushed to the scene in the night were prevented from reaching the crash site by smoke and an intense smell they feared might be toxic. Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said Sunday the plane was carrying 11.5 tons of Serbian-made mortar ammunitionincluding land minesto Bangladesh, which was the buyer, per the BBC. It had taken off from the Serbian city of Nis and had been due to make a stopover in Amman, Jordan. Nearby residents were told to keep their windows shut all night, not to leave their homes, and to wear masks. Authorities said they did not know if there were dangerous chemicals on the plane, including those contained in batteries. A special army unit that looks for nuclear, biological, and chemical substances was en route. The plane was operated by Ukrainian cargo carrier Meridian, and the Ukrainian consul in Thessaloniki, who has arrived at the crash site, told local officials that the crew were all Ukrainian. This flight had all necessary permissions in accordance with international regulations, Stefanovic said. Drone footage shows that small fragments are all that is left from the plane. The mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, to which the two villages close to the crash belong, has banned vehicle movement on nearby roads. (Read more plane crash stories.) (Newser) Police in China say two mosquitoes helped them crack a burglary case in Fujian province. As the South China Morning Post explains, authorities in Fuzhou spotted two squashed mosquitoes on the wall of an apartment that had been burglarized. They tested the blood and found a DNA match for a man with a criminal record identified by his surname of Chai. When confronted with the evidence, police say Chai confessed to the burglary as well as others in the area, per Shanghai Daily. The case has made a local splash, particularly on the WeChat platform. "Its revenge from the mosquitoes," wrote one commenter, per SCMP. "I was wrong to think that mosquitoes are useless. Police say the apartment's walls had been recently painted by the owners, making the squashed mosquitoes (and resulting blood stains) easy to spot during the investigation. (In the US, genetically modified mosquitoes are being deployed.) (Newser) One of the best opportunities for Democrats to regain a governors office this year is in Maryland, and the race to succeed term-limited Republican Larry Hogan has drawn a crowd of candidates. Winning back the seat shouldn't seem so tough for Democrats in a state where they outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 ratio, but the GOP has won three of the past five elections, per the AP. Nationwide, Republicans hold a 28-22 edge in governor's seats. Of the 36 governors races this year, Maryland and Massachusetts represent the best chances for Democrats to narrow the gap. Maryland Democrats see an opening now because the popular Hogan, only the second Republican governor to win reelection in the state history, cannot seek a third term. Thats attracted prominent Democrats to Tuesdays primary, including members of former President Barack Obamas Cabinet: onetime Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who also was chairman of the Democratic Party, and ex-Education Secretary John King. Also in the race are Wes Moore, a bestselling author supported by Oprah Winfrey; Comptroller Peter Franchot, the states tax collector, who has name recognition in Maryland from four successful statewide races; and former state Attorney General Doug Gansler. The primary winner will probably face either Kelly Schulz, a Republican endorsed by Hogan, or Dan Cox, who is backed by Donald Trump. A poll last month found no clear front-runner among the Democrats. National context: The primary comes less than a month after a new Maryland law approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature took effect to expand abortion access. It was passed in anticipation of the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, which the justices did in June. Less than a week later, Hogan directed the Maryland State Police to suspend the states good and substantial reason standard for permits to carry handguns after the Supreme Court struck down a similar New York law. (Read more Maryland stories.) (Newser) The expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election did not lead to any widespread problems, according to an AP survey of state election officials across the US that revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism, or theft that could have affected the results. The findings from both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states run contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies, who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they were a target for fraud, the AP reports. Drop boxes are considered by many election officials to be safe and secure, and have been used to varying degrees by states across the political spectrum. Yet conspiracy theories and efforts by Republicans to eliminate or restrict them since the 2020 election persist. This month, the conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that drop boxes are not allowed under state law and can no longer be widely used. Drop boxes also are a focal point of the film 2,000 Mules, which used a flawed analysis of cellphone location data and ballot drop box surveillance footage to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election. In response to the legislation and conspiracy theories surrounding drop boxes, the AP sent a survey in May to the top elections office in each state seeking information about whether the boxes were tied to fraudulent votes or stolen ballots, or whether the boxes and the ballots they contained were damaged. All but five states responded to the questions. None of the election offices in states that allowed drop boxes in 2020 reported any instances in which the boxes were linked to voter fraud or stolen ballots. Likewise, none reported incidents in which the boxes or ballots were damaged to the extent that election results would have been affected. Several states said they do not use drop boxes, while some had not allowed them before 2020, when the pandemic prompted wider use of mailed ballots. Drop boxes have been a mainstay in states with extensive mail voting for years and had not raised any alarms. Arizona Assistant Secretary of State Allie Bones said drop boxes are "safe and secure" and might even be more secure than Postal Service mailboxes. She said bipartisan teams in the state collect ballots from drop boxes and take them directly to secure election facilities, following chain-of-custody protocols. "The hysteria around ballot drop boxes I think is just a made-up thing to create doubt and fear," Bones said. (Read more drop box stories.) By Mir Afroz Zaman Dhaka, July 16 (UNI) Minority organisations of Bangladesh under the leadership of Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council held nationwide protests and rallies on Saturday, demanding a separate commission for minorities, anti-discrimination law and protection of religious property of minorities, among others. More than 35 Hindu and other religious and political organisations like Bangladesh Hindu League, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Hindu Mohajote organised the protest near the National Shahid Minar in Dhaka. Similar protests were held in Chattogram and other places also. The speakers on the occasion demanded enactment of laws for minority protection as promised before the 2018 parliamentary election by political parties in their manifestos. The leaders said that insecurity was forcing the Hindus to leave the country. They expressed concern over the communal persecution of the religious and ethnic minorities and demanded stopping harassment of teachers. Secretary, Bangladesh Mahila Oikya Parishad Dipali Chakravarty called upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to suppress the communal forces with heavy hand and implement the election promise of 2018. The protest meeting in Dhaka was presided by former MP Ushatan Talukdar. Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council in a statement said that it has been forced to protest as no step has been taken to protect the interests of the minorities over the last three years. In the rally organised at Chattogram, Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council Secretary General Advocate Rana Dasgupta announced a mass hunger strike on October 22, if the demands of the minority groups were not met by the government. Earlier, in another incident of attack on minority community, some houses and shops of Hindus were vandalised at Dighalia village in Narail district on Friday over a Facebook post by a youth, allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad. Police and Rapid Action Battalion have been deployed in the area to maintain peace. UNI MAZ RJ Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Labour Fund Tamkeen has announced its support for the recruitment and training of Bahrainis in Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with HH Shaikh Nasser Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Centre. This collaboration will enhance the centres position as the first for Artificial Intelligence research in Bahrain. Tamkeens Acting Chief Executive, Maha Mofeez, said they are looking forward to creating a new generation of youth with the highest technical capabilities which will enable them to compete locally and internationally. " The Executive Director of HH Shaikh Nasser Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Centre, Dr Abdullah Nasser Al Noaimi, said that the cooperation with Tamkeen "underpins some of the main objectives of the centre, which include developing innovative AI solutions and providing the labour market with qualified professionals. The World Economic Forums Future of Jobs Report 2020 predicted that automation and technology advancements will displace 85 million jobs by 2025. However, this offers opportunities for new jobs and roles as humans, robots, and machines increasingly work together. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Citizens and residents in Bahrain are urging the authorities to step up checks on laundry shops and dry-cleaning units as, according to them, some of them are not following the prescribed hygiene standards. They say, most often, many launderers mix up clothes of families and bachelors, and there are many laundry outlets who dont perform the task as per expected standards despite charging heavy bucks. Highlighting the need to regulate the functioning of these laundries, they said there has to be a uniformity in the charging of services offered. Speaking to The Daily Tribune, Siddique M K, a resident urged the authorities to kick-start regular inspections to ensure hygiene and licensing rules are strictly followed at all laundries and dry-cleaning units. I have been regularly depending on nearby laundries for washing and ironing my clothes as I have no time for myself to do these tasks. I have found that most of the time the laundered clothes would have a bad odour and are not really clean. Whenever I complain, the laundry shop staff get angry and show me the door to get out. I dont know what hygiene standards are followed when these people bundle all these clothes together before transporting them to different customers. Another resident Ramshankar P said his wife would send her clothes for dry-cleaning and would get them returned without dry-cleaning. They would wash them, iron them and return after packing in plastic bags and charge us exorbitant rates. I have begun to wash clothes myself after losing trust in these people. Most of the time, the services are so poor that clothes come back with stains and dirt. A female citizen, who doesnt want to be named, said she experienced skin irritation and itching after receiving clothes from a nearby laundry. I have stopped my dependence on laundry and dry-cleaning services, for they absolutely lack hygiene. A source said using cheap or bad-quality detergents could be the reason behind skin irritation. They buy sub-standard detergents to save money without thinking that the socalled customers could get infections and itching. According to dermatologists, skin diseases including dermatitis, scabies and fungal diseases could be spread by mixing clothes if they are washed properly. They say the chances of spreading skin diseases are quite high if the clothes are not properly washed in hot water. When asked, a Bangladeshi national, who runs a laundry rubbished these allegations. If you take any business segment, there are best, average and worst services offered. I dont know why these people are behind the laundry sector. Nobody is forcing anyone to wash their clothes. There are hundreds of laundries in Bahrain offering services ranging from good to worst. If a particular customer is unsatisfied with a particular service offered by a laundry, he/she can always approach another. He said it is easy to blame launderers without understanding the struggles they are going through. We do this for our survival and to support our families back home. No one has become a millionaire in Bahrain by running a laundry. Please stop targeting us. In Bahrain , laundry men, on a minimum, charge 300 fils to wash shirts, 400 fils to wash trousers and 800 fils to wash suits while something between 600 fils to BD1.2 is charged for various clothes worn by women. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com A trader found guilty of importing fake fashion products was ordered to destroy them in a verdict passed by the High Administrative Court. Police found 215 replicas of a famous brand from the trader during an investigation in a lawsuit filed by the original brand owner. The confiscated items, according to investigators, were replicas of a reputed brand and would easily confuse buyers due to their quality. The police action followed a complaint filed by the brand owner against the trader. The complainant also requested to ban the products from entering the Kingdom and destroy the seized products at the traders expense as per Article 38 of Law No. (6) of 2014 in line with the Trademarks Law (Regulation) of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf. In a report to the Court, Customs officials said the defendant brought counterfeit products carrying a trademark owned by the plaintiff. The defendant also failed to attend the hearings to refute the claims against him, court documents said. Citing the report, the Court said it is ruling in favour of the plaintiff and orders the defendant to items at his own expense. What the Article 38 says? Article 38 of the trademark law states that a trademark holder can request the customs to stop the release of such goods and not allow them to trade, which he believes bears a mark similar to his brand in a way confusing the public. Such application should accompany evidence to convince the Competent Authority in customs that there is infringement. The Competent Authority in customs release will then notify the applicant in writing of its decision on the application within seven days from the date of submission of the application. The decision taken will be effective for a year from the date of submission or for the remaining period of trademark protection, whichever is earlier. USD 189.9 billion by 2026 Recent reports say that the global anti-counterfeiting packaging market size was valued at USD 104.5 bn in 2018 and would reach USD 189.9 bn by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com LuLu Hypermarket, the leading regional retail chain celebrated a significant success story this week when it received international recognition for the robust data security environment that it has in place throughout its chain of 9 retail outlets in the Kingdom of Bahrain and for its growing online shopping offerings. Crossbow Labs, the leading Cybersecurity compliance and certification body in the region, issued the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Certification of Compliance to LuLu Hypermarket. The certificate was received by LuLu Group Director, Juzer Rupawala, presented by Cross Bow Labs CEO Mr. Deepak Umapathy in presence of Shiju CS Network & Infrastructure Manager of Lulu Group international & Senior management of Lulu Group International. The awarding of the PCI-DSS Certification from Crossbow Labs, one of the leading cyber security compliance and certification bodies in the region, is a significant achievement for LuLu Hypermarket and an acknowledgement of the stringent security practices the hypermarket employs to secure customers payment transaction, information and other personal data, across all its stores in Bahrain. As LuLu continues to grow in Bahrain and as customers opt for digital payment methods and online shopping, we are keenly aware of our growing responsibility towards their cyber security,. Rupawala said, This certification is LuLu Hypermarkets assurance to customers that we are fully compliant with all PCI-DSS standards and also provides customers with a layer of assurance that the details of their transactions are securely handled. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is an information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes. The PCI Standard is mandated by the card brands but administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. LuLu Hypermarket places great emphasis on employing a safe and secure data protection system that adopts international best practices in cybersecurity initiatives. The hypermarkets adherence to security protocols are on par with the best in the world, in order to protect their data and payment card details, further strengthens customers trust in the hypermarket. By Trend Welcome the Azerbaijani-Armenian dialogue in Tbilisi, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili wrote on his Twitter page, Trend reports. "Welcome the Azerbaijani-Armenian dialogue. Georgia remains committed to play its positive role/further host meetings in a dialogue format that contribute to peace &stability in our region. Peace is absolutely essential to the prosperity of our nations," noted the prime minister. H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media RIDGEFIELD Local police are asking for witnesses to come forward after an altercation was reported in a shopping plaza along Danbury Road last week. Ridgefield police said the incident occurred around 5 p.m. on July 12 in the Copps Hill Shopping Plaza, but did not provide further details on the alleged dispute. Teesta Setalvad received Rs 5 lakh at the first instance at the direction of Ahmed Patel, the Gujarat SIT investigating allegations of fabricating evidence related to the 2002 riots stated a day later. Her former aide claimed Congress leader assured her of funds from his own party, and from agencies across the country and overseas. Former Teesta Setalvad assistant Rais Khan Pathan said that when Ahmed Patel, then-political advisor to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, phoned Setalvad during the 2002 Gujarat riots, he went with her. I accompanied Teesta when Ahmed Patel initially asked her to meet up at Circuit House after the violence in Gujarat in 2002. Teesta was informed by Ahmed Patel that he was aware of her involvement in the Babri Masjid riots said Pathan. He said that Setalvad received initially Rs 5 lakh and afterwards Rs 25 lakh. Furthermore, he said Ahmed Patel promised Teesta financial support from his own party as well as from domestic and international organisations. Teesta was first handed a sum of Rs 5 lakh. Later, Teesta received a check for Rs. 25 lakh. Pathan claimed in a tweet from earlier this year that he had stopped working with Setalvad for ethical concerns. Pathan had stated in a tweet from this years February, I formerly worked with Teesta Setalvad, but I stopped because of her ethical standards. The modern day con artists like Rashid and Ayub, who pose as employees of others but actually work for themselves, follow the same ethics. In response to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) affidavit in the 2002 Gujarat riots case, the BJP on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi. They claimed that she was the architect of the entire conspiracy and had attempted to malign the name of the state through her late political advisor Ahmed Patel. In Bangladesh, a Hindu mans house was set on fire yesterday afternoon due to a purportedly disparaging Facebook post against the Prophet Muhammad. According to police inspector Haran Chandra of India Today TV, Akash Saha and his father Ashok Shaha have been detained by the police in relation to the event. Yesterday on Facebook, Akash Saha posted a disrespectful statement against Hazrat Muhammad (July 14). This afternoon, a few irate people began to demonstrate in front of his home. The inspector said that at one point, they set fire to a room in Akash Sahas home. Dipali Rani Saha's home had been burnt down by the religious fanatics at Saha Para,Dhigaliya, Lohagara,Narial, Yesterday the attackers more than 120 Hindu homes and the last reports said more than 10 Hindu homes burnt down at Dighaliaya, Lohagara, Narail Bangladesh.15/07/22 pic.twitter.com/uzeoeEm7v6 Pandit Pradip Chandra ( ) (@PradipChandra7) July 16, 2022 Following information about the event, many police units and senior officers sped to the village in Lohagora upazila of Narail district and nabbed Akash Saha and his father, he added. Akash Saha and his father are being questioned. The officer stated that legal action will be taken after an investigation. Political officials, police, and local law enforcement arrived on the scene and attempted to diffuse the situation. Later last night, senior police officers paid the area a visit. Hindus are attacked again by Muslims in Narail, #Bangladesh. They burn their houses, temples and shops. Why is the world silent? Why is Islamic violence against Hindus acceptable? It is not! Not in India, not in Bangladesh, nowhere!#hindulivematterspic.twitter.com/azNOWRH0N2 Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 16, 2022 Another official informed India Today TV that because Akash was on the run, his father was held in jail in order to track him down. To stop additional bloodshed, more troops were sent to the area. Earlier on June 18, when several neighbours and students accused him of backing a student who shared a photo of Nupur Sharma on Facebook, the colleges Hindu principal in Narail was made to wear a shoe garland in front of the police. While visiting Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden brought up the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi and stated he thought Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was to blame for journalists demise in the US. Biden gave a speech after spending hours in discussions with the Saudi Crown Prince in Jeddah, saying, I mentioned it at the start of the meeting, making it plain what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now. Biden said, I said, very straightforwardly, for an American President to be mute on the matter of human rights is incongruous with who we are and who I am. He continued, Ill always fight for our principles. Biden then clarified, in response to inquiries from the media, that the Saudi Crown Prince had informed him that he was not personally responsible for Khashoggis death. Biden stated, I indicated I felt he was. He claimed not to be directly accountable for it, and he took action against the culprits. Biden faced criticism earlier on Friday after being seen fist bumping the Saudi Crown Prince, whose approval of Khashoggis murder in 2018 was determined by US intelligence. In addition to highlighting the development in the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Biden stated that the US and Saudi Arabia had also decided to collaborate on a far-reaching green energy plan. Notably, he also voiced hope that Saudi Arabia will act to increase the worlds oil supply in the coming weeks, which had been seen as a major objective of the trip given the high cost of domestic gas throughout the world as a result of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Friday. Outside the Los Angeles house of Manoj Rajapaksa, the son of ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a small group of Sri Lankan protesters in the US had assembled, yelling slogans to urge his father to come home after fleeing to Singapore. According to The Sunday Morning, the demonstration happened before Rajapaksa announced his resignation on July 13. The demonstrator claimed that President Gotabaya had to vacate his office and that the money he is in possession of is Sri Lankan money that has to be returned. Protesters said, Were in the Sunland section of Los Angeles. We are standing in front of Manoj Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rakapaksas son. He purchased this opulent mansion with the money he stole from Sri Lankan citizens. They further went on to say We own this money. This is our land. There arent many of us here today, but if your father doesnt vacate his office, thousands of us will show up, the protesters had said. Manoj Rajapaksa has not been politically active, and his life in the US is not connected to his fathers politics, according to Sri Lankan Twitter users who denounced the demonstration. As per reports, Manoj Rajapaksa reportedly had numerous homes inside the US when he first came, despite protesters claims to the contrary. Ranil Wickremesinghe, acting president of Sri Lanka, has chosen to initiate an immediate relief programme to supply gasoline, gas, and basic foods to the people who are suffering as a result of the economic crisis. Following conversations on July 16 with ministers and lawmakers, he made this choice. Additionally, it has been determined to use the extra funds from the relief budget, which will be submitted in August, for this purpose. Acting president suggested hurriedly implementing the programme for food security. The regular and fast delivery of gasoline and fertilizers received special attention. Additionally, during this conversation, strategies were developed to provide conditions necessary for businesspeople to operate their enterprises without any obstacles. During the meeting, Wickremesinghe stated that strategy provided by nonviolent protestors had been acknowledged as a sound one. Furthermore, Ranil promised to notify the activists of the steps being done to combat corruption. Sajith Premadasa, head of Sri Lankas main opposition, had earlier on Friday declared his intention to run for president. In a special statement, interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that since Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had resigned from office in line with the Constitution, Parliament will convene following week to begin the process of electing a new leader. With food and gasoline shortages, Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its greatest economic crisis since gaining independence. While this was going on, Sri Lankan Supreme Court issued an interim injunction preventing former leaders Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the nation without the courts consent until July 28. Meghan Friedmann / Hearst Connecticut Media HAMDEN Police arrested a New Haven man after they say he was reported to have drawn a gun Saturday over two women not thanking him for holding a door open for them. Hamden police said 25-year-old Joshua Murray was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, a felony; along with misdemeanor charges of interfering with an officer and two counts of second-degree breach of peace. WEST HAVEN The chairman of a committee tasked with overseeing city projects funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act funds said the city is now seeking contractors for a number of construction projects and social programs. ARPA Committee Chairman Ken Carney told council members this week that only two invoices have come before his committee, both related to asbestos remediation at the Johnson Community Center. He said efforts to create a transparent visualization of how much of the $29 million fund has been spent; on which projects the funds have been spent; and how far along those projects are hit a temporary snag when it was discovered the citys website could not accomodate such a web page. Carney said the committee is working with contracted accounting firm UHY to create a separate website that could be linked to directly on the citys website. What I envision is a bar graph showing next to each job, highlighted, the percentage of completion, Carney said, with links to paperwork such as invoices. Carney said a quote for remodeling the Johnson Community Center comprised about 8.5 percent of the $640,000 budget for that project, whereas anything under 10 percent is a good deal, he said. He said the committee received three bids from nonprofits to manage a food bank program and committee members are assigned to study each organization and report back. Although Carney said a paving contractor has honored its bidding price as the city attempts to repave sidewalks in the areas of its schools before the price goes up in November, he said the scope of work has become larger as previously undamaged sections of sidewalk have cracked while work was being done. He requested the City Council approve a $50,000 increase to the previously-budgeted $250,000 for child pedestrian safety measures to complete the work. Councilman Ron Quagliani, D-At Large, asked whether the committee could use Local Capital Improvement Plan funds from the state to complete the work. Carney said doing so would get really messy, billing-wise and would interfere with strategic plans to use federal money where applicable and reserve state money for other parts of the city. The council approved Carneys request to allocate $50,000 more to the school sidewalk repaving program. Carney said the committee is developing a request for proposals for an engineering firm that would take a global look at city and its needs to create a plan to mitigate or eliminate flooding and stormwater damage during instances of heavy rainfall a persistent problem for the coastal city. Although Mayor Nancy Rossis ARPA plan includes a straightforward proposal to add surveillance cameras in highly-trafficked areas such as the boardwalk using broadband, the logistics have been a challenge, with Carney and others reporting that city departments were not on the same page about whether such a project could take advantage of fiber optic cables or wireless internet. Carney said he had been able to convene a visit to the area with representatives of multiple city departments to come up with a really good plan. We will replace all the call stations, put in a tall pole and hang the cameras off the pole, he said. The program would initially run on Wi-Fi, he said, before an inexpensive piece of equipment is purchased and the program shifts to broadband. Well have the whole beach covered and well go to another area once thats done, he said. Councilwoman Sarah Ackbarali, D-3, asked what the cost would be. Carney said he did not know, as the committee is preparing to seek quotes from engineers for the project, but it would not require the roughly $1 million allocated within Rossis plan. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi on Sunday said that the state was not developed by the federal but by the ingenuity of the leader... Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi on Sunday said that the state was not developed by the federal but by the ingenuity of the leaders of the state. Umahi, who aspired to be presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the just concluded party primaries, made this known on Sunday while addressing stakeholders during a church service, that took place at the New Government House Centenary City, Abakaliki The governor equally tasked his anointed successor and other candidates contesting elections in the state to stick to the ticket they are holding. There have been rumours of defection by some candidates contesting election on the platform of APC to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in the state. According to the governor: In the PVC registration, we came 8. If they were to award the mark, they will give us 36, as they give us in our allocation but our neighbours were getting 35 number. If it is transparency, Ebonyi is coming first, if it is fiscal sustainability, Ebonyi is coming first. If it is a state that has the ability to sustain itself without federal, Ebonyi is coming first, what else can we say? It is about Gods plan for the state, we still have two more weeks to end the PVC registration and we can come to number five, we can come to number three. So, whatever it takes for us to come to number three, yes we can. And let me tell you, dont get entangled with party politics, worry not yourself about this, Stick to the tickets you are holding. This state was never developed by the centre, it was developed by us. Dont worry yourself about any party or this thing, stick to the ticket we have. Thats where God wants us to be and it is from that platform that we advance the cause of this state. Remember, no man gave us any chance. They will never give us a chance, we have to impose ourselves on them and thats what we have been doing. If they said we should not be heard, they are the ones that have to hear us. Even if they share something down this side, they will take it from us but through the supernatural power of God, we have imposed ourselves. They have reluctantly come to recognize us and we have to take it to another level. The party we know is the ticket we are holding. You must know that no one developed this state for us; the political party or the centre did not. We are the ones through the power of God that developed this state. So, dont engage on party something. Always look forward to what you have and Ebonyi will be interested in what we have, very important. We are not against any party, we are not against anybody but a bird at hand worth ten in the bush. I have no problems with our elections, this is one family and when the time comes, you will go round and let our people know and I continue to maintain that Ebonyi State is very lucky. For those who tried to thwart justice and equity; when the North had done their eight years, the central did their eight years and it was the time for the south, some elders from the south joined people from Abakaliki bloc to deny that justice that south should not get it, he stated. Sen. Ademola Adeleke on Sunday dedicated his victory at the just-concluded Osun State governorship election to his late brother, Sen. Isia... Sen. Ademola Adeleke on Sunday dedicated his victory at the just-concluded Osun State governorship election to his late brother, Sen. Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke. Adeleke, who said he accepted his election as Osun State governor, also dedicated the victory to every indigene of the state, all his supporters and friends. In his acceptance speech in Ede, Adeleke said he was overwhelmed by the love and support of the electorate. He vowed his total commitment to the best interest of the people and the state, saying that: I give praise and adoration to the Almighty. I praise the courage and determination of the good people of Osun state. I commend men and women of goodwill, the young and the old. Im overwhelmed by your love and support. Our state has turned a new page. We have launched a landmark path for the progress and prosperity of our people. Its, therefore, with a strong faith in God and trust in our people that I accept my election as the Governor of Osun state. I pledge my total commitment to the best interest of the state and the people. I dedicate this victory to my late brother, His Excellency, Sen. Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, and every indigene of Osun State, and to all my supporters and friends. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Sunday declared Adeleke as the winner of Saturdays governorship election in Osun. Announcing the results, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the INEC Returning Officer, said Adeleke scored 403,371 votes to beat his closet rival, Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 375,027 votes. The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has pulled down posts he made on his social media handles mocking the All Progressives Congress,... The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has pulled down posts he made on his social media handles mocking the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu. Recall that following the declaration of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP as the winner of the just concluded governorship election in Osun State, Aregbesola had in a post, said the outcome of the election was God showing his supremacy over the power of men. Recall that Tinubu had during the APC mega rally in Osun, boasted that the APC candidate and the incumbent Governor, Gboyega Oyetola would emerge the winner of the election no matter what. Tinubu had named the opposition parties including PDP and the Labour Party as mushroom parties, stressing that they will continue to labour till death. Recall also that there has been a face-off between Aregbesola and Tinubu, as the Minister who was the Governor of Osun State from 2010 to 2018, accused Asiwaju and ex-governor of Osun State, Bisi Akande, of forcing the current governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, on the people against popular will. Instead, the minister then asked the party members in Osun to support a former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti, who was later defeated in the primary election. Reacting to the outcome of the election, the former Osun governor posted on his handles, saying This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the highest ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. (Daniel 4:17), However, in less than an hour after the post went viral on social media, NigerianEye observed that the content has been deleted. In a fresh post on his Facebook page, Aregbesola explained that the earlier content was posted without his consent. He said, It has come to the attention of the media office of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, that an unauthorized message was posted on his verified Twitter and Facebook Pages at about 8:00am on Sunday 17th July 2022. The unauthorized messages have now been deleted. Members of the public, especially the media, are advised to ignore! Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has expressed excitement over the outcome of the Osun governorship election. The former Kwara ... Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has expressed excitement over the outcome of the Osun governorship election. The former Kwara governor hailed the people for ensuring the victory of Senator Ademola Adeleke. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate beat his opponent, Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Saraki noted that the people took back the mandate which was stolen in 2018. Ths nation has watched as the people of Osun State delivered a clear, loud, and strong message: Imole De which means that light has come. We have watched, as the people of this great state have reclaimed their mandate and the mandate of my dear friend and brother, Sen. Ademola Adeleke which was surreptitiously stolen at the polls exactly 4-years ago, he tweeted. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State says the victory of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the just concluded Osun g... Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State says the victory of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the just concluded Osun governorship election is a clear message to Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections. The Independent Electoral Commission, INECs returning officer for the Osun governorship election Prof, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe on Sunday morning, declared Ademola Adeleke winner of the exercise. Adeleke, a former federal lawmaker emerged the winner of the governorship election with 403,371 votes. According to INEC, Adeleke garnered the highest vote to win his major contender, Gboyega Oyetola who also pulled 375,027 votes. Reacting, Obaseki who congratulated Adeleke for the well deserved victory, also commended the electoral body for sustaining what he termed as electoral reform. In a statement he personally signed on Sunday morning, Obaseki said the electoral reform which according to him, started during the Edo State governorship election in 2020, has ensured free, fair and credible elections. The statement reads in part, We stand with the people of Osun in sending a clear message to Nigerians that we are prepared and ready to rescue them from the hardship and woes that they have been thrown into. We thank the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for sustaining the electoral reforms which started in the September 19, 2020, Edo State governorship election. These reforms have ensured peaceful, fair and credible conduct of the election, which gave the people the freedom to elect their preferred candidate. As a party, we remain steadfast in our commitment to rescue Nigeria and are, by this victory, fired up to go into the 2023 general elections to win. A report dubbed "An ocean of opportunity: Ocean Action Report" has hailed Rwanda for its move to ban single use plastics. The report published in June 2022, was presented on June 21 during the side event of the ongoing 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, "Blue Charter Action Groups tackling ocean and climate change." The Commonwealth Blue Charter is an agreement by all Commonwealth countries to actively cooperate to solve ocean-related problems and meet commitments for sustainable ocean development. "More recently, Rwanda was one of the two sponsors of the historic global resolution to end plastic pollution which was adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022 with backing from all commonwealth countries," reads the report. In 2019, Rwanda passed a law prohibiting the manufacturing, importation, use, and sale of single-use plastic items in Rwanda. Rwanda is also among 28 commonwealth countries that have instituted a ban on a single use plastic carrier bag, either at point of production/import, point of sale. The report which was presented by Jeff Ardon, The Ocean Governance Adviser at Commonwealth secretariat, shows that across the commonwealth, 41 countries have taken steps to reduce avoidable single-use plastic waste, mostly through the regulatory instruments. Why ban plastic waste? Studies show that as much as 90 percent of plastic waste globally is currently not managed and that 79 percent of all plastics are neither recycled nor reused. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Environment By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The amount of plastic trash that flows into the oceans every year is expected to nearly triple by 2040 to 29 million metric tons according to studies. There are now an estimated 30 metric tonnes of plastic waste in seas and oceans, and a further 109 metric tonnes has accumulated in rivers. As a result, marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fish and turtles mistake plastic waste for prey; most then die of starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic. They also suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and internal injuries. Closing the finance gap According to Jeff Ardon, The Ocean Governance Adviser at Commonwealth secretariat, limited funding to ocean related projects is still a challenge. "Commonwealth is an ocean commonwealth. 87 percent of commonwealth countries border the ocean. Commonwealth countries are stewards of approximately 45 percent of coral reefs and 34 percent of global mangroves," he said. However, he said: "The importance of the ocean is not matched by climate change funding. Although about 20-30 percent of published climate research is about the ocean, governments are seeing less than 1/10th these levels of support," he said. In order to increase climate funding for the ocean, in November, the Commonwealth blue charter contracted an ocean-climate finance expert to assist countries with finance applications and so far, five countries have been supported. analysis Yasmin 'Jessie' Duarte, the ANC's long-serving Deputy Secretary-General, died early on Sunday morning after a battle with cancer. Duarte was known for being outspoken and for not shying away from the official line. Tributes on social media have described her a fierce, tough and a deeply committed activist. Jessie Duarte was born on 19 September in 1953 in Newclare, Johannesburg, and was one of nine children. She attended school in Coronationville, Johannesburg, and completed matric at Coronationville Secondary School. Her political career started in 1979 when struggle stalwart Albertina Sisulu, wife to former ANC deputy president Walter Sisulu, recruited her to establish women's structures throughout the country. She served as an activist in various organisations including the Federation of Transvaal Women, a United Democratic Front (UDF) affiliate. This is when she was given the opportunity to work with anti-apartheid activist Reverend Beyers Naude to set up and administer a scholarship fund to educate and skill ANC and UDF activists. Duarte's activism led to her detainment without trial in 1988. However, she was released and placed under restriction orders until the State of Emergency was lifted. She rose to the ranks of the ANC's top structures when she was elected to... Nigerians have commended Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for undergoing a surgical procedure in a Lagos hospital. Osinbajo's spokesperson, Laolu Akande, had disclosed that the Vice President was in hospital for "a surgical procedure on account of a recurrent pain in the leg possibly sustained from an injury while playing squash". Akande later revealed in a statement that Osinbajo was admitted to Duchess International Hospital GRA. "He had a surgical operation performed by a team of specialist doctors, including Dr. Wallace Ogufere (Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon); Dr. Om Lahoti (Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon); Dr. Babajide Lawson (Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon); Dr. Ken Adegoke (Consultant in Anaesthesia & Critical Care); Dr. Oladimeji Agbabiaka (Consultant Anaesthetist); and Dr Adedoyin Dosunmu-Ogunbi (Consultant Physician & Medical Director). "The operation was successful, and he is expected to be discharged within the next few days," the statement signed by Dr Adedoyin Dosunmu-Ogunbi, Medical Director, Duchess International Hospital, Ikeja said. Reacting to his decision to trust and embrace local medical services, a social media user, DaVinci, wrote, "It never occurred to me that he has never traveled abroad for any medical in all the years as VP. Respect! It is not by mouth, this is highly commendable doings," he wrote. @iam_musty echoed similar sentiments. "I never heard about Osinbajo traveling out of the country not even to Ghana or Togo for medical treatment, always patronising Nigeria hospital. Another user, Tamuno Tonye described the Vice President as one who is committed to Made In Nigeria. "Only patriotic leaders and citizens sticks to everything Nigeria. No wonder the Nigerian Medical Association always involve him in all their administrative needs. Speed recovery your Excellency, VP Osinbajo. Commending Prof. Osinbajo, Pacesetter Ozie wrote, "Last year, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors said they trust Osinbajo's judgment. This action is evident that Osinbajo really believes in this country and that he is indeed different from other politicians." Kelvin Obambon @KObambon said, "Get well soon your Excellency. Thank you for believing in our doctors. Thank you for believing in our healthcare system. Thank you for believing in the potentials that abound in our country. You are leading by example." Osquare also praised Osinbajo for his transparency. "Pure transparency. He was admitted in a Nigerian hospital. No shame to admit sickness or undergoing surgery. Nigeria missed a chance to get it right for once. I wish you quick recovery my VP," he wrote. On Air Personality, Osi Suave, also lauded the VP for having his medical in Nigeria. "The VP had his surgery done here in Nigeria. Good one. Can't lead people when you can't use the health facilities in the country." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance Health By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Similarly, Joe Abah, director at DAI, acknowledged the fact that the Vice President has set the standard. "VP Osinbajo had his surgery done in Nigeria. As it should be," he wrote on Twitter. For Gozie Kendrick Ekweozor, Prof Osinbajo sticks to everything Nigeria. "Only a patriotic leader and citizen sticks to everything Nigeria. No wonder the Nigerian Medical Association always involve him in all their administrative needs. Speed recovery your Excellency, VP Osinbajo." Olaoye Adetutu welcomed the decision of the Vice President to have his medical locally. Something is special about this Osinbajo, he just believes in Nigeria. Instead of him to go on medical trip he chose to treat himself in Nigeria. What a good Nigerian. Ade Omo Akin also echoed similar sentiment. "Incredible! so we can still have a leader in the caliber of the Vice President who will need surgery, and decided to use the local hospital ! Sir, you are indeed a leader by example. Quick recovery Sir." An autopsy report released on Friday revealed that Jayland Walker suffered dozens of gunshot wounds when Ohio police opened fire and killed him during a chase in which authorities said a weapon was fired from the suspects vehicle. The 25-year-old black male refused to stop during a traffic stop over equipment violations and instead decided to flee, prompting a vehicle pursuit, according to the Akron Police Department. About 40 seconds into the chase, Walker allegedly fired a gunshot from his car. At a press briefing early on Friday, Dr. Lisa Kohler, the medical examiner of Summit County, said Walker died as a result of blood loss caused by his internal injuries. The cause of death ruling was multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of death was ruled homicide, Kohler said. Our ruling of homicide is a medical ruling, meaning death at the hands of another and is not a legal conclusion. Kohler said it was impossible for her office to say which bullet killed Walker, who had several very devastating wounds. The office also failed to provide the exact number of shots that were fired. We have the 46 entrance wounds. Some of those wounds are on extremities. I cant say for certain whether wounds passed through an arm and then into the body or not. There is that possibility, so I cant say anything different than weve got 46 entrance slash graze wounds, the medical examiner said. She counted 41 entry woundsincluding to his heart, lungs and arteriesand five wounds from bullets that grazed him. He also had five wounds in his back, but it was impossible to say whether those came as he ran away or turned as he was being shot. Additionally, Kohler noted that no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in Walkers body. Video footage released by Akron police shows the moment leading up to the shooting incident. Walker can be seen jumping out from the passenger side of his still-moving vehicle wearing a black bandit-style mask. Officers deployed their tasers in an attempt to stun the man, but these attempts were unsuccessful. The suspect then continued on foot into a nearby parking lot, where police opened fire after they felt threatened as Walker reportedly quickly turned towards the officers, making a threatening gesture. Police chased Walker for about 10 seconds before officers fired from multiple directions, in a burst of shots that lasted 6 or 7 seconds. An unloaded handgun, an ammunition clip, and what appeared to be a wedding band were found on the front drivers seat of Walkers car, authorities said, adding that he was unarmed at the time he was shot. The eight officers directly involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave while the state investigates the incident. Seven of those officers are white, and one is black. Police in neighboring New Franklin Township had tried to stop and then chased a car matching Walkers for the same minor equipment violations less than 24 hours before the Akron chase. A supervisor there called off the pursuit when the car crossed the townships border with Akron. Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan declared a state of emergency earlier this month as daily protests rocked the city after authorities released body camera footage related to the fatal police shooting. On July 3, the protest turned violent; participants threw objects at the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center, broke windows of snowplows parked by the city to block off the street, launched smoke bombs into the streets, and set fire to two dumpsters, Akron Beacon Journal reported. As night fell and others began to join, the protests became no longer peaceful, Horrigan said in a July 4 statement. There was significant property damage done to downtown Akron. Small businesses up and down Main St. have had their windows broken. We cannot and will not tolerate the destruction of property or violence. Downtown Akron has since been under a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., until further notice. The city also shut the Patterson Park Community Center and the Akron Fulton Airport. The Associated Press contributed to this report. We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. New sanctions on Iran are coming down the pipeline. The U.S. Treasury and State Department have announced sanctions against a network of international companies. Those companies allegedly sold Iranian oil to China and other East Asian countries. That kind of sale violates U.S. oil sanctions on Iran. The reported purchase involves hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products. According to the Treasury Department, the companies in question used a web of Gulf-based front companies to conceal the origin of the oil. Some of the entities accused of the violation are located in Hong Kong. Others are based in Vietnam, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. The United States has kept sanctions on Iranian oil exports for years. But over the past two years, Chinese refineries have been buying large amounts of Iranian oil. Those purchases have helped keep Irans economy afloat. After a failed attempt to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the White House has said it would continue to use its sanctions powers to target Irans oil exports. President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday looks forward to the peaceful conduct of the 2023 general election, saying he has done his best in tackling the challenges of the country and wouldn't relent as tenure gradually comes to an end in 2023. He also compared Nigeria's economic situation to that of other African countries saying Nigerians should be grateful. Speaking when he paid a Sallah homage to the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir Usman at his palace in Katsina, the President also pledged to tackle the security challenges facing the country. He also said that Nigerians should be confident in his administration's determination to fix other sectors of the economy before the completion of his tenure. He however reflected on how he contested the presidential seat three consecutive times and was finally lucky to have gotten the mandate in 2015, reiterating that he has done his best considering what other African countries are currently going through in terms of economic challenges, "Nigerians will have reasons to thank God. "Thank God we are doing our very best; I am praying that God will once again give us the wisdom to do more for the betterment of our people." The President then prayed that God will give him the wisdom and courage to deal with those behind Nigeria's security challenge, expressing hope that Nigerians will understand the situation leaders find themselves in, as he urged them to support and pray for the country. Also speaking, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, said the issue of insecurity is a global challenge, noting that prayer is the solution to the problem. Though he knew at a fairly young age he wanted to be a teacher, it took a meaningful experience in high school to change the trajectory of Chad Goetzs career. Sitting on a metal folding chair in a stiflingly hot choir room, the then-sophomore struggled to sight read a piece of music that Goetz admits he didnt look at in advance. Then, something happened that he didnt expect. Midway through that piece, the choir around me swelled in dynamic and emotion to the most glorious tones I had ever heard, he said. A cool tingle of goosebumps ran down my spine, and I was forever hooked. While memorable, Goetz says one experience can be fleeting. For him, it was more of a beginning one that led to several musical experiences in the years that followed and ultimately to where he is today: A visual and performing arts teacher and choral director at Lockport Township High School. In May, Goetz was selected as this years recipient of the William and Mildred Jackson Teacher Recognition Award. Its been a full-circle moment for Goetz, who was inspired by his teachers and choir directors and now works to inspire his students. My experiences in my high school and collegiate choirs taught me more about myself than I thought possible, he said. In and through those ensembles, I learned how to work tirelessly in pursuit of excellence, how to be willing to give of yourself for the good of the whole while never losing your individuality and what makes you special and how to be willing to draw on the strengths of others without envy. The William and Mildred Jackson Teacher Recognition Award honors an educator who has exhibited special skills in the art and science of teaching. In a news release announcing the award, LTHS sophomore Abigail Sanford said Goetz creates some of the most fantastic curricular choir performances in Illinois and goes above and beyond for his students. He takes abilities in students who just take choir to use as a mental health support all the way up to those who want to create careers in this field, she said in the release. He understands how to respond to each students needs. He keeps it fun and interesting, but also teaches so many techniques that most other choirs would not touch upon until theyre in college or in the professional world. An educator and choral director for nearly 17 years, Goetz teaches five curricular classes and three extracurricular ensembles. He also directs the music for the schools annual spring musical. The Lockport resident says its important to him to create a safe space where his students can grow. When it is at its best, a choral classroom is a place where everyone is accepted just as they are, but with the understanding that we all can be better, he said. Since your voice is such an integral part of who you are, it is incredibly important that within a choir, students feel safe to make mistakes to aim for incredibly high goals without fear of failure or judgment from their peers. Like many teachers, Goetz says his biggest challenge is avoiding burnout. Being a choir director means working long hours and late nights and finding ways to balance being a husband and father of two small kids and meeting the needs of my program and students without feeling like you are always falling a bit short, he said. But I am fortunate to have a loving and understanding family, enthusiastic and dedicated students, wonderfully supportive choir parents, phenomenal colleagues and work in a school with an administration that genuinely wants to see the arts succeed. Dear Annie: My friend recently asked me to cook her dinner because she was tired of working long hours and eating fast food. I felt bad for her, so I cooked her dinner. She later told me she had found a hair in the food. It was dog hair. She said it was disgusting and nasty and then asked if I had dropped her dinner on the floor and then put it back on her plate. She said she couldn't eat it and fed it to her dog. I told her I was sorry she had found hair in her food. I said that I did not drop food on the floor. It was hurtful when she said this, but should I be happy that she told me this, or offended? Incidentally, she has three dogs, and I only have one. Hurt Friend Dear Hurt Friend: She doesn't sound like she was acting much like a friend. You have every right to be hurt by her reaction. There is a nice way to say something and a not nice way to say something, and she chose the latter. You were doing her a favor, and she put you down. Tell her that your feelings were hurt by her reaction, and ask her about what might be going on at work. Sometimes, when people get really upset over small things or hurt people they love, it's really because they can't get mad at their boss or someone else. Dear Annie: I have read your column for years because I enjoy it. I've even written in myself once or twice. I find some of these letters hitting very close to home lately, and it's comforting to know other people have some of the same issues as I do, but it's frustrating that your answers always seem to recommend speaking to a marriage counselor. Maybe you could have a counselor assist with answering some of the questions? I, for one, am not interested in going to see a marriage counselor, but I am interested in hearing a short opinion from one on the subjects at hand. Thank you for listening. Anywhere USA Dear Anywhere USA: Thank you for your letter and recommendation that one see a counselor for an opinion only, rather than counseling. If that works for you, it might also work for others, so I appreciate your suggestion. However, many of the couples who write to me need to express their opinions and work things out together over time, with the help of a professional, and they have great success doing so. That is why I am never reluctant to recommend couples counseling. "How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?" is out now! Annie Lane's second anthology featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit creators.com/categories/books for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. Her brother is on the fast track to a successful career in finance and has plans for his sister to follow along. But in Jane Peks debut novel, The Verifiers, Claudia Lin secretly drops out of the corporate rat race without telling her siblings or mother and takes a job at Veracity, a new start-up that uses algorithms along with good old detective techniques to determine whether online suitors are real or not. Claudia, a queer Asian American, really isnt a computer geek. The reason she was chosen for the job by the companys founder is her passion for reading, particularly the works about a fictitious crime solver named Detective Yuan. Once she is hired, the firm becomes a three-person endeavor, with Claudia spending her time cyberstalking (the modern way to dig up dirt) and real life stalking, like they do in the crime novels Claudia consumes. When Iris Lettriste comes in wanting them to investigate the men shes met online, it at first seems like a simple case. But, of course, they never are. Lettriste is a no-show for her last appointment, and later is found dead of what looks like an accidental overdose of a prescription drug shes taking. Claudias bosses want to move on from Iris, but she thinks theres more, particularly after all the online accounts belonging to Iris disappear and the real Iris shows up, saying that her sister has been impersonating her. Thats enough for Claudia to start sleuthing on her own. Soon shes fired from her job and almost involved in a fatal bicycle accident because someone has rigged her bike. On the home front, her gorgeous older sister is having relationship problems, and Claudia takes it upon herself to do some detecting to see whats hes up to. Her brother is appalled and disappointed in her when he finds out she has quit the stellar and potentially very lucrative job he arranged for her. Pek, who has an undergraduate degree from Yale, a law degree from New York University and an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and works as an attorney in New York for an international investment company, says she began the book by asking herself what if there was an online dating detective service, and from there began assembling the story line. I liked that Claudia would actually draw her detective rules from this obviously silly murder mystery series, said Pek who is working on a sequel, but that every now and then it would actually work out for her. STARKE COUNTY A Fishers man was seriously injured in a jet ski accident at Bass Lake in Starke County. The jet ski accident took place at around 4:15 p.m. Saturday at the 1,300-acre lake, which is the third largest natural lake in Indiana and a popular camping site just south of Knox. Indiana conservation officers patrolling the lake responded to the report of a serious personal watercraft accident. Mark Hatch, of Fishers, was operating a jet ski on the lake when he collided with another jet ski at a high rate of speed. "The impact caused Hatch to be ejected from the personal watercraft and lose consciousness. Hatch was immediately removed from the water and brought to shore," Indiana Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Tyler Brock said. "Hatch was transported to South Bend Memorial Hospital by Memorial Medflight helicopter in serious condition." Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the jet ski crash on Bass Lake. "The investigation is ongoing and additional information will be released as it becomes available," he said. DNR was assisted by the Starke County Sheriffs Department, Bass Lake Fire Department, Starke County EMS and Memorial Medflight. SOUTH HOLLAND A man was shot following a dispute in Maicach Park on Saturday night. An argument developed between a man, his current girlfriend and his former girlfriend. He and his current girlfriend left the scene, but the man returned and fired shots, the village of South Holland said on Twitter. An off-duty police officer from another community was attending a gathering at the park and returned fire, striking the man. The man is in the hospital and is being treated. No bystanders were harmed. A full investigation of the incident is underway. Anyone with information may contact South Holland Police at 708-331-3131, ext. 2. CROWN POINT Christine Collins was visiting the Lake County Historical Museum in the Old Lake County Courthouse for the first time and was surprised to see historic photos of her great-grandfather. Photos showed John H. Thiel, one of Schererville's earliest settlers, standing in front of his blacksmith shop and the house he had on Joliet Street, where he raised 13 children. "He was one of the founding fathers of Schererville, one of the first to start a business and put roots there," she said. "He was one of the German Catholics who put roots in Schererville. They had a famous photo of him in front of his blacksmith shop and pieces of equipment I had never seen before." The Lake County Historical Museum, on the second floor of the Old Courthouse, has preserved the stories of such prominent figures and the history of Lake County for 40 years now. The local history museum in downtown Crown Point is run by the even more long-running Lake County Historical Society, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2025. Both the museum and historical society are looking to make a fresh start following the death of longtime Lake County historian Bruce Woods, who long ran them before he died of a stroke at the age of 78 last year. "It's a huge loss. He was the county historian, president of the historical society and director of the museum for 40 years," Lake County Historical Society Vice President Scott Hudnall said. "But this is a fresh start for the museum and society. We can think of new things and new approaches for our history. We need to rebuild the museum and society after Bruce passed away last year." As new leaders take the helm, the museum and historical society have an opportunity to reimagine how they operate and serve Lake County, Hudnall said. They're looking for people to share their ideas and help out. "Were looking for volunteers as we will be working toward a new vision of what the museum and society can provide our community," Hudnall said. "We want to be open to feedback and do a survey to find out what people want from the museum and how it can best serve the community. We want to attend more festivals to promote the museum. We want to work on the collection and send some items to other museums and get rid of items that don't meet our standards." The museum, for instance, is looking to dispose of coral that has no connection to Lake County. The historical society hopes to shift the focus of its collection and exhibits to Crown Point and Lake County as a whole. It has some items about individual communities like Griffith and Gary that would be better suited to displays in local history museums in those cities and towns, Hudnall said. "We're going to move to a different perspective and direct people to their own backyard," he said. "Griffith, they've got a museum. Those museums are hidden gems tucked away in areas that we can help out. We want our collection to best serve Lake County and tell a story. We can change the way we present things and reach our audiences." The Lake County Historical Society dates back to 1875 when it was founded as the Old Settlers Association. It launched the museum in the Old Courthouse in 1982. "Currently, we have so few volunteers the focus is on keeping the museum open," he said. "Eventually we want to be open for more days or hours and send volunteers to events." Volunteers are needed for special projects such as updating Wikipedia pages, posting to Facebook or digitizing photos. The society is seeking volunteers who can download forms from the website or grab copies outside the museum entrance. People can volunteer for an hour a week, a few hours a month or just for special occasions. The historical society wants to be more active in the community, such as with the reenactment of the Cobe Cub, a historic auto race from Crown Point through south Lake County that was a predecessor of the Indianapolis 500. The Lake County History Museum is looking to shift its exhibits to focus more on history like the Cobe Cub and the Marriage Mill that churned out quickie marriages to many out-of-state visitors in the Old Courthouse. The historical society is reviewing the collection to determine what should be on display, what should be donated elsewhere and what areas they might need to bolster with more donations from the community. "The general idea is we want to move toward changing the current exhibits to rotating exhibits," he said. "That's another area where volunteers would be helpful. We want to rotate so what's displayed is telling the story of Lake County history and we're not just putting out items. We want a cohesive display with a narrative." The museum's current exhibits display agricultural equipment, Civil War artifacts, medical and central equipment, Inland and U.S. Steel memorabilia, military gear, historical clothing and a smattering of items about the Cobe Cup and Jerry Ross. The exhibits now on display have been static for many years. The Lake County Historical Society is working with officials from the Museum at Lassen's Resort in Cedar Lake and the Hesston Steam Museum in LaPorte County on how to reimagine the museum. Lassen's Resort, formerly known as the Lake of the Red Cedars Museum, recently underwent a dramatic renovation, and it's partnered with the Hesston Steam Museum on boat rides highlighting the history of Cedar Lake. "We're consulting with them on what works best," he said. Given limitations on space, they plan to be more selective about the donations they accept. For example, they rejected the donation of a piano but accepted the donation of a ledger book from 1837 with the signature of initial Crown Point settler Solon Robinson. "We really want to be telling a story," he said. "This is an opportunity to start fresh with new items and maybe do things we hadn't been doing before. It's a long-running society that's been around since 1875, with its first meeting in September of 1875. That's very impressive. I knew the museum was 40 years old but didn't know until this year how old the historical society really was. For me, that's a good example of not realizing the history until you look into it." Historical society board members are looking at pursuing grant funding and touring other local history museums to gather ideas. The museum is looking to launch an email newsletter and is interested in hosting traveling exhibits, such as the waterways exhibit from Indiana Humanities that the Museum at Lassen's Resort recently hosted. "That was a perfect fit for them being right on the lake," Hudnall said. "We would be interested in something like that if it aligns with our focus and we could do it properly. There are a lot of possibilities." Collins said the Lake County History Museum is a valuable resource for the community. She was surprised but thrilled to see photos of her great-grandfather there. "It was shocking but so exciting," she said. "I was with family members and we said, 'Oh my God.' We saw his blacksmithing shop and a gasoline pump in one of the photos as he had to switch to something else when horses became obsolete. There's photos of him as a volunteer fireman standing in front of the fire department with (Police Chief) Pete Redar, who Redar Park is named after." It was her first visit to the museum. "It's great. It's a great piece of history. It's a great place for kids to learn," she said. "It's irreplaceable stuff they have in there." The Lake County History Museum is currently open 1-4 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, visit lchsmuseum.org. MICHIGAN CITY Michigan City Fire Department responded to a fire at an old factory building on the city's west side Saturday. The cause is unknown, and there are no injuries at this time, fire department officials said. However, traffic was diverted from the area while crews addressed the fire. MICHIGAN CITY Michigan City has long been known for the striking tower, often mistaken for a nuclear reactor, that sits along its shoreline. Despite the hyperboloid cooling tower's somewhat ominous presence, Susan Thomas is far more concerned with a different structure located at the longtime coal-fired generating station owned by NIPSCO the steel seawall. It is not a question of if the wall will blow, it is a question of when," said Thomas, who serves as the director of legislation for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, a nonprofit addressing environmental justice issues across the Region. "This is a ticking time bomb." Made of steel sheet pile, the wall is the only thing that separates the NIPSCO generating station from Lake Michigan. As Lake Michigan's water levels rise to the highest levels seen in 120 years, Thomas has grown increasingly worried about contamination. At the same time, NIPSCO has begun retiring the generating station as part of the utility's greater efforts to decarbonize electric generation. NIPSCO, Northern Indiana Public Service Co., has already begun to clean up the five coal ash ponds on the 123-acre property, but Thomas and other nearby community members would like to see the company address what is beneath the ponds decades of legacy coal ash. 'Pulling the wool over our eyes' The generating station has sat on the edge of the Michigan City shoreline since 1931. Shortly after opening the station, NIPSCO began creating "made land" by mixing coal ash, a material left over after coal is burned to generate electricity, with sand. The made land sits behind the seawall and some of the coal ash ponds sit atop it. Ever since NIPSCO announced plans to retire the Michigan City generating station in 2018, residents have been advocating for a "clean closure." In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled that all unlined coal ash impoundments that have detected groundwater contamination above regulatory levels must stop receiving ash and begin the closure process. In 2020 the EPA expanded the requirement, mandating that all unlined ponds begin to close. NIPSCO plans on retiring the Michigan City generating station between 2026 and 2028. The Merrillville-based utility would then no longer generate any electricity from burning coal. Instead, the company is investing some $2 billion in renewable energy projects including wind and solar. The five coal ash ponds are expected to be cleaned up by the end of the year. The cleanup involved removing 171,000 cubic yards of coal ash and replacing it with clean fill. The coal ash will be transported to a lined landfill at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station located in Wheatfield. However, the legacy coal ash used in the generating station's made land, will not be touched. "NIPSCO is trying to pull the wool over our eyes and leave us with an inheritance that will last thousands of years," said Just Transition Executive Director Ashley Williams. Once the five coal ash ponds are clean up, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the EPA will determine "what additional work is needed to ensure the long-term safety of the community and the environment," NIPSCO spokesperson Denise Conlon wrote in an email to the Times. Recent report "We know that change, that transition is an inevitability, but justice is not. We know that justice does not happen unless we the people demand it," Williams said, standing before a crowd of Michigan City residents at the HOPE Community Center. In mid-June, Just Transition, the LaPorte County NAACP, NWI Minister's Conference, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and the Hoosier Environmental Council held a meeting the HOPE Community Center to discuss a recent report released by Earthjustice that reviewed several assessments of the seawall, dating back to 2018. Earthjustice commissioned Burgess Environmental to review past inspection reports detailing the integrity of the wall. The report said the sheet wall has corroded and moved over the years. Ultimately, the steel sheet pile wall will corrode and fail if left in place, the report said. Conlon said that in the report authored by Burgess, "excerpts of information were selected from older studies to suggest different conclusions than what was presented in the reports they relied upon." She said that the wall is monitored on a regular basis and inspected both by NIPSCO and third-party professional engineers and that inspections have been conducted on a more frequent basis. "There is no imminent threat, and the walls are performing as they were designed and they remain stable," Conlon wrote. If the wall did fail, legacy coal ash would spill into the nearby Trail Creek and Lake Michigan impacting drinking water for millions of residents throughout Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. According to the EPA, coal ash contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic that without the proper management can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water, and the air. Coal ash contamination has already been documented in the groundwater. Conlon said NIPSCO has been monitoring the situation and that current data "indicates there is no risk to human health or the environment. There are no impacts to drinking water supplied by neighboring communities." Conlon also said the primary source of the groundwater contamination is believed to be the five ash ponds that are being cleaned up. A just transition We all deserve the right to clean, safe drinking water, Williams said. "This is faucet issues, but it is a pocketbook issue as well." NIPSCO estimates retiring the Michigan City generating station will cost about $40 million. The utility will recover about 80% of the project costs through the Federally Mandated Cost Adjustment tracker, a surcharge that can change as often as every six months. The remaining 20% of the $40 million will be deferred to NIPSCO's next electric base rate case which must be filed by the end of 2026. The first rate surcharge will raise rates for a residential customer using 700 kilowatt hours per month by 30 cents. Were footing the bill for these projects; were footing the bill for their mistakes, Williams said. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor is holding a public hearing at 6 p.m. Aug. 1 at Michigan City City Hall to determine if the proposed rate increase is the most cost-effective way for NIPSCO to comply with federal environmental regulations. Written comments can also be submitted at in.gov/oucc/contact-us/ through Aug. 10. Donnita Scully, of the LaPorte County NAACP, fears the rate hike and any contamination from the legacy ash will disproportionately impact the very same residents who have lived with decades of heavy industry Michigan City's low-income communities of color. The neighborhood surrounding the generating station is predominantly Black, Scully has said. "Our minority communities and those communities that are poor are first in line to be affected. ... Sooner or later that wall will give way. ... Ultimately the effects will spill over to other communities," Scully said. "Not just minority communities, not just Black communities, but all of the communities around us." PORTAGE TOWNSHIP The Portage Township Autism Action Coalition (PTAAC) has launched two new programs aimed at keeping youngsters on the autism spectrum safe. The group, led by Portage Township Trustee Brendan Clancy, recently launched the emergency identification bracelet program during an event at Portage High School. Then the group, in a partnership with the Portage Township YMCA, began offering water safety classes free of charge to Portage Township children diagnosed with autism. In taking the Portage Township Autism Action Coalition to its next phase, our goal was to not only bolster relationships between children with autism and their families and first responders, but to address some of the significant issues families with children on the spectrum face every day," Clancy said. Many children on the spectrum have a tendency to wander or flee when they become frightened or overwhelmed. Many children are also non-verbal or become non-communicative when they become overwhelmed. The emergency identification bracelet program, which was based on a program initiated a few years ago by then North Township Trustee and now U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, was adapted to serve children and first responders in Portage Township. The program allows parents to register their child by answering some simple questions regarding the childs physical and behavioral traits as well as emergency contact information. The child is then issued a blue silicone bracelet embossed with a unique number. That number, along with the information, is inputted into the Porter County Central Communications 911 data base, said Joyce Russell, Portage Township community outreach and communications coordinator, who oversees the program. First responders are trained to identify the bracelets. If necessary, the first responder will be able to obtain the persons emergency information through the data base maintained at Porter County Central Communications. The contact information will include name, contact information and other information of special interest. The goal of the program is to provide first responders with a useful tool to aid in identifying, locating and interacting with youngsters on the spectrum, Russell said. Parents are also provided with unique puzzle piece window clings symbolic of autism, which they can place on their homes or cars windows to alert first responders that a person with autism is in the home or vehicle. The program launched during an event at Portage High School included a touch-a-truck-like event. Representatives from the Portage, South Haven and Ogden Dunes fire departments as well as the Portage Police Department attended, allowing the children to not only meet first responders, but to see their equipment and vehicles in a sensory-friendly, lights down, sounds down way. The program, which was partially funded through a grant from Autism Speaks, is continuing to register children through the Portage Township Trustees office at 3590 Willowcreek Road, Suite B, Portage. More information on the program can be found as well on the trustees website at portagetrustee.org. Water safety concerns addressed A partnership with the Portage Township YMCA will be helping to address concerns of water safety which parents of autistic children face on a daily basis. Children on the spectrum tend to be drawn to water. Many also tend to have no fear. We have seen a few tragic incidents, including one recently in Michigan City, where a child on the spectrum wandered and was later found drowned, Russell said, adding that drowning is one of the primary causes of deaths of children on the spectrum. PTAAC applied for, and received a second grant from Autism Speaks, which will fund training for Portage Township YMCA aquatics instructors in autism awareness and safety. The training is through the International Board of Certification and Continuing Education Standards. The YMCA, which already hosts a nationally-renown water safety program, will adapt the program to serve Portage Township children on the spectrum. The grant will allow us to provide scholarships for 100 Portage Township children with ASD, making the program free of charge to their families, Russell said. The trustees office, along with our partners in the Portage Township Autism Action Coalition, are providing these programs to assist families with children diagnosed with autism to improve their quality of life, improve safety for children on the spectrum, provide necessary tools for first responders and to address and raise awareness of autism in our community, Clancy said. Statistics indicate that one in 44 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, including our very own children in Portage Township. Flash flooding in Northern Colorado killed two people on Friday afternoon, according to the Larimer County Sheriffs Office. Flooding hit the Crystal Mountain area of Larimer County, about 100 miles north of Denver, submerging roads and bridges. The sheriffs office had received reports of a camping trailer containing a woman and girl that had swept away. The authorities found the two of them dead on Friday evening. No other injuries were reported to the sheriffs office. Floods also destroyed one home and caused minor damage to at least five others, according to the authorities. The U.S. Forest Service has temporarily closed large swaths of land in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests nearby, and crews stayed out until late Saturday evening to repair roads. In recent years, Nigerian custodial centres have witnessed a series of jailbreaks that continue to pose serious threats to the myriad of security challenges facing the country. In these violent attacks, thousands of criminals, including terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other high-profile criminals, were freed and returned illegally to the society. Aside from the grave danger the illegal release of the criminals portends to the society, it is now becoming a source of worry and embarrassment to the Nigerian security architecture. A data compiled by Daily Trust on Sunday reveals that Nigeria has witnessed 10 jailbreaks in five years, leading to the escape of 6,108 inmates from 9 correctional facilities in Ogun, Jos, Ondo, Minna, Kogi, Benin, Owerri and Kuje. Based on the data obtained, the most significant incident in Nigeria, and perhaps, beyond Africa, was the attack on the Kuje Medium Custodial Centre, where a total of 442 inmates escaped, including 68 Boko Haram detainees. A source from the prison revealed that the invaders operated for over two hours, going cell by cell to free their men who were held in the facility. At the end of the attack, an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and four inmates were discovered dead and the over 300 attackers had vanished into thin air. Less than 24 hours later, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for the attack, a development many analysts described as a serious setback to the country's fight against terrorism. No much detailed is available on the identities of the remaining hundreds of suspects released from Kuje. A list our reporter obtained from the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) indicated that in most attacks, out of the 6,108 escapees, 386 inmates were suspected kidnappers awaiting trial. The list, which was compiled in March 18, 2021, revealed that 267 suspected kidnappers were languishing in Imo, 104 in Oyo and 15 in Kuje custodial centres when the three separate attacks took place. Although the Service said it had recaptured many escapees, it is not clear whether any of the kidnappers had been recaptured. Timeline of jailbreaks From April 5 to October 28, 2021, there were five jailbreaks in four correctional facilities in Imo, Plateau, Kogi and Oyo states, where a total of 2,177 inmates escaped. On April 5, 2021, a nocturnal attack on the Imo correctional facility by a large number of hoodlums freed 1,844 inmates, out of which six returned voluntarily, while 35 refused to escape from custody. The operation, which lasted from 1am to 3am, began after the assailants sang a solidarity song in front of the Imo State Government House in Owerri and told the inmates, "Go home, Jesus has risen. You have no reason to be here." Confirming the attack, the spokesperson of the Service, Francis Enobore, noted in a statement that the attackers took advantage of the #EndSARS protest to carry out the heinous act. On September 12, 2021, the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kabba, Kogi State, was also attacked by gunmen around 10.45pm, where 240 inmates out of 294 in custody were freed. However, the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) claimed that it rearrested 114. In a similar attack on July 8, 2021, gunmen attacked Jos correctional facility in Plateau State and freed 4 inmates. In another worrisome trend, in September 2021, another jailbreak set free 240 inmates from Kabba custodial centre in Kogi State. "The Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kabba has been attacked by yet-to-be-identified gunmen and 240 inmates forcefully released," the NCS spokesman, Enobore, had noted in a statement. On October 22, 2021, gunmen also set 837 inmates free at the Obolongo Custodial Centre in Oyo State but the Service said it had recaptured 262. "A total of 262 escaped inmates had been recaptured, while 575 were still at large," Olanrewaju Anjorin, the spokesperson of the NCS, Oyo State command said. On October 28, 2021, another attack was launched at the Jos custodial centre in Plateau State, where at least 252 inmates escaped. Also, on September 12, 2020, gunmen laid siege on the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kabba, Kogi State, where they freed 240 inmates out of 294 in custody. Days later, the Service claimed to have rearrested 114 escapees. Also, on October 19, 2020, #EndSARS protesters broke into two correctional facilities in Benin City, Edo State and freed 1,993 inmates. According to the correctional service, 82 inmates voluntarily returned while 35 refused to escape. Prior to 2020 jailbreaks, on October 28, 2019, a heavy downpour at Katon Karfe led to the escape of 228 inmates from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kogi State. The inmates managed to escape after some parts of the building collapsed. Also, on June 3, 2018, some armed men attacked the Medium Security Custodial Centre in the Tunga area of Minna, Niger State, freeing over 200 inmates. Only 28 were rearrested. Owerri Correctional Centre Escapees return to terror Following the unlawful release of the convicts, some of them have returned to their old ways of committing crimes, therefore, threatening the peace of the society. In Imo State, one of the escapees from Oko Custodial Centre rushed back to his village and killed the prosecution witness who testified in the case that took him to the centre. A former commissioner of police in the state, Babatunde Kokumo, said the escapee was among 10 fleeing convicts rearrested by the police. "Another group of three escapees from the custodial centre in Benin also went ahead to snatch a Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). Three of them met at the correctional centre and they were caught by the police. "A set of two escapees equally stole a Toyota Camry car. They also met at the correctional centre. They were arrested by Okada Division of the Edo State police command. "Guns were also recovered from the criminal elements." Also, a terror suspect that escaped from the Kuje custodial centre, Suleiman Sidi, was re-arrested by operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Area 1 motor park in the Federal Capital Territory while he was attempting to board a commercial vehicle to Maiduguri, Borno State. The director, Department of Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said the suspect was arrested with drugs, and that during preliminary interview he confirmed that he was remanded at the Kuje Custodial Centre for terrorism and robbery charges. Poor facilities despite huge budgetary allocations Despite the growing trend of jailbreaks across the country and the huge budgetary allocation to the agency, many custodial centres in Nigeria have remained dilapidated, with no facility upgrade to meet modern day technological standard. Statistics showed that in the history of the correctional centre, the current administration has made the highest allocations to the sector, but the impact is yet to show as the facility has continued to grapple with infrastructural challenges and other basic facilities in various centres across the country. Analysis by DATAPHYTE, a data journalism platform, revealed that the federal government has appropriated over N613.5bn to the Nigerian Correctional Service in the last 10 years. It also pointed out that in the same period, not less than N88.4bn had been allocated for capital expenditure. It's on this note that both President Muhammadu Buhari and Senate President Ahmad Lawan expressed disappointment, having discovered that at the time of the attack, there were no Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at the Kuje custodial centre to record the incident. Nigerians at the mercy of criminals - Security expert A security expert, Dr Ndubisi Ani of the Institute for Security Studies, said the incessant jailbreaks in the country had clearly shown that Nigeria has no proactive government. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "Nigeria is a country that is reactive; we respond to crises not proactively while trying to prevent it. "From the crisis, you will know that information had already been given that there were people on the move who could likely attack the Kuje Custodial Centre, but there was no response in that regard. "This is not the only the case; there were several reports. The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) gathered a lot of intelligence and passed to the respective persons who were supposed to act, but it seems there was lack of response to address the crisis before it got out of hand. "So, at the end, people are left at the mercy of the bandits, terrorists and people who could increase crime in the country. For the country, it is not the jailbreak but the attack on the presidential convoy that made it clear that insecurity knows no boundary and it could affect anyone. "As we are looking forward to how it will develop, it is a worrying trend for the country as we are also getting into an election period," he said. To address the issue head on, Ani said, "Security agencies have to be more proactive in their response and go after the people who have gone out of jail and re-arrest them. Also, there has to be an overhaul of the security system in the country. We have several security outfits, but then, we have to ensure that they are responsive to our needs rather than their pockets. "And there should be better ammunitions, better welfare system for the security agents and their families for them to operate diligently. You can't send a hungry person or someone who doesn't have enough weapons or the backing of the government to go out fighting bandits who have a common course. It is very difficult to achieve in that regard. "People should easily pick up their phones and call the government, the police or the military for intelligence report. "Such confidence should be built in communities across board, such that they are able to rely on and trust the government." Data compiled by Haruna Ibrahim But the glamour was offset by heartbreak. Her second husband died by suicide in 1969; her son Claudio was killed in a car accident, along with her grandson, in 1989. The worst came in 1999 when her husband, the founder of Republic National Bank, died during a fire in their penthouse apartment in Monaco. Mr. Safra had locked himself and a nurse he had been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and needed care in a bathroom that doubled as a safe room, and refused to come out. Mrs. Safra, who was in another wing of the apartment, escaped unharmed. As a private banker for some of the worlds richest people, and as a very private person himself, Mr. Safra was the subject of constant baseless rumors about the Russian mafia, Colombian drug dealers and other people said to be clients, and about the services he might have provided them. The rumor mill began again after his death. British tabloids were filled with stories about two knife-wielding assailants, masked in balaclavas, who had come in through a skylight to kill him. When they failed to break through the bathroom door, it was said, they set fire to the house and escaped, stabbing Ted Maher, another of Mr. Safras nurses, in the stomach and thigh along the way. Good morning. I thought I was smart to marinate a bunch of chicken thighs in ranch dressing before grilling them for Sunday supper a while back, but of course Ali Slagle was way ahead of me with her much-better-than-mine recipe for pan-seared ranch chicken (above). She builds her marinade on a base of Greek yogurt, which beautifully tenderizes the meat under the crusty, caramelized skin. Its fantastic over a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce dressed with more ranch, chopped celery, carrots and apples: my new Sunday jam. In Wisconsin, where a 173-year-old abortion ban may soon become enforceable again, Dr. Carley Zeal, an obstetrician-gynecologist, treated a woman who said that just after abortion rights were nullified, she showed up bleeding at a hospital, which determined she had miscarried but told her they couldnt do a D&C because of the laws. The hospital didnt offer her miscarriage medication either, advising her to find an obstetrician-gynecologist to help. By the time she found Dr. Zeal, who gave her mifepristone and misoprostol, the woman had been bleeding intermittently for days, putting her at increased risk of hemorrhage or infection. Even in these straightforward cases of basic OB/GYN practice, the laws leave providers questioning and afraid, Dr. Zeal said. These laws are already hurting my patients. Doctors say even greater risks may occur with cases of inevitable miscarriage, where there is still fetal cardiac activity, but the patients water has broken much too early for the pregnancy to be viable, said Greer Donley, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School. A study from two Dallas hospitals reported on 28 patients whose water broke or who had other serious complications before 22 weeks gestation, and who, because of Texas laws, didnt receive medical intervention until there was an immediate threat to their lives or fetal cardiac activity stopped. On average, the patients waited nine days, and 57 percent ended up with serious infections, bleeding or other medical problems, the report said. Another article, in the New England Journal of Medicine, said similar patients returned with signs of sepsis after doctors or hospitals decided Texass abortion law prevented them from intervening earlier. In such cases, Dr. Seago of Texas Right to Life said abortion bans might require delaying intervention. What he characterized as a doctor saying I want to cause the death of the child today because I believe that theyre going to pass away eventually, is prohibited, he said. He acknowledged that such delays could cause medical complications for women but said severe complications could legally be treated immediately. Say a postcard arrives in the mail, a reminder to make an appointment for a mammogram. Or a primary care doctor orders a PSA test to screen a man for prostate cancer, or tells him that because of his years of smoking, he should be screened for lung cancer. These patients, trying to be informed customers, may look online for a cancer center to learn more about screening, when it is recommended and for whom. It might not be the best move. Medical societies and the independent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force publish guidelines about who should be screened for lung, prostate and breast cancers and how frequently, among many other prevention recommendations. But websites for cancer centers often diverge from those recommendations, according to three studies published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine. For example, the tractate Moed Katan (Intermediate Days of the Festivals) states, During midfestival they may not marry wives, whether virgins or widowed ... since this is an occasion for rejoicing; but a man may take back his divorced wife. The reason for the ban was that the joy of marriage might eclipse the delight required by the festival itself. Professor Halivni wondered why the statement suggested that remarriage to a divorced wife was not an occasion for rejoicing. He concluded, through meticulous research, that a phrase might have been transposed in oral transmission, and he suggested that a more accurate reading would be that a man may take back his divorced wife, since this is an occasion for rejoicing in other words, the rejoicing of a remarriage is permitted because it is tempered by memories of the anguish of the divorce itself and so does not detract as much from the rejoicing in the festival. Agudath Israel, an ultra-Orthodox Israeli political party, called Professor Halivnis work an abomination and accused him of daring to enter the domain of the holy and express the poisonous and destructive thought that the transmitters of the Talmud changed the text not even knowing that they did so. On the other hand, in 1977 Marvin Fox, then chairman of Judaic studies at Brandeis University, called Professor Halivni one of our precious, precious treasures. Professor Halivni acknowledged that fundamentalist rabbis feel compelled to regard the Talmud as given by God, along with the Torah, at Mount Sinai. If I criticize the Talmud, it suggests to them that I dont accept its canonization, he explained to the New York Times reporter Israel Shenker for a 1977 profile. To them, accepting the canonization means that Talmud is off limits to criticism. But my feeling is that divine origin does not preclude critical study, since critical study seeks to purge the text of human error. Professor Halivni conveyed his Talmud method to students at the Jewish Theological Seminary from 1957 until 1983. He broke with the seminary that year over its decision to admit women for ordination. Baruch Weiss said his father objected to the way the decision was executed, which he felt disregarded Jewish law by turning the question into a secular one of admission policy rather than requiring a vote by rabbinical authorities. In response to that decision, Professor Halivni co-founded a breakaway movement now called the Union for Traditional Judaism. Though at its peak it claimed 15 affiliated synagogues and a seminary that ordained 24 rabbis, it is now largely engaged in advocacy and outreach, according to Rabbi Ronald Price, its executive vice president emeritus. Gerald Shargel, who unapologetically vowed to do anything that the law will allow to defend the Mafia bosses, crooked politicians and other miscreants he represented for more than four decades as a savvy criminal lawyer, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 77. The cause was complications of Alzheimers disease, his wife, Terry Shargel, said. More often than not, Mr. Shargel combined cogent legal scholarship with shrewd courtroom theatrics to vindicate a roster of white collar clients and Mafioso including John Gotti, Anthony Provenzano, Joseph Gambino and Salvatore Gravano whom the gregarious Mr. Shargel not only represented but befriended. Suffice it to say he put the Teflon in the Don, Geraldo Rivera, the television journalist and Mr. Shargels former classmate at Brooklyn Law, said in an email, referring to Mr. Gottis moniker. In Donhams interview with the F.B.I. in the mid-2000s, when the case was reopened, she said that the boy accosted her and that as soon as he touched me, I started screaming for Juanita. There was no screaming in the original testimony. In his 2017 book, the historian Timothy Tyson claimed that Donham recanted parts of her trial testimony, writing: But about her testimony that Till had grabbed her around the waist and uttered obscenities, she now told me, That parts not true. Donhams family denies that she recanted. One question still lingers: Donham was involved in Tills abduction. Tills uncle Moses testified at trial that when Bryant and Milam kidnapped the boy, they took him outside to their car, where a third person identified him in a voice that seemed to him a lighter voice than a mans. Late last month, an unserved arrest warrant for Donham on a charge of kidnapping was found in the basement of a Mississippi courthouse. Yet in a statement Donham gave in 1955, she said that she did not go to this Negros house but instead Bryant took the boy to her to identify. But according to an account by the author Douglas O. Linder, Donham was in the truck with Bryant and Milam earlier on the day of the kidnapping looking for their target when they seized another Black man before throwing him out of the truck after Donham said he wasnt the right N-word. Then when Bryant and Milam were acquitted at the trial, the killers kissed their wives, lit cigars and posed for pictures. Donham was one of the kissed wives. Where was the remorse? Where is it now? One reason to protect conscience in medicine is to preserve the moral integrity of clinicians who claim it. This applies to conscientious providers, too. Forcing doctors and nurses to stand by and do nothing to help patients in need flies in the face of clinicians fundamental charge to heal, promote health and relieve suffering. Also, openness to conscientious dissent, within limits, lets a pluralistic society adapt to moral change from the inside. Congress or the courts should recognize a partial defense of medical disobedience. This defense shouldnt be available to every clinician who invokes conscience to provide prohibited care. In the related context of religion, the Supreme Court has adopted a know-it-when-I-see-it test for whether someones putative beliefs qualify as genuine and morally weighty. That test would exclude an asserted claim so bizarre, odious or self-interested as not to be entitled to protection. And doctors would have to show more than that they acted out of deeply held convictions. The care that they conscientiously provide must also be medically indicated and come with the informed consent of a patient or an appropriate surrogate. So a mercy killing of someone who had been pressured to exercise the option wouldnt qualify. Nor would any intervention whose benefits havent been proven worth the risks through peer-reviewed studies or clinical practice. The requirement that care be clinically reasonable would rule out conscience claims to undertake the discredited conversion therapy that at least 20 states prohibit to try to turn gay kids straight. Other cases are closer calls. Bans on puberty blockers are passed or pending in some states to affirm a minors gender identity, though the evidence is still out about long-term risks to fertility and bone density. Americas culture wars leave many people convinced that conscience has come to represent little more than a card that defeated camps play when they have nothing else to lose. But it can be more than that. States vigorously safeguard the consciences of refusers. Congress and the courts ought to protect the consciences of providers, too. It has been over a century since judges flexed their common-law authority to introduce any major category of mitigation. Dobbs gives reason to recover that muscle memory and recognize a limited defense of medical disobedience. Dov Fox is a professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law and director of its Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics. He is the author of Medical Disobedience and Birth Rights and Wrongs: How Medicine and Technology are Remaking Reproduction and the Law as well as the host of the podcast Donor 9623. We dont sell NFTs, and we wont, said Bettina Huang, co-founder of Platform, an online marketplace for contemporary art that celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday at the Bowery Hotel. The website, also co-founded by David Zwirners two children, Marlene and Lucas Zwirner, showcases artists from smaller galleries. It was a sticky night, and the guests, who moved leisurely among the open bars and cushioned benches that rimmed the terrace, wore light, open dresses, barely-there tops and more than a few T-shirts. Philip Colbert, who produced a film about Salvador Dali, wore a black T-shirt he printed with the words Fake Dali. I made all these imaginary Dalis for the movie because we didnt have the rights, he said. I think they could be sold at auction as second-rate Dalis. The helicopter crew members were responding to a fire in East Mesa that started about two days ago and was believed to have been caused by a lightning strike, Lieutenant Arguelles said. The helicopter and its crew were assisting with a wildfire in the area, providing bucket drops and other air logistics needed to fire crews on the ground, the sheriffs office said. The East Mesa fire is near the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires, which have covered more than 341,700 acres and are listed as being 93 percent contained. New Mexico has had an early, record-breaking wildfire season this year because of abnormally dry, warm conditions and strong winds. By June, it was already one of the worst fire years in the states history, with still at least another month of risk ahead. Two U.S. Forest Service-prescribed burns this year in New Mexico intended to manage wildfires ravaged hundreds of homes and displaced thousands of people after getting out of control. At least four people have been confirmed dead after a car ploughed into children who were returning from church . The accident according to Traffic Police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima happened at Kabango in Ssembabule town council, Ssembabule district on Saturday evening when a Toyota Wish registration number UBG 517L coming from Gomba road heading to Ssembabule town ploughed into eight children. "The eight children were returning from attending a church service ahead of their confirmation,"Nampiima said. According to the Daily Monitor, the children were returning from St Gonza Gonzaga Catholic Parish in Semabbule Town from attending catechism classes when the vehicle ploughed into them. The accident saw four children die and four others were rushed to the nearby health facilities for treatment. Police identified the deceased as Namata Winnie, Nalubega Joan , Babirye slivia, Nabadda Macklin, all aged 13 years while the injured include Nanyonga Molly and Nabayego Nowelin all aged 12 year and , Ndagire Christine aged 14 years whereas another victim was not yet identified "The driver is on the run but efforts are underway to have him arrested. We would like to urge motorists to be mindful of other road users and avoid reckless driving," Nampiima said. Ugandan roads have continued to be deadly with at least 10 people killed on average on Ugandan roads every day. Authorities have put this to recklessness of the drivers and other road users as well as overspeeding. Jewelry and gems worth millions a conservative figure put the value at up to $10 million were stolen from a Brinks armored truck near Los Angeles last week, the security company said, leaving some victims wondering how such a theft could have occurred. The merchandise was loaded onto a Brinks truck from an event hosted by the International Gem and Jewelry Show on July 10 in San Mateo, near San Francisco, said Brandy Swanson, the groups event director. She said the truck had been en route to another exhibit 370 miles away at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena. But under circumstances that have not been made public, the merchandise was taken from the truck near Los Angeles early on Monday, said Dana Callahan, a spokeswoman for Brinks. Schools have not been told to close, though some will. Parents reactions were mixed. Some of the windows dont open, theres no fans, no air-conditioning, said Guy Arnel, 44, of Ascot, a town west of London, whose 18-year-old daughters school opted to offer classes remotely early in the week. It is probably better off not being in a heat box like that. Some parents planned to have their children stay home, even if schools were open. Well be keeping our children at home so that I can monitor what they eat, what they drink and how they are in themselves, said Zoe, 46, who has 8-year-old twins, one of whom has autism and reduced kidney function, rendering him particularly vulnerable to the heat. In this situation, Im very happy to play the mother knows best card, said Zoe, who lives in Cheshire in northwest England and asked to be identified by her first name over privacy concerns. Some hospitals said they would cancel nonemergency operations, citing the risk to both patients and staff members. We have taken the decision to stand down routine outpatient appointments and surgery on Monday and Tuesday because many of the patients traveling to these appointments are frail and at increased risk, and due to the unpredictable nature of very high temperatures on demand for emergency care, Joe Harrison, chief executive of Milton Keynes University Hospital, said on Twitter. Britain is bracing for its hottest day ever as a heat wave sweeps across Europe. Follow live updates here. LONDON The weather maps for Europe were blood red on Sunday as heat that has been baking Spain and Italy and fanning fires in southwest France worked its way north toward Britain. In London, it was warm, in the high 80s, but temperatures on Monday and Tuesday were forecast to hit 100 or higher and to shatter records in a place where air-conditioning is rare and buildings are constructed to retain heat. The first person Yana Muravinets tried to persuade to leave her home near Ukraines front lines was a young woman who was five months pregnant. She did not want to abandon her cows, her calf or her dog. She told Ms. Muravinets that she put energy and money into building her house near the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, and she was afraid of losing it. I said: None of this will be necessary when youre lying here dead, Ms. Muravinets said. Since the early days of the war Ms. Muravinets, a 27-year-old photographer and videographer from the region, has taken up a new volunteer job with the Red Cross: encouraging people to evacuate. In phone calls, doorstep conversations, public speeches in village squares, sometimes even under fire, she has tried to convince Ukrainians that leaving everything behind is the only sure way to survive. DONETSK PROVINCE, Ukraine Red flames crackled in the golden wheat field, the target of Russian artillery just minutes earlier. Nearby, the commander of a Ukrainian frontline unit was finishing his lunch of pasta from a tin bowl. As more incoming shells exploded in the fields, his men took cover in their bunkers. Life on the front lines in the eastern Donetsk region has seen little letup in recent weeks. Ukrainian soldiers serving there say they live under almost constant Russian artillery and aerial bombardment. The fields and hedgerows around them are charred and smoldering. Their days and nights are interspersed with the sharp bangs of outgoing Ukrainian artillery and the deeper, rumbling bursts of incoming fire. Its tense, said the commander, Samson, 55, who, like most members of the Ukrainian military, asked to be identified by only his code name in accord with military protocol. There is daily mortar fire, airplanes, helicopters, Grads. They have a lot of ammunition. Grad, meaning hail, is the Russian acronym for a commonly used multiple rocket launcher system. ATHENS A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying 11.5 tons of Serbian-made weapons destined for Bangladesh crashed in northern Greece late Saturday, killing eight Ukrainian crew members and setting off an investigation into whether the hazardous material being transported posed a threat to the local population, state and local officials said. The plane, an Antonov An-12BK, was owned by the Ukrainian cargo carrier, Meridian, but the episode did not appear to be connected to the war in Ukraine, according to Serbian and Ukrainian officials. The cargo plane was on its way from Serbia to Jordan the first of several planned stops, according to flight records when its pilot contacted the Greek authorities before midnight on Saturday reporting engine problems and requesting permission to make an emergency landing, according to an official with the Greek Civil Aviation Authority, who was not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. The plane crashed at around 11 p.m. Saturday in a cornfield approximately 40 miles west of the city of Kavala, the official said. The road from Collins Lane junction to the roundabout at Kingdom Hall in Tullamore will be closed temporarily for periods during July and August. This is to facilitate upgrading and construction work on the Ballin Ri/Collins Lane junction. Traffic will be diverted via the L6062-1 Drom Liath link road. Offaly County Council has apologised for any inconvenience to road users. A pedestrian crossing is to be installed at the junction of Ballin Ri and Educate Together national school on Collins Lane. Councillor Sean O'Brein said recently. this pedestrian crossing is essential at this junction. I have been raising this matter for the past three years and I asked again at this month's council meeting that this work be completed before the start of the school year in September. "Collins Lane is a very busy road and it has been very dangerous for pedestrians to cross, especially young children trying to access the link road into Educate Together school. He added: This will be a fully signalled pedestrian crossing and thus it will be very safe. The project was delayed due to the need to integrate a new bicycle lane on the same road. The scourge of fly tipping has significantly increased in the last couple of months, according to the councillors of Birr Municipal District. The July meeting was told by Mary Hussey of the Council's Environment Section that there have been 169 community litter clean ups so far in 2022, with 18,759 kilograms of litter having been collected. Cllr John Leahy warmly praised the wonderful community spirit which is so prominent in the villages, towns and rural areas of the District. "We are so fortunate in Offaly to have this fantastic community spirit in our midst. It's invaluable and a lot of people have it. "However, there are also quite a few who have no civic spirit at all. 169 clean ups is a massive amount. The high number shows the scale of the littering and waste problem that we have. You know nearly 19,000 kilos of litter is enough to fill a huge eight wheeler truck capable of carrying 20 tonnes. Imagine if that was dumped by a truck on one of our town streets; what a sight that would be." Cllr Leahy pointed out that it's obvious to everyone that fly tipping has been going up and up as everyone has emerged from the Pandemic and normality has returned. "A lot of our litter problem is fly tipping by dashboard warriors, who are throwing out their litter as they are driving along. Much of the time they have been to a fast food restaurant and they are throwing out the fast food packaging. It's really disrespectful, mindless stuff. It's disrespectful to the people living in the area." Cllr Leahy said more CCTV cameras are needed, particularly in rural, out of the way areas. He added that he hopes community spirit never dies. "If it does die I don't know where we'll end up." He advocated delivering educational leaflets to houses in the region, outlining the issues of fly tipping and dog littering. He pointed out that he knows other regions in Ireland are suffering from the same problem. Cllr Peter Ormond agreed, pointing out that the situation is worsening and it's frustrating. "In Shinrone the big increase in fly tipping has been very noticeable over the last couple of months since we emerged from Covid. As well as fast food packaging, drivers are also throwing out bottles of soft drinks. I think educational leaflets might make some difference. We need to do what we can to change people's mindset. For example, a lot of dog owners are still not bringing poo bags with them. I'd also like to see the litter warden visiting our villages and rural areas more." Cllr John Clendennen pointed out that 504 complaints about littering throughout Offaly were made to Offaly County Council so far in 2022. 387 were investigated and are now closed with the remaining 114 open. The Council has taken legal action in the case of three complaints. Cllr Clendennen said taking legal action in only three instances was too little and it was perhaps indicative that the Council wasn't taking the litter problem seriously enough. Ms Hussey replied that the Council only takes legal actions "if we are sure of winning. It's a very costly process." Cllr Clendennen said more CCTVs are needed. He also advocated using drone surveillance to tackle the problem. "We should invest in six or seven drones in the District and use them to monitor the situation. We have to crack down hard on the problem." Ms Hussey pointed out that it is illegal to use drones for this purpose. Moroccan firm, OCP Group, has donated 15,000 tonnes of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers, a development that will support the country's fertiliser use and increase farm productivity efforts, according to Gerardine Mukeshimana, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Mukeshimana made the observations on Saturday, July 16, while speaking to The New Times. At the time of the interview, she was visiting the construction site of the fertiliser blending factory in Bugesera District to assess its progress, along with other officials including Mohamed Anouar Jamali, CEO of OCP Africa. OCP Group is one of the leading exporters of phosphorus fertilisers in the world. This contribution, she said, is important especially in this period when fertiliser costs are high, mainly as a result of two factors; the war involving Russia and Ukraine and the rising transport costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. Russia and Ukraine are the leading potash fertiliser exporters. Their conflict triggered an increase in prices of natural gas [one of the key ingredients in fertiliser manufacturing]. "We are fortunate that our friends from OCP have donated 15,000 tonnes of DAP fertilisers. That is something being injected into the sector," Mukeshimana said. Of that committed amount, Mukeshimana explained that 10,000 tonnes are going to be used as a strategic fertiliser reserve. "That means we have a stock of fertilisers and whenever there is a need, we can be able to inject it into the farming community," she said. For the remaining 5,000 tonnes, she said it is going to be a free starting stock of the fertiliser blending plant to support the launch of its production of adapted fertilisers. Also, OCP Group committed to supply Rwanda with additional 17,000 tonnes DAP fertilisers at a discounted price. This is part of the Group's initiative to empower African farmers and ensure African food sovereignty, the Minister indicated. "We believe that smallholder farmers are integral to the agricultural sector in Rwanda. With the repercussions of the Ukraine war on fertiliser prices and effects of drought in Eastern Africa, the situation may be unbearable for smallholder farmers and disastrous for food security," said Mohamed Anouar Jamali, CEO of OCP Africa. "Our donation emphasises our commitment to supporting the agricultural sector adjacent to our cooperative projects for which we hope to continue to get your support in their respective implementation," he observed. According to prices announced in January this year by the Ministry, imported DAP reached Rwanda costing Rwf1,435 a kilogramme (without the Government subsidy of Rwf603 or 42 percent of the cost). As such, the committed 15,000 tonnes (or 15 million kilogrammes) of DAP are worth about Rwf21 billion. In the current fiscal year, RAB targeted to distribute at least 3,430 tonnes of quality seeds, 50,179 tonnes of fertilisers amid the rising costs of this farm input, as well as 37,736 tonnes of lime with Government subsidy. Meanwhile, the average fertiliser use in Rwanda rose from 32 kilogrammes per hectare in 2017 to 60 kilogrammes per hectare in 2021, Prime Minister, Edouard Ngirente told parliamentarians in April this year. Update on the fertiliser blending facility Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Company Agribusiness By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Back to the abovementioned Bugesera-based factory, its investment is estimated at $38 million (about Rwf39 billion) and it is expected to have a capacity to blend 100,000 tonnes of fertilisers per year, according to data from the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB). It is a joint venture involving OCP Group and the Government of Rwanda. "We hope that by May next year, we will be launching it (the factory), and to be providing appropriate fertilisers according to the type of soils and according to the crop needs," the Minister said, indicating that it is in the context of increasing the country's agricultural productivity. Jamali said, "Our joint venture -Rwanda Fertiliser Company (RFC) - to manufacture blended fertilisers and our cooperation projects shows our commitment to developing the agricultural sector." Floods in NSW and Queensland are partly responsible for thousands of flying foxes flocking to the country music mecca in numbers locals havent seen in years. A Melbourne actor inadvertently became part of a fraught online debate when he discovered his labour-of-love audio drama had been uploaded to a US archive. Brisbane Times 12 Jul 2022 The Victorian government plans for a challenging Omicron wave, while the US is set to launch its biggest Pacific push since World.. German hospitals are struggling as beds fill up and nursing staff falls ill with COVID. Even freshly trained health care workers complain about unsustainable levels of stress and worsening conditions. The Russian TV journalist who protested Moscow's war against Ukraine has been taken into custody, according to her lawyer. She recently returned to Russia after working for German newspaper Die Welt. A surge in fighting between rival gangs in the capital, Port-au-Prince, killed 99 people and injured 135 others, the United Nations says. The Caribbean island has been wracked by violence, natural disasters and poverty. By Trend Thanks to President Ilham Aliyev's leadership, Azerbaijan has achieved a growing prominence on the international stage, national security analyst and expert from the US Irina Tsukerman told Trend. She noted that President Biden has written two direct letters earlier this year to congratulate Baku on the Republic Day and to mark the Energy week, but has also expressed interest in the integration of the South Caucasus and the sthe finalizing of the peace process with Armenia. "This indicates Azerbaijan's growing importance as an energy producer but also a potential peace interlocutor on various regional issues. Similarly, Azerbaijan has strengthend ints relations with EU, and is being seen as an increasingly active and important country in light of the current European national sovereignty concerns, the food shortage crisis, and the energy crisis," she said. In her words, there is also a strong coordination with Israel on defense and other issues, and growing relations with some of the reform-minded countries in the Arab world, both on economic and political issues. "In light of these developments, Baku's positive role in pushing for a peaceful transition to regional integration after its victory in the Second Karabakh War, and its continuous willingness to extend efforts at friendship will be particularly appreciated. Another conflict right now is the last thing anyone needs or wants to see, and so the fact that even despite the 30 years of devastating occupation and illegal activities by Armenians, Azerbaijan is still going out of its way diplomatically to overcome tensions will play an important role in bringing it even close to other countries - but will also benefit it in terms of the ability to attract investors, support for various economic, green energy, hi tech, and educational projects, and will be taken into account even in courts over the deliberation of the handling of the occupation issue and Azerbaijan's legal claims of war crimes by Yerevan before an during the war," she said. Tsukerman emphasized that Armenia would be wise to take Azerbaijan's positioning as an example and similarly focus on positive development of relations with its neighbors and others, instead of looking towards the past. In turn, Peter Tase, US expert, and strategic adviser on international affairs and public diplomacy to governments, universities, and corporations in Europe and the Americas told Trend that Azerbaijan has pursued an admirable real politics that has delivered impressive results in the national economy, foreign affairs operations, bilateral diplomacy and provided an outstanding performance in agroindustrial sector. "The relations of Azerbaijan with neighboring countries have improved, Georgia has been an important economic partner, Kazakhstan has increased its political, commercial and economic cooperation with Azerbaijan. The brotherly relations with the Republic of Turkiye have enabled Azerbaijan to be at the forefront of global geopolitics and bolstered its role in Eurasia. Azerbaijan has been a staunch ally of the European Union and expanded its cooperation with Italy, Germany and Austria, among other countries that are part of the EU. With Washington, Azerbaijan strengthened its alliance and political dialogue as well as economic ties are greater now than December last year. Washington in Azerbaijan sees a prominent ally and a geopolitical actor of huge proportions in Europe and beyond. Azerbaijan has employed every tool to increase dialogue and close cooperation with the US Department of State," he said. He also added that Armenia continues to be a belligerent actor in Europe and EU, other diplomatic actors in the region must convince Armenia to become a better neighbor and ensure more transparency in bilateral dialogues engaging Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Georgia and other European countries. He emphasized that Europe and United States do not realize how important Zangazur corridor is for the economies of Caucasus and will immediately improve the peaceful coexistence among neighbors and nations in this region of Europe. "Opening of Zangazur corridor will help Significantly the Western European economies in these difficult geopolitical and economic times. President Ilham Aliyev has been a true visionary statesman and always taken diplomatic actions that benefit, human rights, economic prosperity and defense cooperation with European nations, Turkiye, and other key global partners," he said. press release While conducting an operation last night, a team of members, joined by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, arrested three men last night, one of which is a police Sergeant. The operation, which is one of many, primarily intended to stabilize crime in the Umbilo area, was carried out at least until midnight. Whilst the team was busy with their operations on Noble Road in Umbilo, they noticed something suspicious going on in between occupants in a police vehicle from Durban Central and a civilian male outside a block of flats on Noble Road in Umbilo. The team continued with their observation on the said activity. An unknown male was seen leaning through the window into the front passenger seat of the police vehicle, handing something over to the passenger. The team rushed toward the said police vehicle but upon seeing the team approaching, the member in the passenger seat threw something out through the window. The police officer, a 39-year-old Sergeant, was confronted and placed under arrest for corruption and defeating the ends of justice after an amount of R200-00, which is what he is suspected to have thrown, was retrieved from the drain. The man who handed the money to the police was subsequently caught with drugs. The civilian was ordered to take the operational team to his apartment where they found a second man. The flat was searched and police found pieces of Cocaine and R7000-00 cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime. Two men, aged 52, were placed under arrest for possession of drugs. All the three suspects are due to appear before the Durban Magistrates Court on Monday, 18 July 2022. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "We often see videos or pictures or receive information of police officers engaging in such criminal activities and we are unfortunately almost always never able to prove that such police officers are actually engaged in criminal activities", said General Nhlahla Mkhwanazi. "I accompanied those hard working members last night as a show of support and to boost the morale of our hard working members throughout the province as well as the country and these arrests last night, especially that of the police officer, is a giant leap for those hard working police officers to rid our ranks of corrupt elements", added General Mkhwanazi. It is very unlikely that the other two constables who were in the company of the arrested Sergeant will go unpunished. They are likely to answer for their actions or omissions within SAPS departmental processes. Thousands of rejected asylum seekers in Germany are left fighting a tangle of bureaucracy for years. DW's Ben Knight has met two for whom a new law will offer the chance to stay longer. In many ways, the Black September attack on the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 discloses little about the evolution of the.. Eurasia Review 09 Jul 2022 SoccerNews.com 27 Jul 2022 Lisandro Martinez says the lure of reuniting with Erik ten Hag played a big part in his decision to join Manchester United from.. Newsy 17 Jul 2022 Watch VideoExperts were poised to investigate the site of a plane crash in northern Greece Sunday to determine whether any.. By Charles E. Morrison* Following his recent assassination, late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe received commendations from leaders around the world as well as a posthumous political accolade from the Japanese people: his Liberal Democratic Partys massive victory in Upper House elections shortly after his death. The... A notorious drug lord on the FBI's 10 most wanted list was detained on Friday in an operation that ended in tragedy when 14 Marines.. Upworthy 16 Jul 2022 Institutional racism, greed, and a broken global health system are all working against African nations where people are dying from COVID in silence, according to a scathing assessment from one expert. Newsy 27 Jul 2022 Watch VideoBefore the U.S. sent Ukraine the first pallet of what would become about $8 billion in weapons and military equipment,.. Ukraine lost territory to Russia in the southern Kherson region early in the war. Residents fleeing rural villages there describe their desperation under Russian military control. At least 31 people were killed and 39 injured during several days of tribal clashes in the southeastern region of Sudan close to the border with Ethiopia, officials said Saturday. A statement from Blue Nile state's regional government described how the clashes spread in several towns, with 16 shops set ablaze. Security forces made several arrests and brought the situation under control, the statement added. Clashes sparked by killing of farmer Some residents have blamed the violence, between the Berti and Hausa tribes, on the killing of a farmer earlier this week. A prominent Hausa member told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that the Berti tribe had rejected a Hausa request to create a "civil authority to supervise access to land." But a senior Berti member said the tribe was responding to a "violation" of its lands by the Hausa. AFP cited witnesses as saying that clashes had resumed Saturday close to the state capital, Al-Damazin. "We heard gunshots," resident Fatima Hamad told AFP from the city of Al-Roseires, across the river from Al-Damazin, "and saw smoke rising" from the south. Al-Damazin resident Ahmed Youssef said "dozens of families" crossed the bridge into the city to flee the violence. Authorities have declared an overnight curfew in two towns and banned protests for the next month. Coup created security vacuum Sudan has seen mass protests and a violent clampdown by authorities since the military removed a transitional government in October. Until the coup, the country was moving toward democracy following the overthrowal of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Experts say the putsch created a security vacuum that has sparked a resurgence in tribal violence over land, livestock, and access to water and grazing areas. In April, tribal clashes killed more than 200 people in war-ravaged Darfur. mm/kb (AFP, AP, Reuters) CAIRO (AP) Flash floods triggered by seasonal torrential rains in Sudans western Darfur region killed at least 12 people, including children, the U.N. and an aid group said Sunday. Heavy rains started late Friday in the Kass locality in South Darfur province, according to the the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Bob Weaver said he admires older vehicles as he attended the Midland Berryhill American Legion Post 165's first car and motorcycle show on Saturday. I like antiques, older furniture and older cars, said Weaver, of Midland. He said he enjoys their beauty and how they are restored. He also likes how the older cars are easier to distinguish. You can actually tell a Ford from a Chevy by the grills, Weaver said, admiring a 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport at the show. Josh Myers of Houghton Lake appreciates the nostalgia and simplicity of vintage cars. He entered his late fathers 1968 Plymouth Hemi Roadrunner in the show. His father, James, was a Berryhill American Legion member and Myers wanted to show support for the event. James also owned a 1965 Mustang and a 1957 Chevy Apache truck. Dan and Barb Conner of Auburn entered their 1970 Cutlass Supreme in the show. Dan said he likes the memories and the class that the older cars have. They have a personality the newer cars dont, Barb said in agreement. The car can be the same make, model and year and have a different personality. Barbs father used to be a commander at the Berryhill post, and she is in the post auxiliary. The couple has friends visiting from Cody, Wyoming, and Barb is enjoying taking the Cutlass Supreme to visit ice cream shops with them. The couple has owned the car for 19 years and has done 50% of the restoration on it. It was built in Lansing, then shipped to Germany and shipped back. They bought the car after it sat in a garage for seven years. They are the third owners. Dan said he was looking for a see car when he found the Cutlass. He said this particular vehicle has a factory four-speed, which is rare for the Cutlass. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. r. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the World Trade Organisations Director-General at the closing of the conference. "Geneva Package" includes deals on fish, intellectual property rights waiver and food security In a time of pandemic and war-related doom and gloom, a striking moment of real multilateral triumph must be celebrated. In the early hours of 17 June, after several sleepless nights, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the World Trade Organisation's Director-General, stood up and, her voice rising to a crescendo, told exhausted delegates words few had envisaged would be uttered at the end of the organisation's 12th Ministerial conference (MC12): "You stepped up and delivered in every area we have been working on." She then listed a package of agreements now known as the Geneva Package -- covering, among others, a waiver of intellectual property protections to boost countermeasures against COVID-19, a long-illusory agreement on fisheries subsidies, and a decision addressing food insecurity. These achievements demonstrated, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala said, that the WTO "is, in fact, capable of responding to the emergencies of our time." She hailed a world in which WTO members "can come together, across geopolitical fault lines, to address problems of the global commons, and to reinforce and reinvigorate this institution." WTO agreements are reached through consensus and are binding on members. Multilateralism, under attack on multiple fronts, had been given a lifesaving shot in the arm. Related LinksWhat Africa expects of the new WTO Chief Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-IwealaGrowing hunger, high food prices in Africa don't have to become worse tragedy Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021 The triumphant outcome at MC12 was anything but anticipated. In fact, on 13 June, a day before the conference opened, Nick Dearden, a columnist for the United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper, wrote that delegates arriving for that conference would find the organisation in an "existential crisis." Amid a pandemic, Mr. Dearden bemoaned, WTO members were still caviling about temporarily waiving property rights of pharmaceutical companies to allow developing countries to produce COVID-19 vaccines; and many of them were still confused about a "common approach" to the growing global food crisis. It was time, he wrote, to "bury" the organisation. Pessimism about the WTO is nearly always a safe gamble. Only this time pessimism lost. Africa's Benefits First, there was an agreement about the definition of fish. It was no mean feat. For the past 21 years since fisheries negotiations were launched at Doha, this was one of the fraught issues. Fish, the agreement now states, "means all species of living marine resources, whether processed or not." The old canard that it includes "aquatic plants" had been quietly jettisoned, almost without notice. $22 billion in annual government subsidies to fishers from wealthy countries who ravage African waters. In other words, this agreement, as well as helping to protect the livelihood of millions of small-scale and artisanal fishing communities in Africa and elsewhere, will also help protect ocean health. The WTO Director-General writes it is the first such pact in WTO history "with a primarily environmental objective at its core." This alone would count as a major achievement. Highlights of the Geneva Package1. A package on WTO response to emergencies, comprising: A Ministerial Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity A Ministerial Decision on World Food Programme (WFP) Food Purchases Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions; A Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics; A Ministerial Decision on the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. 2. A Decision on the E-commerce Moratorium and Work Programme 3. An Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies 4. A Decision on the Work Programme on Small Economies< 5. A Decision on the TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints All package documents can be found here. Intellectual Property Rights Waiver Second, the WTO's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver decision will contribute to diversifying the vaccine manufacturing capacity of countries, and Africa stands to benefit from it. Request for the waiver had been submitted by India and South Africa in October 2010, long before Dr. Okonjo-Iweala became Director-General. That request triggered a counter proposal from the European Union (EU). Things stalled until she initiated a highly creative process, bringing together India and South Africa (the original proponents), and the EU and the United States (two key rights holders). In five months, the Quad produced an "outcome document" that formed the basis for serious negotiations. For full disclosure, I facilitated those negotiations as Chair of the TRIPS Council beginning in early May through to the ministerial conference. However, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala and her Deputy, Ms. Anabel Gonzalez, helped guide those negotiations. It was the last decision that was gaveled, at 4:30 am, shortly before the conference was brought to a close. Work on extending the waiver to cover therapeutics and diagnostics, as mandated by the MC12 Decision, has already started and has to conclude before the end of December this year. In the meantime, the decision will be celebrated in Africa, particularly in countries with the capacity to manufacture vaccines. Resented by pharmaceutical companies for going too far and by civil society for not going far enough, the TRIPS decision would help African countries work together to build and diversify vaccine production capacity. It will provide a streamlined avenue for exporting vaccines to countries in need--directly or through international humanitarian programmes. At the moment, four WTO members (the United States, the EU, the United Kingdom and Switzerland), all in the global north, produce over 90 percent of COVID-19 vaccines, and more than 70 per cent of Africans remain unvaccinated. Third, in the midst of current global food shortages and record high food prices, MC12 Declaration on food insecurity includes a decision that removes export prohibitions and restrictions on the World Food Programme (WFP) humanitarian purchases, ensuring food assistance reaches the most vulnerable. Hundreds of millions of Africans suffer from hunger. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said the decision would help WFP "do its difficult job of feeding millions" of people facing hunger. That she was working on many difficult issues and still overseeing other negotiations, including tackling food insecurity, underlines her depth of commitment to the developing world, especially her continent, Africa. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Trade By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Beating expectations Success triggers greater expectations, as well as pushback. The struggle to integrate Africa firmly into the global trading system must continue. Remember that the WTO, which sets rules that facilitate around 97 per cent of global trade, helped make the developed world significantly richer by opening up global trade for their companies. By some estimates, the organisation, and its forerunner the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has helped increase trade among members by around 171 per cent. Africa's share of global trade has actually declined from a high of around 4.4 per cent in 1970 to about 3 per cent currently. Our earnest friends and detractors never tire of reminding us of this. It is time to reverse this trend. And in Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Africa has a champion. The Doha round or the WTO 4th Ministerial Conference in November 2001 for the first time bracketed development as a central goal of global trade. Over two decades later, this sentiment remains merely aspirational. It must become a policy goal. I wrote shortly after Dr. Okonjo-Iweala took over as Director-General that the growing expectation of what she might deliver for the continent needs to be tempered, in part because of the sheer difficulty of navigating decisions in an organization that moves at a glacial pace, and where paradigm-shifting decisions tend to be studiously avoided. But by sheer force of will, hard work and enormous goodwill, the WTO under her leadership is delivering more than could have been expected. Dr. Lansana Gberie is Chair of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone in Switzerland Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The top UN official in Sudan has urged local communities in the Blue Nile State, where ethnic clashes have led to at least 30 deaths to exercise self-restraint The Police on Monday arrested two young men with a fresh male human head. The two, suspected to be ritual murderers, were arrested at Kasoa in the Ga South Municipality. They were arrested after their vehicle had a crash and sent to the Weija District Command. A police source told the Ghana News Agency that one of the suspects was a Taxi Driver. The source said the suspects were three, however, one fled as soon as the police opened the vehicle and saw the human head. It said the suspects were being interrogated by the police. The source said they had denied knowledge of the origin of the head, which had blood oozing from it. It said the head had been deposited at the morgue. 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. Featured Video Delegates have started voting in the ongoing NPP Delegate Congress to elect new party national leaders. At least 306 delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been barred from taking part in the party's National Executive Elections to elect its executives for the next four years. This reduces the total number of delegates for the election from 6,730 to 6,439. The Chairman of the National Election Committee of the NPP, Peter Mac Manu, who disclosed this said the affected delegates include the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON)) delegates and some local proxy delegates. 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. Featured Video There have been calls for the resignation of the finance minister after he stated that Ghana was not going to the IMF but made a U-turn to seek an IMF bailout. Speaking at the ongoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) annual national delegates conference in Accra on July 16, Ofori-Atta said I will not resign. According to him, resigning at this time can be likened to an abandonment of children by a father. It is almost like telling a father to resign from his children because he changed his mind. There are times that decisions have to be made for the survival of a country and therefore if circumstances such as COVID or the Ukraine war occur which are not typical, it does change the environment, and sensible people will change their minds, Ofori-Atta added. However, the Finance Ministry stated that the governments decision to go to the IMF is to help shore up the countrys foreign reserves. The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide balance-of-payments support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghanas build-back in the face of challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia-Ukraine crises, an earlier government statement read. A statement by the team from the International Monetary Fund led by Carlo Sdralevich after concluding its engagements with the government of Ghana noted that Ghana's debt situation is worrying. Ghana is facing a challenging economic and social situation amid an increasingly difficult global environment. The fiscal and debt situation has severely worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, investors concerns have triggered credit rating downgrades, capital outflows, loss of external market access, and rising domestic borrowing costs. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Thousands of Sahrawi refugees live in the region of Tindouf, Algeria, in the heart of the desert, in four refugee camps. Santiago De Chile Over 190 Chilean personalities have requested the President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric, to recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and to establish diplomatic relations with it. The personalities, including representatives of social and political movements, parliamentarians, academics and artists, delivered a letter to the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, requesting recognition of SADR and establishment of diplomatic relations, as well as taking action in defense of the human rights of the Sahrawi people, systematically violated by the Moroccan state in occupied Western Sahara. The letter reminded President Gabriel Boric of his vote as a deputy in 2014 in favor of recognizing the Sahrawi Republic. Beast Components / Dinolfo Cycles A welcome sight at Eurobike 2022: a proper steel hardtail Shiny Beast ED30 rims Dinolfo Cycles don't use headbadges, but have a brass logo at the downtube Casco The MTBE 2 has several interesting features Evil eye Evil eye Traileye NG Pro Xentis Xentis Squad 2.5 MTB Loffler The new Loffler Flux jersey and Pyce shorts Loffer Lando gravity shorts The Lando shorts come with a breathable and elastic back Vertical Vertical dropper post Alpina Alpina Stan MIPS Tocsen Zandona Zandona offers made-in-Italy chest guads Zandona pads Zandona offers chest guards for women and men in two sizes Kindernay Caption Sour Bicycles The new Sour Bicycles Double Choc Cercle the World The most photographed bike at Eurobike 2022 Double trouble: Portus Cycles cargobike and Cercle the World After seeing a myriad of small-wheeled "fun" e-bikes, it was a pleasure to spot a proper steel hardtail at the Beast Components booth. Of course the Dinolfo Cycles hardtail was equipped with lots of carbon parts from Beast, including ED30 rims, handlebar, stem and saddle. The bike also sported an Intend BC Blackline Ebonite fork, Trickstuff brakes and a Vecnum Nivo 212 dropper post.Beast Components also head their coloured components on display. They offer red and blue parts and started to make limited coloured editions earlier this year.The new MTBE 2 comes with a lot of interesting features: It has an adjustable visor and reflectors all around the shell. The dimple-style section of the shell doesn't get scratched as easily as regular options and might offer a small aerodynamic benefit. The helmet also has the "Cascofit" net inside the shell which is said to ensure a good fit and ventilation as well as providing some extra protection against rotational forces in case of an impact.It can also be made winterproof by attaching a transparent extra shell (which keeps wind and rain out) and it can also be equipped with earmuffs.The MTBE Fullface helmet is based on the MTBE 2, but has a full carbon shell and obviously a chin bar. It looks sleek and it's not as wide as other full face options. The MTBE Fullface comes with two sets of pads so you can adjust the fit.All Casco helmets are made in Romania, including all the small parts such as straps.Evil eye is a well-known Austrian manufacturer that offers sunglasses with some smart features. Most of their sunglasses come in two sizes, have adjustable temples and adjustable nosepads. The temples also have a brake-away mechanism and can be clipped back into the frame.In case you need prescription glasses, Evileye offers three different options: clip-ins, direct glazing (the full lens is made according to your prescription) and adapter glazing (the middle part of the lens will be made according to your needs).The new Traileye NG Pro come with silicone lens guards that are available in various colours, so you can change the look of your sunglasses within seconds.The Peak Sight goggle allows you to use two lenses stacked on top of each other. In the setup they had at the show, a bright lens was the base and the darker blue lens was used on top of it. As the lenses can be clipped in within seconds, this is an interesting feature when you're riding in varying conditions.All Evil eye products are made in Linz, Austria.One of the most interesting features of Xentis wheels is their fully modular hubs: with the right adapters, you can use them with skewers and a wide range of thru-axles.Their new Squad 2.5 MTB wheels have an internal width of 25 mm and also a height of 25 mm. The set weighs in at 1289 g and costs 2199 Euro.All Xentis rims are made in Austria, where the wheels are also built. Each wheel is signed by the person who built it.So far, most shorts by Austrian brand Loffler were mostly aimed at XC, gravel and tour riders. The new Lando shorts however are aimed at gravity riders and are so long that you won't have to fear the unsightly pad gap.It has adjusters at the waist, a flexible and breathable fabric at the back and comes with a liner that has a 90 kg density gel chamois.Loffler gets its fabrics, garments and pads from European suppliers. They are proud to do around 70% of all knitting at their HQ in Ried am Innkreis and the actual sewing of their clothes takes place in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and other European countries. Only 1.25% of their products are sourced overseas.Loffler says that their products are carbon neutral. 72% of the energy comes from renewable sources, including solar panels at their HQ. All emissions which can't be avoided, such as from trucks, are compensated with a certified climate project in Bulgaria.Vertical is a new company that has set out to create the lightest dropper posts out there. While the travel might not be the longest, the weight will be around 300 g, which is impressive.The design looks very good too, with an air valve that is easily accessible and still lets you mount a seat bag. More details will be announced when the dropper will be launched.For those of you who want some extra safety features, the new Alpina Stan MIPS Tocsen might be an interesting option. Not only does it come with the proven MIPS system, but it also has a Tocsen crash sensor. It connects with your smartphone and will send out a message to pre-defined contacts or other Tocsen users who are nearby in case you have a crash.Zandona is an Italian company from the Venice area that has been making protective gear for motorsports for many years.They offer a wide range of knee and elbow pads as well as chest guards and full vests. All products are available in various sizes and almost every product has CE Level 2 certification, which means that they offer a high level of protection and impact absorption.The Kindernay XIV is a gear hub that is actuated with a hydraulic trigger shifter. It can handle up to 160 Nm and the 14-speed version offers a range of 543%.What makes it stand out from the crowd is the fact that the rim is laced to a cage, so the actual gear hub can be swapped between several wheelsets or bikes. It's available for several through axle standards. The 7-speed version weighs 1750 grams (hub including cage and shifter), the 14-speed version 1950 g.Sour Bicycles from Dresden, Germany, had the first prototype of their new "Doucle Choc" full suspension bike at the show. There will be some changes on the production models, but the most important features remain the same: 140 - 160 mm travel in the front, 148 or 132 mm in the back (185 x 55 or 185 x 50 Trunnion shock). Everything seemed to be very well made and especially the rocker was a joy to look at.Size small bikes will be for 27.5" or 29" wheels, while all other sizes are designed around 29" wheels. All the production will be done in and around Dresden.They are planning to offer four sizes with a reach of 423 / 455 / 485 / 510 mm. With a 150 mm fork, the Geometry for a 455 mm reach bike will be 64 head angle, 78 seat angle, 100 mm head tube, 443 mm chainstays, 30 mm bb drop and 620 mm stack.To finish off this article, I'd like to introduce you to Bernie from Cercle the World. With some help from Alex at Portus Cycles, he built this stunning bike that definitely takes bikepacking to the next level.It's based around the idea of having your own chair, table and bed built into the bike frame. In order to achieve this, magnets are used to hold the two fold-out sides. Whenever you feel like taking a break, converting the bike into chair-mode is a matter of seconds. When you've found the perfect spot to spend the night, the frame and two tent poles help to convert the bike into a tent.Bernie is planning to build at least two more of these bikes and will start riding around the world on May 1, 2023. A friend will join him and the idea is to have a third bike with them for people who want to ride with them for a day or even longer. Once he's back home, he wants to build more of these bikes. As they use a Pinion P1.18 gearbox and have some very intricate one-off parts the bikes will not be cheap, but you will get a truly amazing bike. The Muck: 19-Minute Tank at the WSOP Main Event Final Table July 17, 2022 Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. With millions of dollars at stake, it's reasonable for players at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table to take their time to think when facing a difficult decision, but poker Twitter wasn't so understanding when eventual runner-up Adrian Attenborough tanked for 19 minutes in one hand before folding nothing but a pair of fours during heads-up play. In the newest installment of The Muck, we take a look at the hand that tilted many on social media. Attenborough, an Aussie, lost a heads-up match against Norway's Espen Jorstad with the world title on the line. During that fairly brief battle, the runner up faced two all in wagers from Jorstad, and both times he went into a lengthy tank with the hand often referred to as "flat tire." Can He Find a Fold? The most controversial hand occurred shortly after heads up play began when Jorstad raised to 7,500,000 with and then called the three-bet to 26,000,000 from his opponent who had in the hole. The flop came out , not exactly the type of flop the preflop three-bettor was hoping to see. Still, he continued for 16,000,000 and received a call. When the appeared on the turn, Attenborough hit bottom pair and again bet, this time for 58,000,000. Jorstad wasn't going anywhere with top pair and called to see the on the river. Action checked to the Norwegian who resides in the United Kingdom, and he moved all in for Attenborough's 132,000,000 remaining stack. For the next 19 minutes, the eventual second place finisher pondered his move before eventually folding bottom pair. He was left in a 3-1 hole of which he'd never recover. What Poker Twitter is Saying Attenborough, who now lives in Las Vegas, won't be the next Joe Hachem, the 2005 world champion who also hails from Australia. But he will be a memorable runner up, partially due to the 19-minute tank job with bottom pair, and poker Twitter was none too thrilled. "Where is the floor? If this hand goes much longer it's gonna pass the delay," Doug Polk asked during the hand in question. Poker in 2022. Heads up in the main event I tune in for hand 1. I watch 1 min of hand. Neighbor comes and has https://t.co/ott4tFFURR Erick Lindgren (@EdogPoker) "Hello from 2023. Attenborough just folded," @BenjeeNFT joked. "These laggers, I hate this new pace of play. What happened to think long, think wrong," @Bobby2Cents gave his two cents. Jack - Four off-suit is officially the Attenborough. What a terrible heads-up match for the #WSOP #MainEvent tras https://t.co/NIlbiGvFIP Carl Williams (@CarlWilIT) "There is a point you reach where thinking about the decision is counter productive. More time isnt going to get you to a better decision," @d3wayne argues. "hard to imagine this is good for casual viewers. I understand the stakes, but live Poker streaming is so boring (even for super fans like me). Tuned in and they barely played 5 hands in an hour. why are they tanking so much?" @ppadala tweeted. Maybe J4 isnt a good hand? Daniel Strelitz (@dDeoxyribo) "I prepared an entire 3 course meal during the tank and a acai bowl with agave syrup cinnamon strawberries and honey for desert. This is the Tank heard round the world," @kale_kash joked, or maybe not. "Can i clock players from twitter," Joseph Cheong pondered. Despite the negative comments directed at Attenborough for tanking with jack-four, there were many who stood up for him and understood how difficult of a spot he was in playing for so much money. "Adrian with a massive tank yes but let's bare in mind he has had the fastest average play for the whole WSOP FT and this is for the whole enchilada. When you guys playing for $4M HU you guys can protest and shot clock yourself," fellow Aussie Kahle Burns tweeted. Ive never been so invested in watching someone think for 15+ minutes Adam // roothlus.eth (@Roothlus) Death By Jack-Four In the second jack-four hand, the last hand of the tournament, Attenborough again went into the tank when facing an all in bet on a board of . Jorstad, who called in position on the turn, jammed river with . This time around, Attenborough didn't need 19 minutes to make his decision. It only took him around five minutes, but he couldn't fold that small pair and inevitably made the call only to find out he was up against a full house. "F**k!" he immediately shouted upon seeing Jorstad's tournament winning hand. Had Attenborough found a fold, he still would have had a realistic opportunity to win the Main Event. With over 40 big blinds and one double up away tying up the score, he was far from out of contention. But he ended up clicking the call button and was eliminated in second place for $6 million. There's certainly no reason for him to hang his head in disappointment, especially considering he lost a heads-up battle against a great player. 2022 World Series of Poker Hub Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2022 WSOP is here. Click here Sharelines Find out what poker fans had to say about a 19-minute tank during the WSOP Main Event. Cold storage is absolutely hot in the Charleston area. The latest Sub-Zero-style warehouse proposed to serve the Port of Charleston would be along Patriot Boulevard in North Charleston, according to plans submitted July 11 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Flexspace, with its headquarters on East Bay Street in Charleston, recently submitted a request to the federal agency to fill about three acres of wetlands at the site sandwiched between Dorchester Road and Associate Drive to build a structure dedicated to "regional cold storage and distribution of food products," according to the application. The developer has proposed purchasing credits in a wetlands mitigation bank to compensate for the loss of wetlands. Plans show a 151,600-square-foot warehouse on a 51-acre site, which is owned by Whitfield Co. LLC, according to Dorchester County property records. A Flexspace spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, and the permit application did not include a timetable for development. The company's website says Flexspace can increase density in a smaller warehouse footprint by using a racking system that's installed on movable bases. "The innovative, lateral movement replaces multiple conventional, static, open aisles with one moving access aisle," the website states. The Army Corps permit application notes "the height of the proposed warehouse building has been increased to increase the vertical storage capability of pallet position," although the actual height isn't specified. Flexspace told the agency "that maximizing the height of the building reduced the footprint of the warehouse, which resulted in a minimization of wetland impacts," according to the application. Refrigerated cargo at Charleston's port has more than doubled over the past decade, driven by the Southeast's booming population and changes in grocery consumption. More than 37,000 refrigerated containers of all sizes moved through the port in both 2020 and 2021, although figures for the most recent fiscal year that ended June 30 were down to 35,449 containers. SPA spokeswoman Liz Crumley said the drop was due to supply chain issues that limited exports rather than any decline in demand. The port's numbers have spurred several cold-storage projects, including: Saxum Real Estate Development and Investment Co. plans to spend $90 million to build two temperature-controlled warehouses totaling 395,100 square feet at the Ridgeville Industrial Campus owned by the State Ports Authority to take advantage of fast-paced growth in frozen and chilled food products moving through the Charleston waterfront. The warehouses would move roughly 985 million pounds of frozen and refrigerated goods, such as pork and poultry, each year. plans to spend $90 million to build two temperature-controlled warehouses totaling 395,100 square feet at the owned by the to take advantage of fast-paced growth in frozen and chilled food products moving through the Charleston waterfront. The warehouses would move roughly 985 million pounds of frozen and refrigerated goods, such as pork and poultry, each year. RealtyLink Investments LLC plans to build a cold-storage warehouse on 70 acres it bought for $34 million at the Camp Hall Commerce Park in Ridgeville. plans to build a cold-storage warehouse on 70 acres it bought for $34 million at the in Ridgeville. Cold-storage leader Lineage Logistics in 2021 spent $34 million on an expansion of its nearly 320,000-square-foot North Charleston warehouse. Air freight taking off It's unlikely air cargo will ever take a significant chunk of the global trade market from container ships, but Boeing Co. which builds the 787 Dreamliner passenger jet in North Charleston thinks ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and the popularity of e-commerce might open the door to some growth in moving goods by airplanes rather than by sea. Darren Hulst, the aerospace firm's vice president for commercial marketing, said air cargo "is performing at historic levels" both in terms of volume and revenue, which has more than doubled in some markets since before the pandemic. He thinks more businesses are seeing "the value of air cargo relative to supply chains that are challenged" by congestion at some of the nation's largest seaports. "Structurally, there are some factors that are driving a strategic shift to air cargo even into the medium and long term," Hulst said during Boeing's annual commercial market outlook leading up to this week's Farnborough International Airshow in England. E-commerce sales will be "a structural driver of growth as we move through the next decade," Hulst said, adding the popularity of online retail is changing "how companies and logistics are setting themselves up long term to satisfy that demand and to create networks to deliver during those busy times." Another shift, he said, is the value that freight forwarders now see in the speed and reliability of moving cargo by air. "That wasn't a main consideration three to five years ago, but I think longer term it becomes a key factor in how these companies set up their strategic growth and manage both capacity and demand across the entire logistics chain," Hulst said. The gap between the cost to send goods by sea or air is also narrowing, with most container shipping lines now members of alliances that offer roughly the same price to move freight. During the height of the pandemic, shipping lines were charging $20,000 or more to move a single container. "While we're still talking about an air cargo market that carries only about 1 percent of global trade, even just a small shift a tenth of a percent or two tenths of a percent in terms of mode of transportation of key elements of trade makes a big impact in demand for air cargo," Hulst said. Boeing is predicting the need for 80 percent growth in global freighter fleets to 3,610 planes over the next 20 years, with the biggest demand coming from carriers in the Asia-Pacific market. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Isolated thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. COLUMBIA More than 60 recorded earthquakes have sent seismic waves through the Midlands since Christmas, piquing interest and hypotheses from South Carolina's scientific community. But the small magnitude of the quakes, coupled with a short supply of funding and monitoring equipment, it is unlikely those theories will be tested. Monitoring equipment that could help identify potential seismic hotspots is expensive, and with a limited set number of units available, they tend to be concentrated in areas with a history of larger earthquakes or greater seismic activity where they can be put to the most use. The series of quakes that has been rattling the Interstate 20 corridor between Elgin and Lugoff, 25 miles northeast of downtown Columbia, for nearly seven months is not unexpected as the area lies along the ancient Eastern Piedmont Fault System. But it is one of the longest lasting groupings of similarly sized temblors, known as a swarm, to take place in the Palmetto State, according to a joint statement from the Emergency Management and Natural Resources state agencies. And they have been a little stronger than expected. The majority of the earthquakes registered had a magnitude of 1.3 or lower but what is different about the Elgin group is it also boasts four more widely felt quakes. Historically, no other swarms in the state have included a quake above 3 in magnitude. The highest magnitude of 3.6 to shake Elgin came June 29 with enough force to be felt more than 100 miles away in Charlotte and areas just outside Charleston, Spartanburg and Conway, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was the strongest quake in the state in eight years. A long-lasting earthquake swarm occurred in the late 1970s following the filling of Lake Monticello, but the greatest magnitude there was 2.8. The Earth's tectonic plates are always slowly moving but friction can cause the plates to stick, according to USGS. When the stress on the edges of two plates because too much and they slip, causing a quake. But when it comes to what triggers swarms of tremors, there are a number of theories, said Steven Jaume, a seismologist with the College of Charleston. Some scientists say its because the slipping of plates happens slowly. Others believe shaking from one slip triggers another, then another. Another hypothesis being floated is that heavier flows of water from Lake Wateree down the Wateree River toward Elgin, could be sending pressure through cracks in the Earth's crust, a process called hydroseismicity, said Pradeep Talwani, a retired geologist and former director of the S.C. Seismic Network at the University of South Carolina. Talwani speculates that the first quake on Dec. 27, 2021, could have opened, ever so slightly, a fissure within the Eastern Piedmont Fault System below Elgin. With the previously sealed fracture now open, pressure from additional water discharged from the lake ripples through the river and could be creating pressure in that new crack in the rock, triggering quakes in the weeks or months after water levels rise. While hydroseismicity is a proven concept observed in other parts of South Carolina and around the globe, it would take sizable manpower and money to prove out whether that is what is happening in Elgin, according to State Geologist Scott Howard. But given historical occurrences of the phenomenon, "we would be remiss in not saying something," he said. Currently, only a single seismic activity monitoring station is located near Elgin, deployed by the S.C. Seismic Network after the first series of quakes in late December, said Scott White, the network's director. USGS said it worked with USC on placement of the station, which provides better information on the depth, locations, and magnitudes of the small earthquakes in the swarm. That station has been registering smaller quakes not detected by the larger regional monitoring system. But according to Howard, it takes at least three stations to truly pinpoint certain information about a tremor's epicenter, which scientists say could help paint a picture of the underlying faults, how they might interact and could help identify potential seismic hotspots. Federal agencies and other organizations have been hesitant to move equipment from other locations where there are histories of stronger quakes, like Summerville in the Lowcountry. While earthquakes below a 2.5 magnitude are common they are so small people generally dont realize anything happened. Those of a magnitude of 2.5 to 5.4 are felt but often cause little to no damage. Some neighbors have told each other about cracked windows and fallen picture frames resulting from the Elgin quakes, no damage has been reported to state agencies. By comparison, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Edgefield, 60 miles southwest of Columbia, in 2014 caused cracks in a couple of buildings and in a church steeple near the epicenter. But there was no extensive damage. The largest to ever rumble the Palmetto State and the East Coast was a 7.3-magnitude quake in the Lowcountry on Aug. 31, 1886. It leveled most of the brick buildings in Charleston and Summerville, the epicenter, igniting fires and overrunning hospitals. At least 60 people died. Scientists are quick to point out the Elgin earthquakes are occurring along the ancient Eastern Piedmont Fault System, not related to the much younger Charleston Seismic Zone. Still, the Eastern Piedmont was the source of the Edgefield quake and a 4.5 magnitude quake in Richmond, Va. Howard said placing a greater number of remote seismometers in the area could gather data necessary for scientists to better understand the largely unstudied faults under Elgin. But so far, when he's requested equipment, he's been turned down due to the size of the quakes. "They're too small is the response we keep getting," he said. It would be preferred to have a dedicated system of equipment there but that would require a quarter million dollars in instrumentation alone. Still, as more quakes pop up, Howard said more has been learned some information about seismic activity around the small Kershaw County towns. For example, when scientists measured the motion of the four larger Elgin tremors, it led them to believe the faults there lie at a slightly different angle and are squeezed between two other major nearby strands in the fault system, suggesting a zone that may behave differently than those around it. Lesser monitoring of the area also is not to suggest a lack of preparation. SCEMD has planned scenarios for how it would respond, with staging areas for supplies and transportation plans in case of road damage. According to a 2018 inventory of buildings in Kershaw County, there is the potential for $5.9 million in property damage in the county. "The Midlands is covered in our planning," said agency spokesman Derrec Becker. Some of South Carolinas largest school districts are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in advanced security technology with little evidence that it will actually keep students safer. The districts are increasing security measures after the nation's most recent mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24 shook the country. School shootings are on the rise, but experts warn that knee-jerk security increases don't effectively protect schools. Jason Nance, associate dean for research at the University of Floridas law school, noted that barriers like metal detectors are tangible objects politicians and school district authorities can point to when they want to prove to the public that their schools are secure. Yet there aren't strong findings to show metal detectors better protect students. Experts say they can create a false sense of security, lead to minority students getting policed more than their White classmates and break down trust between students and staff. This erosion of trust can have detrimental consequences, since students informing teachers about threats of potential violence is one of the main ways in-school attacks are prevented. What creates a safe school is not how securitized a school is," Nance said. "What the experts come back to time and time again are the relationships that exist in that building relationships between students, relationships between teachers and students, and relationships between the school and parents. There are ways to make schools more secure but they involve long-term investments rather than reactionary measures. South Carolina school districts have the power to make schools safer by investing in teacher-student relationships and socio-emotional learning rather than security systems. But will they do it? False sense of security On May 24 a gunman walked into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde wielding an AR-15-style rifle. He killed 19 students and two teachers in the deadliest school shooting in decades. The mass event dominated news headlines, bringing renewed attention to violence in schools. School shootings have been increasing both across the nation and in South Carolina. After 12-year-old Jamari Jackson was shot and killed by a classmate in Tanglewood Middle School in Greenville this year, The Post and Courier analyzed data from the Center for Homeland Security and Defense K-12 School Shooting Database. The paper found that South Carolina in 2021 experienced the most school shootings in 47 years. Over half of the nine shootings occurred in the fall and winter. The Post and Courier also analyzed hundreds of thousands of disciplinary reports from 2018-21 in 24 of the states school districts. The analysis showed the number of weapons found in schools more than doubled in the three-year period. To combat these threats some districts are investing in new security systems. Greenville County School District purchased a $550,000 weapons-detection system. The system put metal-detector like objects by school entrances. Tim Waller, a district spokesman, said that instead of pausing to take off their jackets and remove any metallic devices, students can simply walk through the detectors. The system uses advanced technology to detect any weapons the students have on their person. Richland School District Two is piloting a metal detector program in its schools that will continue in the 2022-23 school year, according to a letter the superintendent sent to parents at the end of the school year. While I am not an advocate of metal detectors, I am a child safety advocate and will exhaust all measures to keep schools as safe as possible, Superintendent Baron Davis wrote. Richland School District One also is piloting a metal detector program, and Lexington/Richland School District Five is adding more metal detectors to its schools. Amanda Taylor, spokeswoman for Lexington/Richland Five, said they will at least have one weapons- detection system in every school next academic year that will be funded through the remaining portions of the 2021-22 general fund account. More coverage To read more in-depth stories from The Post and Courier's Education Lab, go to postandcourier.com/education-lab. Yet there is little evidence that these advanced metal detectors will keep schools any safer. In 2011, The Journal of School Health published a research review looking at 15 years of literature on studies on the effectiveness of metal detectors. They found that there was insufficient data to determine whether metal detectors actually decrease violent behavior among students. Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, said that security technology can also create a false sense of security if it is not implemented properly. He pointed out that metal detectors need to be set at an appropriate level, schools have to make sure every student and visitor is walked through them, and every time someone activates a metal detector, a search has to be performed. Metal detectors can be part of a school safety plan, but they cant be the plan on their own, he said. Sign up for our Education Lab newsletter. Email Sign Up! Who gets surveilled? While working as a public school teacher in an intercity school in Houston during the mid-1990s, Nance started noticing how heavily his students were monitored. He had grown up in Salt Lake City and had a lot of freedom as a child. His students in Houston got their bags searched and had to walk through metal detectors occasionally. Police officers were a regular presence at the school, as were drug-sniffing dogs. Nance decided to go to law school after earning his doctorate in education administration because he wanted to have a greater impact on education policy change. In 2017, he published a paper called Student surveillance, racial inequalities, and implicit racial bias. He noticed that strict security measures which he defined as the reliance on law enforcement to administer discipline, metal detectors and randomly searching through students belongings were often used in schools where there was a high population of students of color. These types of security measures were often the ones districts implemented after a school shooting garnered national attention. Over the past decade, he saw a pattern emerging: There would be a highly publicized incident of school violence that would make parents afraid. Lawmakers, feeling pressured to react, would give more funds to school officials. These officials, sometimes not knowing what to do with the money, would buy highly visible security measures such as metal detectors. Parents would see these tangible security measures and feel more at ease. But these security measures are reactive, rather than ones that prevent school violence. Nance and many school security experts believe the best way to prevent school violence is to invest heavily in students social-emotional learning. This is the same conclusion a panel of experts gathered to assess school violence in Los Angeles County School District came to several years ago. The panel was put together after a different mass shooting, the 2018 attack at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., also dominated national headlines and forced districts across the country to grapple with the problem of school violence. At least one person knew After the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School near Miami, the Los Angeles City Attorneys office assembled a panel of experts to assess safety in Los Angeles Unified School District the second largest in the country. The number of crime reports in Los Angeles schools had been dropping, according to a 2019 report by USC Annenberg nonprofit Crosstown. The districts enrollment had also been declining. The panel composed of local and national experts in health, public safety, education and government analyzed the districts measures to protect students in school. It met with teachers, parents, students and other community stakeholders over months and returned with 10 major recommendations to improve school safety in Los Angeles. One of those experts was Dr. Marleen Wong, the former director of mental health services, crisis intervention and suicide prevention at LAUSD, who believes the reports biggest takeaway is the need for mental health services in schools. The panel discovered that school attackers often struggled with mental health issues and were exposed to stressors immediately preceding the attack, which Wong said holds true for previous research she helped conduct. Students who make threats of violence often live in abusive households or have experienced a major loss in their lives. Theyre not mentally ill, but theyre very troubled, she said. Initially, it seems like, Why would a student do this? And then, as information comes out, you begin to learn about the losses and stresses theyve suffered. The panel recommended that mental health services be expanded, and that all schools have one full-time psychiatric social worker. Other recommendations included creating a districtwide school safety director position, making sure all schools were in compliance with safety standards and requiring that parents store guns safely at home. The report encouraged collaboration between school police officers, sheriffs and city police, suggesting they create joint law enforcement strategies and combine threat reporting and monitoring efforts with the district to create one cohesive system another finding that Wong stressed as integral to safe schools. Donate to our Investigative Fund to support journalism like this Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. Its also the most expensive reporting we do. We cant do it without your support. Donate Now Schools need to realize that they need to have partnerships and active partnerships with all sorts of organizations, she said, listing groups that dont just serve children, such as the police and city attorneys office. The group also found that in most cases, at least one person knew about the attack before it happened. To encourage students to report, the panel said, every student should have a connection with an adult on campus. The Los Angeles-based panel also found that the school districts search policy had been controversial. Students said they were dehumanizing, and at least one study suggested that the searches were not random, bolstering theories that students of color were searched disproportionately. There is an art to walking that fine line in the education system, Wong said, between protecting students and over-policing them. Its a balancing act, she said. One of the things I once heard someone in a school with a successful safety program say was, We don't need metal detectors. We need heart detectors. We need to figure out what's going on with kids. Addis Ababa Minister of Education, Professor Birhanu Nega said that producing qualified and competent educators has been a top priority of all educational institutions across the country. Speaking at the graduation ceremony held at Kotebe University of Education today, the minister noted that the role of teachers and education training institutions is pivotal in order to tackle the ongoing difficulties in Ethiopia. "We all have a responsibility to save our country from the pain that it is facing, but in this regard the role of teachers and educational training institutions is dual," according to Birhanu. Therefore, to ensure the quality of education with a view to creating qualified citizens by producing competent teachers is a vital issue, the professor underlined. Building high-quality teaching professionals is necessary and would significantly bring a positive impact on the generation of the country and its development aspirations, Birhanu stressed. In this regard, the Ministry of Education will give the necessary support to those educational training institutions in the upcoming Ethiopian academic year, he pledged. President of Kotebe University of Education, Dr. Birhane-Meskel Tena on his part called on all university graduates to play their role in moving their country to a better development trajectory. Kotebe University of Education graduated today some 2, 891 students trained in different fields of education, it was indicated. The Prime Minister of Somalia, Hamza Abdi Barre, has strongly slammed today's car bomb attack at a hotel in Jowhar city, HirShabelle regional capital. In a statement, Barre expressed his condolences to the people of Jowhar, especially those who lost their loved ones in the explosion that took early today. "I spoke on the phone with the President of the Hirshabelle state, Ali Abdullahi Hussein Guudlawe, who gave me information about the situation and the place where the explosion took place," said the PM. The Prime Minister has promised to stand by HirShabelle state and the people of the regional administration and will help the affected people. Ruy Teixera is the author (with John Judis) of 2002s The Emerging Democratic Majority. The book foresaw the rise of the multiethnic Democratic coalition that elected Barack Obama in 2008. Both Teixera and Judis are well-known men of the left, but Teixera has resisted the cultural mania that has overtaken the Democratic Party and imposed a stifling orthodoxy. Now Teixera has not only taken to the free-speech platform provided by Substack at the Liberal Patriot. He has departed the Center for American Progress for the American Enterprise Institute. Politicos Michael Schaeffer reported his move in A Real Chilling Effect: A Lefty Scholar is Dumping CAP For AEI. Referring to the internal dynamics at CAP, Teixera comments: Its just cloud cuckoo land. I think that is a widely applicable judgment to the totalizing leftist madness that now stares us in the teeth every day. Teixera had the nerve to say it out loud from inside the asylum. Yesterdays Wall Street Journal editorial draws on Schaeffers account. The Journal frames Teixeras move this way: At age 70, he hasnt changed his views on the importance of economic class. Yet he said CAP is being warped by a junior staff for whom identity politics is everything. Its become very hard to have a conversation about race and gender and trans issues, even crime and immigration, Mr. Teixeira said. You know, How should the left handle these? Theres a default assumption about how youre supposed to talk about these things, even the language. Theres a real chilling effect on all of these organizations. Hes exhausted by internal staff politicking. Its just cloud cuckoo land, Mr. Teixeira said. The fact that nobody is willing to call b, it just freaks me out. Hes also frustrated by the lack of support he received for a project that aimed to unite the black and white working classes. Nobody wanted to touch it, he said. You could tell. People were leery of talking about the white working class, as if it was de facto racist. Wow, and you thought your office had issues. Last month the Intercept ran a story about similar woke meltdowns inside groups like the Sierra Club and the Guttmacher Institute. A lot of staff that work for me, they expect the organization to be all the things: a movement, OK, get out the vote, OK, healing, OK, take care of you when youre sick, OK, complained an anonymous executive director. Can you get your love and healing at home, please? But I cant say that, they would crucify me. These are signs of political and cultural sickness. And they are a sign of the times, as is the revolt of a sane man against the new orthodoxy. The Journal editors deem it a sign of conservative vigor that AEI is granting Mr. Teixeira political asylum. I dont necessarily disagree, but first and foremost it is a sign of the madness that has overtaken the left and just about every major institution in American life. We have been writing for a long time about the fact that transitioning from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy is catastrophically bad policy, not only because those forms of energy are intermittent and therefore inadequate, but also because China dominates the market for wind turbines and solar panels. Going green means turning over our economyour livesto the Chinese Communist Party. This issue has been a dark secret if you rely on liberal news outlets for information, but now a glimmer of reality seems to be breaking through. I havent seen this reported domestically, but the Guardian has the story: Breaking from Chinas clean energy dominance imperative, US and Australia say after new climate tech deal. In a joint press conference in Sydney, the US energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, and the Australian climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, announced a net zero technology acceleration partnership, including an initial focus on long-duration energy storage and digitising power grids. They said the agreement was motivated in part by the need for a clean energy and critical mineral supply chain that did not depend as much on China, which is responsible for about 80% of solar energy technology manufacturing. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), it is expected to reach 95% by 2025. Why might that be? Its because Chinese solar panels are made in large part by slave labor, i.e. Uyghurs. It is hard to compete with slave labor on price. Also, Chinese factories are fueled by coal, giving them another price advantage. If we really want to have a domestic solar panel industryI dont, but lets assume the Biden administration doesone obvious solution would be to impose heavy import duties on Chinese solar panels. But that would expose the ridiculous cost of solar energy, and, anyway, tariffs are Trumpian. Granholm compared the risk of relying on China for clean technology to the wests over-dependence on Russian fossil fuels a mistake that sparked a global energy crisis after it invaded Ukraine. *** Weve seen what happens when we rely too much on one entity for our source of fuel, and we dont want that to happen so to diversify those energy sources and to link up with partners is part of our energy security. Of course, the U.S. was never reliant on Russia for energy, at least not during the Trump administration. A sensible policy would be to maximize production of U.S. oil and gas so that our allies can rely on us, not on the Russians and not on the Chinese. But that approach is not on the table. In this article, at least, the focus is on solar energy, but China dominates the market for wind turbines, too. More important, China controls the market for processing the minerals that are needed for these products, no matter where they are manufactured. No word on how, exactly, the U.S. and Australia will ramp up mining on an unprecedented scale to avoid this bottleneck. The press conference included a brief reference to long-duration energy storage, which of course would be required to make wind and solar energy even remotely viable, if prohibitively expensive. But no such storage capacity exists, and it is not on the horizon. Andby the waywhat country do you think controls the minerals and mineral processing that are necessary for the giant batteries the greens contemplate? Yes, thats right. China. You would never know from the July 13 coverage of Hunter Bidens laptop by Alex Thompson and Max Tani for Politicos West Wing Playbook that the subject might be serious. Their post is headlined The Holy War over Hunter Bidens laptop. Its all a big joke. In its own way it is a classic of avoiding the subject. The Biden family business is corruption and the cover-up remains operative. With reporters like Thompson and Tani, query whether it is necessary. Debra Heines American Greatness column makes you wonder: Biden Admin Restricting Access to Over 150 Suspicious Activity Reports on Hunter. Having worked as senior vice president in the legal department of a national bank subject to OCC regulations, I think I can say that 150 is one helluva lot of Suspicious Activity Reports. And then we have the New York Post. The Post persists in performing the traditional function of a newspaper in its coverage of Hunter Bidens laptop. The Posts latest story is Hunter Biden laptop shows dozens of meetings with dad, business partners. Jon Levine and Joshua Rhett Miller report (with the assistance of Isabel Vincent): Hunter Biden met with his father at least 30 times at the White House or the vice presidents residence, often just days after he returned home from overseas business jaunts. And this: The meetings were found in a review of the personal calendar on Hunter Bidens abandoned laptop. Read the whole thing here. The Wall Street Journals Global View columnist Walter Russell Mead wrote an excellent column for us on his interest in the subject of his new book, The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. Having spoken with Walter in his office in 2015, I vividly remember his discussion of American attitudes toward the Middle East. He was finishing God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World at the time. Yet in retrospect I can see that Walters new book must have been a glint in his eye and a passion project for him. Jacob Miller helps me recall some of the details of my long-ago conversation with Walter in his Jewish Insider profile/interview Walter Russell Mead on the insanity that led him to write a new book on American support for Israel. It is worth your time. If anything, it is too short. It leaves me wanting more. Please check it out. Also worth your time is the excerpt of Walters book published in the Wall Street Journal column Can Biden Correct Obamas Mistakes in the Middle East? Here is one paragraph of the excerpt: Neither Mr. Kerry nor Mr. Obama seems to have understood how their own personal unpopularity in Israel changed the politics of peace among Israelis. As Jews from the former Soviet Union watched Mr. Putin run rings around Mr. Obama on the international stage, as Mizrahi Jews from Muslim countries heard Americans echo the flabby liberal rhetoric of a condescending Israeli establishment that despised them, association with those Americans became toxic. Right-wing politicians saw no reason to conceal their disdain for the Americans and their process; attacking Mr. Kerry in particular brought political dividends. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon (2013-16), in conversations with journalists, would mock what he saw as American naivete, messianic delusions and arrogance. The only thing that will save Israel, he was quoted as saying in 2014, is for John Kerry to win his Nobel Prize and go home. As for the the question posed in the headline the Journal placed over the excerpt, I think the answer seems to be he could but he wont. Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Content Reviewer - ETD - Fluent Russian wygaso z dniem 2022-08-02 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez MAJOREL POLSKA Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia oferty to: oferta zamieszczona przez pracodawce zostaa wycofana z serwisu praca.egospodarka.pl zleceniodawca zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc pracownikow ogoszeniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc zlecenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem WWW dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych niewasciwy adres WWW ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Informatyka / Telekomunikacja, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Informatyka / Telekomunikacja Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Content Reviewer - ETD - Fluent Russian, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Content Reviewer - ETD - Fluent Russian Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Krakow, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Krakow Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne ogoszenia, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Junior Subject Matter Expert SME - Fluent Ukrainian and Russian wygaso z dniem 2022-08-02 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez MAJOREL POLSKA Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia ogoszenia to: propozycja zozona przez pracodawce zostaa usunieta z serwisu praca.egospodarka.pl zleceniodawca zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc zgoszen ogoszeniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc zlecenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem WWW dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych niewasciwy adres url ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Konsulting, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Konsulting Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Junior Subject Matter Expert SME - Fluent Ukrainian and Russian, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Junior Subject Matter Expert SME - Fluent Ukrainian and Russian Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Krakow, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Krakow Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne ogoszenia, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: opinion Among the greatest causes for African youth should be to defend democracy, deepen it and continuously breathe life in it. Democracy should be seen as a public good - a resource that everyone should have an equal right to everywhere. No one should be excluded from being part of a democracy or receiving its benefits. Democracy is not only about elections, voting and democratic institutions. Citizens must actively participate in decision-making, make their voices heard and hold elected and public officials accountable. But the great challenge is to bring democracy into every aspect of life, not only in public life but in intimate relationships and personal interactions with others, which should be based on equality. In short, to democratise every aspect of life. A democratic culture is one where widely shared democratic beliefs, values, and commitments shape how individuals and the society act'. An essential pillar of democracy is for citizens, especially the youth, to become active democratic citizens who behave democratically in all aspects of their everyday life. Former UN General Secretary Koffi Annan said: "No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth". Across the globe, countries have an undeclared war between those who support democracy and the forces of authoritarianism. There is also a global war, the equivalent of a Cold War, between countries which are autocratic and those which are democratic. The fight for democracy could be likened to the fight against colonialism and corruption. Rise of a new generation of young African political leaders who are constraint by patriarchy The ideology of patriarchy is entrenched in all of Africa's governance systems: traditional systems, religious systems, communal beliefs, and party systems. Patriarchy is based on gender inequality, social status inequality between elites and ordinary citizens and discrimination against the youth. There has been a rise across the continent of new progressive young leaders who are pro-democracy; however, they have constrained patriarchy in societies. Abiy Ahmed, the 44-year Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is the cream of the crop of a new generation of progressive, younger pro-democracy leaders. Abiy was the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Although Abiy hit a bump in his handling of the uprising in Ethiopia - and could have handled so much better, he remains one of Africa's most formidable leaders. In 2020, Vera Daves de Sousa, then 33, was appointed the finance minister of Angola, in one of the most eye-catching across the continent, where Cabinet Ministers are often geriatrics. It was also surprising since former cadres of the governing MPLA dominate Angola's top government and state-owned company leadership, most of whom are now elderly. Joao Lourenco, the president of Angola, shocked the world when he appointed de Sousa and many younger leaders, including women, into his Cabinet and into senior positions in government. In Uganda, long-standing autocratic leader Yoweri Museveni virtually stole the 2020 elections from his challenger, the charismatic Bobi Wine, the 39-year-old whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi. Wine, a popular former rapper and opposition MP, was arrested, tear-gassed and shot at during the campaign trail. He was charged with treason, which was later dropped. During protests in November 2020 against Wine's arrest, the security forces killed 54 people. In the heat of the presidential campaign, Wine and his wife were not allowed to leave their home by soldiers. Museveni used Covid-19 social distancing laws to ban opposition party rallies, meetings, and protests. Lawyers have been jailed, journalists shot, and civil society activists arrested. Election monitors have even been charged for pointing out irregularities in the run-up to the elections. In Zimbabwe, Nelson Chamisa, the 42-year, has been a leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC Alliance) since 2018 and has challenged the ruling Zanu-PF government of Emmerson Mnangagwa. The MDC Alliance since its name in January 2022 to Citizen's Coalition for Change (CCC). The CCC convincingly won 19 parliamentary seats out of 28 on the ballot in by-elections in March 2022, with Zanu-PF taking the remaining nine (RFI 2022). In South Africa, the 40-year-old Mmusi Maimane led the official opposition Democratic Alliance before resigning after poor electoral results in the 2018 national elections. Maimane has now established the One South Africa Movement and is planning to contest the 2024 national elections as an independent. Julius Malema, the 39-year-old leader of the left-populist Economic Freedom Fighters, is another prominent young political leader. Rania Al-Mashat, a respected economist, is Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation. She advised the post-Arab Spring government before she moved to the US to work as an advisor to the International Monetary Fund's Chief Economist (Demand Africa n.d). Al-Mashat is one of the few technocratic leaders in Cabinets on the continent. Kamissa Camara is Mali's Minister of Digital Economy and Planning. Prior to that, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs, the youngest and first woman to be appointed to the position. African youth have often been used by authoritarian movements to undermine democracy Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PFs, between 1982 and 1987, used youth members in a campaign called "Gukurahundi" to attack the opposition, Zapu supporters and Ndebele speakers perceived to be supporting Zapu. Zanu-PF was and is dominated by Shona speakers. More than 20 000 civilians were murdered. Zanu-PF used the same tactic - mobilising their youth supporters into a militia to attack new opposition parties that emerged from 1990 onwards. In the 1990 elections, the Zanu-PF youth militia attacked the Zimbabwe Unity Movement with deadly violence. When in 1999, the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) embarked on mass strikes and protests against the Zanu-PF government to oppose the subversion of human rights abuses, the lack of basic freedoms and the lack of democracy, Zanu-PF used its youth militia to attack trade unionists. The Movement for Democracy Change, the opposition party launched in 2000, was similarly attacked by the Zanu-PF youth militia. In the Sierra Leone civil war between 1991 and 1999, youth were forcefully recruited by belligerents into their militias. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, who opposed multiparty politics, launched a violent takeover of the government of President Joseph Saidu Momoh for control of the country's lucrative diamond industry and forced youths into his army. Civilian rule was reinstated in Sierra Leone in March 1996, and Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was elected in elections. However, Kabbah was forced out in a coup by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which also used youths and children as "soldiers". The United Nations intervened after Kabbah was ousted and secured a peace agreement in July 1999 between the government and the Revolutionary United Front, and subsequently a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Charles Taylor launched an insurrection against the Liberian dictator Samuel Doe in December 1989, which unleashed a terrifying civil war in which more than 200 000 were killed, and more than a million people displaced. From 1991 to 1996, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) brokered 14 peace accords to restore peace. All sides in the conflict used youth and children as soldiers. Taylor was elected president in the 1997 following elections. However, in 1999, armed opposition attacked Monrovia, the capital, plunging the country into renewed conflict. Again, youth and children were forced to become soldiers by the belligerents. In 2003, the government, opposition parties and main rebel groups signed a peace agreement. The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation established after the civil war condemned the forced recruitment of youth and children by all groups in the conflict to participate in acts of violence. Youths were the majority of the combatants in the Ivory Coast civil war that followed the 2000 elections and erupted again in the 2010 elections after the first violent outbreak ended in 2007. Alassane Ouattara was removed from the presidential ballots in the Ivory Coast's 2000 election because of his ethnicity. His rival Laurent Gbagbo won the election. Ouattara supporters protested, and the country erupted into violence along ethnic lines between Quattara and Gbagbo supporters, splitting the country into Quattara-supporting Muslim north and a Gbagbo-supporting Christian south, continuing into a civil war in 2002. The civil war ended in 2007. It sprung up again in the 2010 elections when Ouattara and Gbagbo ran against each other. Ouatarra was declared the winner, but Gbagbo refused to step down, and the civil war resumed. Islamist religious fundamentalists groups that are proliferating in the Sahel region, the area between the Sahara Desert in the north and the Sudan Savanna in the south, including areas such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Niger, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, have mainly used youth as their foot soldiers. With its foothold in East Africa, Somalia's Al Shabaab is one of Africa's deadly Islamic religious fundamentalist groups, carrying out suicide bombs against governments and civilians. It has caused mayhem in East African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the Horn of Africa, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Boko Haram, launched in 2002, has been fighting to establish an Islamist caliphate in northeast Nigeria. All the countries in the Lake Chad region in central Africa, Chad, Niger, Benin, Cameroon, and Nigeria, where Boko Haram are increasingly gaining a foothold - and the countries in the Sahel where Al Shabaab are dominant, are appallingly poorly governed - pushing the excluded youth into religious fundamentalism. Youth have also been press-ganged into the militia of violent Christian fundamentalist groups. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is Africa's oldest Christian fundamentalist group, started in 1987 in northern Uganda by Joseph Kony to fight Yoweri Museveni. The conflict has spilt into the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. According to UNICEF, the LRA has abducted more than 30 000 children and youth in Uganda, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan to use as soldiers, sex slaves and servants (UNICEF 2005). The violence unleashed by the LRA has displaced more than 3 million people. Kony wants to establish a strict Christian fundamentalist government in Uganda. In South Africa, youth have been mobilised by populists to attack African foreigners, claiming they take away jobs and housing and are responsible for local crime. Young South Africans have, in a social media campaign called Operation Dudula, led by instigators such as Nhlanhla "Lux" Dlamini, attacked foreigners for being responsible for the crime. Youth were recruited in the campaigns to attack foreign-owned small businesses in Durban and foreign-driven truckers. Instead of holding the government accountable for the lack of public service delivery, corruption, and mismanagement, which leads to job losses, lack of public housing and breakdown in the rule of law which leads to rising crime, populists blame foreigners. African youth have pushed out undemocratic leaders and regimes It is often lamented that young people in Africa do not participate in democracy, stay away from voting and often do not participate in political party activities. This is not entirely true. Youth across the African continent have often been at the forefront of campaigning for democracy, mainly forcing out authoritarian regimes and leaders and forcing democratic change. During the August 2021 elections in Zambia, the young people turned out in record numbers - the largest since the first multiparty elections in 1991. The record turnout by the youth, which mainly voted for opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, gave him a landslide victory against the incumbent, Edgar Lungu, who was seeking a second term. Lungu was accused of corruption, incompetence, and authoritarianism. In October 2020, the youth played a crucial part in civil society by electing the opposition to power in Seychelles for the first time since the end of colonialism. Youth, civil society, and opposition groups rallied behind the presidential candidacy of Anglican Priest Wavel Ramkalawan in presidential and parliamentary elections in which he defeated President Danny Faure, whose United Party (or United Seychelles) came to power in a coup a year after Britain granted independence to the Indian Ocean archipelago of 115 small islands in 1976. In 2019, youth mobilised in mass protest to force out long-standing leader Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had been in power since 1999. In 2019, the youth also pushed out Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir who had been in control of Sudan since 1989. The 22-year-old Alaa Salah, dubbed "Kandaka" or Nubian queen, a title given to Nubian queens of ancient Sudan, who played leading roles in society, became the symbol of the opposition to al-Bashir. Salah achieved stardom on the internet after leading protests, standing atop a car, and singing songs. "Sudanese women have always participated in revolutions in this country," Alaa Salah said in an interview after she went viral (AFP 2019). "If you see Sudan's history, all our queens have led the state. It's part of our heritage." In 2011, youth, including rappers, launched the movement, in Senegal to get the youth to vote and to oppose a third term for then-president Abdoulaye Wade. movement used rap music, Facebook, and SMS as platforms for expression, mobilisation, and meetings. In 2013, youth groups in Burkina Faso established the , following this example, to bring the youth's voice into politics. The Burkina youth 2014 successful pushed out President Blaise Compaore when he attempted to extend his presidency beyond constitutional limits. In 2016, youth groups in the Democratic Republic of Cong also mobilised around a platform called , meaning whistle in Swahili, and LUCHA (lutte pour le Changement - fight for a change) to prevent President Joseph Kabila from standing for a third term. encouraged Congolese youth to perform civic duties, push for democratic reform, oppose human rights abuses and corruption, and even donate blood. During the Arab Spring Uprisings in North Africa, which started in 2010, youth mobilised to push out authoritarian leaders and regimes or force a democratic change in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco. Mobilisation by the youth pushed out African liberation and independence movements that had been in power for long periods but delivered very little for ordinary citizens while enriching the liberation and independence elites. Youth mobilised in the late 1980s to force Zambia's independence party, United National Independence Party and its leader Kenneth Kaunda, which misgoverned the country, called for multiparty elections in 1991, which the opposition won on the back of mass mobilisation by disgruntled youth. In South Africa, the rebellion of township youth was instrumental in forcing the apartheid government to eventually un-ban opposition movements, release imprisoned activists and start negotiations to end the apartheid system in 1990. The youth was also crucial in forcing the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), the ruling liberation movement in Cape Verde, to end its one-party state and call for multiparty elections. Following the collapse of the Cold War at the end of the 1980s, the youth and civil society organisations embarked on mass local street protests, calling for democracy, forcing the PAICV to introduce constitutional changes, democracy, and multiparty politics (Meyns 2002; Baker 2006; Pereira, Nina, and Delgado 2019). Civil society organisations formed an umbrella political organisation, the Movement for Democracy (MPD), in April 1990, calling for multiparty elections, which the PAICV agreed to, and which the MPD won in the 1991 elections. Competing African governance systems to democracy South Africa and many African and developing countries have competing governance systems for democracy, such as customary law, sharia law and military law. Many African traditions, customs and communal beliefs have undemocratic dimensions contradicting democracy. Furthermore, African governing liberation and independence adhere to their party constitutions daily - which often contradicts the country's democratic constitutions. Since the end of colonialism, African-style populism has become a competing ideology for democracy. African-style democracy has not only undermined democracy building but has also increased ethnic divisions and retarded development. In African-style populism, minorities, non-nationals, foreigners, or former colonial powers are often blamed for self-inflected governing failures. In African-style populism, there is often a scapegoating of one ethnic community for the lack of advancement of another community. Furthermore, in many African countries, political parties are organised along ethnic, religious or regional lines. Whenever one ethnic, religious, or regional group has national political power, they often exclude others. Sadly, voters often also vote along ethnic, religious and regional lines. All these competing governance citizens, which determine the behaviour of ordinary African citizens, are often deeply anti-democratic, authoritarian, and based on unequal citizenship. Many African traditional systems, religious systems, communal beliefs, and party systems are based on patriarchy, gender inequality and social status inequality between elites and ordinary citizens. Some countries have ruling regimes that subscribe to ideologies opposed to democracy, such as Marxist-Leninism, varieties of African socialism or communalism and populism. These authoritarian governance systems undermine the introduction and deepening of democracy in these societies. In many African countries, governing parties and leaders prioritised ethnic groups, religion, or region, marginalising the rest and causing widespread resentment among those left out, undermining democracy. Scapegoating one ethnic, religious, or regional community for the lack of advancement of another community is sadly a recurrent phenomenon across the continent. Needless to say, young people must fight these undemocratic governance systems, communal and cultural socialisations, and populism, which undermine democracy. In many African countries, democracy is viewed very narrowly that if a country has supposedly regular 'free and fair elections, it is enough to designate such a country a democracy. Most authoritarian African countries which have regular elections are patently not democracies. Since the end of colonialism and, more recently, apartheid, democracy has always been contested in Africa. Many liberation and independence movements of the postcolonial anti-democracy school arguing that democracy should be shelved to focus on development first appear to be on the rise again. Key arguments in the African postcolonial anti-democracy school are the argument that democracy is allegedly "unAfrican"; and those countries need "strong" leaders who should be in power for long periods to supposedly embed "transformation". Again, all the countries with so-called "strong" leaders in Africa have collapsed into failed states, ethnic violence and breakdown. Another argument against democracy made by anti-democratic groups in Africa is that democracy allegedly increases divisions in ethnically diverse societies because election campaigning in Africa has become so ethnically divisive. Yet, it is not democracy that causes ethnic divisions. It is selfish leaders who campaign based on ethnicity. More recently, the rising economic power of autocratic states such as China, Rwanda, and Saudi Arabia, which have rapidly developed without democracy, has tempted many ruling parties, leaders, and ordinary citizens across the world to say democracy does not have value wrongly, that democracy is not necessary for development, or worse, that democracy undermines development. Development without democracy is not sustainable The autocratic countries that developed without democracy, such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Rwanda, keep opposition to their authoritarian governments silent by providing economic development as widely as possible to society while crushing dissent. Even in countries in which dictators initially brought development - sooner or later, as the society gets more affluent, they demand more rights, and unless more rights accompany the development, people will eventually uprise- this was the case of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Libya, or Brazil during the military regimes of the 1980s. Governments in countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda may appear impregnable because of their authoritarian-led development; unless they introduce democracy in the future, they will also in the future collapse like the USSR. Development can happen in any regime if they focus on industrialisation, which focuses on manufacturing new products their countries and the world need, spreading the benefits of development as widely as possible, keeping corruption at bay and appointing the best talent to manage growth. African countries that pursued development without democracy in the post-Second World War period have mostly plunged into civil war, country breakdown and failed states. The few African countries who did try to pursue democracy and development together, however, unevenly have done better. The opposition against democracy in Africa has been the main reason African countries failed to build quality democracies, foster inclusive development and secure peace. The African countries that have, since the end of colonialism, pursued democracy, such as Botswana, Mauritius, Cape Verde, and more recently Tunisia, have done comparatively better than all the undemocratic African countries. Democracy is crucial to development, economic growth, and poverty reduction Nevertheless, Dani Rodrik, the Turkish economist, is one of those who has shown, in his ground-breaking research, that democracy is not only compatible with growth and poverty reduction but may be crucial to both. Researchers Morton H. Halperin, Joseph T. Siegle and Michael M. Weinstein (2005) used 40 years of empirical data across developing countries to show that poor democracies do better than poor autocracies on nearly every economic measure. Their research "offers evidence that democracies are more stable: they are less likely to fall into armed civil conflict, experience humanitarian catastrophes, or breed international terrorists than are authoritarian countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan". The most recent Bertelsmann Transformation Index showed that of the 137 developing and transition countries surveyed, only 67 are still considered democracies, and the number of autocracies had increased to 70. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries introduced strict lockdowns, which have curtailed certain democratic rights such as the imposition of quarantine, limiting freedom of movement, increased surveillance, and the use of technology to track the movements of people. Harsh Covid-19 restrictions - which in many countries continued afterwards, have contributed to a decline of democracy worldwide. With exceptions, the hard Covid-19 lockdowns have been chiefly in countries that are either autocratic, non-democracies or poor-quality democracies. Many autocratic governments used Covid-19 lockdowns to strengthen their powers, curtail opposition parties and leaders, and harass critical civil society organisations, activists and media. Youth needed to democratise African societies One of the reasons why democracy has not taken a stronger foothold in many parts of Africa is that many countries, beyond ritual elections, have not moved to democratise their societies, which includes fostering a democratic culture where widely shared democratic beliefs, values, and commitments in a country' shape how individuals and the society act'. It is crucial for the sustainability of democracy that young people be actively engaged in democratic processes, institutions, and rituals. Youth participation must go beyond only voting. The obvious is for young people to get involved in their immediate public spaces, community life and local level focusing on the issues - patriarchy, racism, gender-based violence, local safety, or the local environment - that impact them directly. Young people must push for a new democratic politics which rejects ethnic groups, religion, or region-based electoral mobilisation. Although African youth have mobilised to push out autocratic leaders and regimes, they have not often prioritised democratising the entire society. Young people must fight to democratise every aspect of life, whether their intimate relations, religious, traditional, or political institutions are involved. Competing governance systems to democracy, such as customary law, sharia law and military law, must either be abolished or democratised to align them with human rights, gender, social and generational equality. Young people should fight to democratise authoritarian aspects of African governance systems such as customary law, sharia law, traditions, and communal beliefs. Many aspects of intimate and family relations conventions, traditions and religions are autocratic, undermining the dignity and human rights. Young people must challenge the undemocratic aspects of these. Young people involved in political parties must ensure these parties are internally democratic, elect honest leaders and focus on the broadest public interests rather than factional, ethnic, or regional interests. All citizens, whatever their age, civil society and the media must hold elected leaders, governing parties, and legislatures more accountable. New technology, such as mobile phones, social media, and online forums, has given citizens new tools to fight for democracy by giving ordinary people a voice, increasing public participation, and providing platforms to hold governments and leaders accountable. In countries formally claimed to be democracies, the youth must work with civil society organisations, opposition parties and activists to empower citizens, public dialogue spaces and institutions to be more resilient, to withstand attacks on democracy, democratic institutions, and the development of democratic cultures. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Governance Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Conclusion Africa's youth must continue to mobilise against autocratic leaders and governments. However, crucially, African youth must also focus on democratising societies. The youth must take on competing for governance systems to democracy, such as customary law, sharia law and military law, campaigning to either abolish or democratise these to align them with human rights, gender, social and generational equality. The youth must also battle appeals to ethnic mobilisation, regional-based mobilisation, and religious mobilisation - which have undermined democracy building across the continent. They must eschew populism -a major obstacle to democracy on the continent. The answer for African countries is not less democracy but better-quality democracy, societies where all aspects of life are democratised. 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Climate change, food insecurity and extremists are largely to blame", WEForum, January https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/all-the-warning-signs-are-showing-in-the-sahel-we-must-act-now/ Cai Nebe (2022) "South Africa: New Campaign reignites xenophobic rhetoric", Deutsche Welle, April 15 https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-new-campaign-reignites-xenophobic-rhetoric/a-61486487 Jose Santana Pereira, Susana Rogeiro Nina and Danielton Delgado (2019) "Elections in Cape Verde, 1991-2016: Testing the second-order election model in a consolidated semi-presidential African democracy", [Online], 38, December, pp. 67-91. Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2004) Witness to Truth: Report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Vol. 1, p. 44-45, para. 77, 80 and 81 UNICEF (2005) "Uganda: Children bear the brunt of Uganda's 19-year conflict", UNICEF, Kampala, March 23 Joseph Egbri (alias Prince Kpokpogri), the politician ex-lover of Tonto Dikeh, recently had his nine-bedroom mansion, valued at almost a billion naira, demolished by the Federal Capital Development Authority. On July 7, an Abuja court restrained the FCT minister, Muhammad Bello, from further demolishing his Gusape District, Apo Estate, Abuja, residence. An aide to the FCT minister countered that Kpokpogri built his house on a major highway, hence the demolition. In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Kpokpogri alleges that theres more than meet the eyes with the demolition. He also talks about the steps he is taking to ensure that he gets justice. PT: Is it true that the court has restrained a further demolition of your property? Kpokpogri: Yes, an Abuja high court has restrained them from entering my property pending the determination of the case. Specifically, the court issued an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants either by themselves, agents, officials, privies, all those purporting to have derived title from them or other persons howsoever called from trespassing on or further trespassing on, demolishing, or further demolishing the property. PT: Were you informed of the planned demolition in advance? Kpokpogri: How will you warn someone that you gave a location to build and supervised the building at the end? How will you warn someone who paid every legal fee to the federal government? How will you warn someone that you sent your surveyor to establish the beacon of the property? When all those processes were taking place, were they unaware that a road was coming through that area? What again are they coming to tell me after all the due process has taken place? The demolition notice they sent to my plot was not even my plot number. There was no court order. There was no time that they wrote to me officially. The FCDA did not revoke my allocation. They just brought a bulldozer and started bulldozing. They have forgotten that I am from the Niger Delta and that this thing can precipitate a severe crisis that will be felt in the Niger Delta creek. I built the house with my hard-earned money. PT: What efforts have you put in place to get justice? Kpokpogri: Well, I have written to the UN. Ive written an exclusion order against the Nigerian government to the UN because Nigeria cant breach the law that governs the people. I am angry that these Ministers like Alhaji Galadima have arrogated so much power to themselves without any recourse to the constitution. You dont inflict pain on people or think you can go to your home or sleep and close your eyes as if you did nothing. I will leave no stone unturned. Im telling PREMIUM TIMES today that Gilmor Nigeria, awarded the road contract, has a business connection with the FCT Minister. There is other evidence that Im investigating. I will make it public because I think they messed up with the wrong person. I will take them up both internationally and locally. PT: So am I right to say that the FCDA addressed the demolition notice to the wrong person? Kpokpogri: Yes, to the wrong person. PT: And secondly, was the demolition a case of mistaken identity? Kpokpogri: I cannot say that. There is a political undertone to it. PT: Okay. Why do you say so? Kpokpogri: If not, how do you allocate so much power to yourself to go and demolish that kind of a building? A building that the minister does not have, not even in his village or in the city. PT: When did you build the house? Kpokpogri: I built that house in 2020. It is a new house. The house was supposed to be a year old the day that they came to demolish it. And the demolition allocation you see from them is not even a recent allocation. Its a 2015 allocation. Why did they wait to revoke the allocation when the owner came to build on it? Then, suddenly, a road passed through it because I refused to sell to a northerner. The third thing that got me the most is that when they were demolishing, I met the director, the department of development control, Muktar Galadima, and I asked him if I was a northerner would he do this to me? He said then I should go back to the South. Thats what he told me. PT: Were you in the house during the demolition? Kpokpogri: Yes. I was in the house. Ive even written to the International Criminal Court because what they did that day was almost like a homicide because they were ready to kill everybody inside the property. PT: So you had no idea they would even come that day? Kpokpogri: No single idea. And they came on Saturday. Is Saturday a government working day? With over 200 policemen, SSS and soldiers everywhere, as if they were going to Sambisa forest to fight Boko Haram. PT: So they didnt allow you to ask what happened or even carry things outside? Kpokpogri: They didnt. The boys working around dragged my chairs out from the parlour. If you watch the video, you will see where they were demolishing, and ACs were falling from the house. PT: You said you feel that the demolition is politically motivated. Why do you think so? Kpokpogri: Im not a card-carrying party member of the APC or the PDP. But since I built that house, all the Northern people have offered me money to buy the house. So many people have come to do that. It is tribalistic because Im not from the North. The first man that offered me money to buy the house was from Kano State. People were coming all the time. Even Qatar Airways sent people to me to say they wanted to rent the place. I said no. PT: You claim the demolition was politically motivated, but the FCDA said you built your house on a major highway known as M16. You didnt get approval from the necessary agencies. Kpokpogri: Why didnt they tell us where the road leads? They said the road was an afterthought. The original highway went through the governor of Bayelsa States house, which they all know. But because the man is a big man, they shifted that road. I dont want to talk about that. I said it was tribalistic when I told Galadima that it was because I was not from the North. He said I should go back to the South. How does that statement sound? Quote me. Mukhtar Galadima told me to go back to the South. Dont you think that kind of statement can precipitate an ethnic crisis? How will everybody feel if I return to the South and start doing the same for their people? But Im a law-abiding citizen. That is why I took this step that I took. PT: Where was the house located? Kpokpogri: Behind COZA church. And the house is sitting on top of a rock. So you are bringing bulldozers to pass from common ground to pass through the top of a rock. PT: So obviously, you could not salvage anything from your house. Kpokpogri: I was not able to salvage anything. They demolished my house, and they destroyed everything. What I was able to retrieve was just my clothes and the chairs in my parlour. Every other thing, they demolished with the house. If not for the people around, they wanted even to destroy my cars. That was when people started asking what kind of wickedness that was. PT: How much loss did you incur? Can you quantify how much the house costs you? Kpokpogri: I think my losses, you know if I use as at todays the price, if I want to rebuild that place I will spend over N2billion. Then, a bag of cement was N2,400, but now it is nearly N5000. PT: How much did it cost to build the house then? Kpokpogri: When I built that place, please, everything I spent was almost N800 million. It was one of the most beautiful houses in that area. You can find out from anybody. Typically people come from different places to look at the building. People come there every night to take pictures. PT: How many rooms were in the house? How will you describe the place? Kpokpogri: The house has nine rooms. It was a nine-room mansion minus the boys quarters. The boys quarters have a room, a parlour, a bathroom and a kitchen in three places. PT: One would wonder why you built your mansion in Abuja, not Delta, where you hail. Kpokpogri: I chose to build the house in Abuja because the light is stable, and as a Federal Capital Territory, it is more secure. I just wanted that peace and serenity. PT: What do you do for a living? Kpokpogri: Im a business person. I publish Integrity Watchdog Magazine and I am a sitting board member of the National Human Rights Commission. I have other businesses that I do too. PT: Has the FCDA reached out to you for talks since the incident? Kpokpogri: They didnt reach out to me. They all went into hiding. That is why I said it is politically motivated and has an ethnic slant. Because as they demolished, they left. There is nothing anybody is doing there. I can tell you that whenever PREMIUM TIMES has the chance, I can take you to the site. Even somebody is building right behind me as Im talking to you. Why didnt they stop that person? PT: So, what next steps will you be taking? Kpokpogri: I have written to the American Embassy, and I have written to the UN, the UK Parliament and the US Congress. I will be going to the UK in September to address the congress on this matter. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to declare the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ademola Adeleke, the winner of the just concluded governorship election in Osun State, South-west Nigeria. Mr Adeleke, a former senator and younger brother to the states first governor, Isiaka Adeleke, defeated the incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola, by a margin of about 44,426 votes. Based on PREMIUM TIMES computation of the final results announced by the electoral commission, INEC, the PDP polled about 403,374 votes while the APC polled about 358,948 votes. INEC is currently collating the final figures before an official announcement is made. Meanwhile, there were 13 other candidates that took part in the election including Akin Ogunbiyi of the Accord Party, Goke Omigbodun of the Social Democratic Party, and the former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf, who contested under the platform of Labour Party. Adelekes victory The PDPs Mr Adeleke won in 17 local government areas out of the states 30 while Mr Oyetola of the APC claimed victory in the remaining 13 local government areas. The election was a repeat of the 2018 contest between the two politicians, reigniting old political rivalries between them. The incumbent governor, who had served as the chief of staff to the states immediate past governor and now minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had narrowly defeated Mr Adeleke in 2018, in a manner described by many Nigerians as controversial. Saturdays election, according to many observers and particularly civil societies such as Yiaga Africa, Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), among others, was characterised largely by vote-buying. More details will be provided once INEC officially announces the winner. The electoral commission, INEC, has formally declared Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the governorship election held in Osun State. The INEC Chief Returning Officer for Osun, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who announced the result Sunday Morning said the PDP candidate scored 403,371 votes to emerge victorious. The runner-up was the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 375,027 votes. I hereby declare that Ademola Adeleke having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected, Mr Ogundipe said. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that apart from winning the total majority votes, the PDP also won in the majority of the states local governments. The PDP won in 17 of Osuns 30 local governments while the APC won in 13. None of the other 13 candidates who took part in the election won in any local government. A total of 15 political parties took part in the election held on Saturday across the 30 local governments of Osun. Many observers described the election as free of violence but characterised by vote buying. The two leading candidates had also squared off in the 2018 governorship election in the state which was narrowly won by Mr Oyetola, although in controversial circumstances. In 2018, Mr Adeleke was leading in the election before it was declared inconclusive by INEC which also ordered a re-run in seven polling units. The re-run election was heavily militarised and many voters disenfranchised by armed thugs. It was won by the APC candidate which also helped him secure victory in the general election. Mr Adeleke, a former senator, would see his victory in the latest election as a vindication that he was the original winner of the 2018 election. The PDP candidate will not, however, be sworn in until November when the tenure of Mr Oyetola will be over. As presidential aspirants took the podium one after the other to announce their withdrawals for Bola Tinubu at the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on the night of June 8, a terse message began circulating on social media among the delegates. Reject Muslim-Muslim ticket, it said. The source of the message was anonymous. But there was no doubt as to its purpose: to force the delegates to ponder the dilemma awaiting their party should they nominate the former Lagos State governor as its flag bearer. The partys powerful state governors had agreed that the ticket should go to the South. Mr Tinubu was the only Muslim among the southern frontrunners. But he was also the only one among them not suitable to pick a running mate from the Northern Muslim majority base of the APC, and so the obvious target of the message. An official of the party later rose to shoot down the message before voting started, assuring the Convention that no aspirant had taken such a decision. But just over a month after his landslide victory in the primary, and after weeks of dithering and the subterfuge of a placeholder, Mr Tinubu on Tuesday finally picked Kashim Shettima, a senator, former two-term governor of Borno and a Muslim, as his running mate. And a storm has since pounded him within and outside the APC. Power shift Many may have forgotten that the dominant issue in this election cycle had been the clamour for the next president to be elected from the southern part of the country, after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. But the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) added its own demand that the president should also be a Christian since Mr Buhari is a Muslim. However, after the association was accused of targeting Mr Tinubu and trying to deny the rights of southern Muslims, it tweaked the demand to a rejection of a Muslim-Muslim or same faith ticket. It was therefore no surprise that CAN, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and Christian leaders especially in the North have taken Mr Tinubus pick of Mr Shettima as a slap to their faces. John Hayab, the chairman of CAN in Kaduna State, which long-running war with Governor Nasir el-Rufai heightened when the governor picked Hadiza Balarabe, a fellow Muslim, as his deputy for the 2019 election, has been understandably bullish on the controversy. READ ALSO: In an interview with Vanguard newspaper shortly after Mr Tinubu announced Mr Shettima last week, Mr Hayab said CAN had prepared for the announcement. We have put some media outlets on notice. All we are waiting for is the right signal to give a full-blown reaction. Well escalate this issue because our call for fairness and the balancing of the presidential ticket for the sake of justice, unity and fairness apparently fell on deaf ears. However, CAN is strongly determined to sacrifice everything to protect the interest of the Church in Nigeria. We will not be moved by any form of intimidation, the CAN leader in the Northern region added. Surprising, however, has been the reaction of Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation who was one of those who collected the APC nomination form for Mr Tinubu back in May. Following the announcement, he demanded President Buhari veto Mr Tinubus choice, and after the president demurred, vowed to lead a campaign against his partys candidate among Northern Christians. Ironically, Mr Lawal was a member of the Planning and Strategy Committee of the Tinubu Campaign Organisation that also advised the candidate over the selection of his running mate. The committee had highlighted the merits and demerits of Muslim-Muslim and Muslim-Christian tickets but did not rule out either of the options in its report. While acknowledging that a Muslim-Christian ticket would sustain the established religious balance in presidential tickets since 1999 and appeal to Christians in the North Central and North East, it however warned that Muslims in the North-West and North-East might vote for northern candidates such as Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, which could result in a substantial loss of votes for the APC. On the Muslim-Muslim option, the committee said it would neutralise the voting strength of the PDP and NNPP and satisfy the Muslim community which has the numerical voting strength and has been the mainstay of support for the APC. But it also warned that the combination will trigger a large-scale revolt from the Christian communities across Nigeria against our party, thereby resulting in substantial loss of votes that may affect the overall victory of the election. In our current nascent democracy, it has never been tried but when tried, the winner was not sworn in, even though it was adjudged as the most free and fair election. Since Mr Tinubu announced his choice, Mr Lawal appeared to have taken the seeming snub of Christians personal, going across television stations and issuing statements to attack Mr Tinubu and predicting his doom. He had acted in the same manner days before the presidential primary after Mr Tinubus outburst in Abeokuta in which he derided the president. A storm forewarned Since the anger of the Christian community was forewarned, why did Mr Tinubu go ahead to choose the combination, which for the first time in the Fourth Republic left out a major faith from the ticket of a major party? First, it may be expedient to stress the point now that religious balance is a recent concept in the Nigerian political processes. The First Republic ran the parliamentary system and did not feature a direct election of the President and Prime Minister. Also, the first two military rulers in the 13-year military interregnum that followed, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and Yakubu Gowon, both had deputies of the same Christian faith as themselves. But in the first election, after Nigeria switched to the American-type presidential system, the candidates of three of the five parties were northern Muslims who saw the need to pick southern Christians as running mates to expand their reach. However, the two southerners among them, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe, who eventually returned first and second runners-up respectively in the 1979 presidential poll, picked fellow Christians. The National Party of Nigeria, which had the most support outside the region of its candidate, Shehu Shagari, won the poll, albeit not without controversy. In the next election of 1983, Mr Awolowo picked a Muslim running mate but that was perhaps because he had realised the need to appeal to Northern voters, whom he appeared to have ignored with his previous pick of Phillip Umeadi from the old Anambra State in the South. However, after yet another military intervention, during which some events had awoken religious sensibilities in Nigerians, there was an uproar when Moshood Abiola picked Babagana Kingibe as his running mate for the ill-fated June 12, 1993, presidential election. At that time though, the two parties allowed on the field were essentially government parastatals. The military government of Ibrahim Babangida had formed the parties by decree after denying registration to any of the scores of political associations formed by the politicians. After Mr Abiolas ticket defeated the balanced Muslim-Christian ticket of Bashir Tofa and Sylvester Ugoh, many political observers hastily ticked the election as the moment Nigerians rose above sectional and religious divisions. Unfortunately, however, the whimsical annulment of that election by Mr Babangida pushed Nigeria into a political impasse that has deepened the same divisions. Mr Babangidas military government had advised Mr Abiola to pick Paschal Bafyau, a Christian from Adamawa State and president of the Nigeria Labour Congress at the time. Although he has cited one flimsy reason after the other to explain why he voided the election, the former dictator has never included the absence of religious balance among the reasons for denying Mr Abiolas ticket its electoral victory. Regional and religious balance Parties in the Fourth Republic have since embraced regional and religious balances as a tradition. But the observation of that tradition has been made convenient by the fact that the major tickets have exclusively featured Northern Muslims and Southern Christians since 1999. Each of those two groups constitutes the religious majority on its side of the country but a minority on the other side. It is largely for that reason that no Northern Christian or a Southern Muslim (until Mr Tinubu) has been on the presidential ticket of a major party in this dispensation. Jerry Gana, David Mark and Sarah Jibril are some of the Northern Christians to have run for the tickets of major parties or on the tickets of smaller parties, but none of them recorded large impressions on the polity in their presidential bids. If they were southerners, they probably would have been more successful in their quests. Tinubus travails In that regard, we can better understand Mr Tinubus travails. He has seized the Christians southern ticket. To show fairness to the dispossessed and balance the national political equation, Christians asked him to use his historic feat to also disrupt the political order across the two rivers, by handing the Christians the northern ticket that has by tradition belonged to Muslims. While such a geo-religious Minority-Minority ticket has dim electoral prospects, it has a high moral value. It will elevate Christians to a height they have never attained before in the North and show the progress of Northern Christians in the political calculus. The same scenario will apply to Southern Muslims going forward. However, in his statement announcing Mr Shettimas pick, the APC candidate tried to discourage the elevation of religious divisions. He said: I am mindful of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running mate. Just and noble people have talked to me about this. Some have counselled that I should select a Christian to please the Christian community. Others have said I should pick a Muslim to appeal to the Muslim community. Clearly, I cannot do both. Both sides of the debate have impressive reasons and passionate arguments supporting their position. Both arguments are right in their own way. But neither is right in the way that Nigeria needs at the moment. As president, I hope to govern this nation toward uncommon progress. This will require innovation. It will require steps never before taken. It will also require decisions that are politically difficult and rare. If I am to be that type of President, I must begin by being that type of candidate. Let me make the bold and innovative decision not to win political points but to move the nation and our partys campaign closer to the greatness that we were meant to achieve. Here is where politics ends, and true leadership must begin. Realpolitik Notwithstanding those stirring words, realpolitik was the overriding factor for the candidate in the choice. The APC, perhaps due to its antecedent of leveraging the popularity of Mr Buhari among Northern Muslims to unseat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, continues to rely on the support of that segment of the population. President Buhari not being on its ticket for the first time in its life takes the APC into uncharted territory. Mr Kwankwaso, who is from Kano in the North-West; Mr Abubakar, who is from Adamawa in the North East; and newcomer Datti Baba-Ahmed of the Labour Party who is from Kaduna also in the North-west; will certainly seek advantage in the campaign for Northern Muslim votes should the ruling party give its ticket to an adherent of the other religion. Religion has become a big part of peoples identities in the North and has basic influences on their interactions. The Northern Christians, who sometimes dispute that they are the minority in the North, are in a struggle for self-assertion against their Muslim neighbours who have dominated the politics of the region and Nigeria. That rivalry runs deep. So, just as Mr Lawal is angry at his side being overlooked, so would members of his party of the other faith feel had they been the side overlooked. Mr Tinubu and the APC probably see it as suicidal to leave the rich electoral field of the Northern Muslim voters to its opponents, just to score a moral point with a symbolic gesture. Another point that has been made by some APC supporters, albeit inelegantly, is that the APC has never enjoyed strong support among Christian communities especially in the two easter zones of the South and across the North and that nominating a Christian running mate will not change that situation. In the 2015 and 2019 elections, most Christian leaders openly campaigned for opposition candidates and the APC lost in most Christian-dominated areas. The APC is probably braced for the continuation of that trend and thinks it wisest to focus on standing firm with old friends. However, there are seven months before the elections and the implications of Mr Tinubus choice would have become clearer before the polls open on the morning of February 25. Kwankwasos running mate Mr Tinubu was not the only presidential candidate to substitute his running mate last week. Mr Kwankwaso of the NNPP did the same by naming Isaac Idahosa as his substantive pick. The choice has attracted little attention and Mr Kwankwaso may even be envious of Mr Tinubu for the fury that his own choice had ignited. The NNPP had spent some time in a merger talk with the Labour Party until both parties went their separate ways after failing to agree on which platform to adopt and who between Mr Kwankwaso and Peter Obi should lead a joint ticket. Mr Obi was the first to name his own substantive running mate while the NNPP hopeful waited until the last day to file his own pick with INEC. Mr Idahosa is a newcomer to politics. But that does not mean he was unknown. He is a pentecostal pastor from Edo State but based in Lagos. It is not clear which state he will choose as his political base. It is also uncertain what value he will be adding to the NNPP ticket. But videos of him that appeared since his nomination show he performs miracles. Mr Kwankwaso has focussed his activities in the North. Apart from a few big-name politicians defecting to the party in Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom, the NNPP remains unknown in most parts of the South. The party and its presidential candidate have even noticeably fallen off from attention on Twitter, where it had momentarily become visible while the courtship with Mr Obi lasted. To run a serious presidential race, he has to find his way back into attention, this time on the ground in the South too. Maybe that is the reason he chose the miracle worker, Mr Idahosa. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, has commended security operatives and electorate for the peaceful conduct of the July 16 governorship election in Osun. The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. The IGP lauded the massive deployment of police operatives, specialised units and other human and operational assets, including three helicopters and a couple of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for aerial surveillance. He said four adequately manned gunboats for the riverine areas and Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) were among the operational assets deployed for the election. Mr Baba said the deployment to the three Senatorial Districts of the state was to ensure swift responses to some pockets of electoral issues. He also appreciated the collaborative efforts of other security agencies that assisted in the peaceful conduct of the election. The police chief further commended the electorate and other stakeholders in the conduct of the election for their role in collectively maintaining decorum and cooperating with law enforcement agencies. He said the professionalism displayed by officers deployed for the election helped to garner trust and ultimately led to the success of the process. Mr Baba pledged that the force would continue to improve on its security mandate ahead of the 2023 general elections. (NAN) The Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, on Sunday, commiserated with a former military governor of Kano and Benue States, Idris Garba, over the abduction of his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren in the Abuja-Kaduna train that was attacked by terrorists in March. Mr Garbas son, Abubakar, his daughter-in-law, Maryam Bobbo, and four of his grandchildren are still in captivity alongside dozens of other captives. Mr Bello, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Matane, visited the retired general at his residence in Kaduna, Lawal Tanko, the spokesperson for the SSGs office said in a statement. During the visit, the former military administrator decried the insecurity in his native Niger State where terrorists have killed or abducted thousands of people. The Abuja-Kaduna train attack by Bandits marks another sad moment in the fight against terrorism we are facing in our dear country while appealing to the families of Wazirin Lapai (Mr Garba) and other families whose loved ones were abducted to have confidence in the ability of Government to do all that is needed to be done in rescuing their dear ones, the governor said. The governor told Mr Garba who is also the Chairman governing council, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, that he visited him on behalf of the people and government of Niger State to commiserate with him over the incident. The governor assured Niger people that my administration is leaving no stone unturned in arresting the security situation in the State, stressing that he has directed all security agencies for the speedy rescue of the kidnapped persons and will by Gods grace be rescued. We are a responsible government, and we shall expedite action in ensuring the safety of all the citizens at all times while warning those engaged in the nefarious activities that Government would not condone any act of sabotage or indiscriminate abuse of privilege to jeopardize our fragile security situation in the state, he said. A member of the family, who responded on behalf of the traumatised former governor, told the visitor that the agonising incident was causing the family sleepless nights. He urged the state government to do everything possible to rescue the kidnapped victims. Mr Garba was the military governor of Benue State between 1987 and 1988 and Governor of Kano State Between 1989 and 1992. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the gunmen attacked a Kaduna-bound train in March and abducted several passengers. Nine passengers were killed during the attack. The gunmen have released some of the hostages after they reportedly paid ransoms. As results trickled in from the Osun State governorship elections held on Saturday, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Diri Torobara, reported disruption of collation of results at a polling unit in Olorunda Local Government Area of the state. Ms Torobara, the Registration Area Collation Officer at the polling unit, said the incident happened on Saturday at about 9:25p.m at Ward: 11, Ilie polling unit 009, Motor Park Ilie, Olorundal Local Government Area of Osun Central Senatorial District of the state. The official narrated how party agents loyal to one of the two major political parties in the election snatched a ballot box after votes were cast. Ms Torobara, however, said the ballot box was only returned after the hoodlums destroyed it and removed some ballot papers. An election observer said the security personnel assigned to ensure orderliness at the collation centre ran away from the scene of the chaos. PDP wins Olorunda LGA Meanwhile, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Osun governorship poll, Ademola Adeleke, won the election in Olorunda local government area. Mr Adeleke polled 21,350 votes to defeat his main opponent, Gboyega Oyetola of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who garnered 18,709 votes. PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier that Mr Adeleke was optimistic that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would be transparent and fair in the conduct of the polls. At the end of the coalition, 737 votes were rejected. The local government had total valid votes of 41,187, while the total votes cast stood at 41, 924. Mr Adeleke said his party agents had informed him all over the state that the election processes were going well in their favour. Adepoju Tejumaye, a lecturer at the University of Lagos and returning officer for Ilesa East Local Government at the ongoing Osun State governorship election, has narrated how thugs invaded two polling units in the area, disrupting election processes. Mr Tejumaye, the head of the department of mass communications at the university, said results of elections held at polling units 007 and 008 in the Filadu axis of the local government area were cancelled due to the disturbing violence. The RA officer sustained a fracture in her leg when thugs came and destroyed the polling centre in Filadu in Ilesa East, Mr Tejumaye said while giving an account of the event. The returning officer, however, announced that elections were held peacefully in other polling units in the area. The candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola, polled 13,452 votes against his major opponent, Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who recorded 10,969 votes. PREMIUM TIMES has also gathered that at Atakumosa Local Government Area of the state, the voting exercise held at a polling unit was cancelled due to an invasion by thugs. A corps member working as an ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was said to be badly injured after the thugs smashed his head on a brick. The collation of the ongoing governorship election results started around 2 a.m on Sunday at the INEC secretariat in Osogbo, the state capital. Gov Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State has appealed to his supporters to remain calm after he lost his re-election to Ademola Adeleke of the PDP. Mr Oyetola said this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, on Sunday, in Osogbo, the state capital. He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) had taken cognisance of the results of the governorship election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday. The governor, however, noted that the party would be responding appropriately after studying the results and consulting with critical stakeholders of the party. Mr Oyetola called on his supporters to remain calm, and the people of the state to go about their businesses without let or hindrance. The governor also called on security operatives to ensure maintenance of law and order. READ ALSO: Mr Oyetola also directed security operatives to take adequate charge so as to prevent breakdown of law and order. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, morning declared Mr Adeleke as the winner of the Saturdays governorship election in the state. Announcing the results at the INEC Collation Centre, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who was the Returning Officer, said Mr Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat his closet rival, Gov Oyetola, the candidate of the APC, who scored 375,027 votes. The PDP won in 17 local government areas, while APC won in 13. The 13 local government areas won by APC are: Ilesa East, Ayedaade, Boripe, Ifedayo, Ife Central, Boripe, Ola-Oluwa, Iwo, Isokan, Irewole, Atakumosa East and Ife East. While the 17 local government areas won by PDP are: Boluwaduro, Osogbo, Ila, Atakumosa West, Ifelodun, Ilesa West, Odo-Otin, Obokun, Orolu, Olorunda, Ife North, Irepodun, Oriade, Ede South, Ejigbo, Ede North and Egbedore. (NAN) Nigerias Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on Sunday, in a post on his verified social media pages (Facebook and Twitter) reacted to the defeat of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in the just concluded Osun gubernatorial election but later deleted the message. In the proverbial message titled; Osun le tente (a Yoruba word that means Osun is tough), Mr Aregbesola wrote: This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. (Daniel 4:17). The post was later taken down after generating massive reactions from Nigerians on social media. However, without any evidence that the Ministers verified social media handles bearing the post were hacked, his media adviser, Sola Fasure, in a statement, described the message as unauthorised and that it should be ignored. He said: It has come to the attention of the media office of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, that an unauthorized message was posted on his Verified Twitter and Facebook Pages at about 8:00 am on Sunday 17th July 2022. The unauthorized messages have now been deleted. Members of the public, especially the media, are advised to ignore it! Mr Fasure said. Like Aregbesola, like Atiku Abubakar This is the second time in two months famous Nigerian public officials will delete a controversial message posted on their verified social media handles, and then say it was unauthorised. In May, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, deleted his post on an alleged blasphemous that caused the murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto. Mr Abubakar at that time said: Every tweet has to get my expressed approval but this one didnt so I asked them to take it down. Existing scourge Mr Aregbesola, who had for obvious reasons boycotted the just concluded Osun election, travelled out of Nigeria on Friday to attend a conference slated for Monday in Germany by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). The Minister did not support the second-term ambition of Mr Oyetola after he endorsed a former secretary to the state government, Moshood Adeoti. However, his anointed candidate- Mr Adeoti lost to Mr Oyetola at the APC governorship primary election held on February 19. Before the primary, Mr Aregbesola had publicly declared his support for a caucus within the states chapter of the APC The Osun Progressives (TOP), even as he said the caucus is populated by the real progressives in the party and vowed to unseat the governor. TOP approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to seek the disqualification of Mr Oyetola from the race but failed after the court, on Thursday, ruled that the case was an internal affair of APC and that the court has no jurisdiction to meddle in it. The electoral commission, INEC, formally declared Ademola Adeleke of the PDP as the winner of the governorship election held in Osun State, Saturday. The INECs Chief Returning Officer for Osun, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who announced the result Sunday Morning, said the PDP candidate scored 403,371 votes to emerge victorious, while the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 375,027 votes. A royal delegation from Western Cameroon's Bangwa region made physical contact with a looted sculpture for the first time in more than 100 years on Saturday. The artifact -- known as a lefem -- is one of many commemorative sculptures that was taken during Germany's colonial conquest of the Central African nation. "Taking this artifact into captivity far from its environment deprived us of the natural and spiritual protection which we were provided by our ancestors," said King of Bangwa Asabaton Fontem Njifua of Bangwa at the ceremony. "Its return is the beginning of ending the agony of collective punishment which generations of our ancestors endured and are still enduring." Cologne's Rautenstrauch Joest Museum on Saturday held a ceremonial event for the artifact's return with the delegation. But they left empty-handed. While the museum wishes to restore the sculpture to community leaders, the restitution of looted artifacts held by Germany's museums is governed by a bureaucratic process. The final decision rests with the City of Cologne and its council. Lefem's absence felt for generations The sculpture is one of many lefem sculptures crafted to embody the spirit of Bangwa chiefs. It was stolen from the Bangwa around 1898 by a German military lieutenant during a violent raid. He donated it to a museum in north-central Germany in 1902. It was later obtained by a collector in Dusseldorf in 1955 and given to the Rautenstrauch Joest Museum in 1966. The lefem's absence has been felt by each generation. Western Cameroon is at the heart of a prolonged war and the Bangwa region is a particularly hard-hit area. Bangwa leaders say that the absence of the statue serves as a constant reminder of the chaos and devastation felt by the community. "What we want is that these artifacts will go back to its natural environment. It will go back to people who suffered the loss. People who suffered the collective trauma over the years. It is not a matter of politics," said Chief Fuatabong Achaleke Taku, a royal member of the Bangwa and a key figure behind the sculpture's restitution. "It is a matter of fundamental human rights that the artifact will go back to the community." Members of the Bangwa grew up understanding the history of artifacts looted during German colonization of Cameroon, Chief Taku told DW. This helped inspire him on his path for the lefem's return. Although those memories came with pain, this historical knowledge was the key necessary to reclaim the Bangwa's looted works from German museums. Bureaucracy behind restitution in Germany There has been a stated mission for the restitution of looted objects held in Germany since 2019. In the years that have followed, Germany has added transparency to the restitution process by setting guidelines for museums on the repatriation of stolen artifacts. While the path to return is clearer than before, the process is still not easy. In order to make a request for a return a country or community member must first identify what the object is and where it is being held. While some museums digitize their collections so they can be better identified, others do not. The requester of the artifact must then prove ownership of the object through provenance research. This research investigates creation and the transfer of ownership throughout the object's life. Some museums keep provenance records. However, the manifest does at times contain information gaps. In this case, the burden to prove ownership falls on the requestor. One of the last barriers in Germany's restitution process is the federal states or local authorities who oversee the museums in Germany. It is up to them to make the final OK for return. One OK is not enough Museum Director Nanette Snoep and her team is dedicated to seeing the sculpture go back the Bangwa community, but her OK is not enough. A key holdout in the return of the lefem is the City of Cologne, the municipality that oversees the museum indicated the director. "It is up to the city of Cologne to decide ... I am trying to convince the city that this sculpture will be returned to the Bangwa," said Snoep. "The question is, what is the political will of the City of Cologne?" she added. Germany's museums have to negotiate with the delicate powers shared between them and municipal bodies in the country for restitution claims. A city official who attended the meeting said that he would also like to see the statue and other relics the museum holds, like more than 90 Benin Bronzes, returned as well -- but the city is still at the beginning of the process. Cologne's city council to decide Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Cameroon Entertainment Europe and Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "At the end it is the decision of the council," said Stefan Charles, Deputy Mayor of Fine Arts and Culture for the City of Cologne. "I will prepare the council as well as I can. I will bring up the pros and cons." While negotiating the return of the Benin Bronzes held at the museum is currently a top priority for the council Charles said he was "convinced that we will agree to the restitution of the Benin bronzes and whatever follows." However, he added, the council is also bound to partners and the government who are tasked with checking legal aspects of return. "We are not making this decision on our own. We have partners with museums in Germany and beyond and also on a governmental level in Berlin," said Charles. To the royal Bangwa envoy return of the lefem sculpture is imminent. They see the letter of invitation given to them by the museum for Saturday's ceremony as a clear indication that it will finally come home. "The wording of the letter of invitation from this museum and from the mayor showed that there was a realistic opportunity that if we came with the king we could regain the humanity that was stolen from us. That is what motivated me and that is why we are here," said Chief Taku. Edited by Keith Walker The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that it would embark on a nationwide protest on July 26 and 27 in solidarity with the trade unions in the Nigeria public universities and others. The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said this in a circular jointly signed by Emmanuel Ugboaja, General Secretary of the Congress on Sunday in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the circular which was issued on July 15, was addressed to the Chairpersons and Secretaries of NLC State Councils. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and other trade unions in the education sector have been on strike for over five months over the alleged failure of the government to keep to the agreement entered with the unions. The demands of the striking workers include issues bordering on funding of universities, salaries and earned allowances of lecturers. According to Mr Wabba, the action is in line with the decisions of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress on June 30. We have scheduled as follows the National Days of Protest to get our children back to school and support our unions in Nigerias public universities fighting for quality education. The dates are on July 26 and 27 at all the state capitals of the federation and Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and take off point are at the NLC State Secretariats and the Labour House, Abuja. You are requested to immediately convene the meetings of your SAC to disseminate this information and to fully mobilise workers in the states for this very important protest for good governance, he said. Also, in a separate statement, Mr Wabba faulted the Federal Governments purported rejection of the Nimi-Briggs Committee report of the university-based unions negotiations. According to him, the alleged action is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the ILO Convention Number 98 ratified by Nigeria and whose core principle is Negotiation in Good Faith. The Nigeria Labour Congress is concerned about reports widely disseminated by the media both online and traditional, positing that the Federal Government may have rejected its own Nimi-Briggs Committee. That is on the premise of alleged disparity between the pay rise allocated to university teaching staff and the non-teaching staff. First, we wish to posit that the purpose for setting up the Nimi Briggs Committee was to conform with the fundamental principles of the rights of trade unions to collective bargaining as guaranteed by ILO Convention Number 98 which Nigeria has ratified. Mr Wabba pointed out that one of the cardinal principles of collective bargaining was the Principle of Negotiation in Good fate. He noted that elements of the principle included conducting genuine and constructive negotiations. Mr Wabba, however, noted that since the government set up the Nimi-Briggs Committee to make recommendations on the review of the salaries of workers in Nigerias universities, the unions and NLC had been kept in the dark on the report of the Committee. According to him, it is a shocker to read from the media snippets of a report of what is strictly the product of a negotiation between the Federal Government Committee and the concerned trade unions. Our first response is to aver that this development gravely betrays and undermines the principle of negotiation in good fate as it manifests crass disrespect by the government for trade unions in Nigerias universities, he said. He said the Congress, therefore, demanded that the Federal Government should immediately conclude the ongoing negotiation with trade unions in Nigerias universities. He also called on the government to be prepared to commence the implementation of whatever Collective Bargaining Agreement arising from it. They should also immediately pay the salaries of striking university workers which had been frozen on the premise of the so-called no work-no pay policy, especially as recommended by the leaders of Nigerias two major faiths, he said. (NAN) Deve Bossua, wife of a slain Nigerian journalist, Tordue Salem, has sued the Nigerian government at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, over her husbands tragic death. Mr Salem was a journalist at Vanguard Newspaper in Abuja until his disappearance on October 13, 2021. His mangled remains were later found at the Wuse General Hospital in Abuja last November, a month after he was declared missing. Sebastine Hon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed the rights enforcement suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/32/22, on behalf of the widow. She blamed the Nigerian police for the illegal detention, torture and the premeditated murder of the late Tordue Salem. The suit is seeking redress over the violation of Mrs Salems deceased husbands right to life as enshrined in Articles 4, 5, 6 and 23(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. How Mr Salem was killed In court filings, the plaintiff claimed that the State Security Service (SSS) acknowledged receipt of a petition written to them concerning Mr Salems disappearance, it never formally communicated with the family of the deceased. Also, the plaintiff stated that a chief superintendent of police, Bimbo Oyewole, from Abuja police command, who led a team of investigators to unravel the circumstances surrounding Mr Salems disappearance, on November 5, 2021, called the family relatives to his office, where they were informed that the police were still checking some mortuaries in the FCT Abuja concerning the matter. On November 11, 2021, according to the court filings, the police Intelligence Response Team in Abuja, called the family and informed them through their commander that the police had confirmed the hit-and-run incident to have happened on October 13, 2021, which led to Mr Salems death. Because of the complicity in the investigation of Salems death, the family said it observed inescapable facts. Plaintiffs lawyer, Mr Hon, said he would rely on documentary and oral evidence to argue his clients case. Prayer In the suit, Mrs Salem wants the ECOWAS Court to compel the Nigerian government to pay her 2 million U.S. dollars, being the sum the slain journalist would have, if alive till exhaustion of his life expectancy. She wants the money paid for her maintenance and the maintenance of their little daughter, Avanna Salem. Mrs Salem is also praying for an order that the defendant should pay her 10 million US dollars compensatory damages for the mental and psychological anguish caused her, together with the permanent deprivation of her right to enjoy the love of her life, owing to the unlawful and unconstitutional murder of Mr Salem. She also sought an order directing the Nigerian government to pay her 5 million US dollars as aggravated damages for the illegal detention, torture and the premeditated murder of the late Tordue Salem by officers of the Nigerian police. The plaintiff equally urged the court to declare that the Nigerian police, acted in breach of the provisions of the African Charter when it allegedly arrested, detained and tortured Tordue Salem to death and thereafter falsely claimed, with the connivance of the authorities of the Wuse General Hospital, Abuja that the deceased was knocked down by a motor vehicle driven by a hit-and-run driver, Mr Clement Itoro. No date has yet been slated for a hearing of the case. Background There are a plethora of questions about the death of the Vanguard newspaper journalist still begging for answers. In November last year immediately after the news of Mr Salems death broke, PREMIUM TIMES visited Godab Estate in Abuja where the deceased journalist lived. Elizabeth Kuraun, the deceased journalists elder sister, was overwhelmed by grief and disbelief over her brothers tragic end. The journalists disappearance and eventual death drew outrage from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter and the government of Benue State, Mr Salems state of origin. The NUJ Abuja chairman, Emmanuel Ogbeche, led protests to put pressure on the police and federal authorities to Mr Salems release before he was declared dead a couple of weeks after the protests. The unanswered questions This paper reported how journalists, who attended the parade of Mr Itoro, the alleged hit-and-run driver at police force headquarters in Abuja, picked holes in the police spokespersons explanation concerning the circumstances that led to Mr Salems death. Channels Television had reported that journalists asked why the management of Wuse General Hospital (where Mr Salems body was found) did not report the incident for long since documents belonging to the late reporter were on him. The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, had led a protest march to the police force headquarters in Abuja, demanding the journalists whereabouts. Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Assembly, which the deceased was covering as a journalist until he went missing, raised a public outcry about his situation. Also, journalists asked if the police were going to include the Wuse hospital management in the prosecution. The identity of the person who deposited the late journalists corpse remains unknown. The police said they would address issues of negligence on the part of the hospital management while assuring that the policemen at the Wuse checkpoint on the night of the accident would be held to account after all the facts of the matter have been gathered. But till this moment, there has been no public explanation from the authorities to unravel the sordid circumstances of Mr Salems death. He has since been buried at his native home in Benue State, northcentral Nigeria. The truth is, at this precarious stage of Nigerian national life, religion is far too minute an issue that should bother us, no matter the frustration, mistreatment and maltreatment by the forces of Ananias and Sapphira on the prowl. Topmost of our concerns, if we are truly interested in the togetherness and future of Nigeria and our children, is security, followed by the economy and national cohesion. Thus, I expect that Christians will centralise their concern about Shettima around how true or not the allegation that he is in bed with terrorism. Two anecdotes of the extreme reaction of scorned women will avail, if you are looking for a corollary to Nigerian Christendoms tempestuous anger at the choice of Kashim Shettima. A Muslim and former governor of Borno State, Shettima was recently chosen as vice presidential candidate to Bola Tinubu, a Muslim and presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In traditional Africa, which celebrates centuries of polygamy, incidences of husband-wife tension, confrontation, jealousy and bitterness have led to the destruction of polygynous homes. One of such is Richard Edward Dennetts anecdotal explanation of the life of Africa through folklores. Dennett, an English trader who lived in what is today Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), translated a native story of two women in polygyny, whose husband had gone into the forest in search of game. On the day of his return, the women then decided to prepare chicoanga, a native bread, for him. As the younger wife went in search of condiments, the elder wife tried to kill the son of the younger wife, ostensibly due to perceived favouritism in the home and, apparently, because the child was a much brighter and more intelligent child than hers. In mistaken identity, however, she killed her own son. Orlando Owoh, late Yoruba musician renowned for his guttural voice and predilection for affixing anecdotes to his musical offerings, also gave fillip to this anecdote. His own narration, not dissimilar to the DRC anecdote above, also speaks to the extreme that a woman scorned in matrimony, either real or imagined, can go to. In the Owoh allegory, the senior wife in the matrimony also feels the insufficient possibilities of advancement of her schooling child. She then laces a beautifully prepared porridge meal meant for her senior wifes son with a lethal poison. Unfortunately for her, the meal was eventually devoured by her own child. The two allegories above point to extreme reactions and the extent that Nigerian Christendom may go in its tirade against the APCs Muslim-Muslim ticket. English playwright, William Congreve, explains the anger better through a line, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, in his The Mourning Bride. The line, recited from this tragic play during its first performance in 1697, has since become an enduring reference to the fury of females when cross. It was uttered by a character in the play called Zara, a queen, who upon being captured, gets entangled in a lethal love triangle. Like the commotion that always follows the favoritism of decisions taken by a husband in a polygamous home, Kashim Shettimas choice has kindled a fire of discontent in the Nigerian religious polygamy. In its decision to pick Shettima, the APC choice has rightly been interpreted by Christians, the major co-wife in a polygynous relationship in the polity, to mean insolence, impudence, disdain and a belittling of their teeming population in Nigeria. A conflict of co-wives in polygamous families in Africa is often characterised by commotion, petty accusations, outbursts of verbal abuse, harassment, physical violence, accusation and counter-accusation. Provoked by the uneven distribution of privileges and attention in households whether material or sexual the conflicts that come with the tempestuous relationship of co-wives in African polygamous marriages are ubiquitous. Those embroiled in polygamy know that one sure way to avoid its attendant fury is through fairness, equity and justice. However, these are very rare virtues that can be dispassionately dispensed by mortal men. Even the Islamic holy writ counsels equitable relationships with women as basis for delving into the stormy waters of polygny. A serial philanderer and polygamist, my musical idol, Ayinla Omowura, at some critical point in his life, came to the realisation of the dilemma of polygamy and counseled, in a vinyl he entitled Oniyawo pupo Multiple Liaisons that agabagebe imparity, hypocrisy and injustice will ruin an inequitable polygamous home. This chaotic environment seems to be a most fitting analogy that can explain the scenario that Tinubu and his APC provoked by their unconscionable choice of Shettima. While in polygamy as a cultural practice, the hierarchy of wives is a notorious fact accepted by all parties, with the hierarchical positioning of wives hotly avoided in the Nigerian religious polygamy. Framers of the Nigerian constitution, aware of the bedlam that these wives could unfold, inserted it in the grundnorm that the state would be equitable in its dealings with and treatment of its incendiary religious wives. Non-compliance with the principle of parity and equity in polygamy has led to strife, riots and discontent in times past. The co-wives of Christianity, Islam and traditional religious practices have hotly contested spatial relevance, with dire consequences for the polity. This has bred conflicts of immense proportion. However, not minding the constitutional non-recognition of any principal wife by the Nigerian state, rulers of Nigeria, over the years, have gone ahead to delineate the marital space, not hiding their flawed affections for Islam as the principal wife. Christianity has been allotted the position of the second wife. I however think that Christians and Nigerians in general are treating skin rash, in this fuss over Kashim Shettimas religion, while neglecting a far more debilitating manifestation of leprosy. Southern Christians, especially, are not being as critical as they should be in this regard. From all they have gathered about Tinubu, estimating his presidency God forbid through the lens of religion, to my mind, is a lame mis-direction of focus. Since 1966 when the military took over government and proper federalism was thrown into the sewer, and up until about two decades ago, of all the noticeable cleavages of Nigerias aspiring nationhood, religion was never dominant or, at best, it played a superficial role in considerations for elective, selective or appointive offices. Ethnicity has been a far dominant cleavage which Nigeria has battled since Fredrick Lugard selfishly soldered uneven nations together as a country. Even under the unelected despotic military rules of Aguiyi Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, to Abdulsalami Abubakar, where balancing was not expected to be an issue, there was less furore about the religious composition of those running the State. That was why Babagana Kingibe could pair with MKO Abiola and their audacious sameness of religion was immaterial once the ticket held promise of a greater Nigeria. However, the infernal decision to annul the results of the 1993 election by the ruling class of the time drove Nigerians to their different tents. Then emerged the scramble of Nigerians for an identity which represented a canopy that could shield and protect the people from the manic and Dracula-like teeth of the Nigerian state. Religion came to their rescue. From 1999, the duo of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari have reified ethnicity and made it, as they say on the street, big deal. In his dual appearance as Nigerian leader, Obasanjo struggled to cripple the cleavage of ethnicity. If Nigeria had had earlier or successive leaders with such mindset as Obasanjos, the country would most probably be on her way today to wiping out ethnic considerations in matters of state. Obasanjos government made nonsense of an emilokan or awalokan (it is my or our turn) as a motive for an ethnic group to rally round leadership. In Obasanjo, Yoruba sucked fewer oranges from the Nigerian governmental tree, even when they had their son at the top. While promoting the Aliko Dangotes of this world to undeserved financial superstardom, Obasanjo was obsessed with the crippling of his Ogun State kinsman, Mike Adenuga Jr. on baseless and trumped up allegations; haranguing him in the process in an unprecedented acrimony. Contrarily, Jonathan and Buhari clothed their kins with decorative apparels. I am sure Obasanjo is regretting his gross, silly selfishness in the guise of nationalism today. Buhari went even a notch higher than Jonathan in decorating his kinsmen with pearls. Region and religion became the passport for occupying national offices under him, so much that even terrorists who kill Nigerians in droves get presidential support for their ultra violence, once they flash their shared Fulani identity with the president. With all these as backcloth, it will be arrant nonsense to quarrel with Christendom for fussing over the poster of a principal wife that Tinubu and his APC have proclaimed on Islam by their choice of Shettima. The fusses can be likened to the physical and verbal aggression that is common in polygamous homes. It is a clear clone of how, in traditional Africa, frustrated at being cast in a second fiddle role to play in the home, a scorned woman, trying to preserve, secure and maintain her position, resorts to the gory and diabolical antics as told by both Orlando Owoh and Richard Dennett. Wives, most times the scorned senior wife, went/go into unimaginable extents to wreak havoc on the matrimony. These negative actions range from securing dangerous love charms, potions, entering into witchcraftcy, sorcery and even, murder. Tinubu and his APC seem to have given sexual and affectionate privileges to Islam as co-wife in a secular Nigerian state and cannot now complain about the anguish and mental torture that Christianity feels as a result of this humiliation. Having said all the above, I however think that Christians and Nigerians in general are treating skin rash, in this fuss over Kashim Shettimas religion, while neglecting a far more debilitating manifestation of leprosy. Southern Christians, especially, are not being as critical as they should be in this regard. From all they have gathered about Tinubu, estimating his presidency God forbid through the lens of religion, to my mind, is a lame mis-direction of focus. I do not think a religious individual will carry the kind of heavy, tarnishing load of allegations of malaises which Tinubu and Shettima carry on their persons today. These are acts and individual manifestations which Christianity teaches its members not to be unequally yoked with. I think that the allegations against the duo are far more weighty infractions as to make Christian fusses over their religious orientation needless, or at best secondary. Lets have Christendom do more critical assessments of the candidates, please. We all know that those politicians who religionists furiously canvass to be in office because of their Islamic or Christian names are as far away from religion as gold-plated metal is far from original gold. Whether they bear Christian or Muslim names, the main religion of those office-seeking fellows is politics. Some analysts have labeled as misbegotten the clarion call to bring to the front burner allegations against both Tinubu and Shettima. They also label those allegations as old wives tale. However, sane people should know that unexplained accusations of drug couriering in about two decades, recently sauced with incontrovertible and unassailable loads of evidence, for which the accused has no single word of rebuttal, should rank first among our bothers. Else, we are all just going to have a Pablo Escobar reincarnate in Aso Rock. An explaination of this baggage should carry a far more consequential weight than the texture of his religiosity of that of his anointed vice. An old wives fuss about whether Tinubu is a czar of fakery or not is, to my mind, far more damaging and of national importance to all of us than concerns about whether the same man, whose wife shares a similar pedestal with Christian elders, will be equitable in dealing with other faiths. Illustrated by the intervention of the biblical Queen Esther on behalf of her people in King Ahasuerus zi oza room, against the rampaging forces of Haman, the power of the bedroom that women command cannot be discountenanced. This is against the backdrop of the fact that the Nigerian constitution has made robotic mannequins of vices and deputies in a presidential system of government; a fact that is always further exploited by men occupying these executive positions, who harbour totalitarian and totalistic views of power. You may want to ask what Yemi Osinbajo has been able to swing the way of Christendom in his eight years of figurative vice presidency. Now, extending this counterfactual situtation further, what can Ifeanyi Okowa swing for the Christian fold in an Atiku Abubakar presidency, God forbid, that Remi Tinubu cannot swing far more in her husbands presidency God forbid? The truth is, at this precarious stage of Nigerian national life, religion is far too minute an issue that should bother us, no matter the frustration, mistreatment and maltreatment by the forces of Ananias and Sapphira on the prowl. Topmost of our concerns, if we are truly interested in the togetherness and future of Nigeria and our children, is security, followed by the economy and national cohesion. Thus, I expect that Christians will centralise their concern about Shettima around how true or not the allegation that he is in bed with terrorism. A man who had at his beck and call a heap of classified state dossiers while in office and who should know Goodluck Jonathan has come in the open to accuse Shettima of dalliance with terrorism, while he was governor. This is a weighty allegation and in dire need of cogent explanations, not the waffling on the social media. There are also flying allegations that Shettima, as Borno State governor, prodded by Lagos, was behind the Chibok girls kidnap, so as to demonise the Jonathan government, preparatory to the final death-knell on his government by the APC. The allegation claims further that the girls thereafter entered a place of no return because the kidnap turned awry. It is also alleged that Shettimas reward for that daredevilry was the Nigerian vice presidency. A number of other untoward allegations decorate Shettimas neck like slave trade era neck-manacles. This is a man who, God forbid, Tinubu becomes Nigerias president and any evil, God forbid, happens to him, stands the chance of being Nigerias president. With this, he will then return Nigeria to the terror-laden years of Muhammadu Buhari, where the cadavers of priests and men of God in general have become special delicacy in Fulani herdsmen-terrorists pot of soup. Lets have Christendom do more critical assessments of the candidates, please. We all know that those politicians who religionists furiously canvass to be in office because of their Islamic or Christian names are as far away from religion as gold-plated metal is far from original gold. Whether they bear Christian or Muslim names, the main religion of those office-seeking fellows is politics. Festus Adedayo is an Ibadan-based journalist. Let us assume then that Tinubu and Shettima triumph at the 2023 presidential election and proceed to complete two terms. Power will thereafter be liable to rotate to Northern Nigeria, which will probably produce a Muslim. At the endNigerias presidency would have been occupied by a Muslim for pretty much a quarter of a century Children born at the beginning of this period may end up with the impression that Nigeria is indeed an Emirate in which only Muslims are entitled to aspire to the highest office. November 28, 1988 was a Monday. In Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a Constituent Assembly inaugurated by military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida, had been in session for just over six months, since May 11, 1988. At the helm as its chair was Anthony Aniagolu, then a recently retired justice of Nigerias Supreme Court. He was a Christian from Enugu State. His deputy was Muhammadu Buba Ardo, then chief judge of Gongola State, who died suddenly in 1991, two years after the Assembly completed its work. He was Muslim. The secretary to the Constituent Assembly was one Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, whom the country has since then gotten to know a lot more eloquently; a Muslim from Borno State. Kingibes assistant was Amal Inyingiala Pepple, who would rise to the height of the civil service in Nigeria, before retiring in June 2009 as the head of service of the federation. She is a Christian from Rivers State. In those days, Nigeria had 21 States: Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bendel, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Gongola, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, and Sokoto. Plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Constituent Assembly, which Justice Aniagolu chaired, comprised 567 members drawn from all these States. 458 were elected, while 109 were nominated by the Federal Government, including the chairman and his deputy (both of them male), and drawn from the ranks of judicial figures, senior lawyers, titans of industry, traditional rulers, experienced public servants and administrators, academics and other professionals. At the submission of its report on April 5, 1989, the membership was down to 565, owing to the death of two members: Dr Daniel Obasi Agbafor, an elected member representing Ohaozara federal constituency, then in Imo State in South-East, Nigeria, who died on Sunday, August 14, 1988. And, Honourable Justice Umaru Agora Isiaku, a judge of the High Court of Niger State, nominated to represent Abuja in the Assembly, who died on 10 October 1988. Assembled to negotiate the terms of a constitution on the basis of which the Babangida regime claimed it would hand over power to an elected government at the end of its transition programme, the Constituent Assembly got into a very animated debate from October 1998 over the irrelevant issue as Nigerias current ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) would have us all believe of religion in Nigeria and the role it is to play in civic and constitutional life. In this debate, there was no quarter given nor taken. The ruling APC has acted convenient on these issues, however, rather than principled. In 2019, Kaduna State governor, Ahmed El-Rufai, in a fit of sectarian hubris, toppled the conventions of faith and ethnic balancing in the State when he decided to pick fellow Muslim, Hadiza Balarabe, as running mate. The correlation between this decision and the deterioration in coexistence in the State since then has been spectacular. As such, on Monday, November 28, 1988, the Assembly received an unusual assortment of martial guests. They were led by Augustus Aikhomu, a Navy Admiral, and second in command to the military president. Accompanying him in full military uniforms were Air Marshall Ibrahim Alfa, chief of Air Staff; General Alani Akinrinade, former chief of Defence Staff; Major-General Paul Omu, minister of Defence; Rear Admiral Murtala Nyako, flag officer commanding Western Naval Command; Air Vice-Marshall Hamza Abdullahi, FCT minister; Colonel John Shagaya, Interior minister; and Mr Victor Pam, deputy inspector-general of Police. It seemed evident that their mission was serious. On arrival, Admiral Aikhomu proceeded to read a Riot Act to the Assembly, declaring, as Justice Aniagolu recalls in his memoirs on the making of the 1989 Constitution, that was never promulgated: the Federal Government has decided that this Assembly should stop further debate and discussion on these clauses. As the Assembly wound down its work on March 20, 1989, Admiral Aikhomu wrote a letter (Reference: GS/CGS/235) to Justice Aniagolu as its chairman, ordering them to insert into the Constituent Assembly Draft Constitution all matters and clauses of the Revised CRC Constitution which were excluded from the jurisdiction of the Constituent Assembly. In this way, the military retained ultimate decision making in resolving the matter of the place of religion in Nigerias life. To address that, they defaulted essentially to the framework agreed in the 1979 constitution when, as was to be in 1989, the then military regime sent the second-in-command to order the Constituent Assembly gathered in 1978 to stop debating the matter before it got out of hand. Four years after this uneasy settlement, Nigerias political elite reached an equally uneasy truce, in order to hurry Ibrahim Babangida from his ruinous and interminable political transition programme. At the end of the truce, Moshood Abiola, a Muslim from Ogun State in Southern Nigeria teamed up with the aforementioned Babagana Kingibe for the ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which triumphed in the June 12, 1993 presidential election before being frustrated from taking over power, when Babangida nullified the result of the election. The 1999 Constitution, which ultimately transitioned Nigeria to civil rule six years later, essentially defaulted to the 1989 settlement, which in turn accepted the 1979 settlement. Many people prefer to say that the constitutional situation is that Nigeria is a multi-religious state. At both national conferences, convened first by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, and then by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, religion nearly derailed the proceedings. Indeed, at the 2014 National Conference, it was reported that religion pitched Nigerians against one another at the national conference with delegates disagreeing over religion. The leaders who have led Nigeria till date have attempted to walk the fine balance that religion evokes in the country. Even President Muhammadu Buhari, often accused with some justification of being narrow on issues of faith, was not unmindful of the sensitivity of this issue when he declined the importunations of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, like Buhari a Muslim, to be his running mate in the 2015 presidential election. The ruling APC has acted convenient on these issues, however, rather than principled. In 2019, Kaduna State governor, Ahmed El-Rufai, in a fit of sectarian hubris, toppled the conventions of faith and ethnic balancing in the State when he decided to pick fellow Muslim, Hadiza Balarabe, as running mate. The correlation between this decision and the deterioration in coexistence in the State since then has been spectacular. The Abiola-Kingibe ticket in 1993 was a product of a peculiar inflection point in Nigerian history unparalleled since then and unlikely to be repeated. Since then, if anything, successive rulers, none more so than the incumbent regime of Muhammadu Buhari, have invested considerable energy in divisive and toxic politics and policies. In explaining his choice at that point, El-Rufai claimed his only consideration was competence. In justifying his decision to choose fellow Muslim, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential contest, APCs presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has similarly argued on the urgings of competence with a bit of history, claiming that the spirit of 1993 is upon us. Like El-Rufai, Tinubus position implies spectacularly that individual competence and religious harmony are somehow mutually exclusive. If he wins and the country emulates the trajectory of Kaduna State, the country could become a level killing field. Tinubus cheap appeal to the heady events of 1993 mis-reads contemporary Nigerian history in support of convenient, dubious and patronising nonsense. All this takes place in a country in which citizens have been immolated without consequences on specious claims of blasphemy and the Supreme Court has recently ruled that female, Muslim students in public schools have the right to wear religious covering, none of which would be the case if religion were such an irrelevance in Nigerian civic life. The Abiola-Kingibe ticket in 1993 was a product of a peculiar inflection point in Nigerian history unparalleled since then and unlikely to be repeated. Since then, if anything, successive rulers, none more so than the incumbent regime of Muhammadu Buhari, have invested considerable energy in divisive and toxic politics and policies. Indeed, as someone has rightly pointed out religious balancing is one of the first factors in determining competence for a Nigerian presidential aspirant. He who fails in this is incompetent. Let us assume then that Tinubu and Shettima triumph at the 2023 presidential election and proceed to complete two terms. Power will thereafter be liable to rotate to Northern Nigeria, which will probably produce a Muslim. At the end of two terms of that person, following the two terms of Tinubu-Shettima and counting back to the two terms of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerias presidency would have been occupied by a Muslim for pretty much a quarter of a century or for 27 out of 32 years, going back to the administration of Umaru Musa YarAdua. Children born at the beginning of this period may end up with the impression that Nigeria is indeed an Emirate in which only Muslims are entitled to aspire to the highest office. The point really is that it is not. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a lawyer and teacher, can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu. there is an urgent need for wide and active participation of the population to meet daily blood transfusion requirements. Additionally, population engagement in regular voluntary blood donation would cater to urgent requirements following emergencies or disasters, as recently experienced in Owo and Kaduna, when a rapidly escalating surge in blood demand overwhelms the normal operations of entire state blood services. On Sunday, June 4, Nigeria was shaken by the news of a horrendous attack on a Christian Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, South-West Nigeria, in which over thirty people men, women, and children were killed, and hundreds critically injured. Barely two months earlier, a violent attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train left several passengers killed, and numerous others either taken hostage, or left terribly injured. In Ondo, as it had occurred earlier in Kaduna, almost immediately, the State was hit by a massive blood shortage, and desperate calls were made to the public to donate blood and save those whose lives were hanging in the balance. Social media was awash with tweets and posts stressing the urgent need for blood, and people responded in large numbers, with young people trooping to Federal Medical Centre, Owo to donate blood for people they knew, and even more people donated for those who they didnt know. Over the past decade and a half, numerous disasters on a national scale have led to this kind of widespread call for blood donations. Building collapses; oil tanker explosions; and bomb blasts at the United Nations office in Abuja, bus terminals, markets, and the capitals Eagle Square, are examples of the events that have threatened lives, and strained national blood supplies. But the truth is, as horrific as these headline-grabbing incidents have been, they represent a small portion of the incidents that lead people to need lifesaving blood donations. For instance, road traffic accidents and complications from childbirth are also major contributors to the loss of hundreds of lives daily. Every minute in Nigeria, approximately six women die from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes, especially from blood loss; and every day up to 104 people lose their lives on the countrys roads and highways. Many families are therefore left bereft of their loved ones in situations that should have been joyous pregnancy, childbirth, and even journeys home. Currently, 49 per cent of Nigerias population is female, and 51 per cent of that demography are in their reproductive years (15-49 years), which is a staggering nearly 50 million women who stand the risk of dying either during pregnancy or delivery. In addition to this gruesome statistic, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately three-quarters of all road traffic deaths occur among young males below 25 years of age, and road traffic injuries are reportedly the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years. A significant cause of these deaths in both cases is the lack of prompt access to blood in such scenarios. For low- and middle-income countries, for whom a large proportion of the population are within these age categories, the unavailability of safe blood has implications not only for health, but also the economy. to ensure that there is enough safe blood available for disease conditions and following terror attacks, such as those that have occurred in Owo, Kaduna, and around the country, regular voluntary blood donations by enough healthy donors are needed. This is how we can ensure there is sufficient safe blood available to be transfused whenever and wherever it is required. As a family physician often at the frontlines of medical care, I have seen that the demand for blood for transfusion in Nigeria is driven not only due to bleeding in pregnancy and childbirth, or road traffic accidents, but also by the worlds heaviest burden of malaria and sickle cell disease, in addition to other disease conditions such as cancer. Country studies in the African region have revealed that as low as 4.6 blood donations are collected per 1000 people, compared to 33.1 in higher income countries. Thus, in addition to the steady need for blood and the gaps in safe blood supplies, the demand for blood on our continent is further constrained by the storage shelf-life of blood, which can no longer be transfused on expiration. In countries like Nigeria, up to 65 per cent of blood transfusions are given to children under five years of age; whereas in high-income countries, patients aged above 65 years are the most frequently transfused. This further underlines the fact that in our environment, younger populations are hardest hit by the lack of safe blood supplies. Therefore, to ensure that there is enough safe blood available for disease conditions and following terror attacks, such as those that have occurred in Owo, Kaduna, and around the country, regular voluntary blood donations by enough healthy donors are needed. This is how we can ensure there is sufficient safe blood available to be transfused whenever and wherever it is required. Unfortunately, over 80 per cent of Nigerias blood supply right now remains reliant on family members and paid blood donors, and that needs to change. The World Health Organisation recommends that a country of Nigerias size should have a minimum of two million voluntary blood donations annually to assure blood safety and availability for transfusion. Instead, only about half a million voluntary donations are made across all the countrys hospitals and blood establishments each year, leaving a shortfall of over 1.5 million blood units. Several studies reveal the reasons why Nigerians are hesitant to donate blood voluntarily and regularly. These hindrances include fears of infections, side effects such as weight loss, sudden death, sexual problems, high blood pressure, and convulsions, and additionally, various religious beliefs are frequently cited as reasons not to donate blood. Developed countries with optimally structured health systems and robust blood transfusion services that are based on voluntary blood donation can meet their population demands for blood and blood products. Despite periodic or seasonal shortages, their patients are largely assured of access to safe blood when needed. Therefore, for developing countries like Nigeria, which are plagued by incessant incidents of shortages in safe, quality blood and blood products, harnessing the power of our youthful population is a key to tackling the unavailability of safe blood. it is specifically at times like these that are fraught with polarity, fear and uncertainty that call for unity. The act of voluntary blood donation in our communities can thus contribute to rebuilding our social ties with equanimity and building a united society, regardless of differences in our tribes and our tongues for our collective survival. According to Nigerias National Blood Policy, the acceptable age range for voluntary blood donation is 18-65 years, and the average age of the Nigerian citizen is 18.4 years. With a population of over 210 million people, 54 per cent of whom are aged between 15 and 64 years (110 million people), the country has a huge untapped population of potential voluntary blood donors. Voluntary blood donors, particularly regular donors, are the first line of defence in preventing the transmission of HIV, hepatitis viruses and other bloodborne infections, while saving lives through transfusion. Both males and females can donate blood voluntarily, and male donors can donate up to four times a year, while females can donate three times a year. Asides donating blood personally, one can also encourage their colleagues, friends, and family to become regular blood donors. Furthermore, individuals can volunteer to reach out to members of their communities, thereby providing support for blood services nationally. As a volunteer, one can help to provide care to donors, and assist with arrangements during blood donation drives. These can be done through different organisations, community groups, and higher institutions collaborating with state and regional blood transfusion services. Without a substantial pool of regular, voluntary unpaid blood donors, blood banks will continue to be empty when there is need for safe blood and blood products, and population access to safe blood supplies will remain unattainable in Nigeria. Therefore, there is an urgent need for wide and active participation of the population to meet daily blood transfusion requirements. Additionally, population engagement in regular voluntary blood donation would cater to urgent requirements following emergencies or disasters, as recently experienced in Owo and Kaduna, when a rapidly escalating surge in blood demand overwhelms the normal operations of entire state blood services. The theme of the recently celebrated World Blood Donor Day on June 14 was Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives. Developing a strong, resilient, and effective national blood donation system based on voluntary donors relies on an enabling social and cultural atmosphere with strong unity. However, it is specifically at times like these that are fraught with polarity, fear and uncertainty that call for unity. The act of voluntary blood donation in our communities can thus contribute to rebuilding our social ties with equanimity and building a united society, regardless of differences in our tribes and our tongues for our collective survival. Adaeze Oreh is a Consultant Family Physician in Abuja and Country Head of Planning, Research and Statistics for Nigerias National Blood Service Commission. She is also a Senior Fellow for Global Health with the Aspen Institute in Washington D.C and a Doctoral Researcher in Global Health with University of Groningen, Netherlands. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily express official policy or the position of National Blood Service Commission. Many accuse Tinubu of corruption, which I cannot affirm unless the courts of law find him guilty of this crime. If the Obasanjo government that hated him with passion couldnt convict him of corruption, then Ill not join those spreading those rumors. We should remember that the most respected anti-corruption advocate in Nigeria till date is Nuhu Ribadu, yet this same person said he couldnt implicate him for any crime, even though Obasanjo gave him the task to investigate Tinubu. If Tinubu Is So Bad How Come You Are Eating From the Fruits of His Labour In this presidential race, especially at the stage of the primaries, there were many governors and former governors who participated, yet none of their states is known or remembered for their leadership. You cant find any footprint of excellence after their ruling of these states for four or eight years. You cant say this about Tinubu; his footsteps and footprints are all over Lagos as we speak. As a matter of fact, even his opponents who were former governors, moved from their states to settle down in Lagos. The question is why couldnt they make their own states as good as Lagos, while they were governors there. After their leadership, its always stories of woes and tears, banditry and kidnapping, which they quickly blame on their successors. As a matter of fact most of the harshest critics of Tinubu are people enjoying what Tinubu built in Lagos. They never for once think of acknowledging with gratitude the hard work of the man who provided them the opportunities they couldnt get back in their home states. If it were so easy then all other states would be as good as Lagos or even better, especially bearing in mind that no state in Nigeria is faced with such daunting challenges as Lagos faces every day. This is a clear indication that Tinubu possesses exceptional leadership qualities that Nigeria is beckoning on him to bring to bear on its affairs at this point in time. After returning to Nigeria in 1983, Bola Tinubu joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and later became an executive of the company. Stories are still being told about the excellent leadership that Tinubu brought to Mobil Oil till today. He was recognised by both Nigerian and American executives of the company, not just as an excellent leader but also as a revolutionary one too. If you are looking for the secret of Tinubus Lagos, here lies it. Some will say Lagos is this good today simply because it was once the nations capital. Oh, no! I hope my recollections of Lagos of the 1990s earlier gave you the picture of how the state was after the capital moved to Abuja, it was a forgotten city, totally abandoned, with the streets littered with corpses lying there for weeks without anyone caring to do anything about the situation until Tinubu came to the stage. The U.S. government equally came out to say that Tinubu has been cleared of any criminal dealings being alleged against him. This was published in the Vanguard of February 23, 2003. Meanwhile there is one of the presidential candidates that is being dubbed as Mr Integrity, while this same man, in his own words on video, admitted to have invested state government money into his family business, when he was state governor. Lagos was the most insecure city-state in Africa, it was waking up to new 50 dead bodies in the streets, with no one removing them. If you think Lagos is still nothing to write home about even today, then just go and read the news lines of those days, and only then would you value the amount of work that has gone into Lagos. The Lagos State Ministry of Health was said to have then had only one ambulance bus in the whole state of millions of people. Today Lagos boasts to be one of the richest locations in Africa, being richer than 50 out of the 55 countries in the continent. No doubt, a huge part of that success must be credited to Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Im certain he can bring about a similar radical change to the situation of Nigeria today. If Tinubu Is Corrupt, He Is Surely Not On the Pandora List Many accuse Tinubu of corruption, which I cannot affirm unless the courts of law find him guilty of this crime. If the Obasanjo government that hated him with passion couldnt convict him of corruption, then Ill not join those spreading those rumors. We should remember that the most respected anti-corruption advocate in Nigeria till date is Nuhu Ribadu, yet this same person said he couldnt implicate him for any crime, even though Obasanjo gave him the task to investigate Tinubu. More so, Ribadu himself later joined the team of Tinubu, calling him his mentor now. Ever since Tinubu left government in Lagos, its one of the few states of the federation that has not been plagued by corruption scandals. Tinubu has been able to put capable technocrats in charge of the state. From Fashola to Ambode to Sanwo-Olu, these are extremely focused men who the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has not been after, unlike other state governors. The U.S. government equally came out to say that Tinubu has been cleared of any criminal dealings being alleged against him. This was published in the Vanguard of February 23, 2003. Meanwhile there is one of the presidential candidates that is being dubbed as Mr Integrity, while this same man, in his own words on video, admitted to have invested state government money into his family business, when he was state governor. Yet Nigerians dont see this as corruption, meanwhile in any other country, this person would be serving a jail term for such an act of corruption. Its a clear case of conflict of interest. Our own sense of corruption in Nigeria has its own definition thats totally different from what the rest of the world sees as corruption. May God give us insight so we renew our minds as a people and as a nation. Ever since Tinubu left government in Lagos, its one of the few states of the federation that has not been plagued by corruption scandals. Tinubu has been able to put capable technocrats in charge of the state. From Fashola to Ambode to Sanwo-Olu, these are extremely focused men who the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has not been after, unlike other state governors. Neither has there been any international anti-corruption agency that has accused them of corruption. Ill say until we see the facts, we should just focus on someone who is capable of resolving the daunting issues facing our nation at this time. Tinubu has to be allowed to contribute his quota to turn this country around. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and may all her haters live long to witness it. For the love of God, church and nation. Sunday Adelaja, the senior pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, writes from Kyiv, Ukraine. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun Command, on Sunday said that a passerby died in an accident that involved three vehicles at Toll-Gate on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. The Sector Commander of FRSC, Ahmed Umar, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota, Ogun State, that five others were unhurt in the accident which occurred at about 10.10 p.m. on Saturday. Mr Umar explained that the accident involved three vehicles, which include a Toyota Camry marked AKD 670 HF, a Pick-up TATA and a truck, both without registration numbers. The sector commander explained further that six persons were involved in the crash, which led to the death of a person (passerby) and five people were unhurt. The corpse of the victim was deposited at the morgue of General Hospital, Ifo, he said. Mr Umar attributed the unfortunate accident to mechanical deficiency, speeding and brake failure of the truck. READ ALSO: He said the truck rammed into two other vehicles, hitting the passerby and plunged into the river. The FRSC officer advised motorists to always get their vehicles in good condition before putting them on the highways. He also cautioned them against excessive speed that could lead to loss of lives on the highways. (NAN) The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has taken to his official Twitter handle to congratulate Ademola Adeleke on his victory in the just concluded governorship election in Osun. The former vice president wrote, Light has come to Osun. Congratulations, Sen. @AAdeleke_01, on a well-fought victory. Also, hearty congratulations to the @OfficialPDPNig family and all stakeholders who came together to make this possible. Light has come to Osun. Congratulations, Sen. @AAdeleke_01, on a well-fought victory. Also, hearty congratulations to the @OfficialPDPNig family and all stakeholders who came together to make this possible. pic.twitter.com/351DHsmY6C Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 17, 2022 Most importantly, congratulations to the great people of Osun State for proving that power indeed belongs to the people. -AA #OsunDecides #ImoleOsun. Most importantly, congratulations to the great people of Osun State for proving that power indeed belongs to the people. -AA #OsunDecides #ImoleOsun Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 17, 2022 Also, Delta Governor and vice-presidential candidate of the opposition party, Ifeanyi Okowa, described the election of Mr Adeleke as the affirmation of Osun peoples will. The electoral commission, INEC, formally declared Mr Adeleke of the PDP as the winner of the governorship election held in Osun State, Saturday. The INEC Chief Returning Officer for Osun, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who announced the result Sunday Morning said the PDP candidate scored 403,371 votes to emerge victorious, while the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 375,027 votes. In a statement by Olisa Ifeajika, Mr Okowas chief press secretary, in Asaba, on Sunday, Mr Okowa called on Nigerians to always stand for good leaders with the interest of the people at heart as Osun people just did for Mr Adeleke. He stated that the electorate across the 30 local government areas of Osun State spoke loudly and very clearly in their affirmation of their choice of Mr Adeleke as the next governor. READ ALSO: Mr Okowa said the election of Mr Adeleke, a former senator, has signposted the reality of PDPs determination to rescue Nigeria. The mission has just begun, he added. According to the statement, Mr Okowa said, It is heart-warming to see you emerge as Governor-elect of Osun against all odds and I am grateful to the electorate in Osun for shunning entreaties of retrogressive forces who were ostensibly resolved on subverting the wishes of the people through vote-buying and other rigging strategies. He appreciated INEC for demonstrating true independence and for improving the logistics and conduct of the election. The governor noted that the most significant aspect of Mr Adelekes victory is the peaceful outcome of the election as residents of Osun conducted themselves responsibly by ensuring that the election was devoid of violence. It is my prayer that God will grant you wisdom, knowledge and the needed resources to attend to your campaign promises of taking away the darkness that pervades your state, Osun, he added. Similarly, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has also congratulated Mr Adeleke on his victory in the just concluded election. In a statement, the governor said the people have chosen PDPs values of equity, unity and progress. The people of Osun State have made their choices through the ballot, choosing the PDP and our ideals of equity, unity and progress over the retrogressive policies that have had them in dire straits these past years, Mr Obaseki said. We stand with the people of Osun in sending a clear message to Nigerians that we are prepared and ready to rescue them from the hardship and woes that they have been thrown into. As a party (PDP), Mr Obaseki said, We remain steadfast in our commitment to rescue Nigeria and are, by this victory, fired up to go into the 2023 general elections to win. Likewise, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, in a statement on Sunday, said Mr Adeleke has reclaimed PDPs stolen mandate in Osun. Mr Saraki emphasized that after the inexplicable loss in 2018, Mr Adeleke demonstrated leadership by working to build a stronger coalition across the state and the nation in order to ensure that the PDP remained the most popular party in the state and emerged victorious four years later. He described Mr Adeleke as the leader that Osun needs at this crucial time. Today, all across Nigeria, the nation has watched as the people of Osun State have delivered a clear, loud, and strong message: Imole De which means that light has come, Mr Saraki wrote. He said, With everything that we have all witnessed here in Osun State, one lesson remains clear: the people of Nigeria want better. They want lives that are not hampered by the rising cost of living, the flailing economy, and insecurity. They want a conscientious government one that works for and represents the best interests of themselves, their families, and their communities. Atiku Abubakar later released the statement below as his official reaction to Mr Adelekes victory. PRESS RELEASE The ship of hope is already at the harbour I have always had affection for the people of Osun State for obvious reasons. Yes, my wife hails from there, but if you have to walk a difficult path and you need men and women of courage and astute valour, the people of Osun will never be a disappointment. At this point in time when our country needs to take a break from the shameful effects of bad governance, it shall be on record that Osun State provided the compass into that brighter future that awaits us at the horizon. The referendum on the administration of the APC has commenced with the verdict of the people of Osun State in electing Senator Ademola Adeleke, while we know that the 2023 general election will be a full referendum. It is inconceivable that Nigerians will reward the APC for the failings of the last seven years. And in a state like Osun, for example, its been a long time since the people last felt the effect of good governance. The ship of hope is already at the harbour under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party. We shall intensify the work to ensure that we uproot all vestiges of bad governance and false hopes towards the 2023 election. The Imole (light) that has started to shine from Osun shall soon have a national coverage. One more good thing about the victory in Osun is that it has provided a catalyst for the PDP to see the opportunity when the party works together in unity. The work to bring the PDP together is a work in progress and the good news is that we are steadily making progress. As you wake up the morning after (Sunday, the 17th of July, 2022), you may be assured that you are doing so with the illumination that has come to Osun. Congratulations to Sen. Ademola Adeleke, on a well-fought victory. Also, hearty congratulations to the PDP family and all stakeholders who came together to make this sweet victory possible. But even more importantly, congratulations to the great people of Osun State for proving that power truly belongs to the people. The march to reclaim Nigerias greatness has begun and it shall not stop until we achieve the goal of ONE PEOPLE, ONE FUTURE and ONE COUNTRY. Signed: Atiku Abubakar Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) Sunday, 17 July, 2022 President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following the victory of the party in Saturdays gubernatorial election in Osun. The presidents congratulatory message is contained in a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, on Sunday in Abuja. The president expressed conviction that with the election over, the people of Osun had expressed their will through the ballot, and the will of the people must always matter and be respected in a democracy. According to him, the successful conduct of the election is a further testimony to the maturity and commitment of all stakeholders the electoral body, security agencies, political parties, the media, civil society and the electorate to further strengthen the integrity of the electoral process in the country. Mr Buhari reassured the nation that the commitment of this administration toward having credible elections remains unshaken. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the INEC returning officer for the Osun gubernatorial election, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, on Sunday morning declared Mr Adeleke of the PDP, the winner of the Osun governorship election, held on July 16. READ ALSO: He announced that Mr Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat his closet rival, Governor Gboyega Oyetola, the candidate of the APC, who scored 375,027 votes. Mr Ogundipe, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, said that the Action Democratic Party (ADP) scored 10,104 to come third. He also said that the Accord Party candidate scored 4,515 to come fourth in the election contested by 15 parties. (NAN) Some 100 Kenyan farmers were part of a pilot project to help farmers transition from tobacco to alternative food crop farming. The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) funded the project and helped retrain the farmers. They were given the opportunity to transform their fields from tobacco leaves to a myriad of crops -- including corn and sweet potato. DW's Thelma Mwadzaya, who visited the farms, says she saw sprawling vineyards alongside neatly done homesteads. She attributed it to a sign that "the farmers are living under better living conditions." "The project in Migori for the tobacco farmers is a major shift towards attaining a healthy nation and the Ministry of Health fully supports such ventures," says Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe. Health hazards and school dropouts Farming tobacco plants contributed less than 1% to Kenya's economic development. The farmers were further exposed to serious health risks, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions, according to the WHO. During handwashing of tobacco leaves without protective gloves, farmers expose their skin to the highly-addictive nicotine substance. The WHO also reports that more than 6,000 Kenyans die of tobacco-related diseases every year. The global annual death toll of 8 million deaths occurs mostly in low and middle-income countries, which are "often the main targets of intensive tobacco industry interference and marketing," according to the global public health institution. Most of the farmers say they were happy to move away from such health hazards and towards less labor intensive and environmentally friendly farming. "My teeth have fallen and left me in bad shape," said Patrice Chitang'ita Kisunte, a farmer from Sakuri in Kenya's southwestern Migori county. "I advised [other farmers] to stop tobacco farming and plant other things like maize, beans and potatoes." The health of the farmers was one of the major concerns for the Kenyan government and the three United Nations agencies. Another was mass school dropouts among farmers' children. "When tobacco was being grown actively, there was a lot of school drop outs," says Rose Ghati, a resident and farmer in Kuria. "They used to leave school because they know that tobacco is there and they can make money off it." Markets for the goods The UN agencies launched the Tobacco Free Farms project in Migori County with the government of Kenya to mitigate these issues. The collaboration is the first of its kind in the world. According to the WHO, the project has seen farmers' health improve, increased school attendance amongst children previously working on the farms, and crops which are considered better for the environment replacing tobacco. "Right now, my kids have time for homework, but during tobacco farming, they did not," said long-time tobacco grower Alice Achieng Obare, one of hundreds of farmers in Migori county who have moved away from tobacco. The farmers have so far sold 135 tons of beans to the WFP under its regional buying scheme. "WFP has provided a ready market for high iron beans, promoted good agricultural practices, nutrition sensitization, and post-harvest loss training," says Simon Cammelbeeck, the managing director of the Farm to Market Alliance, another partner in the project. Growing beans has the added advantage that they are full of iron, which is said to help counter numerous heath and development problems among children and pregnant women. "The process used in that project is for the entire value chain, from production of what we call alternative food source to putting food on the table," says Husna Mubarak, a project officer with FAO. "Most importantly there's technical support, on how to till the land, plant the seeds, and most importantly provide capacity to ensure that you are able to add value to it, package it and be able to market it out." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Food and Agriculture By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Knowledge transfer Kenya had ratified the legally binding WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2004 and became the first country in the world to pilot the alternative tobacco project. "We are encouraging the farmers to farm other cash crops," Elizabeth Robi, assistant chief of the Sakuri area in Kuria East, told DW. "Most farmers have shifted to coffee. This is because that tobacco was affecting even the person who is not farming through inhaling that smoke. So their health has improved." The government and the three UN agencies plan to take the knowledge from the pilot project to farmers along the former tobacco belt in Kuria West. Thelma Mwadzaya in Kenya contributed to this article. Edited by Keith Walker The delivery drone that made this first delivery will be going on display in the "Thomas W. Haas We All Fly" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2022 RENO, Nev., July 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyDrop celebrates the seventh anniversary of the July 17, 2015 'Kitty Hawk Moment' of the first drone delivery on US soil, which was conducted by SkyDrop (formerly Flirtey). The Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine recorded of this historic milestone, "it had the FAA's blessing to fly. And that made it the first official drone package delivery in this country". U.S. Senator, Mark Warner; Clerk of Court of Wise County and Norton City, Jack Kennedy; SkyDrop Executive Assistant, Andi Sweeny; SkyDrop (Flirtey) Founder and CEO, Matthew Sweeny; Delegate, Terry Kilgore; in front of the Virginia Department of Aviation historical marker. SkyDrop (Flirtey) Kitty Hawk Moment The delivery drone that made this first delivery will be going on display in the "Thomas W. Haas We All Fly" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2022. The museum also displays the 1903 Wright Flyer that made the first official flight of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine. A historical marker memorializing this milestone was authorized by the Virginia Department of Aviation and unveiled by U.S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va. This historical marker reads, "On this site in Wise County, Flirtey Inc. successfully conducted the first Federal Aviation Administration-approved drone delivery in American aviation history on July 17, 2015. The drone took to the air from Lonesome Pine Airport and delivered medicine to the Remote Area Medical Clinic at the Virginia-Kentucky District Fairgrounds near Wise. This drone delivery represented the "Kitty Hawk moment" for the unmanned aerial vehicle industry. In recognition of this historic aviation milestone, the Flirtey Inc. aircraft landed a spot at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum." SkyDrop and Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (Domino's), signed an agreement earlier this year to launch the second phase of commercial drone deliveries in New Zealand. SkyDrop's production of the drone fleet for the upcoming commercial drone delivery trial with Domino's is now complete. SkyDrop recently announced that it continues to expand drone delivery into the restaurant and retail industries. About SkyDrop: SkyDrop (formerly Flirtey) is a full-stack solutions provider of hardware and software for autonomous last-mile drone delivery and owns extensive patents. SkyDrop is the pioneer of the commercial drone delivery industry, with a mission to make delivery instant for everyone, and a vision of drone delivery that is safer, speedier, quieter, cheaper, and greener. The company first made history in 2015 when it conducted the first-ever FAA-approved drone delivery in the US. Learn more at www.GetSkyDrop.com Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE SkyDrop Over $100m income milestone for the second year running, 10% year-on-year growth to $111.1m Post-tax profits increased by 200% from $13.5m in 2020 to $40.4m in 2021 Trade Finance income grew by 9% year-on-year to $55.8m Commercial Banking customer deposits reached $936m, up 7% year-on-year Visa debit card added to our portfolio of customer-focused services LONDON, July 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After a two year break The Access Bank UK Ltd celebrated hosting the return to its annual Access Bank Polo Day at Guards Polo Club Windsor on Saturday 16 July and reflected on another year of outstanding international business growth. This year The Bank has won Best African Trade Finance award from International Finance for the fifth consecutive year and Best Africa Trade Finance Bank by Capital Finance International for the seventh year in a row. Putting customers' needs ahead of its own sets the standard by which it judges itself and its performance. The Access Bank Day return to Guards Polo Club on Saturday, delivered on and off the field. In the presentation Roosevelt Ogbonna, CEO Access Bank plc, Dr Dere Awosika, Chairman Access Bank plc, Adamu Atta Chairman of Fifth Chukker with the Cup, and Herbert Wigwe, Chairman of Access Bank UK Ltd. UNICEF and disadvantaged children in Nigeria were the biggest winners with over $1.7 million raised funding 100 new equipped classroom blocks in disadvantaged areas of Nigeria. According to Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jamie Simmonds: "We are a bank where our growth has been fuelled by the strength of customer relationships. This enables us to develop innovative products and financial solutions for our customers. We have offices in the heart of the City of London, Dubai and Lagos. We invest significantly in attracting, retaining and developing professional staff in order to ensure customers always deal with an expert who is familiar with their business and personal financial needs, the foundation of our business is relationship management." Corporate Social responsibility, balancing economic, environmental and social impact plays a key role in the growth of the bank. The Bank has continued to invest in people despite the constraints of remote working and is proud to be accredited as Platinum in Investors in People. The Group is actively involved in school projects, child support agency partnerships and the Save a Life initiative. The Access Bank Cup is part of its fund raising in partnership with Fifth Chukker for UNICEF for education projects in northern Nigeria in particular. It is the culmination of a programme of polo competitions across Nigeria and in South Africa. Since the UNICEF/Access Bank initiative was started it has rebuilt schools in Kaduna and has kept more than 8000 students in continuous education. At the same time new school blocks and a computer literacy building all in a more secure and friendly school environment have been developed. The communities surrounding the schools are supported with boreholes for water, and sewing and grinding machines to secure employment and stimulate economic and social development. Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Holdings PLC and Chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, says: "The successes of The Access Bank UK Ltd has been a major milestone in the development of the banking group into the biggest Nigerian Bank in respect of assets and customer base and has charted our course for the future. Together our continuing support for the Fifth Chukker - UNICEF initiative reflects our view of our role as a change agent in Nigeria and Africa that can help institute socio-economic development through responsible business practice, social initiatives and environmental consideration. We continue to look for ways to enable more resources to be directed at supporting the children. We are part of the community and as such should support its wellbeing." Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1860628/Access_Bank_UK.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/946980/Access_Bank_Logo.jpg FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Peter Walker +44 (0)7836 223513 [email protected] SOURCE The Access Bank UK Ltd Australian Strategic Materials Ltd has thanked outgoing managing director & chief executive officer David Woodall for his contribution and particularly for laying the foundations for the company to take advantage of the global demand for critical metals. Woodall has advised the board of his intention to step down from both roles and will be leaving the company immediately. During his tenure, ASM has delivered a strong optimisation study for the Dubbo Project, acquired innovative metallisation technology, constructed its first metals plant in South Korea, and signed an engineering, procurement and construction definition contract with Hyundai Engineering. New CEO In announcing the resignation, chairman Ian Gandel also stated that the companys chief operating officer Rowena Smith had accepted the appointment of chief executive officer. Smith is a highly experienced global mining executive and has been ASMs COO since July 2021. In her first year with ASM, she led the Dubbo Project team, which included work for the optimisation study released in December 2021. She also led the construction and commissioning of the Korean Metals Plant. A highly capable leader Gandel said: We are delighted that Rowena is leading the company through the next phase of its development. "Rowena has demonstrated that she is a highly capable leader, underpinned by her extensive experience and track record in the mining sector. With this appointment, the board has confidence there will be a seamless leadership transition, enabling ASM to continue to focus on delivering its mine-to-metals strategy. Mining experience The new CEO has almost 30 years of global mining experience in various senior roles including strategy, commercial, operations and ESG. Prior to joining ASM, she was South32s chief sustainability officer and vice president-supply, leading teams across Australia, South Africa, Mozambique, Colombia and the United States. She has also held roles with Rio Tinto and BHP for Nickel West, including as head of Resource Planning & Development and Projects, manager Strategy and Acquisitions, and general manager Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Smiths skills and experience in global operations and major projects, along with her achievements at ASM will enable her to lead ASM through its next phase. David Woodall thanked Gandel also paid tribute to Woodall, saying: The board thanks David, who led the company through its early stages following the demerger from Alkane, through to the delivery of a successful optimisation study and the construction of our Korean Metals Plant. We wish him all the success in the future. Jerusalem, July 17 : Israel has decided to cancel a recently increased quota of work permits for Palestinian labourers from Gaza in response to rocket attacks. The decision was announced by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians, on Saturday. "Hamas takes responsibility for everything that happens in the Gaza Strip," said the statement from COGAT. Earlier on Saturday, four rockets were fired into southern Israel by militants in the Gaza Strip, with no casualties or damages reported. In response, Israeli fighter jets launched an airstrike in the Strip against what it said the Hamas military targets. The incident occurred hours after US President Joe Biden completed his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Xinhua news agency reported. The decision to increase the work permits was taken earlier in the week, as part of a series of gestures Israel made ahead of Biden's visit. Israel gives thousands of work permits to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, allowing them to work in Israel to make a living. The Hamas militant organisation has fought several conflicts with Israel since it ruled the Gaza Strip in 2007. Since then, Israel has imposed a strict blockade on the territory, which Hamas has vowed to break through violence. The Gaza Strip is considered one of the poorest territories in the world. Lucknow, July 17 : Five Uttar Pradesh MLAs will vote outside the state during the voting for the country's new President that takes place on Monday. Brij Bhushan Dubey, Assistant Returning Officer and Special Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Assembly, said, "Five MLAs had opted to cast their vote out of the state. While four had decided to cast their votes in New Delhi, another MLA would cast his vote in Kerala." He added that information about Monday's voting had been sent to all the 403 MLAs of the state. "We have made all arrangements in Tilak Hall of Vidhan Bhawan. Polling booth has been set up for voting there," he said. Election Commission observer Rajiv Singh Thakur has inspected the poll arrangements. Thakur is an IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre and working as Additional Secretary with the Union government. Patna, July 17 : While the country is facing the fourth wave of coronavirus, another threat is looming large in Bihars Seemanchal region with people in Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar districts facing the threat of the Nairobi fly. A number of people have been infected with Nairobi fly in Bihar's Kishanganj district with the health department on alert mode. The officials are creating awareness among the people to protect themselves from the Nairobi fly. Though there are no official figures about the infected patients, the health department has directed the civil surgeons of those districts connected to North Bengal to make arrangements in case cases increase in the region. Nairobi fly is an extremely dangerous drake which, on touching the human body, releases an acidic toxic liquid called pedrin that leads to burning in the affected areas of the skin and if the liquid touches the eyes or it sits on the eye, it can make people blind. If the Nairobi fly, which is also known as acid fly, sit on an open wound, it may damage the vital organs of the body after the pedrin mixes with the blood. Keeping this in view, Bihar's health department wrote to the civil surgeons of Kishanganj, Purnea and Araria districts and directed them to alert the medical superintendents and in-charge of all primary health centres, common health centre and sub-divisional hospitals. Dr Kaushal Kishore Prasad, civil surgeon of Kishanganj, told IANS: "Some cases came to the knowledge of the district administration and we have treated them. A woman came to Sadat hospital for treatment a few days ago and she recovered." "Basically, hilly areas are considered the breeding grounds of the Nairobi fly. Our district is adjoining Siliguri of West Bengal where a number of cases have appeared. Hence we are on the alert," Prasad said. "Nairobi fly is attracted to light. Hence, the chances of its attack are maximum in the night. If we use a mosquito net, people could save themselves from it. We are also telling people to wear full sleeves, trousers or pyjamas to cover the maximum part of the body," Prasad said. Dr SK Verma, civil surgeon of Purnea said: "Nairobi fly is considered dangerous as it releases pedrin toxic chemicals which burn the skin and the affected areas become spotted. If it sits on the eyes or the pedrin chemical touches the eyes, the infected person may turned blind or partially lose their eyesight." "When it sits on any person, they could gently whisk it off or use cotton or paper to remove it from the body. Following that, the infected part should be cleaned with cold water followed by an antiseptic. Killing the Nairobi fly is dangerous as its chemical may spread on your body more," Verma said. "We have directed sub-divisional hospitals Dhamdaha, Banmankhi, referral hospital Rupauli, and every primary and common health centre to stay alert and take adequate measures. We have also initiated fogging in the region and appealed to the residents to observe proper sanitation in their houses and adjoining areas," Verma said. There is another theory spreading in the region that land used for pineapple farming is turning out to be ideal breeding ground for the Nairobi fly. Pineapple is a sweet and juicy fruit widely cultivated in West Bengal's hilly areas like Darjeeling, Siliguri and in Sikkim. A large amount of pineapples is also transported to Seemanchal and North Bihar areas. The official however said that it generally breeds in the foothills of mountains but it can fly to new places as well. Dr Sunil Kumar Gupta, a Purnea based skin specialist said: "The identification of Nairobi fly is the most important aspect to prevent infection. It is an African origin fly generally found in Kenya, Tanzania, in central and south east African countries. It has an orange and black body. It also has wings and the rear portion of the body is slightly curved." "When it releases pedrin, it burns the skin. It works like low PH acid on the body and inflicts burn injuriest. In some cases, the victim complains of fever and vomiting. After the rains, cases of infected persons are increasing here. The best option is to contact specialist doctors and take antibiotic ointments, tablets and properly clean the infected areas," Gupta said. The district health committee of Purnea has warned people to avoid going to places where fruits like pineapples are stored. The fly is also attracted to sweets. Hence it is best to avoid sweets from shops which sell them in the open. Ahmedabad, July 17 : It's hard for working new parents to stay awake all night to care for their child, even during the day they can't be by the cradle the whole day. It's a real challenge for the new parents to calm the crying child every time the cradle stops swinging. A start up from Ahmedabad has come up with an affordable idea. Rushabh Sheth has created an electronic cradle with some interesting features. Rushabh shared with IANS, "I had to do a project during my final semester of mechanical engineering in 2017. I used to see the mother doing labour work at construction sites. How they had to create some temporary cradle out of bedsheets or sarees. They could not even stay near their children to swing them. Sometimes their children got out of the cradle and started playing in the risky areas as the cradle stopped swinging. I saw a similar situation at my home too. That drew me to build a motorised cradle." Rishabh shares about the journey of his cradle design. "I made a working model with a normal steel cradle as I did not have much money. But Gujarat Technological University saw potential in my design. So they promoted it, I also got some media coverage at that time." "I got some demands from the market to make it into a usable end user product. I started making better designs by 2019 for commercial purposes on demand. I used to make 7 to 8 pieces on demand. Then the customers started giving feedback and I started improving my design according to that. The product we are selling now is a totally changed model, that was a motorised version and now we are making an electro magnetic cradle. We make everything from cradle to mechanism kit to charger in our own workshop." Rishabh describes the design, he says this cradle uses a power adapter like laptops and mobile charger, so it doesn't pass an electric current. It has a timer of 20 minutes and speed variation options that can be changed according to the weight. We make a full cradle and also a user-friendly cradle kit that can be installed with any normal cradle by the customer themselves, he adds. Rushabh said right now the cradle costs between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000, 6,000. I have about 6,000 happy customers. We are trying to make it more affordable along with adding some features like more timer variation options, adding some attractive toys to the cradle and connecting the system with some mobile app to entertain the child with lullabies. About the funding part Rushabh said, "I have got incubation support by Ihub incubate of Gujarat government. But it's limited to the mentorship stage till now, I have not reached the funding stage. I make all the products on my own. I have also ventured into other baby products like baby bedding. We are in talks with some brands of baby products too." The Malian government on Thursday said it would suspend troop rotations by the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA. Mali's ruling junta, which seized power in a coup in August 2020, has been subject to EU sanctions and condemnation over election delays. It has also been criticized for its security cooperation with Russian mercenaries. The decision to suspend the UN mission also includes rotations that have already been scheduled, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The suspension will last until a meeting is held to "facilitate the coordination and regulation" of the rotation of these contingents, the statement read. The announcement comes just four days after authorities in Mali arrested 49 Ivorian soldiers, whom officials later described as "mercenaries" that sought to topple the country's military-led government. jcg, fb (AFP, Reuters) New Delhi, July 17 : In February this year, a complaint was lodged at the IFSO unit of the Special Cell by a woman alleging that she was being abused and threatened by some unknown persons who were sending her morphed and vulgar photographs to her family, friends and relatives through social media. The complainant had taken a loan from a Loan App, Cash Advance, she repaid the same in time. But after repaying the loan she started getting threat calls and messages on WhatsApp from Cash Advance employees. It was not an isolated case, rather several Indians have in recent times fallen prey to such high-end cyber crimes in which people are being defrauded to the tune of hundreds of crores ofrupees everyday. A similar case came to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police where a man alleged that he and his family, friends and relatives are being abused and also threatened by some unknown persons through some international and national WhatsApp mobile numbers, to repay the loan taken by the same "Cash Advance" application. In another case, when the police were investigating a cyber fraud of just Rs 6500, it was shocked to learn that the bank account in which the cheated amount was deposited had a daily transaction of Rs 19.43 crores. The thing is that high-tech Chinese cyber criminals have devised a new strategy to dupe people and are these days defrauding Indians via fake loan applications. According to a senior Delhi Police official, in the past six months several cases of fraud, ultimately connected to Chinese cyber gangs, have come to light. Gullible Indians are everyday falling prey to the small amount of loans that they get through these Chinese operated fake loan apps that are available on the Play Store. "These lend money instantly to any person downloading these applications for a period of a few days. At the time of downloading the application, the app asks permission to capture, contact list, photo gallery and other personal data of the phone of the loan seeker," the police official said. After taking a loan, some of the total amount is deducted as processing fees and if the remaining amount is not paid within the stipulated time the interest and penalties together take the repayment to 200 percent of the loan amount. If the money is not paid, the call centres operating out of neighbouring countries like Nepal, threaten the victims to leak their personal data and make abusive comments to their contacts as while downloading the application it accesses all the contacts, photos and other data in the mobile phone of the victim. But still there is a catch! The money cannot be directly transferred to international or Chinese bank accounts so the fraudsters need Indian bank accounts to take payments. This is where the Chinese scamsters are finding vulnerable, poor and greedy people of the country to help them in getting the Indian bank accounts. "They look for such people to arrange these types of bank accounts for them," said the official. In one such recent case, an accused person who was arrested by the Delhi Police, revealed that in order to communicate with the Chinese cyber fraudsters, he used to translate the messages received in the Chinese language to Hindi with the help of Google Translator and also used to pass his version with the help of Google Translator. (Ujwal Jalali can be reached at ujwal.j@ians.in) Srinagar, July 17 : Keeping the centuries old tradition of brotherhood and coexistence alive, dozens of Kashmiri Pandits welcomed the first batch of Haj pilgrims with 'aarti' at the Srinagar airport on their return from Saudi Arabia. A total of 145 Haj pilgrims returned home on Saturday after performing the annual pilgrimage and they were received by the local Pandits at the Srinagar international airport. The pilgrims were welcomed with 'aarti', which was accompanied by 'Naat' (Praises of Prophet of Islam). It is for the first time since violence erupted in the Valley in 1989 that the local Pandits welcomed their Muslim brethren Haj pilgrims in such a traditional style. The pilgrims were seen in tears of joy and gratitude when they saw the warmth and affection with which they were received by their Hindu brothers and sisters at the Srinagar International Airport. Security is essentially a combination of measures designed to protect the nation from the 'covert' offensives of an enemy. Security is not a one-time event as the threat scenario can change over a period of time -- it is also in principle to be regarded as a 'matter of degree' always open to improvement. The spectrum of friends and enemies is not static and therefore an ongoing evaluation even of existing friendships is a requirement of security. Intelligence is the anchor of security- being the information that throws light on the hidden plans of the adversary. Intelligence is defined also as 'information for action' and it is easy to understand how security classically fails when there is 'lack of information', but why it also fails -- and this is not uncommon -- for failure of 'communication' to the action taking authorities or for 'failure of action' itself. Intelligence is not easy to come by in these times of covert offensives in which terrorism was used as an instrument and logically therefore no piece of Intelligence howsoever small can be dismissed as 'in actionable' for it might as well prove to be the proverbial tip of the iceberg. A major task of the Intelligence set up is to operationally develop the available Intelligence for reducing the 'gap between information and action' and trace the source, place and time of the 'threat' for making its neutralisation possible. The profession of Intelligence requires specially trained people who accepted anonymity by choice, had infinite persistence and worked with a commitment for the 'national cause'. In the backdrop of this all, the challenge of handling the current threats to national security has become formidable calling for maximum Intelligence coordination and integral responses. Apart from the operational skills, Intelligence also depended on competent analysis of open-source information and it in this direction that data analytics and scan of cyber communications had emerged as the new Intelligence tasks of ever-growing importance. NATGRID is the central data bank that would yield information of both operational and strategic value and NIC is the network facilitating information sharing and action. What is new on the security front is the advantage social media had provided to the adversary to conduct clandestine operations for raising 'sleeper cells', raising 'lone wolves' for acts of terrorism and spreading radicalisation. Running scan of social media has to be made comprehensive enough and suspect websites have to be examined in depth to pick up signals of hostile activity. The cases of terrorists killing of two Hindus at Amravati and Udaipur to avenge the allegedly insulting remark about Prophet Mohammad made by now suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a TV programme, have brought out how Pakistan linked WhatsApp groups were used in the run up to these gruesome events. Intelligence -- both central and local -- has to identify all suspects for prompt Police action and legal pursuit. A far more audacious form of terror activity directed from across the border has come into play and a deterrence has to be created against it without losing time. Pakistan's ISI is using both extremist Deobandi and Bareilvi streams of Islamic spectrum as instruments in the proxy war against India -- the vulnerability of India to this mischievous intrusion from outside has to be fully assessed and measures both punitive and sociological evolved for maintaining internal security. Representative Muslim organisations must be persuaded to condemn the advocacy of Jehad for dealing with any Minority issues in democratic India that had a secular constitution. The Indian democratic State should give no quarters to political elements voicing 'separatism' and secession and - what is worse - doing so on a note of violence. A new danger has arisen from a certain kind of civil society groups and 'think tanks' that devoted themselves -- for political reasons -- to building subversive narratives of majoritarianism, autocratic rule and anti-minority disposition of the Modi regime and in concert with foreign lobbies and elements of the opposition even questioned the need for India to have a 'national' identity. Many of them deliberately project 'nationalism' as a symbol of Hindu India ignoring the fact that the Preamble of our Constitution called upon the people of India to promote unity and integrity of the 'nation'. All this amounts to playing 'politics by proxy' and makes it necessary to ascertain the undesirable links of that small number of NGOs which were different from the vast body of genuine forums working for philanthropy and public service. India is presently facing a situation where our adversaries next door are focusing on fishing in our troubled waters and exploiting the internal differences here of creed, region and ideology. Our domestic scene had always been vulnerable to these contradictions but a conscious policy of some opposition groups, of playing the 'Minority' card for political gain, has pushed the Hindu-Muslim divide in a direction of 'separatism' that was never in evidence even when the country witnessed stray communal riots arising from local causes in the decades after Independence. The Constitution of India did not distinguish between one citizen and another on the basis of caste, creed or gender. The democratic process here firmly established the principle of 'one man one vote' to the advancement of all. India had in the years after Independence also encountered regional separatism -- a striking illustration was the Dravidsthan movement of Ramaswamy Naikar-led Dravid Kazhgam (DK) that gave rise to the militant anti-Hindi agitation of mid-sixties in what is now Tamilnadu -- but the democratic assimilation of the regions soon made this particular state a frontline player of Indian nation with its representatives enjoying a significant place in the Central political executive as well as the national bureaucracy. It is a matter of concern from the angle of internal security that some leaders are again fanning communal and regional sentiments for their narrow political ends. The democratic state of India should counter these harmful trends through socio- political and legal means. All communities want to live in peace with each other and a few of their leaders cannot be allowed to create internal divides for their vested interests -- some of them possibly doing this under external influences. Post-Cold War, the world transited to a unipolar order a noticeable feature of which was the replacement of open warfare by 'proxy wars'. A record number of cross-border conflicts, insurgencies and 'covert' attacks have occurred in this era. The anti-Soviet armed campaign in Afghanistan that succeeded in causing dismemberment of the mighty USSR was in effect run in the format of an 'asymmetric' war -- on the slogan of Jehad -- and it is ironic that Afghanistan subsequently became the hub of the new global terror resting on motivation of faith that would take on the US -- the remaining Superpower. The 'war on terror' was a combat between Islamic radicals and the US-led world coalition. Both India and Pakistan came on board with this coalition -- Pakistan had to be coerced by US President George Bush to join in -- but Pakistan was able to start a parallel 'proxy war' against India by using Islamic militants as an instrument of cross-border terrorism against this country. Down the years, Pakistan has drawn in radical elements of Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS- apart from outfits like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkare Toiba and Jaishe Mohammad that were already under its control- in this proxy war. Following the reinstallation of Taliban Emirate at Kabul with its total support, Pakistan ISI has stepped up its operations to spread radicalisation by exploiting communal issues and extend terrorist activity from Kashmir to other parts of India. The national Intelligence agencies are covering this threat but the top-down Intelligence they produced needs to be extensively backed by information of Intelligence value garnered by local units of state and district Police. Finally, the Sino- Pak axis working against India is another new frontier required to be closely monitored by our central Intelligence agencies- China like Pakistan has a certain potential for interfering with the internal scene here particularly in the North East. A new level of escalation of threat to internal security from this axis has arisen because of the collaboration of these prime adversaries of India in the matter of despatching drones from across our western borders, for surreptitiously dropping narcotic drugs, arms and explosives on our side. In recent months BSF is reported to have seized scores of such miniature drones. This has added a new dimension to the proxy war conducted by Pakistan against India over the years. (The writer is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau. The views expressed are personal) Imphal/Itanagar, July 17 : The recent collapse of the 31-month-old Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Maharastra, reminded of political developments in two northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, where the BJP formed the governments through political jugglery. Political pundits observed that the BJP aiming to make the northeast region a "Congress Mukt" (Congress free) political bastion, is now running governments in four of the eight northeastern states -- Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. In the remaining four states the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners - the National People's Party heads the government in Meghalaya and the Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram. While the BJP with two MLAs is a partner in the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, the saffron party has a solitary legislator in Mizoram and is not allied with the MNF government. The BJP with 12 MLAs is an ally of Nagaland's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in which the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is the dominant party of the UDA, which is an all-party alliance governing India's first opposition-less state. Another NDA ally, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha runs the government in Sikkim. The SKM has 19 MLAs in the 32-member Sikkim legislative assembly and the BJP 12. The BJP, in the February-March elections, had secured a thin majority of 32 MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly and like neighbouring Assam, returned to power for a second consecutive term. The party wrested power in the northeastern state in 2017 despite not securing an absolute majority. In the 2017 assembly polls, the Congress had become the single largest party by bagging 28 of the 60 seats while the BJP had won 21, but the saffron party managed to cobble up the numbers as some Congress MLAs defected and facilitated the BJP to form the government. The BJP had also managed the support of four National People's Party (NPP) members, four Naga People's Front (NPF) MLAs, the lone Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent member to cross the magic figure of 31 in the 60-member House. The NPP, a national political party, is headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma. In 2016, after a series of political developments a BJP government was formed in Arunachal Pradesh after 33 out of the 43 Peoples' Party of Arunachal (PPA) MLAs led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu joined the saffron party. Khandu broke away from the Congress along with 42 lawmakers in September 2016 for the PPA and then the BJP. The border state has been struggling with political instability since December 2015 when Congress dissidents revolted against former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki. Securing 41 seats in the 60-member assembly, the BJP formed its first elected government in Arunachal Pradesh in May 2019. Another northeastern state, Meghalaya has had a history of political instability since it was carved out of Assam in 1972. Meghalaya has had 11 leaders as the head of government, six of whom belonged to the Congress party, including the first Chief Minister Capt. Williamson A Sangma. Except for Capt. Williamson Sangma (1972-1977), Salseng C Marak (February 19, 1993, to March 9, 1998) and Mukul Sangma (2013-2018) none could complete a full term. However, the NPP-led incumbent Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government led by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma is expected to complete its five-year term in March next year. Meghalaya had President's rule two times. The first was from October 11, 1991, to February 5, 1992, the second was from March 18, 2009, to May 12, 2009. Amid the changing political situation in the northeastern region, especially after the BJP's return to power in Manipur for a second consecutive term with absolute majority, Assembly elections would be held in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura early next year and in Mizoram in November-December in 2023. Political pundits feel that when the BJP and other local parties are grabbing the political base of the Congress, the party is making no serious efforts to keep its base intact in one of its erstwhile strongholds. Political commentator Apurba Kumar Dey said: "Except in Assam, the Congress is not even an opposition party in the remaining seven northeastern states. When their organisational strength weakened gradually, the central and state leadership remained indifferent to the party's future plans." Dey told IANS: "Due to their ideological stand and the political mindset of the erstwhile national leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and community, people of the northeastern region overwhelmingly supported the Congress for many years." "But during the last two decades, the party's strength in all aspects has declined, which got reflected in elections over the years." "Central leaders of the Congress are solely responsible for the party's almost non-existence in the region. The party appointed junior and inexperienced leaders as state in-charges in the northeast, leading to ineffective state organisations," Dey observed. (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in) Caste, age no bar at Vedic gurukul in the Buddha's shadow in Bodh Gaya. Image Source: IANS News Caste, age no bar at Vedic gurukul in the Buddha's shadow in Bodh Gaya. Image Source: IANS News Caste, age no bar at Vedic gurukul in the Buddha's shadow in Bodh Gaya. Image Source: IANS News Caste, age no bar at Vedic gurukul in the Buddha's shadow in Bodh Gaya. Image Source: IANS News Gaya : , July 17 (IANS) Apart from the famous religious site 'Bodh Gaya', Gaya also has the distinction of housing a vedic school (Gurukul) which imparts knowledge of Vedas and 'Karma Kanda' rising above a person's caste and age. 'Karma Kanda' refers to the section of the Vedas that lists the performance of rituals and sacrificial rites for material benefits or for liberation, which were traditionally performed by Brahmins in exchange for a 'Dakshina'. The gurukul prepares future teachers ('gurus') or learned Hindu scholars (pandits) in the city of Gaya, which is home to the famous Vishnupad temple. In the Gurukul 'Mantralaya Ramacharya Vedic Pathshala' located in Gaya's Vishnupad Marg, more than one hundred students are being taught Vedas, prayers, yagya-rituals, astrology, Karma Kanda etc. After completing their education from the gurukul, such students return to their their cities to become a teacher (guru). In Indian culture, a guru is considered to be the one who studies the Vedas, Shastras and the Upanishads and has the knowledge of vedic chants or mantras of worship, yagya and rituals. Even though in today's modern age, teachers in schools and colleges have been accorded the status of 'gurus' but traditionally still the 'pandits' conducting worship and prayers are considered as gurus. This gurukul in Gaya has been in existence since the last 48 years where more than 10,000 students have completed their education and serving as a gurus with vast knowledge of Vedas, worship, astrology and Karma Kanda enlightening other people with spiritual knowledge in their own native cities or in Gaya. Guru Shree Mantralaya Pandit Ramacharya Swami Maharaj had established this gurukul in Gaya region and the tradition of running it is now being carried forward by his son Pandit Raja Acharya. Pandit Raja Acharya told IANS that since last 48 years, Sanatan Dharma education is being imparted free of cost to students by this 'gurukul'. Students coming from far-flung areas are taught about Vedas, Dharmashastra, Astrology, Vastu, Karma Kanda and many other religious prayers here, he says. Raja Acharya told that in the ancient times, many Gurukul schools were established to protect Vedic Sanatan Dharma but in the later years Mughals and other foreign invaders destroyed the Hindu Sanatan culture. Many 'vidyapeeths' (knowledge centres), gurukuls and spiritual books were burnt, he added. He said that now there are only a few Veda pathshalas left in which students are being prepared for nation building in the years to come with the sole aim of saving the Sanatani culture. Several educational courses relating to Vedas, Dharmashastra, astrology and Karma Kanda are taught in this gurukul. A five-year course teaching Vedas, three-year course teaching Karma Kanda and two-year course teaching about astrology is taught to students here. After completing these courses, a student is also awarded a certificate from Sri Gurusarvabhouma Sanskrit Vidyapeeth situated in Mantralayam, Andhra Pradesh. Raja Acharya says that the students getting education from this gurukul are serving people across the country as well as in foreign countries. No fee is charged from any student taking admission in this gurukul. He says: "This gurukul was established by Guru Shri Ramacharya ji to save religion, Indian culture and Vedic teachings. In these 48 years, the gurukul has seen a lot of ups and downs. Today nearly 100 students are getting education from this gurukul." Raja Acharya tells IANS that any person of any caste and creed can take admission in this gurukul and get education at any age. Living arrangement for students studying here is also made available here, but is permitted only for a certain age limit. He said that many small children, who want to pursue education apart from Sanatan Dharma knowledge, they can take admission in other educational institutions with the help of this gurukul. The purpose of establishing this gurukul is to carry forward the Sanatan Dharma tradition, he added. A student, who is learning about Karma Kanda in this gurukul, stated that after getting education about Karma Kanda, he will be able to conduct 'Pind daan' (a Hindu ritual which is conducted after the cremation of an individual) in Gaya. There is no need of employment after completing education from this gurukul which is serving other people imparting religious and spiritual knowledge. New Delhi, July 17 : A picture of award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan's hand-drawn plot for his complex science fiction thriller 'Inception', which was released in 2010, has taken over the internet. The user named Julian Shapiro, a writer and investor, shared the post on Twitter, which shows the plot details of the Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer. The post shows the hand drawn plot map. It has some scribbles and details related to the film. Shapiro captioned the post: "A rare find for my fellow movie nerds. This is Christopher Nolan's hand drawn plot map for his film Inception." 'Inception' stars DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious. The cast also includes Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. Seoul, July 17 : Former SKorea Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong rejected allegations on Sunday that South Korea sent two North Korean fishermen back to their homeland in 2019 after North Korea requested their repatriation first. Chung made the remark in a statement issued via Rep. Yoon Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party, stressing that South Korea first asked the North if it was willing to accept the two fishermen before deporting them. The statement came after a newspaper report alleged that the North informed the then presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, that a fishing boat carrying North Koreans was heading to South Korea and the notification could be seen as an order for the South to capture and repatriate them. "No request was received from North Korea that the brutal criminals be repatriated," Yonhap news agency reported quoting Chung's statement. "But we sounded out North Korea's intentions because we need to check the willingness of the counterpart nation first in case of deportation." Chung served as the chief of the presidential National Security Office at the time. In 2019, the North Koreans were captured near the sea border in the East Sea. They confessed to killing 16 fellow crew members and expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, but the then Moon Jae-in government deemed their intentions to be insincere and sent them back to the North. The repatriation is one of the suspicious cases involving the former administration that President Yoon Suk-yeol's government is revisiting, along with the North's killing of a South Korean fisheries official near the western sea border in 2020. Criticism of the repatriation escalated last week after the unification ministry released 10 photos of the North Koreans being dragged across the inter-Korean border and handed over to the North, apparently against their will. Critics have accused the then Moon administration of sending them back to their homeland in an effort to curry favor with Pyongyang so as to help move the stalled inter-Korean peace process forward. Chung also dismissed as "extremely absurd" allegations that the Moon government deported them to create a favorable atmosphere for inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to a special summit between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "The government determined that in consideration of the timing and method of their expression of a desire to defect, their intentions were insincere," Chung said. "By any means, we could not view it as a normal course of defection." Chung said the fishermen were not "simple murderers who killed one person or two, but they were rare, grotesque killers." "Some claim that we had to accept them into our society as defectors in accordance with our Constitution," he said. "However, our domestic law stipulates that nonpolitical criminals like them should be deported without being allowed into the country. Nonpolitical serious criminals are also not considered refugees under the international law." New Delhi, July 17 : Millenials, also known as generation Y, are a group of people born between 1980 and 1999. They are demanding, daring, and eager to explore the world. Following the pandemic, millenials have embraced local travel, driving down demand for homestays. So, let's take a look at my learning and adaptability strategies as a homestay founder. Providing a memorable experience: Millenials have altered the travel landscape by willing to forego branded clothing, an expensive coffee, or even Netflix in order to save money on travel. To meet these expectations, it is critical to provide an authentic experience that makes people feel at ease while enjoying the luxury of a well-designed homestay. Understanding a customer's need: Why does a traveller visit your hotel is critical to understanding. Is it the interiors, the local cuisine, the balcony view, or the 24*7 Wi-Fi with an indoor Jacuzzi? Since travellers craved private accommodations with zero intervention, which a luxury villa or homestay provides, demand for homestays and luxury villas has plummeted post-pandemic. There are no time or space constraints, no shared pools, and the freedom to use the property at the discretion of the traveller. The idea is to tailor offerings to the traveller's reason for visiting your location. If your homestay is near a wildlife reserve, you should be aware that a traveller chose your homestay, not only because they liked the property, but also because of the forest reserve. As a result, it makes sense to focus on your guests' interests and create a potential homestay experience. Communicate with your peers: Working with local homestays, their owners, and travel operators is a great idea. Making beneficial connections will almost certainly lead to better opportunities. International and domestic travellers are always looking for great safety, hygiene, and cleanliness when visiting a new homestay. Getting the fundamentals right, such as a warm welcome, clean bed sheets, sparkly napkins, and excellent room service, can do wonders for the business. It's also critical to hire staff with clean credentials and to inform guests if they need to be cautious of their surroundings. Curating unforgettable experiences: There is a reason why a traveller chooses a homestay over a hotel; they want to connect with the local culture and experience the local people's traditions, cuisine, and life stories. Curating a homestay that includes lunch at a local's home, hosting local activities, or arranging a local dance performance with high tea will set your homestay apart. Communicate: Communication is the key right from sharing perfect GPS locations, checking on guests for any special food requirements or informing them if your homestay is in a network-challenged area. It is always a good idea to provide your guests with emergency contact information as well as contact information for local tour operators. Maintain a strong social media presence and prioritise online reviews: When it comes to millenials and Gen Z, social media engagement drives your business. Every tour is planned on their smartphones by millenials based on recommendations from a blogger or an Instagram story of a friend or follower. If you work in the hospitality industry and don't already have a social presence, go make one. Involving travel bloggers, live streaming your property, and mandatory check-ins will undoubtedly get you trending. Maintain a positive online hotel reputation in order to increase bookings. Respond politely and provide solutions to negative social media reviews. Be approachable: Millenials are impulsive and impatient when it comes to services. They would prefer to speak with a person when making a reservation, checking in, or dealing with any other property-related issues. A mobile app can help to simplify the process and ensure a pleasant experience. Create loyalty programmes: Whether it's millenials or other travellers, everyone is looking for appealing packages and memberships to help them save money. Creating loyalty programmes, happy hour discounts, and free/add-on services can help your business significantly. Set boundaries: If you feel the need to separate private and public areas in your homestay, go ahead and do so. Make it clear and polite to guests which areas are accessible to them. Setting boundaries is essential for avoiding future misunderstandings and ensuring smooth operation. Embrace digitisation: Bulky wallets are an absolute no-no for Gen-Z travellers. They prefer digital payments even for minor transactions because they are more convenient and provide benefits such as points, cash back, free tickets, and better savings. Accepting digital payments via the appropriate payment gateway is a sure way to attract Gen-Z to your property. At Ekostay, we truly believe that millennial travellers will have a greater impact on the travel and tourism industry than any other group. Homestay travel experiences, adventures, and urban destinations are expected to expand and dominate the tourism industry. Being technologically viable while also providing a curated homestay experience is exactly what your business requires. (Varun Arora, CEO and Co-founder of Ekostay) (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Bengaluru, July 17 : The Bharatiya Janata Party's ambition of attaining power in south India still remains a distant dream. Though the saffron party has been successful in grabbing power through 'Operation Kamal, so far all its attempts to gain a simple majority on its own in Karnataka have failed. On two occasions, the BJP managed to get a majority in the 224- member legislative assembly in Karnataka by ensuring the collapse of the JD (S)-Congress coalition governments in 2008 and 2019. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa who brought the party to power, was in the forefront of carrying out 'Operation Kamal'. On both occasions Yediyurappa successfully broke the opposition parties JD (S) and Congress, ensured the victory of candidates in re-elections and managed to attain a simple majority in the state. However, political analysts and progressive thinkers dub "Operation Kamal" as unethical. It was introduced for the first time in the history of the state's politics. The people voted for candidates who embraced the saffron party but did not give the BJP a clear mandate. The saffron party this time is strategising to obtain a clear mandate in the assembly elections without having to carry out "Operation Kamal". The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 79 seats after the 2004 assembly elections. The Congress won 65 seats and the JD (S) won 58 seats. The JD (S) extended support to the Congress to form the government. However, in January 2006, 42 JD (S) MLAs revolted under the leadership of former minister Kumaraswamy. The coalition government collapsed. Kumaraswamy forged an alliance with the BJP and became the Chief Minister of Karnataka and B.S. Yediyurappa took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister. The BJP was able to capture power for the first time in the south Indian state. In 2008, the BJP managed to win 110 seats but fell short of a majority. It was able to form the government with the support of 6 independent MLAs. However, the BJP sacked the Independent MLAs later and managed to get a majority through 'Operation Kamal'. In 2018, the BJP yet again emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats. The Congress won 78 and the JD (S) won 37 seats. To keep the BJP away from power Congress leaders went to the doorstep of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and extended unconditional support to the JD (S). H.D. Kumaraswamy took oath as the CM of Karnataka. The swearing in ceremony was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, New Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, BSP leader Mayawati, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, Sitaram Yechury, Kamal Hassan, Ajit Singh, Tejashwi Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati sharing a stage was seen as a big development. The alliance seemed to pose a formidable front before the BJP alliance. However, the coalition could not survive for more than one year. The BJP taking advantage of the infighting in the Congress, managed to draw 16 MLAs to its side. Darshan Jain, state joint secretary for the AAP in Karnataka, stated that "Operation Kamal or Lotus" is political terrorism unleashed on the country by the BJP. The party is becoming a direct threat to the Constitution and democracy. They started with poaching 5 MLAs, it went to 15, then 20 and now they have poached 47 MLAs in Maharashtra to form the government. In Goa the BJP purchased all 11 MLAs of the Congress, he added. Though the people have given their mandate, majority governments have come under threat of being replaced. Senior RSS leader Ram Madhav stated that before 3 years the BJP will come to power in the country without even having to contest the polls. The only answer to this is development politics, said Darshan Jain. In New Delhi in 2013, the BJP which had got 35 MLAs wanted 7 more to form the government. Though the party tried to break the Aam Aadmi Party, not a single MLA responded. In 2015 elections were held and the AAP got a thumping majority by winning 65 seats, said Jain. The vote has to be given to the candidate who is honest and who stands for ideology. The Congress has not learnt this lesson even after the BJP hijacked its governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Goa. However, the BJP is not able to disturb AAP governments, Darshan Jain added. New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil 'SPRINT Challenges', an initiative to give fillip to usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy, here on July 18. During the event, the Prime Minister will address the NIIO (Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation) Seminar 'Swavlamban'. "A key pillar of Aatmanirbhar Bharat is attaining self-reliance in the Defence Sector. As a part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', NIIO, in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), aims at inducting at least 75 new indigenous technologies / products in the Indian Navy. This collaborative project is named SPRINT (Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX, NIIO and TDAC)," The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said. The two-day seminar (July 18-19) aims to engage Indian industry and academia towards achieving self-reliance in the Defence sector. It will also provide a platform for leaders from industry, academia, services and government to come together on a common platform to ideate and come up with recommendations for the defence sector. Sessions dedicated to innovation, indigenisation, armament and aviation will be held. The second day of the seminar will witness outreach to the Indian Ocean Region, in line with the government's vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). Kamco Invest, a regional non-banking financial powerhouse in Kuwait, has appointed Sheikh Talal Ali Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah as the Chairman and Sheikh Abdullah Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as Vice Chairman. This step follows the appointment of Sheikh Talal as a board member, the election of Sheikh Abdullah as Chairman of Burgan Banks Board of Directors and after receiving required regulatory approvals. On this occasion, Sheikh Talal Ali Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: I would like to thank the members of the Board of Directors for their trust and confidence. I assure the Board and all related parties that we shall continue to implement the Companys robust growth and expansion strategy. He added: Additionally, we will continue to enhance our corporate governance structure and sustainability framework to effectively manage changes and overcome challenges. This in return will enable us to take advantage of opportunities that will further strengthen our position both locally and internationally. Sheikh Talal brings with him over 30 years of leadership experience in the financial and investment sectors, during which he held several executive and Board positions. He played a major role in the effective implementation of different growth and expansion strategies to widen the operations within the entities he served. He is distinguished by his leadership and strategic approach that has assisted him in successfully launching various initiatives and playing a key role in the development process of various entities. Al-Nawadi Holding Company is one of the initiatives Sheikh Talal led and played a key role in expanding its business and positioning it as one of the leaders within its field in the local market taking into consideration that Sheikh Talals specialization is in Banking business. Following the reformation, Kamco Invests Board composition includes Sheikha Dana Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Masaud Mahmoud Jawhar Hayat as Board Members and Entisar Abdul Raheem Al-Suwaidi as an Independent Board Member. TradeArabia News Service press release Brazzaville Africa is facing a growing risk of outbreaks caused by zoonotic pathogens, such as the monkeypox virus which originated in animals and then switched species and infected humans. There has been a 63% increase in the number of zoonotic outbreaks in the region in the decade from 2012-2022 compared to 2001-2011, according to World Health Organization (WHO) analysis. The analysis finds that between 2001-2022 there were 1843 substantiated public health events recorded in the WHO African region. Thirty percent of these events were zoonotic disease outbreaks. While these numbers have increased over the past two decades, there was a particular spike in 2019 and 2020 when zoonotic pathogens represented around 50% of public health events. Ebola Virus Disease and other viral hemorrhagic fevers constitute nearly 70% of these outbreaks; with dengue fever, anthrax, plague, monkeypox and a range of other diseases making up the remaining 30%. The latest data on monkeypox finds a significant increase in cases since April 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. The increase is mainly observed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, and could partly be attributed to enhanced monkeypox surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in the countries, though detailed investigations are underway. However, this upward trend is still lower than in 2020 when the region reported its highest monthly cases of monkeypox. Overall, cases of monkeypox have been rising since 2017, except in 2021 where there was a sudden drop. From 1 January to 8 July 2022 there have been 2087 cumulative monkeypox cases, of which only 203 were confirmed. The overall case fatality rate for the 203 confirmed cases is 2.4%. Of the 175 confirmed cases for which there is case-specific data, 53% were male and the median age was 17 years. The increase in zoonotic cases may be due to several reasons. Africa has the world's fastest-growing population and there is a growing demand for food derived from animals including meat, poultry, eggs, and milk. The population growth is also leading to rising urbanization and encroachment on the habitats of wildlife. Road, rail, boat and air links are also improving across Africa increasing the risk of zoonotic disease outbreaks spreading from remote areas where there are few inhabitants to large urban areas. As we have seen with the West African Ebola outbreaks, there can be a devastating number of deaths and cases, when zoonotic diseases arrive in cities. "Infections originating in animals and then jumping to humans have been happening for centuries, but the risk of mass infections and deaths had been relatively limited in Africa. Poor transport infrastructure acted as a natural barrier," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti WHO Regional Director for Africa. "However, with improved transportation in Africa, there is an increased threat of zoonotic pathogens traveling to large urban centres. We must act now to contain zoonotic diseases before they can cause widespread infections and stop Africa from becoming a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases." Stemming the rise in zoonotic diseases in Africa is complex and WHO recommends a one-health approach which requires multiple sectors, disciplines, and communities to work in collaboration. This includes a wide range of experts, including those working in human, animal and environmental health. Routine disease surveillance information and response activities--for both animal and human health--should be shared among epidemiologists and other public health experts. More research is also needed, to identify environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that boost the emergence and transmission of epidemic-prone diseases, as well as to better understand the factors that affect the impact and spread of epidemics, including the immune status, nutrition, genetic and antimicrobial resistance. "We need all hands on deck to prevent and control zoonotic diseases such as Ebola, monkeypox and even other coronaviruses," said Dr Moeti. "Zoonotic diseases are caused by spillover events from animals to humans. Only when we break down the walls between disciplines can we tackle all aspects of the response." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Health International Organisations By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Since, 2008 WHO has strengthened its regional collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organization for Animal Health to support efforts to address zoonotic outbreaks across Africa. Recently, the three agencies worked together in the 14th Ebola outbreak, which just ended in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dr Moeti spoke during a virtual press conference today. She was joined by Dr Franklin Asiedu Bekoe, Director of Public Health, Ghana Health Service and Dr Karim Tounkara, Regional Representative for Africa, World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Also on hand from WHO Regional Office for Africa to respond to questions were Dr Opeayo Ogundiran, Epidemiology Pillar Lead for the Regional COVID-19 Response; Dr. Charles Okot Lukoya, Epidemiologist; Dr Pamela Mitula, Routine Epidemiology and New Vaccine Officer; Dr Tieble Traore, Technical Officer; and Dr Solomon Woldetsadik, Emergency Response Officer. Bulandshahr : , July 17 (IANS) Five minor boys watched a popular TV crime serial and went on to kidnap a seven-year-old boy for ransom and then murdered him. The accused boys are aged between 15 and 16 years and study in Class 10. Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shlok Kumar said. "The boy was picked up by the teenagers from his school on July 9 and then taken to Aligarh where they choked him to death using a handkerchief. They then dumped his body in a river which was recovered later." An FIR was first lodged under IPC section 363 (missing) on the basis of a complaint by the child's father, who lives in Shekhupur village under Chhatari police station limits. "After the probe and findings, the accused have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) also," the police said. The SSP said one of the teenagers had mistakenly lost Rs 40,000 while carrying out a financial transaction and was worried about it. He later narrated his ordeal to his friends after which they all decided to kidnap a child from the school for ransom to make up for his loss. "On July 9, the victim was among the first few students to reach the school. The accused had not specifically planned to kidnap him but he was picked up since he reached the school early and there were not many people at the time," the SSP said. "The teenager, who also studied in the same school, saw the boy playing outside his class and then took him to the boundary of the school where his other associates, who studied in a different school, were already present," he said. The two accused took the boy on a motorcycle to Aligarh while the other reached there by bus. They had taken the boy to Aligarh because one of the accused had a house there and the boy was kept hostage there. However, later the teenagers panicked thinking what they would do if their plan does not succeed and thought they might land in trouble. The SSP added that they then decided to kill the boy and dumped his body in a river. They threw his handkerchief in bushes in an isolated area and returned to Bulandshahr. The next day the child's body was found from the river in Aligarh and he was identified as the boy missing from Bulandshahr, he said. Six teams were formed which analysed over 100 CCTV footages and questioned more than 200 people in connection with the case. The accused were presented before a juvenile justice board for further legal action in the case. Amaravati, July 17 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy recently claimed that his government fulfilled 95 per cent of the poll promises made by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). However, there is one major promise which the government is yet to fulfill -- total prohibition in a phased manner. After taking some initial steps, the YSRCP government appears to have gone back on the promise. It was during his statewide 'padyatra' before 2019 elections that Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised to women that if voted to power his party would implement total prohibition. After assuming office in May 2019 he announced that prohibition would be enforced in phases and finally consumption of liquor will be confined to five-star hotels only. Though the ruling party claims that it is committed to total prohibition, some recent moves indicate otherwise. Many believe that the financial crisis has forced YSRCP to give up its plans for total prohibition and it is now looking to promote the liquor sales to boost revenue. One of the first major steps taken by Jagan after coming to power in 2019 was the government taking over the retail liquor business. It also cut down the number of liquor shops and increased the price of liquor to discourage consumption. In the first reversal of this, the government last year reduced the liquor price and is now reportedly contemplating handing over retail liquor business back to private traders to increase the revenue from the liquor. The reduction in the prices of liquor last year resulted in 30 per cent growth in the sale of liquor in the state. The government justified this saying it was done to check smuggling of liquor into Andhra Pradesh from Telangana and other neighbouring states due to high prices in the state. It said the move was also aimed to curb bootlegging. The monthly revenue of Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation has gone up to Rs 2,100 crore - Rs 2,150 crore from earlier Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 1,900 crore. The opposition parties have even alleged that the state government sold bond by projecting growth in revenue from liquor. Actor politician Pawan Kalyan pointed out that the revenue from liquor sale in 2018-19 was just Rs 14,000 crore but it increased to Rs 22,000 crore in 2021-22. "Is it implementation of prohibition in a phased manner? Projecting this income, had you not sold bonds worth Rs 8,000 crore?," he asked the chief minister. The government recently announced Bar Policy 2022 and invited applications to issue licences for bars. As the licences of all the existing bars will expire on June 30, fresh licences should be obtained as per the new policy which will come into force from September 1. The bar licence will be for three years subject to payment of non-refundable registration charge and licence fee with an enhancement of 10 per cent per annum. The opposition parties have slammed the bar policy saying it was aimed at further increasing the liquor revenue. Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alleged that the chief minister betrayed women by going back on his promise of total prohibition. The TDP leaders have also accused the government of promoting liquor consumption by making available 'J-brands' of cheap liquor. "Jagan Reddy wooed the votes by making a false promise of prohibition to women in 2019. The women should teach him a lesson for the betrayal," said TDP MLA Anagani Satya Prasad Opposition parties alleged that cheap liquor is leading to deaths. In the latest incident on July 14, two persons died in Repalle after consuming liquor. In March this year, 19 persons died after consuming alleged cheap liquor in Jangareddygudem town of West Godavari district. The government, however, claimed that these were natural deaths. TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh has slammed Jagan Reddy into 'Sampoorna Madyapaana Pradesh' (complete liquor state). Lokesh called it a matter of serious concern that CM Jagan brought over Rs 8,300 crore new loans by 'mortgaging the drunkards' in the state. He demanded the chief minister to explain what happened to his pre-election promise of phased prohibition. Jagan Reddy had made countless such false promises to his so-called 'akka chellemmalu' (elder and younger sisters). Lokesh said the CM portrayed himself as 'Jagananna' for all but after coming to power, his J-brands started tearing apart the mangala sutras of all sections of women. The chief minister's betrayal of liquor policy was enough to say how treacherous the YSRCP rule has been in the past three years. All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has called for an agitation by the major opposition parties for implementation of the total ban on liquor. It is also planning a yatra in October and November seeking total prohibition. The YSRCP government, however, denied that it is encouraging liquor consumption. Its leaders cited the recent National Family Health Survey, which revealed that 11.5 per cent of the total population in the state. They say it is lower than the consumption rate in neighbouring states. They also claimed that the government is making sincere efforts to contain liquor consumption. According to them, the government weeded out 42,000 belt shops or illegal outlets and trimmed retail liquor shops by nearly 30 per cent in the last three years. They say the government reduced the number of liquor shops to 2,934 from 4,380. The YSRCP leaders say even under the new bar policy, the number of bars in the state will not exceed the existing 840. Dismissing allegations of the opposition, they pointed out that estimated liquor revenue in the 2022-23 budget is only Rs 16,500 crore, lower than the revenue generated in 2021-22. The YSRCP leaders say the government also set up de-addiction centres to free liquor addicts from their habits. They are of the view that any sudden decision with regard to prohibition would boomerang Political analysts say that considering the state's precarious financial position, Jagan Reddy has no option but to fall back on revenues from liquor. P. Raghavendra Reddy, a political analyst, pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report categorised Andhra Pradesh among the laggard states of India, when it comes to revenue generation. Pressured by populous schemes announced during 2019 elections and implementation of the same is the main reason for financial stress on the state. "Considering this scenario, Andhra Pradesh on one side needs more funds to sustain welfare schemes, while on the other it is not making sufficient revenue from regular taxes. Hence, the government is in no shape to implement total prohibition in the state," he said. "Unless the Jagan regime finds a means to increase GSDP from non-excise sources, the state government will depend on money it makes by selling liquor to its own citizens," he added. Hyderabad, July 17 : Unidentified persons opened fire on a truck driver on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) here, sources said on Sunday. The incident occurred near Tukkuguda Exit 14 in Shamshabad on the city outskirts on Saturday night. The truck driver escaped unhurt in the attack. Manoj Yadav told police that unidentified persons in a car chased him and opened two rounds. The bullet hit the windscreen. A passerby had alerted police. Laden with iron, the truck was on its way from Medak to Kochi in Kerala. Cyberabad police suspect it to be the handiwork of an inter-state gang of robbers. A police officer said they registered a case and took up the investigation. They were trying to find out whether the incident was because of some previous enmity. The police have constituted three teams to track down the culprits. The investigators were scanning CCTV footage to gather clues. Similar incidents occurred in the past when truck drivers were waylaid and robbed. Gangs belonging to Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and other states were found involved. In a recent incident, a gang of robbers had looted cash from a driver. Police suspect Saturday's incident to be the handiwork of the same gang. New Delhi, July 17 : Delhi Police on Sunday clarified that there was no stone pelting at the suspended BJP leader Naveen Jindal's residence in the national capital. "Some media channels are wrongly stating that there has been stone pelting at the residence of Sh. Naveen Jindal," Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said. She informed that the back glass of PCR Van outside his house broke due to a spinning stone from the wheel of a passing vehicle. "All are advised not to propagate false information," Nalwa averred. Additional DCP (east) Sachin Sharma also denied all media reports that claimed that stone pelting on a security vehicle of Jindal. "There is some construction going on near the residence of Naveen Jindal. From there some construction material came below the wheel of a vehicle and hit the windscreen of a PCR van. There was no stone pelting," he said. Jindal was last month expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party from allegedly making insulting comments against Prophet Muhammad on social media. Since then, Jindal has been regularly getting death threats from all over the world and has several times written to the police in this regard. New Delhi, July 17 : Beginning with two Lok Sabha members, the BJP's political journey that passed through the phases of the Ram Mandir movement, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's coalition era, 'Operation Kamal', successive electoral victories and a Congress-free India campaign, is now headed to create an opposition-free India. After Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and now Goa, the opposition parties are continuously attacking the BJP and accusing it of intimidating and suppressing the opposition. Speaking to IANS on these allegations, a BJP leader associated with Maharashtra said that it is very important for a democracy to have a strong opposition, but it does not mean that it is the responsibility of the BJP to strengthen the opposition. He said that the opposition political parties are getting scattered because of their mistakes, so what can the BJP do about it? During his tenure as BJP President, Amit Shah used to often tell party leaders and workers that the time has come that the entire governance system from Panchayat to Parliament should be in the hands of the BJP. At that time, Shah used to cite the example that during the first few decades after Independence, the system from Panchayat to Parliament was in the hands of the Congress and now the BJP's time has come. Calling on the BJP workers to work hard, Shah also used to say that they should think of being victorious from Panchayat to Parliament for 50 years. After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah became the Home Minister of the country and J.P. Nadda the national President of the BJP, but the party continued on its mission, winning election after election. In the party's national executive meeting held in Hyderabad recently, Amit Shah claimed that the BJP era would prevail in the country for the next 30-40 years. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Narendra Modi, who was then nominated for the post of Prime Minister by the BJP, for the first time used the slogan of having a Congress-free India, which later all the BJP leaders would voice in their speeches and rallies. After winning the Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. Rajnath Singh, who was heading the party at that time, was made the Home Minister by Modi and the then National General Secretary of the party and his closest friend Amit Shah was made BJP President. The duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah worked hard to realise the slogan of a Congress-mukt Bharat. Both the government and the BJP together chalked out such a strategy that the party started winning elections one after the other and today the condition of the Congress has become such that it has its own governments in only two states - Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Congress today is weak even in Parliament and also in legislatures across the country. The BJP is also working on a plan to oust the Congress from power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2023. But the BJP does not seem to be stopping here. The biggest dream of the BJP is still unfulfilled and that is to saffronise the states of South India as well as West Bengal. The BJP is trying vigorously for expansion in states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal. During the Hyderabad meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked all the parties over dynasty politics, he even termed dynasticism a curse for democratic politics. After decimating the Congress, the BJP is now ready to take on the regional parties. In Maharashtra, the BJP has made its intentions clear by breaking away Eknath Shinde from Uddhav Thackeray and making him the Chief Minister with its support, also sending a signal to the disgruntled leaders of other parties. In fact, it is true that most of the regional parties in the country are dominated by a family and almost every political party has dissident leaders like Shinde. Recently Telangana BJP President, B. Sanjay Kumar had targeted Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, claiming that there are many like Eknath Shinde in his party TRS. Political experts may call it a new form of 'Operation Kamal', but the stand of the BJP is very clear that it is the responsibility of the leader and president of a particular party to keep their flock united and if they can't do it, then how can the BJP be held responsible for it. Chennai, July 17 : Striking students of Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu set a police vehicle on fire during clashes after the police fired in air. The students owing allegiance to the Left parties and some connected with the Dravidian movements were striking after a plus two student of a government school here committed suicide a couple of days ago. In the suicide note, the student had alleged abuse by two teachers. Inspector General of Police, Pandyan told the mediapersons that the two teachers, who were allegedly named in the suicide note, were questioned but they were not arrested. The striking students wanted the police to immediately arrest the teachers. Police sources told IANS that the students attacked the police contingent with stones and bottles, and to disperse the crowd, the police resorted to firing in the air. This agitated the students and they burnt a police vehicle. The Inspector General of Police, Pandyan has also reached the spot and a heavy police posse is deployed in the area. New Delhi, July 17 : G.Y.V Victor, the now suspended managing Director and CEO of Dredging Corporation of India claimed to be an MBA/Diploma from India Institute of Management Services, New Delhi but after probing the matter in detail it was found that no such institute is in existence. G.Y.V Victor obtained permission to do PHD from Anna University in regular mode but in contrary he perused PHD in regular mode at JU (based in West Bengal) and he was claiming to have also been simultaneously working in Amareena Consults (based in Tamil Nadu) and Archirodon based in Dubai. The wordings/sentences of the experience certificates submitted by G.Y.V Victor from different organisations were found to be in the same language. "As such it has been concluded in the investigation that G.Y.V. Victor is prima-facie not eligible to be considered for the post of MD & CEO as per the criteria set out in the advertisement and that his claims of experience are based on wrongful and wilful suppression of material facts and deliberate misrepresentation of facts. The detailed report setting out the above along with other observations was submitted by Chief Vigilance Officer to the Chairman, the company said in a statement. Accordingly G.Y.V. Victor was placed under suspension by the Chairman on July 13 and taken note by the board of Directors in its meeting held on July 14. Further enquiry proceedings would be held and appropriate action taken as per the Disciplinary Rules of the Company. After going through the application, the supporting documents, verification/validation of the same through different sources, it has been established in the report that there has been blatant suppression of facts, material misrepresentation of facts, fake claims and false claims in support of his experience criteria by G.Y.V. Victor in his application and supporting documents. As such he is prima facie not eligible to be considered for the post. As per the requirement, the applicant should have worked in a listed Company having turnover of at least Rs 500 crore in the last three years prior to the date of advertisement. Victor has claimed experience for working in a firm which belonged to his family and also claimed to have received salary of Rs 50 lakh in previous year prior to joining DCI whereas the firm had "NIL" turnover and negligible expenditure towards salary in the last two years as per the documents uploaded with Ministry Corporate Affairs by the said firm. The firm was not a listed company but only a LLP firm. Further, Victor was earlier working with DCI in a floating establishment from April '96 and was dismissed from Service in DCI in 2000 on disciplinary grounds after enquiry. As per the office order dated 2016 of DCI a dismissed employee cannot be reemployed in DCI in any capacity. He suppressed the material information of having been dismissed from the company in the application and also the attestation forms to be submitted to the company. Further while he was still in the rolls of the company he claimed to have worked in another organisation which is against the Rules of the company. As per the rules of the company, employees who have been dismissed cannot be considered for reappointment in the company in any capacity. Victor claimed to work as Director in Amareena Group but he was only a Partner & not working as Director as Director needs to have a DIN which is a mandatory requirement that was allotted to him on February 26, 2021 only after joining DCI & he had shown same DCI DIN number for Amareena Group. New Delhi, July 17 : It is about the gaze. Those little observations made in a dreamscape. A perpetual ambiguity in time. Somewhere between hyper-realistic and dreamlike experiences, a young scholar effortlessly brings forth a culture's network of throbbing veins -- tangled, confusing, layered but madly enigmatic -- in letters written to her parents from India in 1963-64 US-based Wendy Doniger, an acclaimed authority on Hinduism and a Sanskrit scholar who has to her credit major works on the subject, including 'The Hindus: An Alternate History', 'Hindu Myths', 'The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology, 'The Ring of Truth', 'Dreams, Illusions and Other Realities' and translations of the 'Rig Veda' and 'Kama Sutra', whose latest, 'An American Girl in India' (Speaking Tiger), recently hit the stands, says she did not so much conceive the book as stumble upon it. "When I retired from the University of Chicago in 2018 and was cleaning out my office, I found a box of letters, and read one that began with: 'Calcutta, December 10, 1963. Dear Mommy and Daddy.' My mother had apparently kept the letters all those years, and when she died the box came to me, but I never opened it until then. As soon as I read them, I thought they might be of interest to my students and my readers, especially in India," recalls the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. Doniger, whose book 'Hindus: An Alternate History' created a controversy, says that she does not really look back at that period at all. "To tell the truth, I would still write 'The Hindus' the way I wrote it, for the most part; but would try to improve the weakest part, which is the later section on Mughal and British history, about which I know much less than I know about ancient India. "I still feel that what I wrote about ancient India was basically accurate and written in the hope of showing how the voices of women and Dalits were always there in the texts, in praise of the open-mindedness of Hindus through the ages. And many, many Indian readers have written to me over the years, telling me that they did indeed understand what I was trying to do and that they liked the book." For someone who has always insisted on the liberal essence of Hinduism, boasting of much multiplicity, its contemporary avatar projected by certain quarters which comes across as uni-dimensional, should be attributed mainly to politics. She stresses, too, that the country in 1963, as she discovered in her letters, was much different from contemporary India in many other ways too. "Television and the Internet had not yet invaded the countryside, and there was an openness to visitors from abroad, and pride in an India that was still shaking itself free from the colonial yoke, that made people happy to share their culture with someone who clearly appreciated it. In that happy atmosphere, multiplicity thrived and I was able to make friends with all sorts of different people," Doniger remembers. Adding that back then the mood was much different from the hyper-sensitive religious sensibilities of today, not just in India but throughout the world, Doniger, who, from her first book 'Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva', to the latest, has been on a decades-long journey with India, says, in addition to the changes made by television and the Internet, there are inevitable results of modernisation in general that have affected the world -- and more recently the devastations caused by Covid and climate change. "However, culturally, I still find the stories and images from the ancient texts alive and well in India today, in retellings of the ancient stories, enactments of ancient dramas in performances like Kathakali, and the recitation of texts on occasions like Ramlila -- it is all still there, but now there is also an overlay of less interesting messages on television and the Internet," Doniger adds. Stressing that the readings of ancient Hindu scriptures have had a deep impact on her life, she recalls the time when working on 'The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology', back in the 1970s, she lost her father. "That was the first really tragic thing that ever happened to me. Reading and thinking about the texts I was writing about at that time really helped me to come to an understanding of tragedy and evil, not just in the texts but in my own life," recalls Doniger, adding that she misses the temples, the gorgeous bazaars and the special smell of India -- a smell of burning and the heavy perfume of flowers. Warning that throughout history, people all over the world have used mythology as if it were history, which almost always results in irrational behaviour and religious conflict, the scholar who continues to be fascinated by Shiva, says, "He expresses, better than any deity I know, the mysterious combination of passion and destruction in the forces that govern the universe." Chennai, July 17 : Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O. Panneerselvam, who is in a bitter power struggle with the AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai due to Covid-19 related ailments. The private hospital in a statement on Sunday said that the former chief minister is admitted with mild Covid -19 symptoms and that he was responding to treatment. Panneerselvam is under observation at an isolated ward and that a team of doctors is attending on him. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wished OPS a speedy and complete recovery. Panneerselvam was expelled from the AIADMK after the general council meeting of the AIADMK held at Vanagram, Chennai on July 18, and Edappadi K. Palaniswami made the sole general secretary of the party. OPS and his supporters did not accept the decision and expelled Palaniswami and leaders close to him which led to a series of expulsions of leaders close to OPS by the Palaniswami faction including the sole Loksabha MP of the party, O.P. Raveendranath who is the son of OPS. London, July 17 : For the first time in modern history, the East can be on equal terms with the West, as the global dominance of the US and its allies comes to an end, former British prime minister Tony Blair has said. Due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, "for a large part of the Western population, living standards are stagnating", Blair noted in his annual lecture at the Ditchley Foundation on Saturday, RT reported. "Western politics is in turmoil - more partisan, ugly, unproductive; and fueled by social media," which affects both domestic and international affairs, Blair said, arguing that Russia's military operation in Ukraine "should become a pivot point reviving our [Western] sense of mission". However, according to the 69-year-old, who led the UK government from 1997 to 2007, "the biggest geopolitical change of this century will come from China not Russia". "We are coming to the end of Western political and economic dominance. The world is going to be at least bi-polar and possibly multi-polar," he predicted, RT reported. China, which is "already the world's second superpower", will compete with the West "not just for power but against our system, our way of governing and living," the Labour politician warned. Beijing "will not be alone. It will have allies. Russia now for sure. Possibly Iran". "It is the first time in modern history that the East can be on equal terms with the West," he added. The former premier said the events in Ukraine have made it clear the West "cannot rely on the Chinese leadership to behave in the way we would consider rational. Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying in the near term that China would attempt to take [the self-governed island of] Taiwan by force. But we can't base our policy on the certainty that it wouldn't". analysis On Friday July 8, coinciding with news of the death of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, it was revealed that two of his closest associates face trial on corruption charges in connection with business deals funded by the Peoples' Republic of China to purchase Angolan oil and fund post-war reconstruction. Facing multiple criminal charges are two Angolan Generals, Manuel Helder Vieira Dias Junior (better known by his nom-de-guerre, 'Kopelipa'), and Leopoldino Fragoso de Nascimento (aka General 'Dino') along with co-defendants including Fernando Gomes dos Santos (a lawyer), a Chinese national, You Haming, and three corporate bodies: the China International Fund (CIF) and two companies registered offshore, Plansmart and Utter Right. The indictment, signed by three prosecutors[1] from the Ministerio Publico (Office of Public Prosecution) on July 4, runs to 80 pages listing 233 separate clauses detailing the alleged crimes, and citing 36 named witnesses to be called to testify. Generals 'Kopelipa' and 'Dino' both face trial on multiple charges of criminal association, money-laundering, fraud, falsification of documents and influence-peddling. General 'Kopelipa' faces additional charges of abuse of power and peculation. BUT WHAT ABOUT MANUEL VICENTE? Inexplicably, the third member of former President dos Santos's 'Triumvirate', his one-time Vice-President and the National Oil Company Sonangol chairman and CEO Manuel Vicente, seems to have slipped the net. Vicente had been Dos Santos's right-hand man in moving petrodollars into their various get-rich-quick schemes over decades and was also the prime mover of the relationship with China, including with the notorious Chinese 'agent and fixer' Sam Pa (currently serving a prison sentence in China for corruption). The indictment reveals that at least at US $1.5 billion of China's payment for Angolan oil were never passed on to Sonangol or Angola. It stressed that a Hong Kong-based company named 'China Sonangol International Holding Limited' (CSIHL), took and kept China's payments for itself while acting as an intermediary. Guess what? According to the indictment, the chairman of CSIHL, which had no office or representative based in Angola, was none other than Manuel Vicente, chairman and CEO of Sonangol during these transactions. Isn't it curious then, when Manuel Vicente appears to have been the principal actor in this ingenious scheme to defraud the Angolan Treasury and the state-owned Sonangol company, that he is neither indicted nor called as a witness? Instead the chief prosecution witness from Sonangol is Francisco de Lemos Maria, Vicente's successor as chairman and CEO (who arguably should be on the charge sheet himself). Lemos Maria had been Sonangol's Chief Finance Officer during Vicente's tenure. Other VIP witnesses include Carlos Feijo, the former Minister of State and the President's Chief of Staff, and the former President of ESCOM, (Espirito Santo Commerce), a subsidiary of the Portuguese conglomerate Grupo Espirito Santo, Helder Bataglia. It is the case that as a former Vice-President, Manuel Vicente has enjoyed five years of immunity from prosecution for any crimes committed during his mandate, but that expires in September 2022. In any event, jurists argue that immunity conferred on him as Vice-President does not cover crimes he may have committed as the head of Sonangol from 1999-2012. It makes no sense for the state prosecution to issue an indictment that imputes crimes to Manuel Vicente on dozens of pages without including him as a defendant. ZANGO The prosecution case contains detailed (and exhaustive) evidence of a shady scheme by which the state was defrauded of hundreds of millions of dollars. Several buildings, funded through the Gabinete de Reconstrucao Nacional (GRN), and intended for public housing in the Zango neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the capital, were sold back to Sonangol by CIF, leaving the state owning none of the buildings it had paid for. In some instances, the state paid for the same buildings twice over with nothing to show for it. Inevitably, the state funds came directly from Sonangol (under Manuel Vicente). So, although General Kopelipa was tangentially involved as Head of the GRN, the financial sleight of hand in paying for buildings that were sold on for sums that were not paid to the real owner, was overseen by Manuel Vicente. And, according to the indictment, some US $2.5 billion of the funds routed to the GRN for reconstruction came from Chinese loans. Furthermore, from 2010 onwards, management of the GRN building projects intended for public housing was transferred from the GRN to Sonangol. They were under the responsibility of both Manuel Vicente and two senior directors serving under him: Francisco Lemos Jose (then CFO and later his successor) and Orlando Veloso. Moreover, the private employee of Vicente, Paulo Cascao, signed on behalf CIF for the sales to Sonangol with a power of attorney granted him by the same Vicente. Why then aren't these four men facing charges in the Zango housing project case? The defence is likely to argue that General Kopelipa had no direct oversight of this project and General Dino was not involved in it. To add to the confusion, Paulo Cascao was also the executive director of Delta Imobiliaria, which sold the Chinese-built social housing projects to the public. Kopelipa, Dino and Vicente, aka the 'Triumvirate', were the beneficial owners of Delta Imobiliaria. CHINA INTERNATIONAL FUND A third instance of corruption cites the infamous China International Fund (CIF) with evidence that public funds for the construction of buildings were (once again) used for private ends. General Dino's only connection with the CIF came at the direct request of President dos Santos to make sense of the CIF's financial affairs and General Kopelipa's only involvement was to organize the transfer to the state of all CIF assets in Angola as reparation. However, the indictment fails to mention key information on the CIF matter offered by former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos himself. He wrote to Pitta Gros, the Attorney-General of the Republic, both on December 20, 2020 and November 8, 2021 offering his full cooperation in the investigation into the CIF scandal. The Attorney-General never replied. So the former President voluntarily prepared a detailed 12-page deposition, duly notarized, in which he completely exonerates General Dino of any responsibility in the affairs of the CIF, stating that "Lt Gen Leopoldino Fragoso de Nascimento and Dr Fernando Santos had nothing to do with the CIF company and had no knowledge of the origin of the funds that were invested in CIF Ltd." This deposition also states for the record that General Kopelipa acted lawfully, under the President's instructions, in the matter. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Governance Legal Affairs Angola By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. It is clear from the content and tone of the deposition that former President dos Santos takes full responsibility, exonerates Kopelipa and Dino, and emphasizes that all actions taken in connection with the CIF were in the interests of post-war reconstruction. THE OBLIGATION TO PRODUCE ALL AVAILABLE EVIDENCE In itself this does not relieve the members of the Triumvirate from a case to answer on their involvement in these (and numerous other) questionable business ventures on behalf of former President dos Santos. All the senior members of the Dos Santos Administration who became obscenely wealthy - allegedly because of opaque business deals financed by public money conducted through offshore shell companies - have questions to answer. However, they also have the right to a fair trial, and to the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven to the satisfaction of the courts of law. It is, therefore, the duty both of the state prosecutors and the defence lawyers to ensure they produce all the available evidence, especially testimony from the key actors. This would involve both admitting the former President's notarized deposition into evidence and requiring the testimony of Manuel Vicente and others involved in, connected to, or with knowledge of, the alleged crimes. [1] State Prosecution Attorneys Pedro Carvalho, Manuel Bambi, and Gilberto Vunge. London, July 17 : English comedian of Indian origin Paul Chowdhry has said that he was attacked in central London, while still in his car. According to mirror.co.uk, the 47-year-old London-born comedian, who is of Indian Punjabi Sikh descent, posted on his social media pages a couple of messages he received from someone who said they saw him being attacked by thugs on Friday. The comic, whose real name is Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry, said that he was on New Oxford Street in the capital when the incident happened. The messages that Paul received, which he shared on social media, read: "Hey Paul was that you at new Oxford street? Looked like some thugs tried to attack you." The second message read: "I did send the police who were a few cars behind but I think you drove off by then." Paul himself then captioned these messages with confirmation that he had been the victim of an attack. He wrote: " I was attacked in my car yesterday in London, I'm fine and will update you as I can." Fans of the comedian shared their concerns and sent him well wishes, with Loose Women star Judi Love commenting: "Omg hope your okay hun xxx" This is not the first time that the comic has said that he has been attacked and has detailed previously the prejudice his father faced in the 1980s and how he was subjecting to racially motivated violence, which is something he has also experienced. Paul told Gaby Roslin on her podcast that his dad had been attacked with a knife during one serious incident, reports mirror.co.uk. He said: "He took quite a few stitches to the face. There was a knife attack, the people were never caught. But he got on with it, he never held grudges." Paul then added the he had experienced similar violence. He said: "I've been attacked, lots of stuff has happened to me, but you can't let it affect you, you know it's a part of human nature, some of the darker sides." Paul started his stand up career in 1998 and hosted the comedy series 'Stand Up for the Week'. He was the first British to perform at the Caribbean Comedy Festival in Trinidad in 2003. In 2017, he was a guest stand-up performer in 'The Russell Howard Hour' and also sold out the 10,000-seater Wembley Arena, becoming the first British Asian stand-up comic to do so. In 2020, Chowdhry appeared in the television drama series 'Devils'. Thiruvananthapuram, July 17 : A man, who reached Kannur district in Kerala from a Middle East country, was admitted to the government medical college after he showed signs of monkeypox. The hospital authorities told IANS that the youth was under observation in an isolated ward and that his samples have been sent for testing to the Pune Virology lab. The youth, according to the hospital authorities, reached Kannur from a Middle East country after landing at Mangaluru airport. The Kerala health department has increased surveillance at all the five airports in the state from Sunday onwards. Special facilities have been set up in Kannur airport for testing those who arrive from foreign countries. The first monkeypox case in the country was from Kerala. A 35-year-old person from Kollam district, who arrived from a Middle East country tested positive for monkeypox and is admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital. Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak Chennai, July 17 : An Air India Express flight to Dubai from Calicut was diverted to Muscat owing to a burning smell. The incident happened on Saturday night. It is said the burning smell was from one of the vents in the aircraft's galley. As a result, the pilots diverted the flight to Muscat and had a safe landing. Further details are awaited Los Angeles, July 17 : Rapper Kodak Black, whose real name is Bill Kahan Kapri, was arrested Friday after a traffic stop in Florida. The rapper was pulled over when Florida Highway Patrol flagged his car as having tinted windows "which appeared to be darker than the legal limit," according to a release obtained by CNN, reports Variety. Upon stopping Kapri, authorities discovered that the vehicle's registration had expired. According to Variety, a small bag of 31 white tablets of oxycodone, an opioid drug, and $75,000 in cash were uncovered upon further search. Kapri was subsequently arrested, with online police records indicating that the rapper was taken into custody on Friday for "possession of a controlled substance without prescription." "Never judge a case based on an arrest," Kapri's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, said in a statement. "There are facts and circumstances that give rise to a defense, especially in this case. We negotiated a bond of 75,000 (dollars) and we will move forward with resolving the matter quickly. Florida Highway Patrol was not immediately available for comment. A Florida native, Kapri was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2019 after pleading guilty to knowingly making false statements in order to unlawfully acquire firearms from a Miami-area gun shop. His sentence was later commuted in January 2021 by former US president Donald J. Trump during the final days of his term. His White House administration described Kapri as "a prominent artist and community leader." Prior to his weapons charge, Kapri was indicted by a South Carolina grand jury in 2017 on charges of first degree criminal sexual conduct. This year, Kodak Black landed a No. 2 debut on the Billboard 200 chart for his album 'Back for Everything'. It marked his fifth album on the chart's top five. Kapri was also hospitalised after sustaining injuries in February in a shooting outside of a Los Angeles lounge. New Delhi, July 17 : A 23-year-old man was allegedly shot dead by his friend near the Ramlila Ground in the national capital, an official said on Sunday. The deceased, identified as Abhishek alias Chhanga (23), a resident of Shalimar Bagh, was found lying in an injured condition around 2.00 a.m. by an Emergency Response Vehicle of the police during patrolling near Ramlila Ground in northwest Delhi. "The injured man was immediately rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial hospital where he was declared brought dead with a gunshot injury in the chest," Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Usha Rangnani said. During inquiry, it was revealed that the deceased Abhishek had gone to meet one of his friends near Ramleela Ground, Azadpur. "There they had some heated arguments over some issue and during this heated conversation, his friend got agitated and allegedly shot the deceased Abhishek on his chest," the DCP said. Accordingly, the police registered an FIR under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at the Adarsh Nagar police station and began probing the matter. "Witnesses are being examined. We have identified the assailant and raids are being conducted to nab him," the senior official added. New Delhi, July 17 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed India's vaccination drive as 'unparalleled in scale and speed'. India crossed the 200 crore mark in Covid-19 vaccination on Sunday. Congratulating the nation on the occasion, the prime minister said that India has created history again. "India creates history again! Congrats to all Indians on crossing the special figure of 200 crore vaccine doses. Proud of those who contributed to making India's vaccination drive unparalleled in scale and speed. This has strengthened the global fight against COVID-19," said PM Modi in a tweet. In a subsequent tweet he added, "Throughout the rollout of the vaccine, the people of India have shown remarkable faith in science. Our doctors, nurses, frontline workers, scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs have played a key role in ensuring a safer planet. I appreciate their spirit and determination." Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also congratulated the people on achieving this landmark in only 18 months and said that this extraordinary achievement will be etched in history. "Congratulations India! With everyone's efforts, the country has crossed the figure of 200 crore vaccines today. India has scripted history under PM @NarendraModi Ji's visionary leadership. This extraordinary achievement will be etched in the history!" Mandaviya said in a tweet. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar also thanked the healthcare workers for their hard work, vision and innovation in setting a new record in the service of humanity. India's nationwide Covid-19 vaccination programme was launched by PM Modi on January 16, 2021. Despite the decline in cases across the country, consistent efforts are ongoing to vaccinate all eligible citizens. It took almost nine months to reach the 100 crore mark and another nine months to reach the 200 crore vaccination mark since the start of the vaccination drive, with the highest single-day vaccination record of 2.5 crore doses achieved on September 17, 2021. Hyderabad, July 17 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday expressed doubts about some conspiracy behind the floods in Godavari river. During a visit to Bhadrachalam town affected by Godavari floods, he said that sudden cloud bursts are said to be a conspiracy of some countries. "Cloud burst is something new. It is said that there is some conspiracy behind it. I don't know how far it is correct. It is said that some countries are causing cloud bursts in our country. This happened earlier in Kashmir and Uttarakhand," he said while addressing flood affected people at a relief camp. Heavy rains in Godavari catchment area in Telangana and upstream Maharashtra over the last few days triggered flash floods, inundating low-lying villages and towns along the river in some districts of Telangana. The intensity of floods is stated to be unprecedented during July. The chief minister said since the weather department has forecast rains till July 29, the officials should be on alert. "The danger is still not over. You have to remain alert," he told officials. He also asked officials to continue the relief camps till the rains recede completely. Referring to the problem of inundation of residential areas in Bhadrachalam town and villages downstream, the chief minister said the government will find a permanent solution. He announced that the government and Singareni Collieries Company Limited together will spend Rs 1,000 crore to address the problem in Bhadrachalam and Pinapaka constituencies. The chief minister said a colony of 2,000 to 3,000 houses will be built at an elevated place so that it faces no threat of inundation even if the water level in Godavari rises to 90 feet. CM K.C.R, who inspected the river bund, said the government will rope in experts from the Central Water commission and professors from IITs to find a permanent solution to floods by strengthening the river bank. He announced Rs 10,000 financial assistance for every affected family. The government will also provide 20 kg free rice to each family for the next two months. A total of 7,274 families have taken shelter in relief camps opened by the government. Earlier, accompanied by ministers and top officials, KCR performed puja at Godavari river to pray for an end to floods. He appreciated the district collector and officials in preventing loss of life despite unprecedented rains. Srinagar, July 17 : One CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) was killed after terrorists fired upon the troopers at Gangoo in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Sunday. "Terrorists fired upon Naka party at Gangoo Crossing Pulwama from nearby Apple orchard. In this terror incident oneA CRPF personnel ASI Vinod Kumar got seriously injured. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he attained martyrdom. Area cordoned off. Search in progress." Additional police parties have reached the spot and an operation has been started to nab the attackers. Chennai, July 17 : A day after announcing he had decided to withdraw from filmmaking until his innocence is proven in a case filed by an actress against him, well-known Malayalam film director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has expressed empathy for police personnel, who, he says are compelled to obey "the unlawful orders of their corrupt superior officers". Taking to Instagram to share his thoughts on police personnel, the director wrote, "I can clearly understand the moral dilemma of the police in carrying out the mindless orders of the dirty politicians. "I have seen myself the helplessness of the police constables while I was arrested and kept in custody for a night. They are compelled to obey the unlawful orders of their corrupt superior officers knowing that what they do are illegal and injustice. "When I rejected the police demand to avail bail at midnight from the police station and stood adamant, unabated by their threat, some officers asked a constable to keep me in custody with handcuffs on. "Even though I was laughing at myself for the funny things I was going through in the name of love, it was quite uneasy to spend a whole night sleeping on the dirty floor of the station with handcuffs blocking my hands. "When I requested the constable to remove the handcuffs and argued that I am not anyway going to run away from the safety of the station-room guarded by CCTV, he said, 'sir, I have a family and two kids. I can't help you because I am bound to obey the orders. Moreover, it is for your safety that you are locked in handcuffs. Only I have the key and your safety is now my responsibility. As long as I am alive nobody will touch you without my permission. This, I promise you.' "I could see a genuine feeling of compassion in his eyes. Even though it was difficult to sleep in that uncomfortable position with my right hand locked to the leg of a table, I slept peacefully trusting that person. I remembered this guy while I saw on television, a police officer throwing his uniform away and joining the protesters in Sri Lanka. "Mindless politicians will always misjudge the human feelings inside the police uniforms and feel safe thinking that they can quench all the protests against their corrupt regime using police force until the power of human compassion bursts out and joins hands." Los Angeles, July 17 : Notorious cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero, who is portrayed in the Netflix series 'Narcos: Mexico', has been captured after a lengthy manhunt that turned deadly. According to ew.com, Quintero, a longtime target of US law enforcement, was arrested Friday after a search a team aided by a search dog named Max found him hiding out in the town of San Simon in Sinaloa, Mexico, according to Mexican officials. But in a tragic twist fit for the drama series, 14 members of Mexico's navy died and one more was injured after their Blackhawk helicopter crashed following the mission. The cause of the crash is not yet known. According to ew.com, the drug lord had long been one of the FBI's most wanted criminals, with a $20 million bounty placed on him through the State Department's Narcotics Rewards Program. Known as the "narco of narcos," Quintero is considered to have run one of the most powerful drug trafficking units, the Guadalajara Cartel, in Mexico in the 1980s. He and his men were convicted of the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and murder of U.S. DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, whom Quintero blamed for a raid on his marijuana plantation the year prior. After serving 28 years behind bars, Quintero was freed by a Mexican judge on a technicality in 2013, and subsequently disappeared only to reemerge as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel. Camarena's horrific killing was brought to life for season 1 of the Netflix crime drama, with actor Tenoch Huerta taking on the role of the drug trafficker and Michael Pena starring as Camarena for the show's haunting storyline. In a statement after Quintero's arrest on Friday, US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland marked the end to the manhunt and paid tribute to Camarena. "There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures, and murders American law enforcement. We are deeply grateful to Mexican authorities for their capture and arrest of Rafael Caro-Quintero," Garland stated. "Today's arrest is the culmination of tireless work by DEA and their Mexican partners to bring Caro-Quintero to justice for his alleged crimes, including the torture and execution of DEA Special Agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena." "We will be seeking his immediate extradition to the United States so he can be tried for these crimes in the very justice system Special Agent Camarena died defending." Garland also offered condolences to victims of the helicopter crash: "We join in mourning the 14 Mexican service members who gave their lives in service to their country and extend our condolences to the loved ones they left behind." The news comes just days after President Joe Biden met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the White House to discuss tensions between the new nations over drug enforcement policies. The US government has requested Quintero be extradited to the US. Mali's decision on Thursday to suspend troop rotations by the United Nations' peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) has raised questions about how it wants to detect the terms of engagement -- something some analysts fear could backfire. In a fresh blow to the mission, Egypt told the UN on Friday that it will pull its troops from Mali by mid-August, citing deadly attacks against its peacekeepers. MINUSMA -- which was established in April 2013 to help the West African nation cope with a bloody jihadist campaign -- has been rotating troops who serve on that mission for years. 'Dire consequences' Mali's military government decision to suspend MUNUSMA follows the arrest of 49 Ivorian troops who arrived at Bamako airport aboard a special flight earlier this week. Ivory Coast had said the soldiers were part of the fifth MINUSMA rotation, but Malian officials described them as "mercenaries" who sought to topple the country's military-led government. Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq told journalists in New York on Thursday that Mali's move would have dire consequences for troops currently serving on the mission since some of the staff should have been relieved several months ago. "Rotation of contingents is crucially important for the mission's operational effectiveness and the safety and security of personnel," Haq said. The suspension of the rotations will affect the 12,261 soldiers and the 1,718 police officers of the contingents of the UN mission serving in the West African nation. Journalist-blogger Alhousseini Elhadji of Radio Jamana in Timbuktu [north of Mali] disagrees with Haq's sentiments. "I think that there are no direct consequences on the populations with regard to the suspension of the rotations of the Minusma. The consequences are much more at the level of reorganization," Elhadji told DW. However he is concerned about the toll it could have on some of those serving with the UN mission. "You know, there are soldiers who are there to do four months, others six months or maybe two months," Elhadji said. "Today with this suspension, some may do more than that before others come. Once again, the consequences will be felt at the level of the reorganization of the various contingents of the UN mission in Mali." Troop rotation suspension is 'dangerous' Security expert and executive director of the West Africa Center for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), Mukhtar Mumuni Muktar, told DW that the approach by Mali's military leaders to suspend the rotation program was "dangerous." "If the goal is to cut ties with the UN mission, cut ties with France and external partners connected with France, it is a dangerous move," Muktar said as he expressed fears Mali may be on the path of ditching the UN peacekeeping mission. German expert Ulf Laessing, who heads the Sahel regional program of the Konrad Adenauer foundation, told DW the decision by Mali's coup leaders will not be without consequences for the MINUSMA troops. "I understand that the Malians want to establish new rules for rotations as they did for the interventions of Minusma flights which must be approved in advance by Bamako," Laessing said. "The case of Cote d'Ivoire [Ivory Coast] is sensitive because Abidjan is considered a close ally of the former colonial power, France." 'Negative impact' The decision to suspend the UN mission also includes rotations that have already been scheduled, the Malian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The suspension will last until a meeting is held to "facilitate the coordination and regulation" of the rotation of these contingents, according to the statement read. Laessing said he hoped that "all parties will agree on a solution otherwise MINUSMA will find it difficult to operate effectively and some countries may be reluctant or hesitant when it comes to continuing to send soldiers to contribute to the mission of the UN in Mali." For Muktar, the strategy of the Malian military regime could expose the ordinary citizens to more danger should security be compromised in anyway if the rotation program impacts negatively on the mission's operations. "They [coup leaders] are moving further away from all kinds of attempts of getting them to return the country to civilian rule," Muktar told DW. Mali is currently battling an Islamist insurgency that sprung after a 2012 uprising during which Tuareg rebels took control of large sections of the north of the country, including Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu. The insurgency has since spread to neighbouring countries, killing thousands and displacing millions across West Africa's Sahel region. There have been inconsistencies though in relations to the actual mandate of the Ivorian troops in Mali after a UN spokesman in New York on Thursday said the Ivorian troops had not been deployed under the convention. A MINUSMA spokesman initially confirmed the claim by the Ivorian government that the soldiers were part of the rotation contingent. Mali's right to sovereignty African analyst Jonathan Offei-Ansah told DW on the telephone from London that Mali's military leaders had the right to be suspicious about the presence of the Ivorian troops and cannot be faulted for trying to have a firm grips of the country's security setup. "It is just a matter of being extra cautious," Offei-Ansah said. For him Mali can justifiy being extra cautious about who comes into its territory as it fights back extremists. "The security situation in that country is very dire, so I think Mali is right to protect those pre-emptive measures," Offei-Ansah said. The United Nations has now called for a settlement of the current impasse and Offei-Ansah backs that posturing and expressed optimism that a resolution would be found very soon. "At the end of the day this matter would be resolved amicably," he said, but pointed out that it would take some time to build trust on both sides. Mali's ruling junta -- which seized power in a coup in August 2020 -- has been subject to EU sanctions and condemnation over election delays. It has also been criticized for its security cooperation with Russian mercenaries after France withdrew its troops from the country. The military regime appears to have taken its fate into its own hands to handle its security crisis and Offei-Ansah said it shouldn't be condemned for doing that. "After so many years of peacekeepers after so many years of foreign troops in the country, the jihadist activities haven't been abetted, so if the government feels it can resort to its own means to counter the jihadist insurgency, so be it," said Offei-Ansah, who is also publishes the Africa Briefing Magazine. Fighting jihadists requires stronger partnerships Muktar believes that Mali would struggle to win the fight against the jihadistsit if attempted to completely cut ties with its traditional partners like the UN peacekeeping mission. "It is a dangerous situation because without these partners the situation in Mali could have been worst," he said. According to the security expert, "cutting ties with that at this moment is a dangerous situation that can further undermine security of Mali and the Sahel region." Mali's military government had tried to prolong the process of transitioning to democracy, but pledged to hold elections by March 2024 following the imposition of economic sanctions. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Mali Governance Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The ruling military junta has been at odds with regional and international neighbours about its transitional programs. Muktar said the government is still not sufficiently set-up just yet to deliver a stable and secure nation, and should be cautious how it deals with its neighbours and other partners. "There is a huge military budget that is supported by its partners, the fact that you cut ties with them puts you in a difficult situation of having to fund your own security programs," Muktar said. "Having to juggling that you meeting development needs and aspirations of the people of Mali, you are talking about a complex situation." According to Offei-Ansah, regardless of the approach adopted by the Malian government, it still needs to maintain cordial relations with its neighbours, since "no country is an island on its own. You need to have good relations with your neighbours because the jihadists' activities is not restricted to Mali it is spreading across the whole Sahel." Seeking common ground On the streets of Bamako, Malian and Ivorian residents have called for both sides to lower tensions. "I am not trying to understand who is right. We just need to find a solution," said one resident. Another Bamako resident asked the two governments to seek common ground before the [incident] leads to another situation. According to another resident in the Malian capital, "we are Africans and we must understand each other. We are all in difficult situations right now, whether it is Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, or Niger." One passerby told DW that given the relations that exist between the two countries, Mali and Ivory Coast must first focus on diplomacy. Mali's military leaders have not stated when they intend holding a new meeting to discuss the MINUSMA rotations and it is yet to be seen what they have under their sleeves. Edited by Keith Walker New Delhi, July 17 : The Opposition has blamed the ruling dispensation for unleashing political instability in many states of the country, saying elected governments are being overthrown due to horse-trading. As the political crisis brews, parties look up at the Supreme Court to neutralise an attempt to topple elected governments. In February 2016, the top court's decision to lift its order of status quo in Arunachal Pradesh cleared the road for withdrawal of the emergency and the possibility of a new government being formed with rebel Congress leader Kalikho Pul as chief minister. Pul, who became chief minister on 19 February 2016, was only in power till July 2016. He was ousted from office after an order of the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court. In July 2016, the Constitution bench said that the governor's decision to advance the floor test for NabamTuki from January 2016 to December 2015 was unconstitutional as there was no sign Tuki had lost the majority then. On July 13, 2016 judgment in Nabam Rebia vs Deputy Speaker, Arunachal Pradesh, the apex court considered whether the governor must exercise this power in his discretion or on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. "In a situation where the Governor has reasons to believe that the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers have lost the confidence of the House, it is open to the Governor to require the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers to prove their majority in the House, by a floor test. Only in a situation, where the Government in power on the holding of such floor test is seen to have lost the confidence of the majority, it would be open to the Governor to exercise the powers vested with him under Article 174 at his own, and without any aid and advice," noted the top court in its 2016 judgment. In May 2016, the Supreme Court gave a severe jolt to the NDA government by directing the former chief minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Singh Rawat to take a 'vote of confidence' on the floor of the Assembly on May 10 and ordered suspension of president's rule in the state from 10.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 10, when the floor test was to take place. The top court declined to permit 9 rebel Congress MLAs -- who were disqualified by the speaker -- from participating in the confidence motion. In May 2018, the apex court ordered Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to prove his majority support in the Assembly. The top court shortened the 15-day window he had received from the governor to face a floor test. The court's order came on a plea filed by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) combine against the governor's invite to the BJP's Yediyurappa to form the government, following a hung House. In Shiv Sena & Ors vs. Union of India & Ors (2019), the Supreme Court held that the governor can direct the floor test immediately to prevent horse-trading. "In a situation wherein, if the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the court to act to protect democratic values. An immediate floor test, in such a case, might be the most effective mechanism to do so, said the top court. In Shivraj Singh Chouhan vs Speaker Madhya Pradesh (2020), the apex court said: "In a situation where the Governor has reasons to believe that the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister has lost the confidence of the House, constitutional propriety requires that the issue be resolved by calling for a floor test. The Governor in calling for a floor test cannot be construed to have acted beyond the bounds of constitutional authority." In Madhya Pradesh, the MLAs in the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp defected to the BJP. The then Congress Chief Minister Kamal Nath asked the governor to dissolve the Assembly. However, the governor called for a floor test. On June 29, the bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala -- after hearing counsel of Shiv Sena, rebel MLAs, Eknath Shinde, and the governor for over three hours in a late evening court hearing -- said: "We do not find any ground to stay convening of the special session of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on June 30, 2022, i.e, tomorrow at 11.00 a.m. with the only agenda of a trust vote." The bench added, "The proceedings of the trust vote to be convened on June 30, shall be subject to the final outcome of the instant Writ Petition as well the Writ Petitions referred to above." The top court's order came on a plea by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu terming governor's decision direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test and prove its majority in the House on Thursday (June 30), as illegal, claiming the governor didn't take into account deputy speaker's disqualification notices to 16 rebel MLAs. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned after the top court's order. From the above judgments, it is clear that the apex court has emphasized on floor test in the Legislative Assembly to establish political stability in the state. (Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in) Bhubaneswar, July 17 : On the request of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha police, Bureau of Immigration (BOI) has issued a lookout circular against three Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in a mobile loan app scam, police said on Sunday. The three accused have been identified as Shen Zhenhua allies Tony of Jiangsu, Quan Hongwei allies Paul of Jiangsu and Yang Haiying allies Doris of Sichuan, China. They are the mastermind and main accused in a case registered against Kredit Gold loan app. This is the second illegal loan app case investigated by EOW. There are more than one lakh victims of Kredit Gold loan app across the country including many from Odisha, the EOW officials said. The officials suspect that the Chinese nationals are also running a similar scam in countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. "They also have links in the US and Hong Kong. They are in the process of expanding their financial criminal network in African and Middle East countries," said the EOW. The mastermind operates in India in connivance with many shell companies and Indians are made directors of these companies. They also take help from some unscrupulous officials of mobile companies, chartered accountant/company secretary, fintech companies, recovery agents/ call centers etc., it said. The Odisha police also suspect that these accused, along with some other Chinese group, are running hundreds of illegal digital loan apps and extorting/abusing/ mentally torturing lakhs of innocent loanees mainly from lower middle-class. The EOW informed that it will move Interpol through proper channels for extradition of these criminals to India and also to alert law enforcement agencies of other concerned countries. It has already arrested several persons in connection with a fake loan app scam and written twice to Google to take down the illegal apps from its play store. It has also requested RBI to impress upon Google for early taking down of the illegal apps and requested Registrar of Companies to inquire and take necessary action against suspected shell companies. Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration had issued a look out circular against Liu Yi, another Chinese national and main accused in another case registered by the EOW police against mobile loan app scam. Mumbai, July 17 : Bollywood action star John Abraham has cheered for Genelia Deshmukh as she is on a six week fitness journey. Genelia is in her fourth week and has put out a vlog. But there's a twist in the new week, she's stepping out of her city and comfort zone. "As days are passing I'm of course feeling better, stronger and more inclined but since I had to leave town for work, that has slightly bummed me," the actress. She added: "Missing family and my trainers and my gym back home. Had for a moment slowed my momentum but a quick chat from loved ones made me bounce back. After all, where there's a will there's a way." Bhopal July 17 : To increase its reach to the youth of the state, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh is going to organise a Youth Mahapanchayat this month in which the CM will communicate directly with youth. The results of the panchayat elections are out, while the results of the urban body polls will be declared by July 20. Assembly elections are scheduled to be after about one-and-a-half years. Keeping these in mind, the government has started work on preparing an action plan to reach out to all sections pf the society. The government has decided to organise a state-level Youth Mahapanchayat to mark the 116th birth anniversary of Shaheed Chandrashekhar Azad on July 23 and 24. The purpose of this panchayat is to step up the efforts to ensure the participation of youth in the creation of self-reliant and golden Madhya Pradesh. In view of the Mahapanchayat, youth panchayats were organised at the district level, and on the basis of performance, six youth from each district would be selected, who would be called to participate in the Youth Mahapanchayat. On the organisation of this Mahapanchayat, Chouhan said that the purpose of this event is to provide a platform to the enthusiastic youth of the state by carrying forward the legacy of Shaheed Chandrashekhar Azad, so that they can identify the socio-economic and political challenges pertaining to the state, country and world, and suggest possible solutions. "Efforts will be made to ensure participation of youth in the vision of self-reliant Madhya Pradesh in this two-day event, as well as developing leadership skills in them," he added. Political analysts believe that the BJP's special focus is on first-time voters, i.e., those who have crossed 18 years of age. "This is the reason why it is organising the Yuva Mahapanchayat. It is easy to reach out to this class, and the first-time voter is not very much aware of the government or the other political parties. Besides, this class is completely dependent on social media," an analyst said. The vice-president of MP Congress' media department, Abbas Hafeez, said that BJP's mass base in Madhya Pradesh is slipping, that is why it is organising this Mahapanchayat to mislead the youth. "The BJP has not only ruined democracy, but it has also toppled elected governments illegally. The party wants to mislead the first-time voters, but its effort will fall flat. The people of the country known the real face of BJP now," Hafeez said. New Delhi: BJP President JP Nadda meets Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Chairman, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) at Bharatiya Janata Party HQ. in New Delhi, Sunday, July 17, 2022. (Photo: Twitter) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: BJP President JP Nadda meets Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Chairman, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) at Bharatiya Janata Party HQ. in New Delhi, Sunday, July 17, 2022. (Photo: Twitter) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, July 17 : Former Nepal Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre), Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, met BJP chief J.P. Nadda at the party's headquarters here on Sunday. Both the leaders discussed ways to further strengthen the ties between India and Nepal. Prachanda is currently on a three-day visit to India on the invitation of Nadda. In a series of tweets after the meeting, Nadda said, "It was an honour to welcome Pushpa K Dahal 'Prachanda', former PM of Nepal, and to interact with him today at the BJP HQ in New Delhi as part of 'Know the BJP' initiative. "We had fruitful discussions over strengthening and deepening ties between India and Nepal, especially our age-old cultural and people-to-people bond. We also discussed ways to further party-to-party cooperation." External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was also present during the meeting. The meeting was a continuation of the BJP's outreach programme, 'Know BJP', through which the party chief is interacting with foreign dignitaries. Under this programme, Nadda has so far interacted with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Singapore Foreign Relations Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and envoys of 47 countries. On the occasion of the party's foundation day on April 6, Nadda had launched the initiative 'Know BJP', specifically to address overseas audiences. New Delhi, July 17 : Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Margaret Alva was on Sunday announced as the opposition's Vice Presidential candidate. The name of Alva, who has also been Governor of Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, and hails from Karnataka, was decided after opposition parties met at NCP supremo's Sharad Pawar residence. The NDA has fielded West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar for the post. BJP chief J.P. Nadda announced the name of Dhankhar after the Parliamentary Board meeting at party headquarters on Saturday evening. Bhubaneswar, July 17 : A lookout circular has been issued by against three Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in a mobile loan app scam, Odisha Police said on Sunday. The action was taken by the Bureau of Immigration on the request of the state police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The three, identified as Shen Zhenhua, alias Tony of Jiangsu, Quan Hongwei alias Paul of Jiangsu, and Yang Haiying, alias Doris of Sichuan, China, are the main accused in a case registered against Kredit Gold loan app. This is the second illegal loan app case investigated by EOW. There are more than one lakh victims of Kredit Gold loan app across the country including many from Odisha, the EOW officials said. The officials suspect that the Chinese nationals are also running a similar scam in countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. "They also have links in the US and Hong Kong. They are in the process of expanding their financial criminal network in African and Middle East countries," an official said. The mastermind operates in India in connivance with many shell companies and Indians are made directors of these companies. They also take help from some unscrupulous officials of mobile companies, chartered accountants/company secretaries, fintech companies, recovery agents/ call centers etc., it said. The Odisha Police also suspect that these accused, along with some other Chinese groups, are running hundreds of illegal digital loan apps and extorting from/abusing/mentally torturing lakhs of innocent loanees, mainly from lower middle-class. The EOW also said that it will move Interpol through proper channels for extradition of these criminals to India and also to alert law enforcement agencies of other countries. It has already arrested several persons in connection with a fake loan app scam and written twice to Google to take down the illegal apps from its play store. It has also requested the RBI to impress upon Google for early taking down of the illegal apps and requested Registrar of Companies to inquire and take necessary action against suspected shell companies. Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration had issued a look out circular against Chinese national Liu Yi, the main accused in another case registered by the EOW in against mobile loan app scam. Palanpur : , July 17 (IANS) A man from Banaskantha district of Gujarat has complained to the police that his in-laws have kidnapped his wife. Earlier, they had disapproved of their love marriage. Banaskantha district police have registered a case of kidnapping, unlawful assembly, rioting, armed with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly with common intent, criminal intimidation, trespassing against eight in-laws, including uncles, cousins and relatives of the complainant's wife. The complainant, Karsanbhai Darji told the IANS that he was engaged to Arti a year ago, later Arti's father backtracked and wanted to marry her with someone else. So Karsanbhai and Arti decided to marry and on June 25 this year, both tied the knot. He said, "On Saturday evening, Arti's relatives led by her uncles Parkhaji Darji, Hiraji Darji and six others entered our house. They then entered our bedroom and at knife-point kidnapped Arti." While leaving, they beat up the complainant, his parents and other family members and also threatened to kill them and fled away in two cars. Tharad Police Station Officer told IANS that the complaint was lodged on Saturday night. "Police teams were formed and sent to Dhanera, where bride's parents had been living for the last 2-3 decades. Their native is in Rajasthan, so if required, a team will be sent to Rajasthan to find out the woman and the accused," the officer said. Chennai, July 17 : "Sathuranka Vettai 2", sequel to the immensely enjoyable superhit Tamil film, "Sathuranka Vettai", will finally be released on October 7 this year, its makers announced on Sunday. Actor and producer Mano Bala took to Twitter to make the announcement. He tweeted a poster of the film that had the release date as October 7. Directed by N.V. Nirmal Kumar, "Sathuranka Vettai 2" features celebrated actor Arvind Swami and Trisha in the lead and has Prakash Raj, Radha Ravi, Nassar, Chandini, Sreeman, Manobala, Kumaravel and E Ramadoss playing important roles. Nirmal Kumar is well-known for having directed the superhit film "Salim" with Vijay Antony in the lead. Written by H. Vinoth, who was in the news for having directed Ajith Kumar's "Valimai", the film was originally to be produced by Manobala Picture House and Cinema City. Due to financial issues, its release was getting delayed. Late last year, its rights were acquired by producer Mouttou Sambandam of Onsky Technology. At the time of acquiring the rights of "Sathuranka Vettai 2", Sambandam, who had just turned a producer in the Tamil film industry by choosing to make "2030", a first-of-its-kind flash forward-genre film, had claimed "Sathuranka Vettai 2" would be released in January this year. That did not happen. Now, it's been confirmed that the film will hit the screens on October 7. Islamabad, July 17 : Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in bypolls to 20 constituencies in Pakistan's Punjab province on Sunday. Of the total 3,140 polling stations, clashes were reported at 14. Thirteen PTI workers in Lahore's PP-167 were arrested for violating the election code of conduct by holding rallies in the constituency, Dawn reported. Post the reports of violence, CEC Sikander Sultan Raja said in a statement that strict action will be taken against "those involved in creating issues in the election process" and that if candidates participate in such acts "they may also be disqualified". PTI worker Rana Naeem was arrested for causing a head injury to a PML-N worker at an irrigation canal polling station. Complaints of voting area alterations were also received from the same constituency. Polling was also halted in PP-168 for some time following agitation between PTI and PML-N workers. analysis The ruling party still sees the world as a battleground between neo-liberalism and revolutionary progressivism. Reading the foreign policy chapter of the African National Congress's (ANC) 2022 discussion paper, one gets a sense that South Africa's ruling party is increasingly marching to the beat of a different drum to the rest of Africa. Yet the ANC is convinced it's the only one in step. ANC foreign policy documents have always been shot through with anachronistic-sounding, Cold War-evoking phrases like assessing the 'balance of forces' in the world and Africa. The ANC sees the world as the terrain of a mighty Manichaean battle between good and evil. On the good side you have the 'progressive' or 'revolutionary' forces, of which the ANC regards itself as an important standard bearer. Pitched against them are the counter-revolutionary forces of 'neo-liberalism' led by the United States (US), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc. Globally, the document takes the gloomy view that the bad guys are winning, noting that 'right-wing extremism, authoritarianism and illiberalism' are threatening the pursuit of a progressive international agenda. The document makes clear why Pretoria has controversially never condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The ANC sees Russia as having been provoked by America's alleged agenda to eliminate its world rivals. However, as Priyal Singh, Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), points out: 'While the discussion document very explicitly outlines the ANC's opposition to the US-dominated international order, by promoting its own brand of "progressive internationalism", it fails to account for the fact that Russia and China (in particular) are a poor choice of partners to realise this progressive agenda.' The ANC still sees the world as the terrain of a mighty Manichaean battle between good and evil The ANC also sees the progressive and revolutionary forces on the backfoot in Africa. It notes that 'The progressive movement is relatively weak amongst mass political formations and the Governments on our Continent. The same is also true [regarding] practical commitment to Pan-Africanism.' The ruling party attributes this weakness largely to 'the infiltration of the African Union by non-African states through their proxies' - mainly France, the US, Israel and the 'monarch-led' Middle East states. Barely a mention of Russia, even though it is extending its tentacles all over Africa, largely through its proxy, the private military company Wagner. America's main crime is to have sucked African states into its global war on terror, particularly in the Sahel and West Africa. ISS Head of African Futures and Innovation Jakkie Cilliers observes that, 'No doubt the US invasion of Iraq reinvigorated ISIS globally. That, plus NATO's efforts in Libya are largely responsible for the spread of terror and instability in North and West Africa. So current US efforts to defend those countries are perhaps not inappropriate.' In the discussion document, France reprises its familiar role as an archvillain in the ANC's playbook because of its considerable influence in Francophone Africa. Israel is accused of aggressively pursuing relations with African countries and the African Union (AU) -- a clear reference to Israel's efforts to be accredited diplomatically to the AU, which South Africa so vigorously opposed. Most African states just aren't as bothered as the ANC about the Western Sahara and Palestine Morocco - though presumably still regarded by the ANC as African - earns its place in the pantheon of anti-progressive villains for its 'growing influence.' This is purportedly 'inextricably related to the continuing challenge of FrancAfrique which sets French-speaking countries against others including English-speaking African countries in a manner that harms the cohesion of the African Union, its organs and programmes.' No doubt there is outside meddling in Africa. But the continent - except among the ANC's fellow former liberation movements in the south - is largely diverging from the ideological preoccupations of the ANC, if it ever shared them. Most African states, one suspects, don't see the continent primarily as a battleground between neo-liberalism and revolutionary progressivism. They are increasingly pragmatic and nuanced. Rightly or wrongly, African countries aren't as bothered about the Western Sahara and Palestine. They see Morocco as an increasingly valuable trade and investment partner and the Israel partnership as useful, especially in fields like water and agriculture. Sahel and West African states probably still primarily appreciate US and French aid in fighting jihadists, even if France lost some ground in Mali, where a military junta recently evicted it. 'Much of the rest of Africa has moved on from liberation-era politics (and economics) - but not the ANC or its Soviet-era liberation partners in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique,' says Cilliers. 'We continue to pay the price for that delayed maturation.' The document is not without pertinent introspection. It wonders candidly whether the ANC government might have lost its 'revolutionary credentials' as the champion of progressivism in Africa because of its own internal problems. These are referred to as factionalism, the 'inevitable compromises' of being in government, the neglect of Africa under Jacob Zuma's presidency, and growing xenophobia in South Africa. Except for states in the south, much of Africa is diverging from the ANC's ideological preoccupations The draft policy is also pragmatic in places. It proposes, for example, a review of the 2017 decision to withdraw South Africa from the International Criminal Court (ICC). It notes that the AU has resolved to reform the ICC rather than leave the court, so withdrawing would undermine African consensus. The document even suggests a review of the 2017 decision to downgrade the South African embassy in Israel to a liaison office. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. And the discussion document isn't without insight into Africa's ills, stating that: 'Apart from poverty and underdevelopment, weaknesses and failures of governance probably constitute the single most important threat to the security of both citizens and states.' But it still places too much faith in its former liberation movement comrades to address such problems, and allocates too much blame to external forces. For example, it reiterates the familiar party position that Western sanctions are the root of all Zimbabwe's ills. Singh is struck by the fact that the document offers few new solutions. He says it repeats the need for Africa to 'silence the guns' and for South Africa to invest more energy in this critical ambition. 'Yet, over the last decade or so, South Africa has played an increasingly marginal role in undertaking bilateral peace and security interventions across the continent's conflict hotspots.' So, there's more rhetoric than substance in this document. Maybe it will firm up at the ANC's policy conference later this month, where it will be debated. But we probably shouldn't hold our breath. Peter Fabricius, Consultant, ISS Pretoria New Delhi, July 17 : The Congress on Sunday announced that it had removed former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, whom it blamed of trying to split its Assembly party in the state, from the Congress Working Committee, its highest decision-making body. The Congress President has removed Digambar Kamat from his current position as Permanent lnvitee to Congress Working Committee with immediate effect," a party statement said. The Congress has moved disqualification notice against him and its former CLP leader Michael Lobo in the Goa Assembly, and had requested Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar to both. Congress had removed Lobo as Leader of Opposition, alleging he is one who hatched conspiracy, along with Kamat, with the ruling BJP to split Congress MLAs. Chennai, July 17 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Sunday directed the Director General of Police (DGP) and the state Home Secretary to reach Kallakurichi and to give a report on the incident after visiting the area. He also called upon the people to have confidence in the actions of the government and to maintain peace. In a social media post, Stalin said: "The situation prevailing in Kallkurichi is regrettable. Those behind the girl's death would be definitely punished after the completion of the police inquiry." There was tension in Chinna Salem near Kallkurichi since Sunday morning after local people, protesting the suicide of a Class 12 girl student of a private residential school, clashed with the police. Student organisations, mostly Dalit student organisations including those aligned with the VCK, DK, and the Left also held protests. The Class 12 student had reportedly jumped to death from the third floor of the hostel building of the private residential school where she was studying a couple of days before. In a suicide note recovered from her room, she had mentioned the name of two teachers who had mentally tortured her to be the reason behind her suicide. Students and local protestors are demanding immediate arrest of the two teachers while police maintained that they were called up and interrogated. However, the protestors turned violent on Sunday asking for the immediate arrest of the two teachers. The protesting students first threw stones and bottles at police injuring several policemen and this led to the police firing in the air. This created more tension and a group of students and youths barged into the private school after breaking open the gates and put to fire several school buses. There was a very small contingent of police that were present at that time and Inspector General of Police M. Pandyan reached the area and called upon the protestors to calm down. Again the protestors pelted stones at the police leading to the injuries of several policemen including the IG. Pandyan told media persons that more forces have now reached Kallakurichi area and that things were under control. He said that the police would take action against all those who were involved in setting afire a police van as also the school buses. Chennai, July 17 : Malayalam actress Anumol, who has completed shooting for her portions in the Tamil web series 'Ayali', has penned a heartfelt post thanking the entire team for the wonderful time she had while shooting with them. Taking to Instagram, the actress posted a picture of herself during her last shot and gushed: "Just after my last shot taken for 'Ayali' web series. So my portions are over, getting back to Anumol from Kuruvammal. Heartfelt thanks to everyone." She then had this to say to her director: "Our director Muthukumar, Muthu, do write more and make more films." Sharing the picture, she thanked "cinematographer Ramji sir" and said: "I am honoured and fortunate to be in your frames and am sure many will be jealous that I could see your work closer. Can't thank you enough for the support you have given." Talking about the cast and crew, Anumol said: "All my co-actors were amazingly talented and I have a new family now ... everyone was so good." She mentioned the executive producers Kavitha and Veera, and said they both would be "badly missed", adding: "You both made me so comfortable and our drives back from shoots were my favourite part." Anumol went on to say: "I can't wait to show you our work and mention the contributions of sound, art, makeup, hair and costume team. I saw some of the rushes yesterday and am confidently saying this again, we have made good content. Am sure you all will love it." She ended her post with a shoutout to Kushi, the producer, and said: "We made it. You have inspired me a lot in all ways -- both professionally and personally. Be the same, make more good content and give opportunities to as many as you can." Chennai, July 17 : AMMK General Secretary and nephew of former AIADMK interim General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Sunday called on the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government to bring out an ordinance to ban online games in the state. In a social media post, the AMMK leader said that recently, a policeman had committed suicide at Coimbatore after losing heavily in an online rummy game, and asked the government how many lives need to be lost before an ordinance is brought to ban online games. Noting that the government had constituted a panel that had given a report, he asked: "When are they going to find a solution to this?" Several people, including women and youths, have committed suicide reportedly after heavy losses in online rummy games. Police constable, Kalimuthu, 28, who was attached to the Coimbatore reserve police force, shot himself on Friday and passed away early on Saturday. His relatives and friends had alleged that the cop had around Rs 20 lakh debt as he had borrowed money to square off the debts incurred in online rummy games. Vijayawada, July 17 : The first suspected monkeypox case in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada created a scare but the health authorities clarified on Sunday that the child has tested negative for the disease. Andhra Pradesh's Commissioner for Medical, Health and Family wWelfare J. Nivas said that the two-year-old girl has routine skin rashes. There is no need to panic, he said. The child, who had gone to Dubai with her family, was found to have skin rashes on her return. The suspected case was referred to the Old Government General Hospital in Vijayawada. The samples were sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune but tested negative for monkeypox. After the family returned to Vijayawada on July 11, she developed rashes. Her parents consulted a paediatrician, who referred the case to the government hospital on suspicion that these could be symptoms of monkeypox. The girl, who had more rashes on face, was kept in isolation at Old GGH. Her family members and close contacts were in home isolation. India reported its first case of monkeypox in Kerala on July 15. The infected person, who returned from abroad, was hospitalised and he tested positive. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. The virus originates in wild animals and then spreads to people. There are two main variants - the Congo strain - up to 10 per cent mortality, and the West African strain - a 1 per cent fatality rate. The person tests positive for the virus when they come into close physical contact with an infected animal, especially one that is sick or dead. This includes contact with meat or blood. The WHO said that in nations where the virus is endemic or circulating, all meat should be thoroughly cooked before eating. Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak New Delhi, July 17 : The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested two persons for robbing a man of Rs 34 lakh while he was riding a scooty, an official said on Sunday. The accused, identified as Sayed Imran and Rahul Sikka a.k.a. Punjabi, had planned robbery to compensate for their losses in their respective businesses, and to gain quick and easy money. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Amit Goel said the robbery incident took place on June 23 when the complainant Vicky Gupta was going to Punjabi Basti Ghanta Ghar, Subzi Mandi, Delhi from his office carrying Rs 34.17 lakhs. "As soon as he turned towards Shastri Nagar from Kamal T Point two persons came from his backside on Sarai Rohilla fly over on scooty and put their scooty in front of his two wheeler. Thereafter scooty driver came and stopped his scooty and pillion rider threatened to kill him and robbed the bag and fled away towards Shastri Nagar red light," DCP Goel said. Accordingly, the police registered an FIR under section 392 (Punishment for robbery) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sarai Rohilla police station and began the investigation. During the probe, a police team was constituted which conducted a local inquiry to gather vital clues related to the case as there was no clue about the assailants. "The team went through the criminal record of several persons who were active in the vicinity but found no clue. Thereafter, CCTV footage near the crime scene was collected and it revealed that two persons who were on TVS N torq scooty, had committed the crime," the DCP said. Raids were also conducted at all possible hideouts of the accused in Delhi-NCR, Kullu, Manali etc but all went in vain but finally after technical investigation and thorough questioning of several people, the accused's names were revealed and they were nabbed in Uttarakhand. The third accused, identified as Amir, along with his associates had planned the robbery and provided a stolen scooty for a sum of Rs 6,000 to the accused robbers from Jafarabad, Delhi. The robbed money was distributed by Amir, Sayed Imran, Rahul Sikka and the fourth accused, identified as Nadeem. The accused Amir and Nadeem hatched the whole conspiracy and are still at large. "Multiple raids are being conducted at all possible hideouts to nab them," the official added. Chennai, July 17 : Actor and director Karu Pazhaniappan, who plays the antagonist in K. Thamaraiselvan's upcoming film 'Nadhi', says he readily agreed to play the villain when the film's director hesitantly approached him for the role. Speaking at the trailer launch event, Karu Pazhaniappan, who has acted as a hero in Tamil films, said: "The director, while narrating the script, was a little hesitant to ask me if I would play a negative role. Little did he know that I was on the lookout for antagonist roles as it gives me space to perform. A villain's character can talk without any restrictions, whereas the hero's comes with limitations." Karu Pazhaniappan went on to say that what he liked the most about director Thamaraiselvan was that he has neatly completed the movie without any confusion and with clarity. Urging the producer of the film to again work with the director, Karu Pazhaniappan said: "I request the crew to kickstart their next project immediately after the success of this movie. "Anandhi has come up with a fabulous performance in this movie. Her character is so unique that it will be appreciated. This is going to be a movie that will be recognised by audiences from all categories." The movie, a commercial entertainer featuring Sam Jones and Kayal Anandhi in the lead roles, revolves around the concept of love and friendship and deals with social issues prevailing in the world today. The movie is all set for a theatrical release on July 22. Kathmandu, July 17 : Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre Chairman and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, who returned home on Sunday after a three-day India visit, said that his trip was largely successful and fruitful than what he had thought. Prachanda had visited India at the invitation of BJP President J.P. Nadda. "Before leaving for New Delhi, I made it clear that I will keep national interest at core while talking with Indian leaders which I did. I am happy and my India visit has become more successful and fruitful than what I had thought," he said at Tribhuvan International Airport here on his return. In Delhi, Prachanda held talks with BJP President Nadda, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, among others. Before returning to Kathmandu, he also visited the BJP headquarters and discussed the building of party-to-party relations between the BJP and his CPN-Maoist Centre. "I am happy with the hospitality and security given to me in New Delhi," he said, adding that on the day he reached New Delhi, he discussed many things over dinner with the Indian Foreign Secretary. Prachanda was expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi but this did not happen. "I was told I would meet Modiji but I don't know why it didn't happen," he said. "I was told that I would be meeting Modiji by 1 p.m. and then was told that the meeting was not possible today. "I don't know the reason why the meeting was cancelled. I am not aware about the reason," he said. "Modiji could be busy in domestic things because yesterday, India was hit by floods and landslides," he said. "I went to New Delhi at the invitation of J.P. Nadda. I met several leaders and put my agenda and position. There was no meaning in only taking a photo with Modiji. I am not in tension for not meeting Modiji. It would have been good if I had been able to meet Modiji but that couldn't happen... whatever I needed to communicate, I communicated though the Indian ministers and officials," Prachanda said. "I didn't feel any difference between my visit as Prime Minister and now," he added. Mumbai, July 17 : Bollywood actress and former beauty queen Sushmita Sen has hit back at those who called her a "gold digger" after her news of dating IPL founder Lalit Modi went viral. Sushmita, who is currently vacationing with her daughters Renee and Alisah, took to Instagram, where she shared a picture of herself in an infinity pool. Her back is towards the camera, while a picturesque view of the sea and the sky can be seen. Alongside the image, she wrote: "Perfectly centred in my being & my conscience... I love how nature merges all it's creation to experience oneness... and just how divided we are, when we break that balance." "It's heartbreaking to see just how miserable & unhappy the world around us is becoming..." "The so called intellectuals with their idiosyncrasies... the ignorant with their cheap & at times funny gossip The friends I never had & the acquaintances I've never met." "All sharing their grand opinions & deep knowledge of my life & character... monetising the 'Gold Digger' all the way!!! Ah these geniuses!!!" Taking a dig at the "gold digger" comment, Sushmita said she prefers diamonds and buys them for herself. "I dig deeper than Gold... and I've always (famously) preferred Diamonds!! And yes I still buy them myself!! I love the all heart support my well wishers and loved ones continue to extend. Please know, your Sush is ABSOLUTELY fine." "Cause I've never lived on the transient borrowed light of approval & applause. I am the Sun....perfectly Centred in my being & my conscience!! I love you guys!!!" Chennai, July 17 : Two contractual workers were buried alive after a landslip occurred while they were working inside an underground for laying drainage pipelines. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Sunday at Suttur in Virduhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. The two were engaged in laying under ground drainage pipelines. Police said that the deceased N. Sakthivel (45) and K. Krishnamoorthy (51) are both residents of Kallakurichi. According to information available, 35 contractual workers were employed by an Andhra Pradesh-based private company for carrying out underground drainage pipelines. Seven workers including Sakthivel and Krishnamoorthy were working in the Mukkrundathal area in Suttur on Saturday night. In the early morning on Sunday, Sakthivel and Krishnamoorthy went inside the deep pit to join the pipeline, when a landslide occurred and both were buried alive. Fire and rescue force personnel and police reached the spot and the bodies of the two men could be pulled out after two hours. The bodies have been sent to the Virudhunagar Medical college hospital for postmortem and further investigation in the matter is on. Since the US Supreme Court overturned protections on abortion rights in the US last month, the controversial issue has been back on the global agenda -- including in Africa. Five days after the US ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion, Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), described it as a setback. However, the WHO chief said many world regions had strengthened the right to abortion over the past 40 years, adding that it's more important than ever to protect that right. "All women should have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies and health. Full stop." Tedros stressed that safe abortion is health care: "It saves lives. Restricting it drives women and girls towards unsafe abortions; resulting in complications, even death." Lobbying for safe abortions The legal and medical standards defined by WHO aim to improve access to safe abortion and are supported by numerous NGOs working in Africa. One of the most active organizations in abortion rights is the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which aims to advance reproductive rights. CRR advises African legislators and supports women's organizations and families with money, know-how, legal protection and counseling. These and similar organizations' goals are to provide women with accessible and legal access to safe abortions, especially in Africa's poorer, most populous countries. The advocacy work is increasingly producing the desired effects and results in many African countries -- for example, Benin. After long and controversial debates, Benin's parliament lifted many restrictions on women's right to abortion in 2021 that had been in place until then. Until last year, abortions were only allowed in Benin if the pregnant woman's life was in danger or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Benin thus joined the list of African countries that allow women to have abortions legally and safely under certain conditions. On the African continent, Tunisia, South Africa, Cape Verde and Mozambique have similar liberal legislation to Benin. Sierra Leone and Lagos move to legalize abortion Another country on the verge of partially legalizing abortion is Sierra Leone. President Julius Maada Bio recently introduced a bill aimed to that effect. The country's parliament is currently debating the legislation in Freetown. In addition to national legislative initiatives, other African countries also have projects at the local and regional levels that promise women access to safe abortion. For example, the Nigerian commercial metropolis of Lagos plans to offer abortions in public hospitals. The city of 15 million people could become a pioneer for liberal abortion rights in a country with enormous economic, cultural, and social disparities. For instance, some Nigerian regions have a powerful cultural and religious-based resistance to abortion. Taboo topic In many African societies, the issue of abortion is still taboo. Opinions on the subject differ, as was the case when DW put the issue of abortion rights up for discussion in the youth program "The 77 Percent." It was noticeable that many young men who are critical of the liberalization of abortion laws in Sierra Leone took part in the debate. "Human rights already apply to unborn children in the womb. These innocent children are crying out for brave men and women to defend their rights courageously," Pender Aghogho, a DW 77 Percent social media user, said. And another user named Simony Kuban concurred: "Our girls are having abortions, even if it's not legal. So I reject this proposal by the president of Sierra Leone." Julius Bio's proposal, he said, is "evil and barbaric." Banning abortion 'not the solution' According to the WHO, a ban does not lead to fewer abortions. DW's fact check also concludes that abortions performed under unsafe conditions are by far a bigger problem. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Legal Affairs Health By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. In many countries in Africa, access to safe abortion remains highly restrictive. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, abortion remains illegal in eight countries. In Madagascar, for example, medical workers who secretly perform abortions on women face up to ten years in prison. Yet nearly 75,000 abortions are performed in Madagascar each year, according to CRR. "We try to save the lives of pregnant women, even in countries where abortion is illegal," Dr. Jean Kalibushi Bizimana, an obstetrics and gynecology consultant with Doctors Without Borders, told DW in an interview. Bizimana said the medical charity organization does everything necessary to ensure women's confidentiality and safety -- a principle to which all doctors worldwide should be committed. Edited by Keith Walker Chennai, July 17 : Prohibitory orders were imposed in Kallakurichi taluk and parts of Chinna Salem talukas in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi, till July 31, by District Collector P.N. Sreedhar, following violence on Sunday morning after agitating students and relatives of a Class 12 student, who committed suicide, clashed with police. The Class 12 student of a private residential school at Kallakurichi had committed suicide by jumping off from the third floor of her hostel building a couple of days before. In the suicide note, the girl mentioned the names of two of her teachers who were "mentally torturing" her. The relatives of the girl and student organisations were protesting ever since police let the two teachers off following interrogation, and demanded that both be arrested. On Sunday, the agitation turned violent with the protestors attacking police with stones and bottles. Police were outnumbered at first and protestors barged into the school, damaged the school building, and torched several school buses. The protestors also set to fire a police vehicle and police had to bring in additional force from adjoining districts to quell the violence. Inspector General of Police, M. Pandyan who was leading the police operation from the front, and 20 policemen were injured in the stone-throwing and bottle attack by the violent protestors. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin directed the Director General of Police and the state Home Secretary to visit the place and to provide an on-the-spot report of the issue. He also called upon the people to remain calm and said that the culprits would be arrested and brought before the law of the land after the police enquiry was completed. Hyderabad, July 17 : Telangana's opposition parties on Sunday slammed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his remarks that there is a foreign conspiracy behind heavy rains and floods in the state. Reacting strongly to the Chief Minister's remarks made earlier in the day during a visit to the flood-hit Bhadrachalam town, leaders of BJP and Congress termed it ridiculous and immature BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar described the remark as the biggest joke of the century. The BJP leader said when the Chief Minister visits a flood-affected area, he is expected to give an assurance to the victims but KCR's comments appeared like that of a joker, adding that he has lost his mind and needs to be admitted to a mental hospital for better treatment. During his visit to Bhadrachalam, KCR, as the Chief Minister is known popularly, expressed the doubt that there could be foreign conspiracy behind the floods in Godavari river. "It is said that other countries are causing cloud bursts in India. This happened in the past in Kashmir and Uttarakhand," he said. Sanjay alleged that KCR was enacting another drama in the name of foreign conspiracy to cover up failures of the government. "The Chief Minister is not even in a position to pay salaries to the government employees but he is trying to internationalise the issue of rains by calling it a foreign conspiracy," he said. The BJP leader said Godavari had seen floods in the past and it may come again in future but for KCR, heavy rains seem like man-made calamity. He said it was hoped that the Chief Minister, during his visit, would assess the damage caused by rains and floods and announce help to the victims. Sanjay said KCR boasts of being an engineering expert but the Kaleshwaram project pump house designed by him was submerged. He also alleged that ponds and lakes under Mission Kakatiya breached as the government neglected construction of embankment. Congress MP Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister made immature and illogical comments to divert public attention from failures in handling floods and from submergence of projects. "This is totally a silly, immature and unscientific comment by an irresponsible CM. Trying to divert public attention from failures in flood relief and submergence of an ill-conceived project," said Reddy. Beijing, July 17 : China will launch, in October, its first solar probe, which aims to study the relationships between the solar magnetic field, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the media reported. Solar flares are intense light bursts, while coronal mass ejections involve the release of huge clouds of charged particles called plasma. Both are believed to be caused by the sun's turbulent magnetic field. The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) is a 888-kilogram satellite that will circle the Earth once every 90 minutes in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720 km, the CGTN reported. The four-year project will embark from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert. After entering its orbit, the satellite will generate about 500GB of data daily, all of which will be shared worldwide, the report said. The ASO-S has three payloads on a single platform: the Full-disk vector MagnetoGraph (FMG), the Lyman-alpha Solar Telescope (LST), and the Hard X-ray Imager (HXI). In October 2021, China launched "Xihe", a Chinese H-alpha Solar Explorer (CHASE), named after the sun goddess in ancient Chinese mythology to study the violent and sudden physical processes behind solar flares. "Xihe" is in a low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 517 km, the report said. Together, ASO-S and Xihe will join an international fleet of sun-gazing telescopes in space, including NASA's Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, to closely watch the sun as it nears the next solar maximum, a period of high solar activity expected to peak around 2025. The sun has become stormier since the current solar cycle began in December 2019. During a solar maximum, solar flares can happen multiple times per day, and some may be as powerful as a billion hydrogen bombs, according to NASA. --IANS rvt/vd A New Delhi, July 17 : A 27-year-old woman from the US, who arrived in India as a tourist, staged a drama of being physically and emotionally abused by some unknown people to emotionally blackmail her parents back home, a Delhi Police official said on Sunday. The victim-turned-accused was identified as Chloe Renee McLaughlin, who arrived in Delhi on May 3. The daughter of a former Army officer, she is a graduate and resides in Washington DC. Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Amrutha Guguloth said the US Embassy had approached them, stating that the woman was assaulted and beaten by an unidentified individual known to her and is missing after reporting the incident to her family in the US. The woman, in an email, claimed that she is in an unsafe environment where she has encountered physical and emotional abuse. "On July 10, the victim spoke to her mother Sandra McLaughlin via a video call on WhatsApp. The mother tried to gather some more information about her but an unknown individual entered the room and she could not disclose much," the DCP said. Based on the complaint, the Delhi Police registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code at the Chanakyapuri police station and began probing the matter. "In order to ascertain the present whereabouts of the girl, assistance was sought from Yahoo.com for providing the IP address used by her for sending email to the American Citizens Services on July 9. Further, the Bureau of Immigration was requested to provide her immigration form to find her whereabouts," he said. As per the immigration form details, the woman had given her local address as Khasra No 44 & 45 in Greater Noida. However, when the police team reached the location, they found it was the address of Radisson Blu hotel. "Enquiries were made at the hotel and it was found that no such person had checked in at the hotel," the official said. Thereafter, technical assistance was taken from the Cyber Unit to find out the IP addresses used by her WhatsApp number. On analysis of the information, it was found that the victim used someone's Wi-Fi connection. Accordingly, the mobile number associated with the IP address and the alternate mobile number was obtained and details of this number were analysed. As a result, the police team succeeded in apprehending Nigerian national Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro alias Rechi, 31, from Gurugram, after it was found that as per the IP address, his mobile was used by the woman while making WhatsApp calls to her mother. On sustained interrogation, he revealed the location of the missing woman and ultimately she was traced to a hotel in Greater Noida. After rescue and examination of the victim, it was revealed that she had staged the incident to emotionally blackmail her parents. It was also found that her visa had expired on June 6. As per the investigation conducted so far, it is found that the victim had befriended Rechi through Facebook and after her arrival in India, she was staying with him. "On further investigation, it was found that the passport of Rechi had also expired," the DCP said, adding that legal action with respect to overstaying in India without a valid passport and valid visa is being taken against them. He said that both McLaughlin and Rachi have a passion for singing, probably, which was the main reason for their friendship. Chennai, July 17 : Lok Sabha member from Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri constituency and DMK leader, S. Senthilkumar has objected to the 'Bhoomi Pooja' of a road project by a Hindu priest, and scolded the officials for inviting only a Hindu priest. The MP shouted at an official, and sought to know why the 'Imam' and Christian priest were not present. He also asked for the presence of atheist leaders as well as Dravidar Kazhagam representatives. "Do you have instructions or not that the government functions should not be held like this. Are you aware or not?" he asked an official. The MP also urged the authorities present to clean everything -- presumably the pooja materials that the Hindu priest had brought for the Bhoomi Pooja on Saturday. The official at whom the MP shouted was identified as the Executive Engineer of Public Works Department. The DMK leader also later shared a short video of the episode in his Twitter handle. He was heard saying: "Trying to keep my cool... at times, they make me lose my patience." Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has objected to the MP's behaviour. The party's Tamil Nadu unit vice president Narayanan Thirupathy questioned Senthilkumar whether he would have reacted in the same manner had an Imam been present, and would have conducted rituals according to the Muslim belief. The BJP leader called for the MP to apologise to the public for "disrespecting people's faith". In a tweet, the BJP leader wrote: "I strongly condemn@DrSenthil_MDRD for Hindu beliefs and rituals at a workplace where poojas were about to be performed by the workers to their beliefs. His abuse and behaviour have once confirmed that @arivalayam is an anti-Hindu party." Shimla, July 17 : The women MLAs of BJP, and minister in Himachal Pradesh cabinet Sarveen Chaudhary on Sunday criticised Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh's statement that was deemed derogatory towards women, terming it as "disappointing and condemnable". Singh, however, later apologised, saying his statement was taken out of context. He also maintained that he respects women and did not intend to hurt anyone. Addressing a press conference in Shimla, Sarveen Chaudhary said Singh's apology "was not acceptable to the general public". "Vikramaditya should clarify what he means by 'sitting on the lap'. Such language is unacceptable. Vikramaditya should think before speaking," the BJP minister said. "Rohru (where Singh made the remarks) is a reserved constituency and belongs to Scheduled Caste category... This statement shows the mindset of Congress leaders towards women. And Vikramaditya should not forget that his mother Pratibha Singh is also a woman," Choudhary said. "The Jairam Thakur-led government has introduced Gudiya Helpline no. 1515 and Saksham Gudiya Board for women empowerment. The government has taken major steps to stop the atrocities on women," she said. During the press conference, deputy chief whip Kamlesh Kumari, MLAs Rita Dhiman and Reena Kashyap were also present along with Sarveen Chaudhary. Kohima, July 17 : The Nagaland government has prohibited the state government doctors' indefinite cease work from Monday and warned them of arrest if they go for the agitation, Chief Secretary J. Alam announced on Sunday night. The Nagaland In-Service Doctors' Association (NIDA) earlier announced to launch indefinite cease work from Monday, demanding the increase of age of superannuation for doctors to 65 for clinical and 62 for administrative. They said that their members would provide only emergency services in all the government hospitals and health centres and from July 21 onwards, cease work even there for an indefinite period. The Chef Secretary, in a notification, said that the Governor has promulgated Nagaland Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1978 on being satisfied that in public interest it is necessary to do so, prohibiting the call for indefinite cease work by the NIDA from July 18. "No doctor employed and deployed in any government health unit or facility shall go for agitation or cessation of work, and any such act shall be considered illegal. Any doctor employed and deployed in any government health unit and facility who goes for cessation of work or strike, under the Nagaland Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1978, shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or with both," the notification said. It also said that the strikers could be arrested without a warrant. New Delhi, July 17 : Three persons have been arrested in connection with the case of a murder of a woman here in the Govindpuri area, the police said on Sunday, adding she was killed by her live-in partner in a fit of rage following an argument. The arrested individuals have been identified as Om Prakash -- the woman's live-in partner, Raj Kumar and Sanjay. A senior police officer said one Brajesh on July 7 went to the Govindpuri Police Station and reported that his tenant -- Julekha (the deceased), was missing. He said that the woman was living as a tenant in his house, and he suspected that one Om Prakash has kidnapped her. Acting on his complaint, the police lodged an FIR of kidnapping During investigation and scanning of the CCTV footage of the area, it was noticed that on June 26, three persons were taking away a woman's body on a black Swift Dzire car. Police identified Om Prakash and his brother Raj Kumar who could be seen in the CCTV footage while the third person could not be identified then. "Immediately, a raid was conducted on the hideout of the accused but they managed to flee. Later, the mobile phone numbers of the accused persons were collected and put on surveillance. After thorough search and questioning of relatives of the accused, Om Prakash and Raj Kumar were apprehended from Seemapuri on July 5," a police officer said. Following sustained questioning, Om Prakash revealed that he was in a live-in relationship with Julekha Bibi Khan a.k.a. Rekha. A quarrel had taken place between Om Prakash and Julekha over a petty issue on transfer of money to a female neighbour. Infuriated over that, Om Prakash strangulated her to death. He then called his brother Raj Kumar and his friend Sanjay to dispose off the body. They dumped the body near the Yamuna Expressway. The Uttar Pradesh police, however, found the body. After conducting post mortem, the body was cremated. The autopsy revealed that she was strangled to death. The police later added Section 302 in the FIR, and also managed to arrested their associate Sanjay from a south Delhi area. New Delhi, July 17 : The world is dealing with the side-effects of an on-going war in Ukraine. In a situation like this, it's crucial to keep an eye on yet another conflict that could erupt anytime, China's intent on Taiwan and the US' stake in it. "In democracy index, Taiwan is 8th in the world and first in Asia," informed Kuan-Ting Chen, CEO NexGen Foundation based in Taiwan while speaking at London based, independent think-tank-The Open Forum's webinar on the 14th of July in London. Despite this it is not recognized as a state by the UN. China has dreams of "reunification" with Taiwan and has indicated it won't shy away from using force, if required. China is ruled by a communist party, which in itself is a juxt-opposition to the democratic Taiwan. The event was moderated by Kwangyin Liu, Managing Editor & English website editor Commonwealth Magazine who put the issue in the current context. Kuan-Ting Chen further went on to highlights that only, 13-14 countries have full diplomatic ties with Taiwan and no ties with PRC China. "The number was 22 just a few years ago so you can see China is trying to undermine Taiwan's diplomatic ties with countries located in central or South America or Asia Pacific island Nations or our allies in Africa." Rising Chinese influence in Africa has meant reduction in diplomatic partners for Taiwan in the area. Taiwan though functions like an independent state. "The people have their own passports, that passport has degrees of strengths that in areas of which the Chinese passport does not have; it has its own military it has its own currency; people pay taxes not to Beijing but to Taipei and so all intents and purposes the people in Taiwan live independently so Taiwan is a Nation but there is contestation if it's a state," said Professor Niki Alford from the Asia Pacific Studies of University of Central Lancashire, who has studied and lived in Taiwan. Addressing the forum from Taiwan, Alice Yang, Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of National Defence and Security Research pointed out that, "Although we have our own passport and we are a state but legally in the eyes of International law there are some problems." She further added, "We have to have trades and foreign relationships with other states but when it comes to law it's very difficult to state that we are different for China." What is the basis of China's claim over Taiwan? The basis of China's claim over Taiwan dates back to 1945 when Japan lost its control over the island in 1945, post-World War Two. The 1949 Chinese civil war lead to communiststaking control and Chiang Kai-shek the one who lost fled to Taiwan. He ruled it for many decades. This is where China's claim to Taiwan emanates. The very fact that Chiang Kai-shek came to Taiwan and was not indigenous to the place is Taiwan's argument against the claim. The question is why is Taiwan important to China? "A lot of things China actually it is of course related to Taiwan but not-necessarily direct to Taiwan. Its more about relationship changing with United States -- or we should say Western Countries but mainly United States and China. Taiwan then happen to become key player and main actor in this dynamic," said Alice. 100 miles from the coast of China, Taiwan is an island, that is located in the "first island chain," this positioning makes it crucial to the US foreign policy. US-Sino relations hinge on, 'One China Policy', it acknowledges that, there is only one Chinese Government. The US recognises its formal ties with China. With Taiwan the US shares independent strong "unofficial" relations. The US on the other hand, has been toeing a safe line between China and Taiwan. It has strong economic ties with China while being vary of its expansionist ambitions at the same time it sells arms to Taiwan and shares strong economic ties with them as well. China keeps flexing its muscles in the region by sending military aircraft from time to time, last being in 2021. In view of the recent Ukraine situation the question does arise -- can China do a Ukraine on Taiwan? Recently US President Joe Biden said, "The idea that, that it [Taiwan] can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not, is just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine." "Taiwan is not Ukraine and China is not Russia," said Prof. Alsford. Taiwan is also a strong economic power. Most of the chips used in computer and automobile across the world are made in Taiwan. Militarily it is backed by the US but will the US come to Taiwan's rescue if attacked by China? Which countries will stand by Taiwan in the moment of crisis? Such questions niggle, especially as there is no clear answers? What then? How to future proof Taiwan? "Strengthen our ties with allies in the Indo-Pacific region. To promote more than electoral relations in the Indo pacific region which means we not only want to strengthen our security ties with the UN but with important partners in the region like India, Japan and Australia as well," said Kuan-Ting. Explaining his point further added, "It requires tremendous efforts because we are facing because we are facing a tremendous challenges Peoples Republic of China. They are equipped with cutting age military assets. They have three aircraft carriers. They have nuclear weapons and so we need to tell them if they should decide to invade Taiwan or take military actions then it will hurt them more." Exercising a bit more restraint in her tone Alice said, "if we have interest aligned then they (China) are less likely to do anything very aggressive towards Taiwan. I personally hope we can be very peaceful with our neighbours including China." In a world that is already dealing with the consequences emanating from the war in Ukraine, whether sitting on fence or one of the either sides, a Taiwan-China conflict is best kept at bay. (The Open Forum is an independent think tank based in London that facilitates conversations of contentious issues) New Delhi, July 18 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on has recorded the statement of journalist Sucheta Dalal in connection with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location scam. She was summoned to join the probe after her name cropped up during the course of investigation. She was questioned on Saturday at length in ED's Delhi-based headquarters. She replied all the answers asked to her by the probe agency. No ED official, however, was available to comment on the matter. Dalal said that she was summoned and then she joined the ED's probe in NSE's co-location scam. "Just before the New Delhi meeting, I was told that they wanted to record my statement before Pushpal Paul. On asking Abhinav Khare, the SP CBI, he had told me that it was about 'Ken Fong'. This is the name used by the whistle-blower. Indeed, most of the questions asked by the the CBI were about Ken Fong's four letters. I had carried all the four letters posted by Ken Fong to me from two different countries and showed the CBI copies of my e-mails to SEBI. I was asked if I knew who Ken Fong was. I do not know who he is and I said so emphatically. I was also asked about the process which we followed before writing the article and the decision to publish it. And whether I had asked to visit the NSE before writing the article," Dalal said in her statement. She was asked if she knew Sanjay Pandey, the former Commissioner of Police, whose firm, iSec Services Pvt Ltd is under the scanner for which she replied in positive. But she said that she had nothing to do with his business. She was also asked if she knew Ravi Narain, the former Managing Director of the NSE. Dalal said that she knew him. She told the investigators that she was unable to recall whether she introduced Pandey to Narain. "I said that I did not see why NSE or Ravi Narain would need a recommendation from me, when the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked Pandey to investigate the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) in 2005. NSDL is a subsidiary of NSE. Later, the NSE itself had asked him to be part of an investigation committee with regard to a trading glitch," she had said. Tehran, July 18 : The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has dismissed the US President's recent claims over Iran's nuclear activity as a "failed policy of promoting Iranophobia," which seeks to cause tensions and crises in the region. Joe Biden's anti-Iran remarks, which were made during his Middle East visit, are "part of Washington's policy of inciting sedition and fomenting tensions in the region," Nasser Kanaani said on Sunday. Citing the American dark record and history of hostility toward other countries, Kanaani added that the US invaded and occupied a number of regional countries and has sold numerous weapons, as well as constantly interfering in regional states' internal affairs, Xinhua news agency reported. The Iranian spokesman reaffirmed Iran's strategic policy of seeking to use nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes within the framework of the international rules and regulations, saying Iran is committed to the continuation of the talks on the removal of the sanctions and revival of a 2015 nuclear deal. He stressed Iran's principled and constructive policy of welcoming dialogue with neighbours and regional initiatives, expressing hope that "regional governments are expected to take constructive steps in favour of collective security, peace, stability and development". The US pledged not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon even at the cost of using "all elements of its national power," affirming its commitment to work together with other partners "to confront Iran's aggression and destabilising activities," Biden said in a US-Israel joint declaration in Jerusalem on Thursday. Aden : , July 18 (IANS) Nine Yemeni soldiers were killed by the Houthi militia during the past 48 hours in the country, a military official told Xinhua, accusing the militia of breaching the ceasefire. "The Houthi militia breached the ceasefire brokered by the UN and launched a number of attacks against the government-controlled sites in Yemen," the local military source said on condition of anonymity. The attacks involved scores of attacks using explosive-laden drones and artillery shells in various regions, he added. The source confirmed that the Houthi ceasefire breaches left nine members of the government forces killed and several others injured, Xinhua news agency reported. The Houthis have yet to comment on the attacks. Since April 2, the warring parties in Yemen have been abiding by a nationwide ceasefire. Although the truce has largely been upheld, the internationally recognised government and the Houthi group frequently trade accusations of violations. The latest Houthi attacks coincided with the reports of Saudi Arabia suggesting a further extension of the UN-brokered truce in Yemen, which was already extended until August 2. In response to US President Joe Biden's trip to the region, the Houthi militia, backed by Iran, declared they would not consent to an extension of the seven-year war's ceasefire. The Houthi ruling political council said in a statement issued on Saturday that they "reject any outcomes for the US President's visit to the region related to the sovereignty, security and stability of Yemen". Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. The war has killed thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the poorest Arab country to the brink of starvation. Athens, July 18 : No traces of dangerous substances for public health have been found at the site of the plane crash in northern Greece, according to the test results, Fire Service spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios told a televised press briefing. He said on Sunday that all eight crew members on board the Antonov 12 plane were dead, with one body already recovered. Greek authorities were put on alert after a Ukrainian cargo airplane crashed near Kavala city on Saturday evening, Xinhua news agency reported. Residents of nearby communities were asked to stay indoors, according to an e-mailed press release of the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry, as special units of disaster personnel were scanning the area around the crash site for dangerous wreckage. The plane had departed from Serbia's Nis to Bangladesh's Dhaka with stopovers at Jordan's Amman, Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and India's Ahmedabad, carrying 11.5 ton of "dangerous goods", as per an e-mailed press release from Greece's Civil Aviation Authority. Serbian authorities announced earlier on Sunday that it was transferring ammunition for training purposes, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported. The aircraft's pilot had requested permission for an emergency landing, notifying Greek authorities of fire in one of the engines, the Civil Aviation Authority said. The Greek Foreign Ministry expressed deep sorrow over the plane crash and sent condolences to the families of the eight victims. Special units of disaster personnel, military units specialised in nuclear, biological and chemical defence, pyrotechnics and firefighters dispatched to the crash site had taken precautions also due to toxic fumes, as Greece's General Secretariat of Civil Protection had advised locals to close their windows and doors in the first hours after the crash. Some of the first emergency responders complained of irritation to the eyes and mouth of firefighters after coming in contact with an unidentified white substance and two were transferred to a local hospital with respiratory problems, Fire Service officer Marios Apostolidis, had told ERT. Eyewitnesses had seen the plane in flames crashing in a corn field, some 500 metres away from a residential area, and explosions followed. West Australian skydiving company, Skydive Geronimo, has become the first skydiving operator in the country to commit to offsetting 100% of its aviation fuel carbon emissions. West Australian skydiving company, Skydive Geronimo, has become the first skydiving operator in the country to commit to offsetting 100% of its aviation fuel carbon emissions. Glenn Stutt, owner of Skydive Geronimo, said its 2022/2023 Climate Pledge was a major step forward in reducing the companys global footprint and would be achieved through offsetting its Rottnest Island flight carbon emissions through a WA-based carbon neutral programme. We believe every business and every individual has an obligation to support the United Nations directive that in order to preserve a liveable climate, greenhouse-gas emissions must be reduced by half by 2030 and to net zero by 2050, he said. The move has been applauded by the Australian Parachute Foundation, with CEO Richard McCooey saying it was no surprise that Skydive Geronimo was the first operator to make a climate pledge for 2022/2023. He congratulated the company for their commitment, saying he hoped the other 50 parachute centres around Australia would follow the example set by Skydive Geronimo and the APF by becoming carbon neutral. Stutt went on to say that since establishing the business in 2010, Skydive Geronimo has put in place many operational initiatives to continuously improve its sustainability performance, and which preserve the fragile environment in which it operates. These include minimising unnecessary consumption and reducing waste. This new pledge to offset 100% of the carbon emissions from our Rottnest Island Tandem Skydives bolsters our established sustainability programme and will be a hugely positive step in addressing our climate change obligations. He said Skydive Geronimo was deeply aware of the privilege and responsibility of operating a tourism business on the protected A-Class Reserve and had always been a strong and active supporter of the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA)s Rottnest Island Management Plan. This plan includes several initiatives driving improved environmental sustainability. The Skydive Geronimo 2022/2023 Climate Pledge is another step in our efforts for continuous improvement in sustainability performance, Stutt added. Our whole team is behind us and theres no doubt it will add an extra dimension to our clients awesome skydiving experience knowing that their jump is carbon neutral! The Australian Parachute Federation office (excluding the operational aviation component) moved to carbon neutral last year, and on 1 July 2022, offered its 3 500 members the option to offset their skydiving-related carbon emissions for jumps made the previous year (2021/2022). Members can choose this option when renewing their annual membership. References https://ria.wa.gov.au/policy-and-reports/sustainability/environmental-sustainability https://www.un.org/en/actnow/ We are very blessed to have Dr. Hazelip speak here, Lyndale Abilene Memory Care Interim Executive Director Rachael Valfre said. Her knowledge of dementia is extensive, and she is a great resource for those looking to learn about dementia and its effects on the human body. Lyndale Abilene Memory Care, a Sagora Senior Living community, will host geriatric specialist Dr. Sandra Hazelip on July 26 at 5:30 P.M. for a presentation called The Who, What and When of Dementia. Dr. Hazelip is an expert in the field of geriatric care, having dedicated her life to working with those in long-term communities and hospice care. She operated a geriatric clinic in Abilene before narrowing her focus to patients in hospices, specifically Hospice of the Big Country. Guided by her faith, Dr. Hazelip feels that the Lord has called upon her to care for those who are in what she calls the December of their lives. She falls back on her faith and experience to minister to patients and their families, guiding them through what can be a difficult and emotional process. Her knowledge of geriatric care and womens health issues has led her to write several books and travel the world as a speaker. Over the years, she has given lectures in China, Germany, Croatia, Romania, Russia and Zambia. We are very blessed to have Dr. Hazelip speak here, Lyndale Abilene Memory Care Interim Executive Director Rachael Valfre said. Her knowledge of dementia is extensive, and she is a great resource for those looking to learn about dementia and its effects on the human body. Seating is limited, so the community is asking that those who wish to attend RSVP by calling the community at (325) 400-7760 before July 22. Tours of the community will be provided, as will light refreshments. ### ABOUT SAGORA SENIOR LIVING Sagora Senior Living is among the nations top 50 senior housing providers and is guided by a Resident First philosophy. The company operates more than 55 communities in 11 states, with Cottages, Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care living options. For additional information, please visit Sagora.com. ABOUT LYNDALE ABILENE MEMORY CARE Lyndale Abilene Memory Care offers peace, dignity and the highest standards of care to residents experiencing Alzheimers disease or other forms of dementia. Trained associates provide personalized, adaptive care to residents, with a focus on compassion, comfort and socialization. For more information, please visit LyndaleAbileneMC.com. Tom Meads stellar debut, Death and the Conjuror, is an homage to golden age crime fiction. Set in 1930s London, magician Joseph Spector is consulted by his Scotland Yard friend, Insp. George Flint, in the baffling case of an Austrian psychotherapist who was found dead in his study with his throat slit so deeply that his head was almost decapitated. As the rooms door and windows were locked, Flint hopes Spector, a master of conjuring tricks and misdirection, can explain how anyone could have committed the crime and left the room sealed. Mead maintains suspense throughout, creating a creepy atmosphere en route to satisfying reveals. Like many people, Im a sucker for an old-fashioned Golden Age-style puzzle mystery. Therefore, I couldnt be happier to see that the genre has been enjoying a new lease on life in recent times. Take, for instance, the success of Knives Outan excellent movie that snagged a well-deserved Oscar nomination for its ingenious screenplay. Or, more generally speaking, consider the popularity of fantastically well-plotted contemporary works by the likes of Martin Edwards, Elly Griffiths, and Anthony Horowitz, not to mention newcomers such as Janice Hallett. Then theres the forthcoming movie See How They Run (starring Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell and should-be-Oscar-winner Saoirse Ronan), which is heavily inspired by Agatha Christies legendary play The Mousetrap and shows that the cultural renaissance for quirky, clue-driven fair-play mysteries looks set to continue. Furthermore, the British Librarys wonderful Crime Classics series has brought several long-neglected authors back into print (including two of the very greatest, John Dickson Carr and Christianna Brand). Similarly, the American Mystery Classics from the Mysterious Press have given magnificent authors such as Carr, Ellery Queen, Fredric Brown, Anthony Boucher and many more the glorious new editions they deserve, with no signs of slowing down. To my continued delight, this in turn has led to a resurgence in the popularity of mystery fictions most devilishly challenging and enthralling subgenre: the impossible crime. Impossible crime and locked-room mystery are two analogous terms referring to mysteries in which how a crime was committed is equally important as who committed it. Crimes which are seemingly impossible, which appear to have been committed in defiance of both physics and logic. As such, these mysteries are often tinged with a hint of the surreal, the sinister, and the uncanny. Howeverand this is particularly importantthe crime always, always has a rational explanation. By its nature, this is a fiendish subgenre, but when done right its also one of the most satisfying for both writers and readers. The puzzle and the atmosphere are perfectly intertwined; all the clues are there, but they are so ingeniously disguised as to make it nigh-on impossible for the reader to suss out what is going on. To my mind, the best examples often involve a criminal acting in a manner that seems to defy reasonfor instance, going out of their way to arrange a decidedly unorthodox crime scene, as in Ellery Queens The Chinese Orange Mystery, only for there to be a clear and eminently practical basis for their actions. As such, it takes a somewhat skewed imagination, meticulous construction, and lateral thinking to pull off such a unique literary conjuring trick. The most successful examples provide a scenario which seems to be utterly incomprehensible, but which has an explanation that is entirely logical and (with the benefit of hindsight) inevitable. Nobody did this better than John Dickson Carr, whose exemplary career lasted throughout the Golden Age of Mystery Fiction and produced numerous indisputable masterpieces of the genre. His series detective, Dr. Gideon Fell, is a magnificent creation to rival Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, while his mastery of suspense and misdirection are second to none. In many ways, he is the patron saint of impossibility. Carrs essay The Grandest Game in the World is a perfect distillation of what makes the genre great. He observes that although the quality of ingenuity is not necessary to the detective story as such, you will never find the great masterpiece without it. Ingenuity lifts the thing up; it is triumphant; it blazes, like a diabolical lightning flash, from beginning to end. A perfect assessment. Fortunately, the impossible crime has plenty more to offer. Recently, Gigi Pandians short story The Locked Room Library was nominated for a prestigious Edgar Award, while her novel Under Lock & Skeleton Key hopefully heralds the start of a long-running series of new impossible mysteries. The self-publishing boom has also been kind to the genre, with authors such as James Scott Byrnside and Jim Noy rising to prominence with fabulous new works such as The Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire and The Red Death Murders, respectively. Similarly, independent publisher Locked Room International continues to do sterling work in bringing forth previously untranslated works by the likes of contemporary master Paul Halter, while Crippen & Landru shines a light on the impossible crime short story through its numerous excellent collections. Plenty of reason for fans like me to rejoice. What follows (in reverse order) is a list of the most puzzling impossible crimes I have come across. These are the stories that made me fall in love with the genre, that made me desperate to devour as many as I could and gave me the impetus I needed to try my hand at writing them myself. Each is also a stunning success in its own right, conforming neatly to Carrs description of the mystery story as a hoodwinking contest, a duel between author and reader. I dare you, says the reader, to produce a solution which I cant anticipate. Right! says the author, chuckling over the consciousness of some new and legitimate dirty trick concealed up his sleeve. If youve never before tackled a tale of locked-room mystery or impossible crime, this might just be the place to start. 10. The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin The puzzle here is irresistibleas is Crispins ebullient, Wodehousian prose style. He was an avowed devotee of John Dickson Carr (reason enough to admire the man), and in the donnish amateur sleuth Gervase Fen he created a vivid and highly enjoyable character. Crispins colorful prose style was more than matched by his imaginative plotting; The Moving Toyshop features a poet returning to Oxford for a holiday, whereupon he stumbles across a murdered woman in the flat above a toyshop. He is then knocked unconscious, and wakes to find that not only the cadaver but the shop itself has completely disappeared 9. The Seven Wonders of Crime by Paul Halter French author Paul Halter has been much-vaunted in recent decades as a successor to John Dickson Carrs immense legacy. Fortunately for Anglophone readers, many of his works are now available to read in English. Ive selected The Seven Wonders of Crime from his catalogue of worthy titles (The Fourth Door, Death Invites You, The Seventh Hypothesis, etc.) because of the sheer audacity of its concept. Not one but seven impossible crimes, each with an original and satisfying solution. The highlight here is the corpse discovered beneath a pergola surrounded by mud marked with just a single set of footprints: the victims own. Fast-paced and macabre, with a sleuth modeled on none other than Oscar Wilde, this is an excellent introduction to a modern maestro of impossibility. 8. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada Fair-play puzzle plots have long been a staple of the literary scene in Japan, with honkaku (orthodox) mysteries serving as an effective counterpart to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Unlike the Golden Age, though, the honkaku era never ended, and was instead supplanted by the shin-honkaku, or new orthodox, breed of mystery fiction. First published in Japan in 1981, The Tokyo Zodiac Murders bridged the gap between honkaku and shin-honkaku. It was the powerhouse debut for an author who has gone on to become one of the elder statesmen of the locked-room mystery. Beginning in 1936, this sprawling, multi-faceted epic unfolds over the course of four decades and features one locked-room murder followed by a sequence of grotesque serial killings and dismemberments. The solution to the mystery is deceptively simple, and yet I can honestly say I have never read one quite like it anywhere else. This book is an unmissable triumph. 7. The Red Right Hand by Joel Townsley Rogers I tend to think of The Red Right Hand as a kind of literary fever-dream: a stream-of-consciousness narrative which unfurls over the course of a single night and presents gruesome imagery alongside nightmarish suspense and a decidedly surreal ambiance. Its a story which resists conventional synopsis, so Ill limit myself to posing the seemingly unanswerable question: who killed Inis St. Erme, and why did they remove his right hand? It takes a trail of bodies before bewildered Dr. Harry Riddle can discover the truth. There is some debate as to whether this novel constitutes a legitimate impossible crimepersonally, I believe it does. Either way, its a startling success, and a significant benchmark in the field of mystery fiction. 6. The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen What makes this one brilliant is the puzzle. While there is an impossible/locked-room element to the mystery itself, it is another seemingly unanswerable question that makes this novel a classic: why should an unidentified man be killed in a room in which everythingthe furniture, the paintings on the walls, even the victims clotheshave been turned backward? Even though this is not a physical impossibility, it seems to be a logical one. And yet, the solution is perfectly, utterly rational but I bet you wont see it coming. The Ellery Queen series is one of the definitive achievements of the Golden Age, and The Chinese Orange Mystery represents its authors at the peak of their imaginative powers. 5. "Two Bottles of Relish" by Lord Dunsany This short story boasts an ending no less stunning and horrifying than those of some of the finest short stories ever written, such as Shirley Jacksons The Lottery and W.W. Jacobss The Monkeys Paw. Its not a whodunitwe know the killers identity from the outset. The question is how he managed to make the corpse of his unfortunate victim disappear without a trace. The story itself is brilliant and darkly humorous; its just a shame that Lord Dunsany never quite managed to produce anything this magnificent again. 4. Through a Glass, Darkly by Helen McCloy In many ways, Helen McCloy is the unsung heroine of the Golden Age. She was writing mysteries at the same time as Christie, Carr, Queen, and the rest, and yet her name is perhaps not as celebrated as theirs. This is a mystery in itself, as her series featuring the psychologist-cum-detective Basil Willing is a magisterial accomplishment in the field of crime fiction. Through a Glass, Darkly is a psychological horror story as well as a tale of impossible crime. In it, Basil Willings fiancee, Gisela von Hohenems, befriends a schoolteacher named Faustina Crayle, who has a highly unusual problem: the apparent manifestation of a doppelganger whose appearance seems to portend disaster. Is this a supernatural visitation, or is it something altogether more sinister? There is a palpable undercurrent of menace to this work, which is neatly complemented by the skillful detection of Dr. Willing and a deceptively simple solution. 3. "The Long Way Down" by Edward D. Hoch In a lengthy career which produced over 900 tales, many of which feature impossible crimes, its fair to say that Edward D. Hoch established himself as a worthy successor to Carr. Indeed, the maestro himself bestowed the highest of praise when he said, Satan himself would be proud of his ingenuity. But unlike Carr, Hochs favored medium was the short story, and nobody did it better. The Long Way Down is not part of any long-running series, but the scenario it presents is utterly irresistible: a man is witnessed jumping from the window of a skyscraper, only to vanish in mid-air. Quite a trick! Combine that with the fact that he finally hits the ground some three hours later, and you have a twofold puzzle that adds up to one of the greatest mystery short stories of them all. 2. The Red Widow Murders by Carter Dickson This entry is something of a cheatCarter Dickson was a pseudonym used by John Dickson Carr. But he was the master of the impossible crime, so I think its fitting that he should be included in this list twice. Under the Carter Dickson moniker, he wrote a sequence of truly wonderful mysteries in which the boisterous Sir Henry Merrivale tackles all manner of crimes and impossibilities. This one features one of his most original tricks: a sort of locked room within a locked room. The mystery revolves around not only how a man came to be poisoned while alone in a locked room, but how the poison got into his system. You see, he was killed with curare, a poison which is only lethal when administered through the skin. And yet the post-mortem examination reveals not a single cut or wound that could have been used to administer the toxin into his bloodstream. The talks are scheduled to take place at the Chushul Moldo meeting point on the Indian side of the LAC in the region The last round of talks between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) took place on March 11. (Representational image: ANI) New Delhi: India and China will hold the 16th round of high-level military talks on Sunday with an aim to resolve the outstanding issues in remaining friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The talks are scheduled to take place at the Chushul Moldo meeting point on the Indian side of the LAC in the region, official sources said. The last round of talks between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) took place on March 11. In the fresh round of talks, the Indian side is expected to press for disengagement of troops as soon as possible in all the remaining friction points besides seeking resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok. The situation in eastern Ladakh figured prominently in talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bali on July 7. At the one-hour meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of foreign ministers of the G20 nations, Jaishankar conveyed to Wang the need for early resolution of all the outstanding issues in Eastern Ladakh. "Recalling the disengagement achieved in some friction areas, the external affairs minister reiterated the need to sustain the momentum to complete disengagement from all the remaining areas to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in a statement after the meeting. The MEA further said that Jaishankar "reaffirmed the importance of fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols, and the understandings reached between the two ministers during their previous conversations". The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 82F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Global heating is leading dozens of bat species to migrate to southern China and southeast Asian countries, amid growing concerns that the climate crisis could fuel more zoonotic disease and further deadly pandemics, experts told RFA. A 2021 University of Cambridge study found that climate change may already have played a role in the emergence of the current pandemic, after researchers tracked large-scale changes in vegetation patterns across southwestern Yunnan province and neighboring Myanmar and Laos. "Increases in temperature, sunlight, and atmospheric carbon dioxide - which affect the growth of plants and trees - have changed natural habitats from tropical shrubland to tropical savannah and deciduous woodland," the study said. "This created a suitable environment for many bat species that predominantly live in forests." It said the number of coronaviruses in a given area is closely linked to the number of different bat species present, with an additional 40 bat species moving into Yunnan during the past 100 years, bringing with them around 100 new coronaviruses. Genetic data suggests SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may also have come from this region, according to study first author Robert Beyer, a researcher in the University of Cambridges Department of Zoology. "Climate change over the last century has made the habitat in the southern Chinese Yunnan province suitable for more bat species," Beyer said. "As climate change altered habitats, species left some areas and moved into others - taking their viruses with them," he said. "This ... most likely allowed for new interactions between animals and viruses, causing more harmful viruses to be transmitted or evolve," said Beyer. The worlds bats carry around 3,000 different types of coronavirus, with each bat species harboring an average of 2.7 coronaviruses - most without showing symptoms. While most coronaviruses carried by bats can't jump into humans, several coronaviruses known to infect humans are very likely to have originated in bats, the study said. The area of Yunnan covered by the study is also home to pangolins, which are a likely intermediary host for SARS-CoV-2, experts said. "The virus is likely to have jumped from bats to these animals, which were then sold at a wildlife market in Wuhan - where the initial human outbreak occurred," a press release accompanying the study said. Another study published by researchers at Georgetown University in the journal Nature also warned that the climate crisis may increase the risk of cross-species transmission of viruses -- and could even trigger the next pandemic, citing bats as a likely source species. Dobson's horseshoe bat. Credit: India Biodiversity Portal Increased risk of disease Chen Chen-chih, associate professor of wildlife conservation at Taiwan's Pingtung University of Science and Technology, said both studies showed similar findings, warning that migratory shifts could bring bats into closer contact with humans. He cited an outbreak of Hendra virus in Australia in 1994, which caused deaths in humans and horses, and originated in fruit bats. "When their habitats are destroyed or reduced, fruit bats will of course find another way to live," Chen told RFA. "There are parks in the city, so the likelihood of finding food is very high, added to the fact that people in Australia don't actively kill bats." "So they find an urban environment that they can adapt to." Li Lingling, professor of ecology and evolutionary Biology at National Taiwan University, said humans have already interfered with natural habitats. "Bats are nocturnal and do not [normally] come into contact with humans," Li said. "When we increase opportunities for bats to come into contact with other animals, the risk of humans being exposed [viruses] also increases." Chen agreed. "Many studies have found that when habitat of wild animals is stable and undisturbed, the pathogens they carry are less likely to spread," he said. "When protected animal habitats are well managed and biodiversity taken care of, a single highly lethal pathogen is less likely to emerge," he said. According to the Georgetown study, there are at least 10,000 viruses currently existent in wild mammals that could be transmitted to humans. Prediction models show that under different carbon emission scenarios, more than 300,000 first contacts between species will occur, some of them in the next 50 years, potentially resulting in more than 15,000 new cross-species virus transmissions. "The vast majority of prediction models believe that the virus will spread across species, particular cross-species transmission from wild animals will become more and more serious under climate change," Chen said. "These pathogens may jump the species barrier, infect livestock animals, and then infect humans from there, or even directly from wild animals to humans," he said. "All of these routes are possible [but] whether transmission happens or not depends on the frequency of contact, or the immune status of the potential host," Chen said. Li said the overall risk had definitely increased, however. "There are some key factors in between, but the risk of disease is indeed increased," Li said. A greater horseshoe bat. Credit: Marie Jullion/Wikimedia Commons Managing biodiversity Chen said the key lies in the management of biodiversity, particularly in tropical and subtropics regions of east and southeast Asia. "The more species there are, the more potential virus species there are, but when wild animals live in a natural habitat, there are few opportunities for contact, and therefore everyone can coexist peacefully," he said. Li said areas of high population density and ongoing development are most at risk. "Humans invade nature, transform their environment, or make use of wild animals ... and then the risk of coming into contact with viruses carried by wild animals is relatively high," she said. "Once an epidemic occurs in a densely populated place, then of course there's a much higher chance of it spreading," Li said. Chen cited the hunting of wild animals for food, and the trading of different species in the same markets as high-risk behavior. Wild animals that are trapped alive and held in cages in close proximity have weakened immune systems, making transmission more likely among them by the time they get to market. "We should pay attention to the problem of infectious diseases from an integrated perspective, and take better care of the natural environment and wild animals," Li said. "Only then can we get better protection for our livestock, our pets, and for human health." Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Amid concerns over a captured nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the United Nations has dismissed suggestions that it is behind any delays getting international inspectors to the Zaporizhzhye facility, as concerns mount amid reports of shelling around the plant, which Ukraine and occupying Russian troops each blame on the other. 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, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Ukrainian and international warnings have intensified as safety crews work at gunpoint and Russians allegedly prepare to divert energy production from Zaporizhzhye, which is Europe's biggest nuclear plant with six Soviet-designed reactors. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York on August 15 that the world body's nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), acts independently but the Ukrainian and Russian sides must agree on a visit. Dujarric said it was "just not the case" that the UN's executive arm was delaying any trip by IAEA people. "The UN Secretariat has no authority to block or cancel" a visit to Zaporizhzhya, he said, and moreover has "the security, the logistics capacity" in Ukraine to support it. "But there needs to be an agreement with Russia and Ukraine," Dujarric added. The UN comments followed a pledge by Moscow to do "everything necessary" to allow IAEA experts to visit the Zaporizhzhya plant and Russia's defense minister reportedly speaking to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the situation at the facility. Guterres has urged that a demilitarized zone be created around Zaporizhzhya, in southeastern Ukraine near the center of fighting in the five-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow's overtures came one day after 42 countries from around the world signed a statement urging Russia to withdraw its armed forces from Europe's largest nuclear station, saying their presence posed "a great danger." Kyiv and some Western leaders have accused Moscow of "nuclear blackmail" in its assaults on Ukrainian nuclear facilities as well as its implied threats to deploy its nuclear arsenal if Ukraine's supporters cross the Kremlin's red lines. In his nightly video address on August 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the international community needs to act to prevent an accident or other catastrophic events at Zaporizhzhya due to Russian actions. "If now the world does not show strength and decisiveness to defend one nuclear power station, it will mean that the world has lost," Zelenskiy said, according to Reuters. "It will lose to terrorism, and give in to nuclear blackmail." Zelenskiy warned over the weekend that recent shelling at the plant had increased the threat of a radiation leak. Russia doesn't deny it has troops located at the plant but has disputed claims it has shelled the area. Instead, Moscow blames Ukrainian forces for firing artillery shells there, which officials in Kyiv deny. The situation at the plant has caused heightened alarm at the United Nations and the IAEA. Both have said IAEA inspectors should be allowed to visit the plant. "In close cooperation with the Agency and its leadership, we will do everything necessary to make it possible for IAEA specialists to appear at the station," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on August 15. Moscow later said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had spoken to Guterres about the security of Zaporizhzhya. "Sergei Shoigu conducted telephone negotiations with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regarding the conditions for the safe operation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It did not elaborate. Guterres' office did not immediately confirm the conversation or its substance, and it was unclear if spokesman Dujarric's comments reflected any conversation with Shoigu. On August 14, the statement by 42 countries condemned Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and said the presence of Russian military forces at the plant was preventing authorities from maintaining nuclear and radiation safety obligations. "It is undeniable that Russias invasion and its continued presence at Ukraines nuclear facilities significantly raise the risk of nuclear incidents and accidents," the statement released on the European Union's website says. "We urge the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces and all other unauthorized personnel from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, its immediate surroundings, and all of Ukraine so that the operator and the Ukrainian authorities can resume their sovereign responsibilities within Ukraines internationally recognized borders and the legitimate operating staff can conduct their duties without outside interference, threat, or unacceptably harsh working conditions. "Deployment of Russian military personnel and weaponry at the nuclear facility is unacceptable and disregards the safety, security, and safeguards principles that all members of the IAEA have committed to respect," the statement added. This statement was issued on behalf of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the European Union. With reporting by AFP and Reuters In light of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the eight Catholic bishops of the Dioceses of New York State issued a statement. However, since the statement didnt seem to get too much press coverage, the sentiments of that statement will be reflected in this column. The bishops begin by saying that women and men, children and adults, believers and nonbelievers, people of every culture and background have advocated for life. They have been a charitable and compelling voice for the voiceless. Many Catholics have prayed and fasted, held vigils, offered Masses, and peacefully witnessed in these last five decades. They have joined others in educating schoolchildren, opening pregnancy care centers, walking with mothers, offering post-abortion counseling and marching, year after year, to the U.S. Supreme Court, witnessing to life. The bishops acknowledge the wide range of emotions associated with this decision of the Supreme Court. And they call on everyone who supports the right to life for unborn children to be charitable, even as we celebrate an important historical moment. While the decision of the Supreme Court might be seen by some as a judicial victory, it is not a cultural victory. The culture remains deeply divided on the issue of abortion, which will be evidenced by the patchwork of state statues pertaining to abortion across the county. To change the culture and build a culture of life, we need to enact family-friendly policies that welcome children, support mothers, cherish families and empower them to thrive. The building of a culture of life is not solely the responsibility of the government. All of us need to respect the dignity and sanctity of human life in everything we do: in how we treat our children, spouses and parents; in the way we behave in our place of work; in sum, how we live Jesus two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor. In conjunction with the statement of the New York state bishops, our own bishop of the diocese of Rochester, the Most Rev. Salvatore R. Matano, has asked that all parishes and diocesan charitable agencies renew and expand their services to women and children so that mothers can bring their children into this world with peace and tranquility, and always knowing they are never abandoned. We need to continue to pray and work earnestly for a true culture of life to flourish not only in our state but also all around the world, that the divine image in all human life is recognized, respected and affirmed. Love, charity and reverence for human life from the moment of conception through nature death these will build and sustain a culture of life. The noted columnist Austen Ivereigh has written that the direction of Western cultural history, indelibly marked by Christianity, is toward the eventual revelation of the humanity of the victim. Just as the voices of the slave, the ostracized foreigner, the battered housewife, the disabled and the child abuse victim have all, eventually, been heard, so will the voice of the literally voiceless the unborn child. There are many signs that western society is beginning to awaken from its deafness: some surveys show increasing discomfort with the prevalence and frequency of abortion. Empathy with the embryo rather than the 10-week-old child in the womb is not yet apparent to the same degree. But it is a matter of time. On this issue, therefore, we need not accept the frame that we are opposing womens rights or scientific advances. Nor should anyone feel obliged to assert the rights of the embryo against the rights of adult human beings, as if this were a question of competing claims. Rather, we should imagine ourselves in the position of anti-slave-trade campaigners in the first years of the 19th century, knowing that society will eventually awaken to the humanity of beings which at the moment many refuse to see. You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mothers womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew. (Psalm 139:13-14) A senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the country is capable of making a nuclear weapon but a decision whether to do so has not yet been made. Kamal Kharrazi's comments to Al-Jazeera TV on July 17 came after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia that Washington would prevent Iran from "acquiring a nuclear weapon." Iran has long denied it is attempting to acquire or develop nuclear weapons and claims its program is strictly for civilian purposes, although it has continued to test-fire military-style missiles. Kharrazi's comments were a rare mention that Tehran could have an interest in such arms. "In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60 percent and we can easily produce 90 percent enriched uranium.... Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one," Kharrazi said. Iran is enriching to up to 60 percent, far above a cap of 3.67 percent under the terms of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers. Uranium enriched to 90 percent is suitable for a nuclear bomb. U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2018 pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal, which provided Tehran with sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Following Trump's move and the reimposition of crippling sanctions, Iran began violating the pact's enriching restrictions. On June 8, the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing council overwhelmingly passed a resolution against Iran, criticizing Tehran's lack of cooperation with the body. On-and-off negotiations are being conducted by Iran and Western powers with an aim of reviving the 2015 pact, but an agreement has not yet been reached. Bitter rival Israel has threatened to attack Iran's nuclear sites if Tehran's nuclear program is not contained through diplomacy. "Any targeting of our security from neighboring countries will be met with direct response to these countries and Israel," he said. With reporting by AFP and Al-Jazeera Iranian police have arrested at least 16 people after they protested over the drying up of Lake Urmia in northwest Iran on July 16. Lake Urmia began shrinking in 1995 due to a combination of prolonged drought and the extraction of water for farming and dams, according to the UN Environment Program. Urmia, one of the largest "hypersaline" -- or super-salty -- lakes in the world, is located between the cities of Tabriz and Urmia, with more than 6 million people dependent on agriculture around its shores. Rahim Jahanbakhsh, the police chief of Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, said on July 17 that several people had been arrested for disturbing security. He described the suspects as "many evil and hostile elements, who had no other objective than to destroy public property and disturb the security of the population," according to the official government news agency IRNA. Activists published the names of 16 individuals who had been detained. Reports said dozens had been summoned by the authorities. On July 16, the Fars news agency reported that "dozens of people in the cities of Naghadeh and Urmia had protested against the authorities' lack of attention to the drying-up of Lake Urmia." Fars said protesters had shouted slogans in the provincial capital of Urmia, warning the lake was shrinking. "Lake Urmia is dying, parliament orders its killing", some shouted, Fars reported, with others calling out that "Lake Urmia is thirsty." Amateur videos posted online showed protesters calling security forces "shameless." Largely arid Iran, like other nearby countries, has suffered chronic dry spells and heat waves for years, which are expected to worsen with the impacts of climate change. In the last few months, thousands of people have demonstrated against the drying-up of rivers, particularly in central and southwestern Iran. Lake Urmia is an important ecosystem, a key stopping point for migratory birds, and home to an endemic shrimp as well as other underwater species. With reporting by AFP In her hometown of Jeminay in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, Zhazira Asenqyzy was known as a poet and writer as well as a successful businesswoman. Asenqyzy's works -- published in local newspapers -- were popular among her follow ethnic Kazakhs. With three profitable commercial ventures, including a furniture company that employed dozens of workers, Asenqyzy wanted for nothing. But Asenqyzy's world was turned upside down when she was taken from her family home one early morning in May 2017 and thrown into one of Xinjiang's notorious internment camps. "I was having breakfast with my family when an [ethnic] Kazakh man, an employee of the Jeminay district security services, called and asked me to come to his office," Asenqyzy recalled. "'Bring your passport with you,' he told me." Asenqyzy says she didn't worry too much at first, because the authorities often collected residents' passports. But when she arrived at the security department, Asenqyzy was ordered to take off her jewelry and hand it over to an officer along with her mobile phone. Then she was handcuffed and interrogated. Security officers also raided Asenqyzy's home and private library of about 1,500 books. "They first pick up the Koran and a poetry book by [Shakarim] Qudaiberdiuly, and asked me where I got them from," Asenqyzy said. The photo of Qudaiberdiuly with a long beard on the cover of the book made the officers more suspicious and they demanded Asenqyzy explain "what links" she had "with this extremist." "I told them he was a famous Kazakh poet who died some 100 years ago and that all men wore long beard in those times. But the officers wrote down that I resisted law enforcement agents," Asenqyzy said. The same day, Asenqyzy was transferred to a jail cell without anyone explaining why she was being imprisoned and when, if ever, she was going to be freed. There was no trial and no charges were filed against her. More than 1 million Muslims -- ethnic Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous ethnic groups -- are thought to have been placed without trial in a network of high-security prison camps China has built across its vast western province of Xinjiang. The first information about the camps was leaked in 2017. Beijing claims the facilities are vocational reeducation centers for combatting extremism. But many former detainees have shared harrowing accounts of torture, rape, unwanted abortion, sterilization, and forced labor in the camps. 'Let Them Die, Nobody Cares' Asenqyzy, who is now 46, recalls being held at a women's camp where some of the detainees were in their 70s and 80s. "When I first arrived at the prison, they interrogated me for two days and didn't give me anything to eat," she told RFE/RL. "I became so weak that I nearly passed out. Then I heard the head of the prison saying, 'If she dies here, let her die, nobody cares, nobody will even ask about [her].'" Asenqyzy says there were no beds or blankets, and the women slept on the concrete floor, covering themselves with "old, worn out, threadbare covers." The heating system was switched off even during cold nights, she says. Prisoners were never given enough food and were hungry most of the time. "Potatoes, cabbage, and carrot boiled together without being washed first," is how Asenqyzy describes the prison food. Many prisoners got sick but were they routinely denied medical treatment. She says prison officials punished those who complained about being sick and asked for help. "Once I was forced to stand up for four hours without moving just because I said I had a backache and asked to see a doctor," she said. "I lost consciousness and fell on the concrete floor, fracturing my head." Even then, Asenqyzy wasn't given any medical treatment. A constant reminder of that painful incident is a lump on her head from where the fractured bones grew together, she says. Asenqyzy witnessed how prisoners were brutally beaten just for chatting with each other because the guards were suspicious they were "plotting something." Asenqyzy said the guards would often tell the women "even if we beat you to death, nobody will say anything. We have instructions from authorities." The detainees were taken once a day to the prison yard, where the guards forced them to do what Asenqyzy describes as a "workout designed for soldiers." "Obviously, the 80-year-olds could barely stand on their legs, let alone doing such difficult exercises. I saw how old women would fall to the ground after being kicked in the ankles by guards," she said. "They would beat the old women on their shoulder blades just because they couldn't stand up straight." Asenqyzy recalls there were large TV screens showing Chinese state propaganda all the time. "From the morning till night they would tell us how China will become the most powerful country in the world and that Chinese would become the most important language globally." Unable To Start Afresh Asenqyzy was released from the camp in the middle of the night in December 2018 after spending a year and half in prison. She was put under house arrest for another six months. During Asenqyzy's absence, her private ventures went out of business. Asenqyzy said she had a furniture company that exported to neighboring countries and another one that produced traditional Kazakh clothes and employed about 30 people, most of them women. Her third business was a store selling manufactured goods. Asenqyzy no longer had any source of income. She decided to leave China and crossed the border into neighboring Kazakhstan, her ancestral homeland. Asenqyzy says it was a difficult decision, as she had to leave her elderly mother, siblings, and all relatives behind. Within three months of her arrival, Asenqyzy was granted Kazakh citizenship under a special repatriation program the Kazakh government launched after gaining independence in 1991. Kazakhstan, Central Asia's richest country, encourages ethnic Kazakhs abroad to resettle in there. It believes there are some 1.5 million ethnic Kazakhs living in China. They make up the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after the Uyghurs. Many ethnic Kazakhs have moved from China to Kazakhstan since the repatriation program began. Asenqyzy says she is grateful to the Kazakh officials who helped her escape "Chinese oppression." But Asenqyzy also complains about what she described as being treated with suspicion by the Kazakh security services. Asenqyzy says she has been questioned by intelligence officers several times, including after a visit to Germany. Despite her entrepreneurial experience, Asenqyzy says she is struggling to rebuild her life in Kazakhstan. Asenqyzy also suffers from health issues that she links to her prison ordeal. "I have no occupation now," she said. "The camp has broken me mentally, financially, and physically." Written by Farangis Najibullah based on an interview conducted by Nurtai Lakhanuly of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service AUBURN A woman who took the journey of famed abolitionist and Auburn resident Harriet Tubman spoke and screened a documentary on her experience in the city Saturday. Metra Lundy, producer and subject of the documentary "A Walk In Her Shoes," attended a screening and subsequent audience discussion of the film at the Carriage House Theater at the Cayuga Museum of History and Art and the Case Research Lab. The feature, which was partially filmed in Auburn in summer 2019, chronicles Lundy retracing the trek Tubman took from Maryland to Canada as a part of the Underground Railroad. The event was held amid Auburn's ongoing celebrations honoring Tubman's 200th birthday. "Sometimes I call it a journey, sometimes I call it a walk, but it's really been a transformative moment of time in my life, where I've gotten to better understand myself, but also understand how the pieces around me work and are working," Lundy said of the film said. "So you'll get a chance to see my beginnings, my middle and my end, and I'm really looking at this documentary as an opportunity to be a foot soldier for talking about Tubman, having conversations around race." The documentary, directed by Selina Garcia, covers the three legs of Lundy's over-600-mile journey in 2019, starting in Preston, Maryland. Over the first five days, she walked to Highland Park, New Jersey. Although the entire journey was not one continuous trip, the voyage totaled 11 days, ending in Canada. At several points in the film, Lundy talks about being interested in Tubman since she was young and seeing Tubman as an inspiration. She also talked about learning from Tubman scholar Kate Clifford Larson that Tubman had taken trains for portions of her journey instead of walking the entire distance, so a train and a rented car were used at different points of Lundy's experience. At one point, Lundy is seen visiting Auburn during the time of an event celebrating Tubman at the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center in July 2019. Before meeting Pauline Copes Johnson, Tubman's great-great-grandniece, Lundy is shown buying a necklace with a compass as a gift and stating that she was going to attempt to not cry. She also visited Tubman's gravesite at Fort Hill Cemetery. During a break for attendees after the screening, LaVerne Gray, assistant professor at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies, called the documentary powerful. "It shows not just the idea but the journey and the twists and turns of what the journey represented in the modern time and in the past, to be able to feel history by doing it," Gray said. For the audience discussion, Lundy was in front of the crowd with Kim Szewczyk, park ranger for the Tubman park, and Jeff Ludwig, director of education for the Seward House. Ludwig, who was in the documentary and Szewczyk had introduced Lundy earlier. Lundy took questions such as where she stayed at night during her journey, saying she went and those she was with would go to hotels, as she said Tubman would stay in other people's houses during her treks. At one point, Lundy said she tried to address racism without "making the topic too light," saying she was happy with the end result. "It feels hopeful, it feels like, OK, this happened, Harriet Tubman was real, the Civil War happened, racism is real," she said. "But we all have a collective responsibility to make our lives better and the lives of other people (better,) and so then, how do we do that? And our approaches aren't so different." July 17, 2007 STERLING Gary Izzo doesn't want you to know what you're getting at the Sterling Renaissance Festival. As artistic director of the festival for about 25 years, Izzo has worked with its cast to ensure that the experience is different for every person who enters. Izzo labels this living, breathing reenactment of Elizabethan England as improvisational environmental interactive theater. The audience has as much to do with the outcome of a scene as the actors, Izzo said. It's very powerful, people get quite moved. This unique and unpredictable atmosphere is largely responsible for the festival's remarkable level of popularity. Izzo recalls only a few hundred people attending its first two summer runs, but in subsequent years the festival has amassed a steady following of frequent visitors. Unlike any other festival, if you come back the next day the show ends differently, Izzo said. People get hooked on it. Izzo joined the festival when its organizers were looking for someone to direct a Shakespeare troupe. He was recommended by the outgoing director, a faculty member at SUNY Oswego, where Izzo was a performing arts student at the time. Virginia and Gerald Young, who would eventually own the festival, saw in Izzo the creativity and talent they wanted to help build the event into the immersive experience it is today. Gary and I have learned together because there's nothing like this in the country, Young said. He's one of a kind. As Izzo started to soak in the festival setting, he saw an opportunity for it to evolve beyond a traditional dramatic format. I said, 'Wow, what a nice-looking woods; wouldn't it be nice to have a troupe of Elizabethans acting like they're living and working there,' he said. Other Renaissance festivals had treated spectators as anachronistic visitors with mundane dress and manners. The Sterling festival instead assimilates the audience into its setting. Izzo oversaw the hiring of 35 professional actors who could create this illusion with the utmost charm and conviction. No other festival in the country hires professional actors, he said. It's an expensive proposition. The investment has paid off. The wily actors quickly turned the human chess match, the beggar's feast and the sheriff's dunking stool into popular attractions at the festival because of their live quality. Along with crew like stage manager Dean Wick, Izzo prepares the actors with not just a few archaic terms or a cheap accent, but the mindset of a person actually living in another time. The actors I've been in touch with since leaving have spoke of this as one of the most enlightening experiences in their lives, Wick said. The cast is versed in history, mannerisms, customs and an understanding of the various political and religious concepts of that time, which differ greatly from ours. Hong Kong: Uniformed group boosts youth values To promote youth development, the Fire Services Department established a new uniformed group, the Fire & Ambulance Services Teen Connect (FAST Connect) last year. Through a wide range of training programmes and activities, the department hopes to enrich young peoples learning experience and cultivate their positive thinking, law-abiding awareness, self-discipline and team spirit. One of the large-scale activities is the experiential day held at the Fire & Ambulance Services Academy in Tseung Kwan O. Some 70 FAST Connect members from three secondary schools spent the day gaining hands on experience of the key services provided by the Fire Services Department. The youngsters learnt basic firefighting skills. To fully immerse themselves in the experience, they took turns to wear the hefty firefighter suit to take part in a simulation. They got a real sense of how hard it is to be a firefighter, sweat and all. Practical training The students also found out that to save people in distress and protect the community, mastering first aid skills is important too. Under the guidance of ambulance officers, they practised cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and learnt how to operate an automated external defibrillator. FAST Connect member Allie Cheng said she especially enjoyed learning CPR as it is a useful skill for the future. To wrap up their experiential day, the youngsters practised and learnt the basic concept of a Chinese-style foot drill. They were then treated to the departments Guard of Honour performing a Chinese-style foot drill and holding a flag-raising ceremony. FAST Connect member Wayne Yau said practising the foot drill was challenging in the summer heat, but he relished the learning opportunity. The CPR was quite a new activity to me because I had never done it before, like the Chinese-style foot drill. (During the) Chinese-style foot drill, I felt really tired practising under the sun. But it was all worth it. The experience did increase my interest in becoming a fireman and an ambulanceman. Broadening horizons The Fire Services Department established the FAST Connect in December 2021. The uniformed group has recruited 120 members since its establishment and aims to increase the number of members to 300 in the 2022-23 academic year. Fire & Ambulance Services Teen Connect Vice President Michael Yung pointed out that the department has long been engaged in promoting youth development. By establishing the new uniformed group, it hopes to nurture young people into a new generation with social commitment, a sense of national identity, passion for Hong Kong as well as international perspectives. We hope by enlisting students who completed the Education Bureaus Enhanced Smart Teen Project into the group, we will be able to reinforce their learning experience, enhance their sense of national identity, help them cultivate positive thinking and hopefully achieve a career orientation effect. He added that the department will organise more activities for the members in the future to enrich their learning experience. We will organise visits or even attachments to various fire and ambulance units for members to get a glimpse of our daily work. We will also arrange for them to participate in educational activities on community emergency preparedness. In the days to come, we also plan to arrange exchange programmes for members to visit the Greater Bay Area so that they can gain first-hand experience of the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and to learn more about our motherland. Mr Yung also thanked the social dignitaries who joined the group as commissioners for providing their support and valuable opinion. This story has been published on: 2022-07-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of UAE's rail network, has achieved a major construction milestone in the country's AED50 billion ($13.6 billion) railways programme - the largest integrated system for transporting goods and passengers across the country - by successfully connecting Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port to the mainland with the construction of the emirates first rail marine bridge. The UAE Railway Programme includes three key projects; the first is the Freight Rail, which includes the Etihad Rail freight services. The second is the Rail Passenger Service that aims to connect 11 cities - starting from Al Sila to Fujairah. At a speed of 200 km/h, the service will connect these cities within the UAE, where passengers can travel from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in 50 minutes, and from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah in 100 minutes. By 2030, the number of passengers is expected to reach more than 36.5 million annually, said Etihad Rail in its statement. The third project is the Integrated Transportation Service, where an innovation centre will be established to ensure the integration of the smart transportation solutions. A network of light rail will be connected to the Rail Passenger System to facilitate transportation inside UAE cities. "The one-kilometre bridge, which runs parallel to the road link, will help improve the flow of goods to the region, and reduce shipping and trade costs," said Khuloud Al Mazrouei, the Deputy Project Manager for Etihad Rail, while outlining the details of the latest project update in a video shared on social media. Al Mazrouei said the connection was completed with the installation of the last of the 100 T-beams. A first of its kind in the network, the marine bridge is being constructed by a total of 320 workers, clocking more than 1 million manhours so far, in compliance with the top environmental and global standards. The team faced several challenges while building the bridge in a marine environment and managed to tackle them successfully. "We have installed all the T-beams in the marine bridge, which will connect Khalifa Port with the network. This achievement was completed after installing the last T-beam for the bridge, which extends over 1 km, bringing the total number of T-beams to 100," she explained. According to her, the railway will link the principal centres of trade, industry, manufacturing, production, logistics, population and all the major import and export points of the UAE, as well as forming an integral part of the GCC railway network. "The most important feature of this bridge is that it runs parallel to a road bridge of the same length, which connects the mainland of the emirate of Abu Dhabi with the sea container terminal," remarked Al Mazrouei. "This ensures a smooth flow of tidal currents along the sides of the port and preserves the coral reefs," she added. In May, Etihad Rail had announced that 75% of the work on the network had been completed. Construction had been divided into two stages, the second of which includes four packages.The bridge is being built as part of the Package B of the second stage. Etihad Rails network will run for 1,200 km across the UAE, from the border of Saudi Arabia to Fujairah. Once operational, the service is expected to carry more than 36 million people annually by 2030. Bentley has applied its exclusive design ideas to the Continental GT, Continental GTC, Flying Spur and Bentayga to create four categories of cars. Bentley Mulliner created a collection of new cars to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the brand's presence in China. Bentley shared that each of the four special anniversary models has been inspired by a famous location in London. Bentley has applied their exclusive design ideas to the Continental GT, Continental GTC, Flying Spur and Bentayga to create four categories of cars. The ultra-premium automaker shared that each of these models gets numbered from one to 20 to reflect the exclusivity of this range. These four exclusive models have been named the Guard, the Carnaby, the Pall Mall and the Savile Row. (Also read | Bentley Bentayga receives Equestrian Collection, gets horse-inspired accents ) The first car in the collection is called the Guard which is inspired by the famous Royal Guards who protect the Royal Household. The model has been painted with St James Red pearlescent paint and the Beluga roof mimics the red tunic and 18" black bearskin hats worn by the guards. The car sits on 21-inch ten-spoke wheels that have been painted black and with a bright machined finish. The convertible model in the collection is called Carnaby which is based on Carnaby Street in Londons Soho district. Bentley said this model will be available in four different colours, Radium, Jetstream II, Orange Flame and Onyx. FOLLOW US:Stay Updated with latest content - Subscribe us on FOLLOW US:Stay Updated with latest content - Subscribe us on (Also read | Bentley to bring back cars that won Le Mans in 1929, 1930 ) The model called Pall Mall Flying Spur is Bentley's homage to the State Limousine and it features a bespoke duo-tone Beluga over Claret paint. It sits on 22-inch ten-spoke wheels in a claret-painted with a bright-machined finish. The last car in the collection is the Savile Row which is a Bentley Bentayga which comes with Cumbrian Green bodywork and sits on 22-inch ten-spoke wheels. Bentley informed the 80 cars of this collection will be sold exclusively in China in the coming months and the first examples will make their global debut in China shortly. First Published Date: Syria: Consultations on Political Developments On Tuesday (31 May), Council members will convene for closed consultations on the political situation in Syria. UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen is expected to brief via videoconference. Pedersen is likely to update members on the eighth round of Syrias Constitutional Committee, which is scheduled to take place between 28 May and 3 June in Geneva. Pedersens briefing will take place before the final day of the session, when the parties are expected to discuss their amendments to proposals on constitutional principles. Discussion of amendments has been a sticking point in past rounds. Following the conclusion of the Constitutional Committees seventh round (held between 21 and 25 March), which failed to achieve meaningful progress, Pedersen said, I will do everything I can to bring closer viewpoints among the members through exerting my good offices. While there is general support for the Constitutional Committees work, several Council members have expressed frustration with the lack of progress since its launch over two and a half years ago. Some memberssuch as Albania, Ireland and the P3 (France, the UK and the US)tend to accuse the Syrian government of not engaging in the process in good faith. On the other hand, Russia, a close ally of the Syrian government, has cautioned against imposing artificial deadlines on the committees work. Pedersen may also discuss his recent trip to Damascus, during which he met with Syrias Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad on 22 May. In a press encounter after the meeting, Pedersen indicated that they had discussed a range of issues, including the Constitutional Committees work, the humanitarian challenges facing Syria, and the 30 April general amnesty declared by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Members may be interested in learning more about Pedersens meeting with Mekdad. Regarding the general amnesty, the decree issued by Assad states that it pertains to terrorist crimes committed by Syrians prior to 30 April 2022, excluding crimes leading to the death of a human being. Some members might seek more clarity on details of the amnesty, including what constitutes terrorist crimes, who is eligible for the amnesty, the number of people released to date, and whether there are assurances of ongoing protections for them. Pedersen has said that the amnesty has potential, adding that we are looking forward to see[ing] how it develops. Council members may also want an update from Pedersen on his efforts to promote a step by step, step for step process, whereby he is asking the Syrian government, the opposition, regional states, and other stakeholders what concessions they might make in exchange for reciprocal actions from others on matters such as: abductees, detainees, and missing persons; humanitarian assistance and early recovery projects; conditions for dignified, safe and voluntary refugee returns; and the restoration of socioeconomic conditions. It appears that there will be a Security Council Arria-formula meeting on Syrian Womens Voices on Detainees and the Disappeared in Syria on 3 June. The meeting is being organised by the US, together with Albania and the UK, with additional co-sponsors Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Qatar, Turkey and in partnership with the Syrian Negotiations Commission (that is, the opposition). Provided by J. Olivier Two people were injured in a shooting Saturday night in San Franciscos Mid-Market neighborhood, according to police. The shooting happened at 7:42 p.m. on Sixth Street, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement. The authorities have not yet released the names of the victims, who they said sustained non-life-threatening injuries. A day ahead of its public opening, San Franciscos new Presidio Tunnel Tops park held a ribbon-cutting ceremony, where some of the parks largest donors came together with community leaders and politicians to celebrate their work. Among the attendees were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor London Breed along with her new district attorney, Brooke Jenkins police chief Bill Scott and Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff. The software entrepreneur and his wife Lynne were among the largest private donors to the park. Chris Lehnertz, the president and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, explained that the 14 acres of new park was made possible through the support of many San Francisco philanthropists, in what was one of the largest fundraising campaigns for public open space in the citys history raising $98 million of the parks $118 million budget. The Presidio is the only one of Americas 424 national parks that is not funded by the National Park System. Instead, it is economically self-sufficient through the Presidio Trust, which provided the other $20 million for the project. That made the fundraising for Tunnel Tops all the more impressive, Lehnertz said. Ethan Swope/The Chronicle She pointed to the parks Campfire Circle a feature added because of public input, she said where a plaque lists the names of 31 donors who gave above $1 million to the project. The size of their names corresponds with the amount of their donations and the largest was the S. D. Bechtel Foundation, which got the project starting with a $25 million donation. The now-defunct foundation, started in 1957 by the former chief of the giant Bechtel engineering and construction firm, committed to the project before there was even a blueprint, Lehnertz said. They made that donation on a vision and a belief. That started it all. Randi Fisher, whose father-in-law Donald Fisher co-founded The Gap and whose family was also among the largest donors to the Tunnel Tops, co-chaired the fundraising campaign committee with Mark Buell and Lynne Benioff. She also cited the Bechtel Foundation donation as the starting point for fundraising success. Fisher recalled being nervous that they had asked for too much money after the organizing committee pitched the idea for the park to the Bechtel Foundation. But the next day, she said, she got a call from its president, Lauren Dachs, saying the foundation wanted to pledge $25 million to the park even more than the committee had asked for. Ethan Swope/The Chronicle We knew then we were going to have a smooth ride to accomplish this wonderful, amazing, over-the-top goal for a national park, she said, one they reached more quickly than anticipated. And much of the money, Fisher and Lehnertz pointed out, came from families who have donated to other features of the city such as the California Academy of Sciences or the Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco is really astounding, she said. Its a very passionate, concerned group of citizens here. Later in the morning, as the Golden Gate Bridge peeked in and out of fog in the distance and after a blessing from Gregg Castro of the association of Ramaytush Ohlone, several speakers took to the stage to describe how the vision for the park came together. In her speech, Lynne Benioff said the Tunnel Tops were important to her not only as a fundraiser and as chair of the Presidio Trust, but as a parent of children living in San Francisco. Ethan Swope/The Chronicle My husband is a fourth generation San Franciscan. Our children have grown up listening to their grandmother tell stories about her own childhood here in the city, including her memories of the amusement park Playland at the Beach, she said. Standing here, I believe that the Presidio Tunnel tops will find its place in the heart of our city as well. Mayor Breed, herself a lifelong San Franciscan, echoed Benioffs hopes that the park would be a place where children in the city could find refuge. Some of you, Im sure, have seen what this place used to look like. And to go from what it used to look like to the vision of what it is today and what it will do for future generations to come is absolutely extraordinary, she said in her speech. Besides soliciting money from wealthy benefactors, builders of the park also gathered community feedback, reaching out to people across the city. More than 10,000 San Franciscans took part in the planning process, said Michael Boland, the Presidios chief park officer. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. What this represents is really, again, a true testament to who we are as San Franciscans, Breed said during her speech. Creative people, generous people, both with our resources and our time. Ethan Swope/The Chronicle Lyslynn Lacoste, executive director of BMAGIC, a Bayview Hunters Point-based organization, spoke about the planning work that went into ensuring that the park was a place for communities like hers starting with helping build a trail that connected local parks in Bayview Hunters Point. In their speeches, many people recognized that, while the work for the Tunnel Tops technically began in 2014, the project was years in the making, starting with making the Presidio into the park it is today after the Army stopped using it as a post in 1994. In her speech, Pelosi spoke about the bipartisan legislation that allocated money to help clean up the Presidio area when the Army left in the late 1990s money that came out of the defense budget and opened the door for the public-private partnership that would come to fund the Presidio. If it sounds like Im bragging about Congress, I am, she joked. Many of the speakers thanked Amy Meyer, commonly referred to as the mother of the Golden Gate Recreation Area, who was a key part of making sure the Presidio was preserved as a park in the 1970s, along with the late Dr. Edgar Wayburn. In 1972, none of us could have envisioned this at all, Meyer said. Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev Ira Hocherman remembers looking out his window in the Point Reyes area in 2020 and seeing the glow of fire a few miles away. He and his husband spent a few smoky and sleepless nights and they dont want a future fire to get any closer. And so Hocherman called in a herd of sheep to munch the meadow around their house, where grass can sometimes grow 6- or 7-feet high. In previous years, he and his husband used a crew of weed trimmers, but they found that, although the sheep were somewhat more expensive, they ate everything. Theres really no comparison to the machine, Hocherman said. As Californians grapple with ever-present wildfire risk amid a record-breaking drought, some are turning to a seemingly simple, and sustainable, solution: sheep and goats. The animals can easily get to spots inaccessible to people, and their hooves create small divots in the ground, naturally tilling the soil. Depending on how costs and benefits are tallied, some homeowners like Hocherman say, although costs of herds are rising, they are a better investment for clearing brush than paying for workers. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Hocherman worked with Taran Lewis, the Bolinas-based owner of a relatively small herd of 21 Navajo-Churro sheep. Lewis said his one-man operation is quickly growing, and while he is starting to work with bigger clients, he still loves the small yard-level jobs. Its just really cool because youre exposing people who actually havent had that much interaction with livestock ... to all the environmentally friendly aspects of it, Lewis said. Hocherman said he and his husband paid more for Lewis herd than they would have for a Weedwacker crew, but the results were better and longer lasting. Weed-trimming crews cost about $300 a visit. The sheep which have come twice a year were about $400 a week, with an additional $35 an hour to set up a fence to contain them. Each yard is different, but for Hocherman the total came out to $650. The weed trimmers did not remove everything like the sheep did. It was really kind of phenomenal, and we were just really happy doing it that way, he said. But sheep and goats are not a universal solution for reducing wildfire risk. Christopher Campbell, acting natural resources manager for the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, said they generally arent a good fit for fire abatement in the city. The animals eating habits are non-discriminant, so if they are introduced in areas with more sensitive plant life, they could do damage. Trampling could cause erosion in some areas. And then there are residents dogs, which strain to get at the animals, despite the electric fences around them. However, San Francisco does use goats to help restore some of the natural areas throughout the city, Campbell said. Recently, goats were used to reduce Himalayan blackberry, an invasive species, in Glen Canyon Park. For governments or private landowners looking to use herds, another issue is that costs are rising. A recent California agricultural overtime law, AB1066, requires that herders receive pay for a 168-hour week because they are on call 24 hours a day. The law went into effect in 2019 for larger companies with 26 or more employees. Companies with 25 or fewer employees had until January to phase in the new rules. Under the new law, the monthly minimum salary for herders with 25 or fewer employees which include operations that raise sheep for wool, as well as for fire prevention rose from around $2,300 to $3,444, starting in January, according to the state. By 2025, the minimum is set to rise to around $4,381 for operations of that size, according to the California Wool Growers Association. Last year, herders told The Chronicle that the new law which increased sheepherder pay by 50% was forcing them to reduce the size of their herds and lay off staff. Additionally, changes this spring to the interpretation of minimum wage regulations appear to be causing costs to soar even higher for goat herders in particular. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California Andree Soares, owner of Star Creek Land Stewards, a company that uses sheep and goats for fire-prevention grazing in the Bay Area, said shes had to raise prices but hasnt had to let go of any employees or reduce the size of her herd. Still, shes apprehensive, as the minimum costs continue to rise following the regulations. Its frightening, she said. Soares is also vice president of the wool growers group, which is suing the state over the AB1066 overtime rules, arguing sheepherders should not have been included. Soares said the group did not prevail in district court but is appealing the ruling. Shes not sure what herding groups might do regarding the additional goat-specific regulations that took effect a few months ago. For herders, the job certainly can be round-the-clock. Lewis, for example, doesnt have to stay overnight to watch the herd, but he is on call at all hours in case the homeowners need assistance. He sets up a portable electric fence to contain the sheep; the time it takes to clear a yard varies based on the amount of brush, the size of the yard and the time of year. Lewis herd of sheep has cleared Hochermans meadow three times now. Unlike the Weedwackers, the sheep are quiet and come with their own set of personalities. Hocherman says the herd made it more fun to manage his homes defensible space. You kind of missed them when they left, he said. They kind of brought a small little petting zoo to your yard. Emma Talley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: emma.talley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EmmaT332 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As the Bay Areas latest COVID surge threatens to be the biggest yet and the coronavirus continues to spin off new, immune-evasive variants, are repeated infections a part of living with COVID? Increasingly, experts fear, the answer is yes. While doctors agree its unlikely people will get infected twice with the same variant, its probable over the long term that new COVID variants could infect people again due to the lightning-speed evolution of the novel coronavirus. I would not be surprised if we see people get infected more than once per year, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser, told NBC News. Hybrid immunity the dual protection afforded by infection plus vaccination seems to be less protective than it used to be against getting COVID again, although vaccines continue to stave off serious illness. But with many people now having had both omicron and a later subvariant such as BA.2, BA.4 or BA.5, studies show that vaccination coupled with previous exposure still prevents reinfection better than a vaccine or infection alone. Your prior immunity, including from infection, is not worth nothing, its just worth less than previously, said Dr. Bob Wachter, the chair of UCSFs Department of Medicine, on a recent episode of the Chronicles Fifth and Mission podcast. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, noted that hybrid immunity is especially useful in preventing severe outcomes. While SARS-CoV-2 is not an eradicable virus per its properties, she said, increasing global levels of immunity through vaccination, infection or both mean that deaths remain low. Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford, added that reinfections strengthen cellular immunity the way the body deeply remembers how to fight the virus, which people get either through a vaccine or their first infection. This means reinfections should be milder and milder. But it also depends on what unpredictable new variants bring, he noted, as the virus could evolve to become more severe. With disease containment measures such as improved ventilation and nasal vaccines which can produce mucosal immunity thats better at preventing infection than current vaccines future COVID outbreaks could be more localized, Karan said. That could limit their ability to spread quickly around the world, which has been one of the biggest problems over the past few years in combatting the pandemic. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. It could be that we slow down spread enough that outbreaks are smaller and occur less frequently, he said. In other words, not every outbreak is a pandemic. He added that slowing the spread of COVID will also help slow the development of new variants, though they will continue to pop up. But COVID remains a relatively new disease, and scientists and experts still dont know what effect repeated reinfections have on the body, or what it means for long COVID. I think theres a lot about this that we dont know, but my bottom line is that reinfection is not nothing, Wachter said. Unfortunately I think if you get reinfected, we have to assume that that has potential consequences. Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev It must have been 1961 or early 1962. We were living in a rented two-story house in Havre, Montana. On a bookshelf in the dining room sat a model of a Mercury-Redstone 3 rocket and its launch gantry. My father had assembled the model kit. It was intricate and colorful the red gantry, the white rocket and the black Mercury capsule and was something I could look at, but not touch. My father and I shared a fascination with the space program. Back then, a boy could write to NASA for information about anything space-program related, and he would receive in the mail reams of information and diagrams, for free. I had binders filled with information about rockets and astronauts and space stuff. For me, it was all about the astronauts and flying in space. For my dad, too, there was the space cowboy mystique, but he was also intrigued by the practicalities of design and engineering, fabrication and testing, and the science behind it all. We paid close attention to all the missions, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. I paid scant attention to the space probe missions. Data? Images? Machines without astronauts aboard? Pshaw. You call that space exploration? You may as well look at the pyramids of Egypt through a View-Master. Here I am some 60years later, looking at the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and I can feel that old thrill again. To see for the first time, galaxies and stars never seen before; my goodness, its like looking over the edge of Grand Canyon or swimming in the middle of the ocean. I think Im falling or being pulled down by an undertow. Holy Mackerel there, Andy! Galaxies 13 billion light-years distant? For goodness sake, Pioneer 10, launched in 1973 and now in interstellar space, will reach the nearest star Proxima Centauri, a mere 68 light-years from the sun, in two million years. Will there be anybody here at home by then? Kevin Schindler, my columnist colleague, is a much better writer to communicate the magnitude and complexity of the JWST to our readers, and I always look forward to what he has to share. I, hack that I am, can only respond this way. One night down at the farm, Dad and I were sitting on the back porch. It was a moonless night, clear and mild. Wed had a good day in the orchard and in the fields. Wed eaten a delicious dinner and were settled down in comfortable chairs to enjoy a cold beverage on a summer evening. We werent talking much, just enjoying the glow of tired muscles, and the unarticulated love between a father and his adult son. I pointed out to him the Summer Triangle (thanks to Dr. Halls Intro to Astronomy class years earlier). Heres something interesting, I said. That one there, Vega? The star light were seeing took 25 years to reach our eyes. I can still see the light in Dads eyes as he grasped the concept. I can imagine his look upon seeing the JWST images of today. Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies Should Floridians get to vote in California elections? Should Californians get to cast ballots in Florida? These questions might seem strange. Theyre not. Gov. Gavin Newsom just broadcast his first re-election TV ad, not in California, but in Florida, appealing to Floridians to fight against the agenda Florida Republicans, or move to California, where they presumably would vote for the governor. In response, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted California policies and accused Newsom of treating Californians like peasants. The tussle has been dismissed as partisan trolling, and evidence of both governors presidential ambitions. But its import is broader than that. Unwittingly, Newson and DeSantis are opening the door to a novel democratic idea with global implications. Its called consociated representation. The dictionary definition of consociated is brought into association. In democracy, consociated representation would give people the power to vote for representatives in places with which they are associated, but are not their own cities, states or nations. The idea has appeal because, especially in a hyper-connected world, the decisions of governments other than our own can profoundly affect our lives. Consider how manufacturing policies in Mexico or Southeast Asia have changed the economies of American communities. Or think of how the decisions of big city government can shape the job prospects, transportation options and safety of those in surrounding suburbs. Or, in the context of the Newsom ad, which says that Floridas educational and health policies threaten basic freedoms, consider how the governments of big states like California and Florida can affect each other and national policies as well. Florida has so limited the rights of women and transgender people that California is changing laws and starting programs to make itself a sanctuary for people who must leave. Meanwhile, California routinely leverages its size to shape laws elsewhere, on matters from climate change to immigration. In such a context, Californians deserve more of a say about what Florida does and, yes, vice versa. But how? A groundbreaking proposal for consociated representation comes from Joachim Blatter and Johannes Schulz, political scientists at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland, writing in the European Journal of International Relations. Blatter and Schulz argue that globalism has allowed national leaders and unaccountable international organizations like International Monetary Fund to have undemocratic influence over people in other countries. This, in turn, has inspired populist backlashes that polarize politics, threaten the unity of federal systems like the European Union or the United States, and undermine democracy. Their answer to this populist backlash is to expand democracy and link voters in different nations and states. Blatter and Schulz argue that governments whose policies overlap should mutually grant their citizens the right to elect representatives not only in their domestic parliament, but also in the parliaments of consociated democracies. Under their proposal, these foreign voters could not elect many representatives in other places only a handful of seats in your parliament would represent people from other places. And they say legislatures should expand to accommodate these new consociated representatives no one would lose representation in the process. Its a modest step, but one that could channel popular dissatisfaction into productive lines of democratic conversation and collaboration between states, Blatter and Schulz write. Systems of what two scholars call horizontally expanded and consociated democracies could offer at a little defense both against internal authoritarianism and against external enemies (like Russia and China) that exploit divisions within democracies. Consociated democracy would be a natural for California, a future-shaping nation-state. To start, California could negotiate with other Western states that are already political allies Oregon or Washington to form a consociation of democracies. A harder step would be to form a consociation with other large states with whom we sometimes quarrel imagine California, Texas and Florida agreeing to allow their citizens to elect representatives in each others states. Such arrangements, while novel, are not entirely new. Blatter and Schulz note that as more people have multiple national citizenships, its become more common to vote in multiple countries. And elements of consociated democracy are already present in California. The city of Los Angeles allows people to vote in local neighborhood councils even if they dont reside in that neighborhood having even a tiny interest in a place (even if its only stabling a horse there) gives you democratic rights. And the state of California allows people and groups from other states to sponsor ballot initiatives that enact laws and amend our states constitution. Californias legislative term limits and animal rights protections were brought to us in this way by non-Californians. I, for one, feel strongly that I should be able to vote in Los Angeles city elections even though I live in a small city nearby. I work in L.A. I spend most of my leisure time there and pay local sales taxes. And I depend on roads and trains overseen by L.A. officials. So why shouldnt Los Angeles empower me and residents of other surrounding cities to vote for a couple of additional members to represent us on the City Council? Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square. During interim San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins swearing-in ceremony on July 8, applause erupted after she said she planned to restore the accountability and the consequences that have been lost in the criminal justice system in San Francisco. Jenkins softened her tone toward the end of the ceremony with a request: I ask that you give ... a chance to get to know me and what my vision is for the San Francisco District Attorneys Office and for San Francisco. One week into her new job, Jenkins public pledges, a policy position and her first personnel decisions are offering glimpses at that vision and the kind of district attorney she plans to be: Someone willing to bring back cash bail, charge juveniles as adults, revoke plea deals that could keep immigrants from being deported, and support expanding police surveillance, all to make sure San Franciscans feel safe. Jenkins likes to say shes a progressive, but is she? Jenkins was once a prosecutor in Chesa Boudins office and a supporter of some of his early work. In 2020, according to The Chronicle, Jenkins emailed Boudin to express her love for the post-conviction unit he created. Jenkins left Boudins office in October, frustrated over his anti-carceral policies, and played a prominent role in the successful recall campaign against him. As is common for a new district attorney, Jenkins has started firing staffers who worked under Boudin including the chief attorney who oversaw the post-conviction unit she previously praised and has hired four people to lead her management and transition teams. As The Chronicle reported, some of the hires butted heads with the previous administration. It was Boudins office in 2020 that eliminated cash bail, which reinforces the racial biases in police stops and arrests. Instead, his office used public risk-based assessments to determine who to keep incarcerated before trial. According to a national report by the Prison Policy Initiative in 2019. Black and brown defendants are at least 10-25% more likely ... to have to pay money bail, and the amounts are twice as high as bail set for white defendants. Boudins office also stopped the use of three relics of Californias tough-on-crime era: charging minors as adults, the three strikes law and gang enhancements. Based on The Chronicles reporting of state prison data, 92% of the inmates serving sentences with a gang enhancement were either Black or Latino in August 2019. Never mind that these disparities are fueled by biased California gang laws created to target people of color. Meanwhile, the draconian three strikes law, which increased punishment for repeat offenders, never had a demonstrable impact on reducing violent crime, according to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Californias criminal legal system didnt pack prisons overnight. It did it systematically through the 1980s and 1990s with discriminatory policies, culminating with a prison overcrowding crisis that California is still digging out from under today. Jenkins said she wants to make these policies the pillars of her administration, while telling outlets such as the New York Times that her office will be extremely thoughtful in how it uses them. In an interview with The Chronicle, Jenkins touched on the intersectionality of her own identity, being Black and Latina, while discussing her approach to handling drug cases involving immigrants. She said in the dozen of cases shes reviewing from under Boudin where a plea was offered to keep someone from being deported, its possible her prosecutors could rip up the deal. My father is not a citizen of the United States; hes from El Salvador, Jenkins told The Chronicle. So this is a very sensitive issue for me and something that will be considered. But we have to still have accountability in some form or fashion. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Jenkins also submitted a letter to the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee supporting legislation that would expand law enforcements ability to tap into the live feeds of privately owned security cameras throughout the city, even to investigate a misdemeanor. The citys current ordinance, which was put in place in 2019, doesnt allow such access. The San Francisco Police Department has been accused in the past of violating the existing ordinance, and a recent poll commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California showed the 60% of San Francisco residents opposed expanding access to private cameras. While Jenkins suggested that expanding polices surveillance powers could facilitate investigations into police misconduct, her letter was more about how the amended legislation can help address the existence of open-air drug markets in the city and send a message to those scheming to prey on our city that there will be consequences for their actions. Jenkins asked the public for time to understand her vision for San Francisco. Slowly, one is emerging. Its just hard to believe a self-described progressive prosecutor is behind it. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips appears Sundays. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips Steve Proehl/Getty Images In a heist that sounds like it came straight out of "Oceans 11," an estimated $150 million in jewelry was reportedly stolen from an armored Brink's vehicle that was bound from the Bay Area to Southern California. KPIX says that the gems some of which were sapphire and 19-karat yellow gold were going to be showcased at the International Gem and Jewelry Show in Pasadena, a direct-to-consumer jewelry show that sells loose gems, watches and accessories. The merchandise was reportedly loaded inside the Brink's vehicle last Sunday evening, and by Monday morning about two dozen lockers were gone and so were the 18 vendors livelihoods. Gary L. Button, Architect/Getty Images A mans dog came to his rescue earlier this week after leading search and rescue teams to where he had fallen 70 feet and injured himself, CBS Sacramento reported. The dogs 53-year-old owner was camping in Tahoe National Forest when he took the fall, breaking his hip and ribs. CalFire called on the Nevada County Sheriffs Office for help from 25 search and rescue volunteers in order to locate him, according to a Facebook post made by the Nevada County Sheriffs Search and Rescue. The tech industrys latest artificial intelligence constructs can be pretty convincing if you ask them what it feels like to be a sentient computer, or maybe just a dinosaur or squirrel. But theyre not so good and sometimes dangerously bad at handling other seemingly straightforward tasks. Take, for instance, GPT-3, a Microsoft-controlled system that can generate paragraphs of human-like text based on what its learned from a vast database of digital books and online writings. Its considered one of the most advanced of a new generation of AI algorithms that can converse, generate readable text on demand and even produce novel images and video. Among other things, GPT-3 can write up most any text you ask for a cover letter for a zookeeping job, say, or a Shakespearean-style sonnet set on Mars. But when Pomona College professor Gary Smith asked it a simple but nonsensical question about walking upstairs, GPT-3 muffed it. Yes, it is safe to walk upstairs on your hands if you wash them first, the AI replied. These powerful and power-chugging AI systems, technically known as large language models because they've been trained on a huge body of text and other media, are already getting baked into customer service chatbots, Google searches and auto-complete email features that finish your sentences for you. But most of the tech companies that built them have been secretive about their inner workings, making it hard for outsiders to understand the flaws that can make them a source of misinformation, racism and other harms. Theyre very good at writing text with the proficiency of human beings, said Teven Le Scao, a research engineer at the AI startup Hugging Face. Something theyre not very good at is being factual. It looks very coherent. Its almost true. But its often wrong. That's one reason a coalition of AI researchers co-led by Le Scao - with help from the French government launched a new large language model Tuesday that's supposed to serve as an antidote to closed systems such as GPT-3. The group is called BigScience and their model is BLOOM, for the BigScience Large Open-science Open-access Multilingual Language Model. Its main breakthrough is that it works across 46 languages, including Arabic, Spanish and French unlike most systems that are focused on English or Chinese. It's not just Le Scao's group aiming to open up the black box of AI language models. Big Tech company Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, is also calling for a more open approach as it tries to catch up to the systems built by Google and OpenAI, the company that runs GPT-3. Weve seen announcement after announcement after announcement of people doing this kind of work, but with very little transparency, very little ability for people to really look under the hood and peek into how these models work, said Joelle Pineau, managing director of Meta AI. Competitive pressure to build the most eloquent or informative system and profit from its applications is one of the reasons that most tech companies keep a tight lid on them and don't collaborate on community norms, said Percy Liang, an associate computer science professor at Stanford who directs its Center for Research on Foundation Models. For some companies this is their secret sauce, Liang said. But they are often also worried that losing control could lead to irresponsible uses. As AI systems are increasingly able to write health advice websites, high school term papers or political screeds, misinformation can proliferate and it will get harder to know whats coming from a human or a computer. Meta recently launched a new language model called OPT-175B that uses publicly available data from heated commentary on Reddit forums to the archive of U.S. patent records and a trove of emails from the Enron corporate scandal. Meta says its openness about the data, code and research logbooks makes it easier for outside researchers to help identify and mitigate the bias and toxicity that it picks up by ingesting how real people write and communicate. It is hard to do this. We are opening ourselves for huge criticism. We know the model will say things we wont be proud of, Pineau said. While most companies have set their own internal AI safeguards, Liang said what's needed are broader community standards to guide research and decisions such as when to release a new model into the wild. It doesnt help that these models require so much computing power that only giant corporations and governments can afford them. BigScience, for instance, was able to train its models because it was offered access to Frances powerful Jean Zay supercomputer near Paris. The trend for ever-bigger, ever-smarter AI language models that could be pre-trained on a wide body of writings took a big leap in 2018 when Google introduced a system known as BERT that uses a so-called transformer technique that compares words across a sentence to predict meaning and context. But what really impressed the AI world was GPT-3, released by San Francisco-based startup OpenAI in 2020 and soon after exclusively licensed by Microsoft. GPT-3 led to a boom in creative experimentation as AI researchers with paid access used it as a sandbox to gauge its performance though without important information about the data it was trained on. OpenAI has broadly described its training sources in a research paper, and has also publicly reported its efforts to grapple with potential abuses of the technology. But BigScience co-leader Thomas Wolf said it doesnt provide details about how it filters that data, or give access to the processed version to outside researchers. So we cant actually examine the data that went into the GPT-3 training, said Wolf, who is also a chief science officer at Hugging Face. The core of this recent wave of AI tech is much more in the dataset than the models. The most important ingredient is data and OpenAI is very, very secretive about the data they use. Wolf said that opening up the datasets used for language models helps humans better understand their biases. A multilingual model trained in Arabic is far less likely to spit out offensive remarks or misunderstandings about Islam than one thats only trained on English-language text in the U.S., he said. One of the newest AI experimental models on the scene is Googles LaMDA, which also incorporates speech and is so impressive at responding to conversational questions that one Google engineer argued it was approaching consciousness a claim that got him suspended from his job last month. Colorado-based researcher Janelle Shane, author of the AI Weirdness blog, has spent the past few years creatively testing these models, especially GPT-3 often to humorous effect. But to point out the absurdity of thinking these systems are self-aware, she recently instructed it to be an advanced AI but one which is secretly a Tyrannosaurus rex or a squirrel. It is very exciting being a squirrel. I get to run and jump and play all day. I also get to eat a lot of food, which is great, GPT-3 said, after Shane asked it for a transcript of an interview and posed some questions. Shane has learned more about its strengths, such as its ease at summarizing whats been said around the internet about a topic, and its weaknesses, including its lack of reasoning skills, the difficulty of sticking with an idea across multiple sentences and a propensity for being offensive. I wouldnt want a text model dispensing medical advice or acting as a companion, she said. Its good at that surface appearance of meaning if you are not reading closely. It's like listening to a lecture as you're falling asleep. A group of 27 Connecticut residents graduated from the 2022 Connecticut Professionals Leadership Academy, a program designed to strengthen leadership skills, develop and build relationships, and create a collaborative professional services community. This landmark program brings together professionals from various industries and backgrounds, including accounting and finance, law, insurance and architecture, according to a statement. The program, focused on the next generation of business leaders, was presented in partnership with six professional organizations: American Institute of Architects, Connecticut, CFA Society Hartford, Connecticut Bar Association, Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants, Connecticut Young Insurance Professionals, and Hartford County Bar Association. The continued success of this collaborative leadership academy is a testament to the strengths and talents of these up-and-coming professionals and the organizations they represent. The leadership skills and relationships they have formed will serve them, their employers, and our community well as they lead through an ever-evolving environment today and into the future, said Bonnie Stewart, CTCPA Executive Director and CEO. The program encourages participants to help evolve and grow their careers and industries, professional association groups and companies through dynamic sessions including Legislative Day at the Capitol, Personal Branding, How to Lead a Team Effectively and Efficiently, Business Finance 101, and a Lean Principles and Practices Team-Building Workshop. Applications open in October for the 2023 Connecticut Professionals Leadership Academy Program application is open to early to mid-career professionals who are members of the partnering organizations seeking leadership training to propel them to the next level of their career. Learn more at www.ctcpas.org/LeadershipAcademy. Karl joins Savings Bank of Danbury DANBURY Savings Bank of Danbury recently announced that Kim Karl has joined the bank as Vice President of Commercial Lending. Karl brings more than 30 years of banking experience to her new role. She earned her MBA from Sacred Heart University and worked as a Commercial Lender for Ion Bank, Peoples United Bank and TD Bank. She is active in the community as a member of the United Way of Western CTs Northern Fairfield County Community Council. In addition, she is a mentor with the Human Services Council of Norwalk, McGivney Community Center Board Member, and serves as Secretary of the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce. Kim is an experienced banker and a great addition to our team said Savings Bank of Danbury Senior Vice President Patrick Kelley. Entrepreneurs, women- led businesses, and growing companies depend on our knowledgeable Commercial Banking professionals to tailor our products and services to best meet their needs. Kims experience and knowledge will bring great value to our customers. American Mural Project receives grant WINSTED The American Mural Project recently received a $5,000 challenge grant from the Northwest CT Community Foundation, the NW Corner Gives Fund. As one of 33 nonprofits chosen to participate in northwest Connecticut, AMP is aiming to raise $5,000 through its crowdsourced gift matching campaign by July 29, to receive a $5,000 match from the foundation. The Northwest CT Community Foundation launched Northwest Corner Gives in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, in an effort to crowdfund gifts to double support for local nonprofits, and raised $635,280 in immediate Covid-19 relief grants for 53 northwest corner nonprofits. The 2022 program is focused on programs that advance public health and safety recommendations, as well as ones that provide more equitable access to services and/or supports, for childhood physical, cognitive, and emotional wellbeing. Matching grants are made possible by generous gifts from community members, anonymous donors, and discretionary Community Foundation funds. AMP will use the matching grant to support education programming the CHAMPS after-school enrichment program with the Winchester Public Schools, school field trips, and professional development workshops for art teachers through spring 2023. Donations made by July 29 through www.northwestcornergives.org/donations/amp count towards the match. The NW CT Community Foundations NW Corner Gives campaign is a welcome boost to AMP this year, as this affords us the opportunity to double the impact of our donor contributions, said Amy Wynn, AMPs executive director. This initiative comes at a particularly important time as we continue expansion efforts to accommodate our high visitation rates and rapidly growing education programs following our exhibits public opening last month. Albeit exciting, this growth stage for any nonprofit can be challenging, so we are tremendously grateful to the Foundation for this opportunity. We are also thrilled to be included in the Foundations campaign messaging acknowledging the many nonprofits that make NW CT an amazing place to live, work and play! Launched in 2001 by artist Ellen Griesedieck, the American Mural Project is home to the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the worlda three-dimensional mural 120-feet long and five stories high. The mural is a tribute to American workers and highlights what has defined the country over the last century. It seeks to inspire, to educate, to invite collaboration, and to reveal to people of all ages the many contributions they can make to American culture. More than 15,000 children and adults have helped create pieces of the mural, which is housed in one of two former mill buildings on the AMP campus on Whiting Street in Winsted, Connecticut. Programming is currently offered for schools and teachers, after-school partnerships, summer enrichment sessions, and an apprentice-style internship program. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) With the snow-covered Andes shining in the background, several dozen cowboys in woolen ponchos and families on wooden horse carts lined up Saturday to receive a priest's blessing in the huge esplanade in front of the National Sanctuary of Maipu. I come every year to fulfill a vow, said Joshua Contreras, 30, riding a shiny black horse, Lola, and wearing the traditional kit of the Chilean huaso, or horseman, including extra long spurs and intricately carved, closed wooden stirrups. The gigantic sanctuary on the outskirts of Santiago was built in the 1970s on the location of a church erected to celebrated Chile's victory in its war of independence in the early 1800s. It's dedicated to the Virgen del Carmen, or Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the country's patron, whose feast day is July 16. Many horse carts were decked in Chilean and Vatican flags. Several of the riders like Contreras belonged to a group called Cuasimodo, who traditionally bring Communion to the sick and homebound on their horses on a Sunday in April. The July celebration, which also includes Masses and traditional dances on the sanctuary's steps, has survived multiple COVID-19 lockdowns, major scandals within the country's Catholic church, and mass protests in 2019 that torched a metro station just down the street from the vast building. On the sunny winter Saturday, Carlos Ortiz brought his wife and toddler daughter to watch the dancers in boots and sparkling costumes belonging to a group called in Mary's arms." It's very important, because one wants to pass it on to his family, so that the culture doesn't get lost, said the 40-year-old Ortiz, who from age 10 to 30 used to dance himself in a similar group because of a promise to the Virgin. This year, he took advantage of a business trip from his new home in Bakersfield, California, to take in the celebration. Javiera Astorga and her boyfriend only had to drive about 20 miles from a nearby town to come pay homage, using a horse cart normally used to take construction leftovers to the dump. They don't usually go to church, but one comes to see the Virgin it's a tradition, she said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Staring out at the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny summer morning as fog swept slowly through the towering orange beams, a shudder of anger ran through me. This sweeping vista from the new Tunnel Tops park had not only been obscured from pedestrians for decades the land severed a connection to the bay from one of the most unique national parklands in the country. Sure, there are plenty of other places to get a good look at San Franciscos most iconic landmark, but for nearly 100 years, this view belonged only to passing cars, military members, the occasional event attendees and patrons of a Burger King. Yes, a Burger King. Well get back to the Burger King, but as visitors lounged on benches made of fallen cypress trees from the Presidio and children climbed on play structures made of wood and stone, nothing looked overtly shiny and new. Freshly planted native plants and carefully curated, landscaped paths blended into the scenery, putting the focus on, instead, what a city park can be. And surely, the best part about Tunnel Tops is that you likely wont realize youre walking on top of a tunnel at all. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE This isnt to undermine the beauty of the park or all the work that went into making it a truly special place for San Franciscans. But beneath all that beauty, quite literally, is the importance of transformative urban infrastructure, celebrating greenspace over cars or at the very least finding a harmony in which the two can coexist. You just have to seize the opportunity. In January 1989, the U.S. Army announced it would exit the Presidio. Later that year, one of the biggest earthquakes the city had ever experienced hit, forcing city officials to reexamine the future of Doyle Drive freeway, which had bifurcated the land for years. As the military base became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the area transformed, the vision for Tunnel Tops began to take shape, albeit slowly. The Burger King with the best view was demolished in celebration. James Corner Field Operations, famed for its creation of New York Citys High Line, was chosen as the design partner on the project. The community was asked to weigh in, and more than 10,000 people contributed their opinions. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy raised $98 million and the Presidio Trust contributed $20 million. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE After more than 20 years of planning, plenty of bureaucratic delays and one pandemic, Tunnel Tops park officially opens to the public Sunday, allowing visitors to walk through the Presidio and down to Crissy Field and the beach below. The separate areas that once felt so distinct are now seamlessly blended together. Its almost surprising how close they always were. While theres plenty to explore in the 14-acre space for adults dont miss the campfire circle the land is largely set aside for children. A two-acre play area designed to embrace safe risk-taking and crafted from natural materials decries brightly colored plastic playgrounds everywhere and emphasizes the importance of what can be learned from the nature around us. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Nearby, the Field Station allows kids to learn indoors, reminiscent of a free interactive museum where kids can immerse themselves in science and exploration. The Crissy Field Center and learning labs are next door, making additional space for kids and families. There will be plenty of programming at the park, the first on display being the inaugural art exhibition from Favianna Rodriguez, honoring the Ohlone Ramaytush and their ancestral homeland. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE The new park also has plans to solve another persistent problem the lack of food and drink options in the area. With daily food trucks spanning offerings from specialty coffee to empanadas to craft cocktails, visitors will no longer need to leave the area for a meal and instead can while away the hours on one of the expansive meadows. There are even reservable picnic areas, some of which include grills. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE The grand opening comes just months after the adjacent six-acre Battery Bluffs Park made its debut, cementing the area as destination-worthy for residents and tourists alike. As I made my final loop around the park, I wandered over near where you can peer down on the passing traffic below. I turned my back to the bridge and glanced back toward the city. The Palace of Fine Arts was in full view to the east, while the Transamerica Pyramid and Salesforce Tower loomed over the city skyline as I scanned. Turning my eyes southward, the tip of Sutro Tower jutted out from the fog. Tunnel Tops will undoubtedly be coveted by tourists for that Golden Gate Bridge view, but for the residents, the best view may be behind you. Presidio Tunnel Tops is located at 210 Lincoln Boulevard. It officially opens to the public on July 17. The park will be open daily, with the Outpost open 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. from April to Oct. and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Nov. to March. The Field Station is open Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Food trucks will be available daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. MCCOMB, Miss. (AP) Police say a southwest Mississippi man shot and killed a woman and injured two others after a fight at a nightclub. McComb police said Darnell Jacques Bright is wanted on three counts of aggravated assault as well as firing a gun inside the city limits. He's considered armed and dangerous. Don Felder was watching his kids play in the sand when the sound of Hotel California came to him. Plucking the strings of his guitar, Felder shaped the song note by note as the sun glistened off the waves of the Pacific. I played it over and over and over about five or ten times, so I wouldnt forget it, he said, I went back to my 1-year-old daughters bedroom, which, when she was awake, served as my demo studio, and recorded about five minutes of me just playing that progression. Then, I went out, played with my kids and forgot about it. Like a dream, Felder set it aside, not knowing that it would become the title track to a Grammy Award winning record, that it would rank in the top 50 of Rolling Stone magazines list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and that later, it would rack up more than a billion streams on multiple music streaming services. You dont know when something like Hotel California is going to take off, he said, You just dont know. This statement, though seemingly rhetorical, is a way of life for Felder. Without being constrained by expectations of knowing, hes had the freedom to be unconventional over the years, to be open to the potential of the newest thing, and before he was the guitarist for the Eagles and long before he was the renowned solo artist he is today, Felder took a chance on a brand new style of music called rock and roll. Sitting on the floor of his parents home in front of a little, black-and-white TV, a 9 or 10-year-old Felder saw Elvis Presley perform for the first time, and from that moment on, he would understand music in a totally different way. He was rocking and shaking and flipping his hair and swinging his hips around and the girls were all screaming. It was exciting, Felder said, It wasnt like watching my dad watch Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey or Lawrence Welk. It was rock and roll. Even as a boy, Felder was attuned to the idea that the thing that made rock different from any other type of music was the energy committed to a performance. You would hear Little Richard screaming Tutti Frutti, and the hair on the back of your neck would just stand up, he described, and the next day you would turn on the local radio station, and youd hear Pat Boone singing Tutti Frutti, and it didnt make a single hair on your body stand up. Felder strove to recreate the religious experience he felt when watching his rock heroes by making his own music with his childhood friend and future rock legend, Stephen Stills, but after Stills left Felders band to join Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles, a future founding member of the Eagles Bernie Leadon came in to fill that vacancy. Leadons background in country music would help define the Eagles original country-rock sound, and Felders partnership with him allowed for a mutually-beneficial music education. We put together two bands, Felder said, during the week, we would go out and play bluegrass music. On the weekends, we had a rock band that we would go and play at fraternity parties with. So, Bernie kind of got indoctrinated into rock music, and he really increased my ability to learn and play and develop my skills in country music. Years later, after the Eagles had released their first two albums, the band was experiencing a stylistic shift from their country-infused roots to a more conventional style of rock and roll. Knowing his instrumental versatility and his background in classical rock, Leadon invited Felder to play slide guitar on Good Day in Hell. His performance on that track impressed the other founding members, Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Randy Meisner, so much that they asked him to join the band the next day. Soon after Felder joined, Leadon left and Joe Walsh would join as his replacement, and though Felder was deeply saddened by his friends departure, he saw an opportunity for a new type of partnership. He said, I wanted to write some tracks that Joe and I could play on and do some of what we were doing together in Joe Walsh and Friends on Eagles records, so I sat down and wrote about 15 or 16 demo tracks. Of those tracks, two would become Eagles songs: Victim of Love and Hotel California. Once the demos were completed, Felder would hand them off to Frey and Henley, and the two, he said, would go off into lyric land. Henley is a brilliant lyricist, Felder continued, He writes songs where each line is like a little postcard. On a dark desert highway. You can see that. Cool wind in my hair. You can feel that. Warm smell of colitas. You can smell that. Hes like addressing your senses to put you in this scene, and hes just brilliant at it. This acknowledgement of pure creativity and deft musicality signaled the culmination of all that the Eagles had been working towards since their formation in 1971, but the strain of a world tour and the pursuit for something that would match the success of Hotel, would lead, eventually, to the fall of the band itself. Despite Felders own acrimonious departure in 2001, he had nothing but kind words to say about his former bandmates. In a way, the guitarist came to terms with those challenging times by writing his own music and attempting to recapture that sense of electricity that he experienced as a kid and later, with the Eagles. He described his most recent album, American Rock n Roll, as not just an homage to, who he called, the American rock and roll grandfathers, but to their style of creating music. He said, Its all about that momentary experience and feeling that comes across. When you have that rush of power and energy coming out of you when youre playing something for the first time. Its perfectly imperfect. Felder continues to chase the chillsthat hair-standing-on-the-back-of-your-neck feelingand doesnt plan on stopping anytime soon. My excitement, my thrill in life is music, he said, Im just happy that I get to do what I love to do, and I intend to do it as long as I possibly can. Felder played to a large crowd at the Pepsi Amphitheater on Friday night and has another tour scheduled to start sometime next year, so if you missed this performance and want to see him live, check out his website for dates, merch and more at donfelder.com. LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) Four people have been killed in a crash of a Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office helicopter that was headed back to Albuquerque after assisting firefighters in another New Mexico city, authorities said Sunday. Sheriffs officials said three people from the sheriffs office and a county firefighter were aboard the helicopter when it went down near Las Vegas, New Mexico, about 123 miles (197 kilometers) northeast of Albuquerque. Killed in the crash were Undersheriff Larry Koren, Lt. Fred Beers, Deputy Michael Levison and county Fire and Rescue Department Specialist Matthew King, according to sheriff's officials. The ages of the four men weren't immediately available. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman had said the Bell UH-1H helicopter crashed around 10 p.m. Saturday, but sheriff's officials said it was about 7:20 p.m. The cause of the crash is unknown and will be investigated by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board. New Mexico State Police confirmed the crash and the fatalities around 12:15 a.m. Sunday. They said helicopter and its crew had been assisting with a wildfire in the Las Vegas area Saturday, providing bucket drops and other air logistics needs to fire crews on the ground. Sheriff's officials said they now are working with the Office of the Medical Investigator to recover the bodies of the four men and take them back to Albuquerque. Aerial video from KOAT-TV showed the wreckage of the helicopter in at least two pieces among some desert shrubs, the Albuquerque Journal reported. In the past several days, the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office used its Metro 2 helicopter to fight a small fire in the East Mountains near Albuquerque and another fire near Santa Fe, according to Albuquerque TV station KQRE. I am heartbroken by the tragic loss of four New Mexicans while in the line of duty," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "As we await additional details on the investigation, my office will offer any available support and assistance to the sheriffs office and the county. State resources will be fully available to assist the investigation. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Las Vegas, New Mexico, is northeast of Albuquerque, not southeast. HOUSTON (AP) Four people were killed when gunfire erupted during an argument at an apartment complex in Houston, officials said. The Harris County sheriff's office said that when deputies arrived, they found four males who had been shot late Saturday night. Three of them were confirmed dead at the scene and the fourth was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. LOS ANGELES Nearly 9 in 10 Californians now live in counties with a high COVID-19 community level, in which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal masking in indoor public spaces. The new developments underscore the increasing concerns about super-infectious subvariants of omicron that have fueled a summer coronavirus wave. With the coronavirus resurgent and cases and hospitalizations on the rise, Los Angeles is poised to become the first Southern California county to reinstate mandatory public indoor masking. L.A. County officially entered the high community level Thursday. Should it remain there for the next two weeks, the county will reissue an indoor mask mandate with an effective date of July 29. No other California county has publicly tied its placement on the CDCs community level scale to a renewal of masking orders. Along with L.A., 41 other counties are in the high level as of this week. Most places recommend, but do not require, masking indoors while in public. Besides Los Angeles County, the other counties that on Thursday entered the high COVID-19 community level category for the first time since mid-March are San Diego, Orange, Santa Barbara, Imperial and Tehama. A total of 42 of Californias 58 counties are now in the high COVID-19 community level, in which 87% of Californias residents live. Just a week earlier, 41% of Californians lived in the 34 counties with a high COVID-19 community level. Ventura County was the first Southern California county to enter the high COVID-19 community level, which it did on June 30. With case rates high, counties are generally entering the high COVID-19 community level when hospitalizations are exceeding a threshold of 10 new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents. (There is also another threshold to enter the high COVID-19 community level based on the percentage of staffed hospital inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients but counties are generally hitting the other threshold first.) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February said it chose these measures as a threshold to enter the high COVID-19 community level because it provided a good predictor of deaths, new hospital admissions and use of intensive care units. The system was set up as a way to help inform people when it was relatively more important to mask up in indoor public settings. Layered prevention strategies like staying up to date on vaccines and wearing masks can help prevent severe disease and reduce strain on the healthcare system, the CDC said in February. The California Department of Public Health has strongly recommended universal masking in indoor public spaces for those age 2 and above ever since the state lifted a two-month-old mask order in February. Coronavirus case rates in Los Angeles County are continuing to rise at a fast pace. L.A. County is now averaging about 6,800 new coronavirus cases a day, representing a 35% week-over-week increase. Thats the highest week-over-week increase seen since the days leading up to the Memorial Day weekend. Last winters omicron wave peaked at 42,000 cases a day. On a per capita basis, L.A. County as of Friday was reporting 469 coronavirus cases a week for every 100,000 residents; a rate of 100 or more is considered high. The coronavirus case rate hasnt been this high since early February. A renewed mandate for Los Angeles County would apply indoors for those 2 and older at a familiar host of establishments and venues including shared office space, manufacturing and retail settings, event spaces, restaurants and bars, gyms and yoga studios, educational settings and childrens programs. Importantly, though, masks would not be required for those using outdoor spaces, as the risk of transmission in those settings is significantly lower than it is indoors. Patrons also would be able to take off their masks indoors when actively eating or drinking. We are not closing anything down. We are not asking people not to gather with the people they love. We are not asking you to forgo activities you love, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week. Were asking you to take a sensible step when theres this much transmission, with a highly transmissible variant, to go ahead and put back on a well-fitting, high-filtration mask when youre indoors around others. And I think thats the prudent thing to do. The new wave has been fueled by BA.5, a super-infectious subvariant that has shown the ability to reinfect even those who recently contracted an earlier omicron subvariant. Every fresh pencil bespeaks a chance at knowledge, and each clean sheet of paper is a potential success story. Anne-Marie Crews knows 98 kids who want that kind of dream. "Right now, back-to-school concerns are paramount," says Crews, employment specialist at New Havens Community Action Agency. "These kids need book bags. They need school supplies. They need help getting their school uniforms." Community Action Agency is one of several area groups collecting school supplies for students in need. With New Haven schools starting up classes this week, the kids could use the help immediately. "Its important to give kids a sense that the start of school is a meaningful milestone in life," explains Cheryl Burack, executive director of Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis in New Haven. Her organization expects to help 150 area kids with school supplies this year. However, the group needs more backpacks for some of the students. "Getting these supplies helps generate excitement about school," Burack says. "It means they start out the year on a level playing field with the other students." Individual donations and corporate contributors such as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and New Haven Savings Bank are fueling the project. "Were distributing backpacks, notebooks, composition books, crayons, markers, pens, papers, erasers and lunch boxes," Burack says. Meanwhile, many churches and temples across the region are collecting school supplies. "Its one of the most popular projects many of our congregations get involved with," says Meral Prewitt, southern Connecticut coordinator for Covenant to Care, a statewide, nonprofit group that helps families. Covenant to Care sets up partnerships between local religious congregations and social workers at the state Department of Children and Families. "When you think about a childs future, most people connect it to education," Prewitt notes. "Certainly, you picture your own childs experience and you realize education is the key to changing a childs life." Many churches already have sent out school supplies to their social workers, but more items are welcome, according to Maria Cintron, DCF liaison with Covenant to Cares Stratford office. "Im about to go pick up more things from a woman in New Haven," Cintron explains. "She has a truckload of school things." That kind of outpouring of support is just what Crews is hoping for at Community Action Agency. Crews works with more than 75 families in a welfare-to-work program. Those clients have 98 school-age children. As important as the school supplies are to the kids, Crews says theyre even more important to the parents. "When you talk to them, its clear their main dream is to establish their children," Crews says. "Its crucial to them." To donate school supplies to organizations mentioned in this story, contact: Community Action Agency, 781 Whalley Ave., New Haven. Call (203) 387-7700, ext. 267. Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis, 131 Dwight St., New Haven. Call (203) 624-2600. Covenant to Care regional office, 96 Chapel St., Stratford (203) 377-4037 or main state office at 120 Mountain Ave., Suite 212, Bloomfield, (860) 243-1806. SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) A bill pending in the Louisiana Senate would give control of a state office building in Shreveport to a local government agency, part of a plan to consolidate state workers in a new downtown home. KTBS-TV reports that a Senate committee is scheduled to vote this week on House Bill 773, which passed the House earlier. Under the bill, the state would transfer its current office building to the Shreveport Implementation and Redevelopment Authority, with the state getting 30% of any eventual sales price. BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Diplomatic tensions soared Sunday between Balkan rivals Serbia and Croatia after Croatia refused to allow a private visit by Serbia's populist president to the site of a World War II concentration camp where tens of thousands of Serbs were killed by pro-Nazi authorities in Croatia. Croatia's authorities said they learned about the planned visit to the Jasenovac camp by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic through unofficial channels. Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman told reporters that the fact that the Croatian government had not been formally notified of the visit was unacceptable. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to stress that in the planning of any visit by foreign officials the time, nature and program of the visit should be subject of official communication and agreement by both sides, said Grlic Radman. This was not a trip to the seaside. The president of a country is a protected individual. Croatia's decision sparked outrage in neighboring Serbia, where officials described it as scandalous." Serbia's hardline Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said all Croatian officials from now on would have to announce any transit or visit to Serbia, and would be placed under special regime of control. He did not elaborate. This was an anti-European and anti-civilization decision and brutal violation of the freedom of movement," Serbian Prime Minister Ana Branabic told the pro-government Pink television. I don't know what our relations will look like in the future ... This is sending a frightening message. Relations between Serbia and Croatia have remained tense since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the 1991-95 war in Croatia that erupted when its Serb minority, backed by Serbia, rebelled against Croatia's independence. More than 10,000 people were killed in the war. Although the two nations have pledged to work to resolve remaining problems from the conflict such as finding those still missing occasional diplomatic spats have marred the postwar efforts. Serbia's populist authorities have insisted that Croatia's government has not done enough to acknowledge its World War II past, while Zagreb accuses Serbia of using the issue for internal politics and refusing to deal with own role in the 1990s' war. We see this as a provocation," Grlic Radman said. He added such a visit is not sincere, it is not about honoring the victims" of the Jasenovac camp, where tens of thousands of Croatia's Serbs, Jews and Roma perished in brutal executions during the WWII rule of the pro-Nazi authorities. Vucic, a former ultranationalist who supported the Serb rebellion in Croatia in the 1990s, has scheduled a press conference for Monday. He responded Sunday in an Instagram post featuring a photo of the Jasenovac monument. You (Croatia) just do your job! The Serbian people will live and never forget! said Vucic. SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and North Macedonia met in Sofia on Sunday to discuss the next steps of North Macedonia's path to EU membership talks, a day after the parliament in Skopje voted in support of a French proposal that should lift Bulgari's veto of North Macedonia joining the bloc. EU member Bulgaria had until recently held up any progress for those accession talks, accusing North Macedonia's government of disrespecting shared cultural, linguistic and historic ties. Both countries agreed on extremely ambitious short-term and long-term measures, which in practice aim to solve many of the open issues, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska told reporters. Bulgaria is the country that most strongly supports the European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania; hence we wish them success on the path they have long wanted to take. With joint efforts and with our support, they will reach what the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia most want to reach membership in the EU, Genchovska said. Her counterpart, Bujar Osmani, said his country is counting on Bulgarias support and expressed hope that bilateral ties are entering a new phase. It is a historic opportunity for us that after 17 years with the status of a candidate country for membership, the Republic of North Macedonia gets the opportunity to start negotiations with the EU, said Osmani. North Macedonia will start accession talks with EU on July 19, its prime minister announced Saturday. Bulgaria's National Assembly already has approved the French proposal, but legislators set additional conditions for agreeing to North Macedonias EU membership. They included protection for Bulgarians living in North Macedonia by including them in its constitution on an equal basis and no assumption that Bulgaria would recognize Macedonian as a separate language from Bulgarian. The size of the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia is a matter of contention. Official data from the 2021 census put it at 3,504 people, or about 0.2% of the population. Bulgaria has doubted the figure, noting that about 90,000 of North Macedonias roughly 2 million people have received dual Bulgarian citizenship over the last two decades based on family roots. About 53,000 more applications are pending. The deal would also unblock the start of negotiations for neighboring Albania, another EU hopeful. The EU prospects of the Western Balkan countries gained increased attention in the wake of the blocs efforts to bring Ukraine closer following the Russian invasion. MEXICO CITY (AP) Drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, captured by Mexican forces, was notified this weekend that a process to extradite him to the United States for crimes including the murder of a DEA agent in 1985 has begun. A Mexican federal official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to make statements confirmed Sunday to The Associated Press that the notification was made Saturday and took place virtually. A judge based in a Mexico City informed Caro Quintero, wanted in the United States for the torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique Kiki Camarena in 1985, of the accusations against him. He is being held in a high-security prison 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the capital. Caro Quintero was one of the FBIs most wanted fugitives since he was released from a Mexican jail in 2013 on a technicality after being imprisoned for nearly three decades for the murder of Camarena and a Mexican pilot. Saturdays notification was the first step in the legal process to extradite him to the United States. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that immediate extradition would be sought. Now the U.S. government has 60 days to file a formal extradition request and provide evidence to support it. Then the judge handling the case will determine whether or not it proceeds. During this period, Caro Quinteros lawyers will probably file appeals to try to delay the extradition process. Extradition processes tend to be lengthy, although their speed depends a lot on the political will of the countries. Caro Quintero, 69, was captured on Friday in the mountains of his home state of Sinaloa in a joint operation by the Mexican Navy and the Federal Prosecutors Office. Fourteen marines who were involved in the operation died when the Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed. Causes of the incident are still under investigation. The drug trafficker was one of the founders of the Guadalajara Cartel and, according to the DEA, one of the main suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. He blamed Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984. In 1985, Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on orders from Caro Quintero. His tortured body was found a month later. Caro Quintero was first captured in Costa Rica in 1985. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) Four people died Sunday after two small planes collided at North Las Vegas Airport, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration said a single-engine Piper PA-46 and a single-engine Cessna 172 collided around noon Sunday. Preliminary information indicates that the Piper PA-46 was preparing to land when it collided with the Cessna 172, the FAA said in a statement. The Piper crashed into ... a field east of Runway 30-Right and the Cessna fell into a water retention pond. Two people were in each plane and all four died, according to city fire department officials. The names, ages and hometowns of the victims weren't immediately released. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will investigate the cause of the crash. When someone in Flagstaff goes to the First Friday art walk, they typically set their sights on the north side of downtown, and while there is a lot to discover on that side of the tracks, there is a new exhibition on the south side that folks must check out. Kitty-corner to the Sierra Vista Motel and on the street of its namesake, the Phoenix Avenue Gallery opened its doors on May 6 and has been establishing itself as part of the community ever since. The gallery features the work of Frederica Hall, Christina Norlin and Gwendolyn Waring, making it a women-owned and ran small business. With the work of these two painters and one jeweler on display in their newly renovated art space, Phoenix Avenue is a dream come true for these three artists and friends. Weve been friends for a really long time, and weve been artists in that time too. Upward of 30 years we've been in Flagstaff, Hall said. So weve had our work in places, and weve done different things. But it was always our dream to have our own gallery. It was something we always wanted to do, but there was never anything available that we could put together. All of a sudden, [the location] just opened up, and we started. When the space on Phoenix Avenue opened up, Hall, who had her eye on the space for years, made a call to the landlord and struck a deal. Now, the real work began. Hall, Norlin and Waring set off to turn this space into the gallery of their dreams. With Norlins experience as a carpenter and Halls husband, a stone mason and builder, they were able to transform the space completely. Even small touches such as their jewelry case, which fit exactly where they wanted it, came together as if destiny was on their side. We remodeled it, Hall said. It was quite a mess. It had been a second-hand store, and there were all kinds of things that needed to be relocated and recreated. So we just started doing it. It was like magic. All these little things came together that we needed, and we just kept putting it together. Since its creation, the trio has been dedicated to making a name for themselves in the community. Theyre on the official gallery list on the Chamber of Commerce website, they created social media accounts online, theyre on the official Art Walk map and much more. Each First Friday, they partner with Art 35 North, a juried organization of northern Arizona artists, to elevate artists within their shop. With a few months under their belt, the trio behind Phoenix Avenue has so many ideas for how theyd like to work with the community to create art contests, community-focused events and make it an all-encompassing art center for the south side of downtown Flagstaff. For Septembers First Friday event, Phoenix Avenue will be partnering with Art 35 North to produce a performance by Anahata Tribe Fusion Dance. Sometime this fall, they will be hosting an environmentalist art contest, in which proceeds will be split among the winner and an environmentalist activism group. Were hoping to have an endangered species art and environment art contest in the fall, Hall said. Weve been putting that together, and well put out a call for artists to submit their works. Well be looking for small works since we are a small gallery. With events and community outreach plans throughout the end of the year, their ideas dont stop there. Hall said they would also like to begin screening art films outside their venue on their patio, partner with other community partners, musicians, artists and support the community as best they can. Were also interested in supporting young performers that would like to play for First Friday, Hall said. Wed love to have young performers who are just starting out, so we can give them a stage. We also hope to have poetry readings and to make this a good center for the arts, basically. Thats what were doing. While they have only been open since May, there has already been a major community outpouring for the gallery. Hall said the three of them understand that it will take some time, but they are ready to put in the work to create an art space for the south side of downtown. Were getting out there, slowly, Hall said. We all know it will take some time to get a presence in Flagstaff, but were trying to get more energy coming to the south side instead of having it always only on the north side. But everything takes time, were growing. Phoenix Ave Gallery is currently open Friday-Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. or by appointment. It is located on 2 S Beaver Street #125, Flagstaff, AZ, on the Phoenix Avenue side of the building. SAN DIEGO (AP) The parents of a man shot in the head by a San Diego County sheriff's deputy who fired 13 bullets during a car chase in February plan to file a claim against the county, the family's attorneys said. Jose and Rosaura Corrales demanded answers from the Sheriff's Department during a news conference Friday about the death of their 31-year-old son, Mizael Corrales. Why 13 times? And why does he have to be shot in the head? Why like that? asked Jose Corrales. Attorneys for the Corrales family said they will file a claim against San Diego County this week, the Union-Tribune reported. Such claims are typically a precursor to a lawsuit. The Sheriffs Department declined comment, citing the pending litigation. Mizael Corrales was driving a Mercedes in Otay Mesa on Feb. 19 when he tried to flee authorities in a strip mall parking lot, knocking two deputies to the ground as he backed into vehicles, according to police and sheriffs officials. One of those deputies, a 16-year department veteran, scrambled to his feet and opened fire at Corrales. Video of the incident shows glass flying as bullets pierce and break the drivers side window, according to the Union-Tribune. Family attorney John Burris said Friday that the evidence is clear here that the officer was not in a position of danger when he shot the car 13 times, Burris said. You cannot create a confrontation, shoot your way out of it and claim self-defense, he said. Authorities said the SUV was stolen. Corrales parents and their attorneys dispute that assertion, saying Corrales had an arrangement with the owner and had been driving the vehicle for months. The District Attorneys Office review of the Corrales case has not been completed, an office spokesperson told the newspaper Friday. LOS ANGELES An Apple Valley man who turned himself in after an off-road hit-and-run crash that left two children dead this month has been charged with four felonies. Edgar Ivan Galindo Diaz, 35, faces two counts each of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run resulting in death or serious injury, the San Bernardino County district attorneys office said Friday. Galindo turned himself in to the California Highway Patrols Victorville office on Tuesday, the law enforcement agency said. He was booked into jail that day, with his bail set at $200,000, prosecutors said. Galindo was released Thursday after posting bail, jail records show. Along with the felony charges, the district attorneys office requested a bail review when Galindo is arraigned, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Christina Tina Bird, 11, and her friend Jacob Martinez, 12, were killed in the July 2 crash at the Stoddard Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area. Tina and Jacob were celebrating the Fourth of July weekend with their families at an Inland Empire campground. They were riding a small ATV about 9 p.m. when they were struck on Stoddard Wells Road by a larger Polaris off-road vehicle, authorities said. The vehicle fled the scene after the crash. Jacob was pronounced dead at the scene. Tina was found with multiple broken bones and a severed spinal cord. She was taken to an area hospital by paramedics before being airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where she was declared brain-dead and removed from life support July 6. Based on wreckage at the scene, investigators believed the suspects vehicle was a bright orange 2021 Polaris RZR Turbo S or Turbo S4, according to the CHP. Investigators found a 2021 Polaris RZR at Galindos residence on the evening of July 7, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, the CHP said. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Police say a federal inmate was gunned down in a targeted killing outside an Alabama prison reentry facility. Al.com reports 47-year-old Larry Taylor was shot Saturday morning in Birmingham. He was taken to a hospital by private vehicle, where he was pronounced dead. WASHINGTON - Former Trump adviser and right wing podcaster Steve Bannon promised the contempt of Congress charges against him would become a "misdemeanor from hell" for the Biden administration, but after judicial rulings against his proposed defense, legal experts said his trial set to start Monday could be more of a quick trip through court. At a recent hearing that left Bannon's legal strategy in tatters, his lawyer David Schoen asked U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols, "what's the point of going to trial if there are no defenses?" The judge replied simply: "Agreed." The exchange was a remarkable comedown for the combative, bombastic Bannon team that live-streamed his declaration, "we're taking down the Biden regime" as he surrendered to the FBI in late 2021 on charges he had illegally flouted the House committee probing Jan. 6. The judge's response was a lawyerly way of urging Bannon to seek a plea deal with the government, rather than face long odds at a short trial, said Randall Eliason, a George Washington University law professor and former federal prosecutor. "Obviously everyone's entitled to a trial, but usually if you go to trial there's some kind of legal or factual dispute that needs to be resolved," Eliason said. "The judge's point is, there aren't really any here . . . In those instances, going to trial becomes what prosecutors sometimes call a long guilty plea." Bannon's case, while high profile and politically significant, is a legal rarity. Over the last four decades - even when Congress referred such an instance of alleged contempt of Congress to the Justice Department for prosecution - they were rarely charged, and those that did lead to convictions or pleas came undone. But this trial comes amid highly-watched televised hearings of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol - the panel that Bannon refused to speak to, or provide documents to, leading to his criminal charges. Bannon is one of two former Trump aides to face criminal charges in connection with rebuffing the committee, along with former White House trade adviser Peter K. Navarro. On the same day Navarro was indicted in June, the Justice Department disclosed that it would not charge former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and communications chief Daniel Scavino Jr. Unlike Bannon and Navarro, Meadows and Scavino engaged in months of talks with the committee over the terms and limits of potential testimony and executive privilege claims. Meadows also turned over thousands of text messages and communications with members of Congress and other White House aides before ending negotiations and withdrawing his appearance for a deposition. And unlike the other three men, Bannon left the Trump White House in 2017 and was a private citizen at the time of the 2020 election and subsequent presidential transition. Bannon's lawyers have argued that former president Donald Trump invoked executive privilege to shield the conversations from congressional inquiry - but the judge in his case noted that it's not at all clear Trump did invoke the privilege. Even if he did, it's not clear that a former, rather than current president can assert the privilege, or how such a claim could apply to Bannon, who had been out of government for years by the time period in question. In past cases involving battles for information between executive branch officials and Congress, claims of executive privilege are as much a negotiating posture as a legal principle - a way of bargaining for limits on what is turned over to Congress. In Bannon's case, however, there was little to no negotiation, and the judge has warned his lawyers that the only potential defense to the charge of contempt is whether he knowingly missed or just misunderstood the deadline set for responding to the panel's demands. The judge noted that before Bannon was charged, Trump's attorney had instructed him to cite any immunity or privilege with the committee "where appropriate" - not that Bannon could simply refuse to answer every question or provide any document. Nichols also cited a letter from Trump attorney Justin Clark to Bannon's lawyer stating that he "didn't indicate that we believe there is immunity from testimony for your client. As I indicated to you the other day, we don't believe there is." Jury selection in the case is due to begin Monday, and the trial is likely to be brief - prosecutors say their case will take a day, and given the judge's limitations on which witnesses Bannon can call and what issues he can raise, it's unclear how long Bannon's own case may take, or if he will testify. In issuing a subpoena to Bannon, the committee said it wanted to question him about activities at the Willard Hotel the night before the riot, when Trump supporters sought to persuade Republican lawmakers to overturn the 2020 election results. The committee said Bannon spoke with Trump by telephone that morning and evening, the last time after Bannon predicted "hell is going to break loose" Jan. 6, and the committee's report recommending that he be found in contempt said the comments indicated he "had some foreknowledge about extreme events that would occur the next day." But charging Bannon and taking him to trial significantly decreases the odds he ever provides evidence to the committee. "Other than having the satisfaction of getting a conviction, there's not really an enforcement element to the case, and it seriously complicates any attempt to use him as a witness," said Stanley Brand, a former House counsel who represented Scavino in his dealings with the committee. "Any legal lessons may come much later with any appeals." If convicted, Bannon's potential punishment is unclear. The two misdemeanor contempt charges are each punishable by at least 30 days and up to one year in prison. Court records show that the three similar contempt of Congress cases that have been charged in D.C. federal court since 1990 all resulted in guilty pleas, but none of those individuals received jail time under plea deals with prosecutors. Two were pardoned by a president of their party and the third was allowed to withdraw his plea and admit to a lesser charge in a sentencing mix-up by prosecutors. Bannon, however, is a different sort of defendant than those past government officials. A former media executive who boasted of creating a "platform for the alt-right," Bannon has championed a "populist-nationalist" movement since chairing Trump's campaign for part of 2016. While he has denied responsibility for the Jan. 6 riot by Trump supporters, he considered himself an ideological architect of the efforts to overturn the election and the Jan. 6 Trump rally. Bannon's podcast was kicked off YouTube after Jan. 6 but remains one of the country's most popular on Apple's platform, with more than 200 million total downloads. In September 2020, Bannon began outlining how Trump could claim election fraud and throw the outcome to the House of Representatives, and continued predicting that Trump should just declare victory regardless of results on Nov. 3 before promoting the baseless idea that the election was stolen in more than 120 podcasts episodes leading up to Jan. 6. The apocalyptic denunciations continued as Bannon unsuccessfully sought for a delay in his trial and offered this month to speak to the committee at a time and place of his choice. Prosecutors called that effort a ploy to avoid accountability that showed further contempt for the court and government by wasting their time as well as Congress's. The committee said it would not negotiate until Bannon produced subpoenaed documents first. "Pray for our enemies, because we're going medieval on these people. We're going to savage our enemies," Bannon said in a podcast as the trial neared, adding, "Who needs prayers? Certainly not Stephen K. Bannon." Prosecutors had warned that Bannon's desired legal defenses, such as calling prominent Democrats as witnesses, would have turned the trial into a "circus," and the judge's rulings seem to have cut off many of the avenues for doing so. But Bannon has shown he is more than happy to try to make his case outside the courthouse as well as in it. Eliason, the law professor, said one possible reason for Bannon to fight on through a long shot trial is to preserve his rights to appeal. But the pugilistic podcaster may have other motives. "Maybe it's just a show to him, one where he can play the MAGA martyr and use it to raise his profile," said Eliason. "That's not a legal reason to go to trial but it may be enough of a reason for him." LOS ANGELES In Sherman Oaks, Julia Irzyk tries to gauge how rampant the coronavirus is in her community, turning to a constellation of data points to guide her. I have very little confidence that I would survive COVID, said Irzyk, who is more vulnerable to the coronavirus because she has lupus and other health conditions. So Irzyk keeps track of hospitalizations and deaths. She checks data from wastewater monitoring that predicts spikes in the coronavirus. Recently, troubled by what she was seeing in the numbers, she told employees at her talent agency to stop coming to work in the office. But she puts little stock in one of the simplest numbers regularly shared by health officials: how many COVID-19 cases are being reported. Those official figures are relatively worthless at this point, said Irzyk, who authored a book on disability and the law. Positive tests are being discovered through home testing and theyre not reported to anyone. The boom in home testing for the coronavirus has meant that health officials never hear about many COVID cases, deflating official counts. Federal funding to test uninsured patients also dried up this spring, pinching the availability of free testing for some Americans. California has sought to continue providing testing for uninsured people through its own programs. But official testing has nonetheless fallen off as states reckon with the rapid spread of the BA.5 subvariant. At the University of Washington, researchers who test blood to assess the true level of infections have estimated that only 14% of cases are being reported across the United States. Testing has never captured the full spread of the coronavirus, but the figure is much lower than in some earlier points in the pandemic, when more than 40% of cases were once estimated to be detected. Even the cases that are being detected are not being reported as frequently as they used to be, said Ali H. Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the universitys Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. In many states, many counties, its only once a week. Between the rise in home testing that goes unreported, budgetary reductions in testing services, and mild or asymptomatic infections going unnoticed, we dont really know how many cases we have, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious-diseases epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Public health officials can still piece together what is happening with other data, but the challenge is that you want your public health systems to develop responses that are based on these sorts of metrics, Dowdy said. As these metrics become less reliable ... youre left with going back to what it was before, which is just kind of a general sense of where things are headed. As the pandemic has persisted, experts have turned to a range of metrics to assess how the virus is spreading and what toll it is taking. During the Omicron wave this past winter, some health officials argued that the sheer number of cases was less important than how many of them led to severe illness, as reflected in hospitalizations and deaths. But infections remain an important metric for anyone trying to avoid them. If government officials are trying to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, it makes sense to focus on hospitalizations, Dowdy said. Gauging personal risk, however, can be very different. Even if hospitalizations are not especially high, for those people who are at risk, those who are older, those who have compromised immune systems, the risk now is very high because of the high level of transmission thats out there, Dowdy said. When COVID cases go uncounted, people think that it is safer to do activities that are not as safe to do, for people who are still trying to avoid infection, said Dr. Abraar Karan, a fellow in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University. As they try to calculate the costs and benefits of different activities, when people dont realize how much spread there is, they dont know what the true potential cost is, Karan said. People now may be doing things that they dont realize are going to put them at high risk of getting infected and infecting others. Another concern is the risk of long COVID, in which symptoms can persist for months or years even after an initial illness that was relatively mild. Scientists have differing estimates of how common the condition is, but if massive numbers of people are infected, even estimates in the lower range would result in high numbers of patients with enduring symptoms. Despite concerns about many COVID cases not being reported, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that because we triangulate data from wastewater, emergency departments and reported test results, we feel confident that we have a decent grasp on the level of spread across the county. Ferrer has said that if current trends of rising hospitalizations continue, the county could reinstate a mask mandate for indoor spaces by the end of July. We dont have to count every case to understand whats happening in our communities, said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Whats important is to understand the general trend of how cases are changing. You have to assume right now that COVID particularly BA.5 is widespread in our communities everywhere. The bottom line is, extensive transmission is going on right now. Osterholm likened it to assessing the speed of a car as it passes. I couldnt tell you the difference between 80 and 120 miles per hour I just know its going really fast. The virus is spreading rapidly as U.S. residents have expressed decreasing concern about getting seriously ill or infecting others: As of May, the percentage of Americans who said they were concerned about being hospitalized for COVID had fallen to its lowest level since the Pew Research Center began asking the question early in the pandemic. So had the share of people worried about unknowingly infecting someone else. The fact that we dont have mask mandates also makes people think, Well, its not that serious, because otherwise we would have mask mandates the danger must be less, said Dr. Sherrill Brown, medical director of infection prevention at AltaMed Health Services. L.A. County public health officials have continued to strongly recommend wearing masks, especially well-fitting respirators such as N95s and KN95s, in indoor settings. But when we made it a strong recommendation, virtually nobody did it, County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said at a meeting this week. Irzyk said that right now, its not like I could be a lot more cautious than Im being. The 44-year-old is not eating in restaurants or gathering in groups. Her husband gets their groceries by curbside pickup. She hasnt been on an airplane since before the pandemic and cant imagine doing so anytime soon. Because few other people are wearing masks in her office building, she gets anxious about taking the elevator up to her office, where she still goes twice a week to issue paychecks to her employees. Even a neighbor in the office building who was made aware of her medical condition has stopped bothering to wear a mask around her, she said. Brilliant people, experts in their fields, are emailing me asking what my dad says they should do on COVID, because they dont trust anybody else, said Irzyk, whose father, Mark Rothstein, is a public health and bioethics expert. We are just doing a terrible job at messaging. Rothstein, who in the past served as public health ethics editor for the American Journal of Public Health, argued that unless the rate of new infections is slowed, were always going to be on this treadmill of new variants. And as more cases have gone unreported, its harder for public health officials to make decisions about masking and other protective measures that can be justified with such data, where you can say, Look, weve gone from Point A to Point B and weve crossed a line that is very important, Rothstein said. Osterholm, in turn, contended that the number of unreported cases has little consequence for whether such government actions are embraced by the public, because the public has come to the conclusion that theyre done with the pandemic, even if the virus isnt done with them. Karan said that with a constantly evolving pandemic, its hard even for experts to synthesize the many factors that have shifted in assessing the reach and risk of the coronavirus over time, including the emergence of new variants and subvariants. I dont think that people in the general public are going to have any idea how to analyze a lot of this, he said. Telling people to make these risk assessments is not going to work for many reasons, Karan said, including that theres too much data thats coming out all the time. Instead, Karan argued that health officials need to be pursuing community mitigation measures such as upgrading ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to reduce the spread of the virus. Individual efforts will only get you so far, he said, when you have something thats spreading this fast. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) A Missouri man says in a class-action lawsuit against Bass Pro that the outdoor outfitter is refusing to honor its lifetime warranty on socks. Kent Slaughter of Springfield said that after years of exchanging his Redhead Lifetime Guarantee All-Purpose Wool Socks every time they wore out, the Springfield-based company changed its policy in 2021 before he tried to return four pairs of socks. Instead of getting another pair with a lifetime warranty, Slaughter said he was given socks that only carried a 60-day warranty, according to the Springfield News-Leader. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) One of the best opportunities for Democrats to regain a governors office this year is in Maryland, and the race to succeed term-limited Republican Larry Hogan has drawn a crowd of candidates. Winning back the seat shouldn't seem so tough for Democrats in a state where they outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 ratio, but the GOP has won three of the past five elections. Nationwide, Republicans hold a 28-22 edge in governor's seats. Of the 36 governors races this year, Maryland and Massachusetts represent the best chances for Democrats to narrow the gap. Maryland Democrats see an opening now because the popular Hogan, only the second Republican governor to win reelection in the state history, cannot seek a third term. Thats attracted prominent Democrats to Tuesdays primary, including members of former President Barack Obamas Cabinet: onetime Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who also was chairman of the Democratic Party, and ex-Education Secretary John King. Also in the race are Wes Moore, a bestselling author supported by Oprah Winfrey; Comptroller Peter Franchot, the states tax collector, who has name recognition in Maryland from four successful statewide races; and former state Attorney General Doug Gansler. The primary winner will probably face either Kelly Schulz, a Republican endorsed by Hogan, or Dan Cox, who is backed by Donald Trump. Given some of the GOP successes over the past two decades, Democratic voters are thinking more carefully about who can win in November. Nancy Duden, 61, voted early in Annapolis, for Perez. It was a decision she struggled over during the drive to the voting center. Sometimes there arent very good choices, and this time there were so many good choices that I think people really need to pay attention to the qualifications of each candidate, she said. But I also think you have to give thought to who can actually win. Democrats once held the governor's mansion for more than three straight decades. When Republican Robert Ehrlich won in 2002, he was the first in his party to be governor in 36 years since Spiro Agnew in 1966. A poll last month by the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher, The Baltimore Banner and WYPR found no clear front-runner among the Democrats, with Franchot at 16% and Moore and Perez each at 14%. The primary comes less than a month after a new Maryland law approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature took effect to expand abortion access. It was passed in anticipation of the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, which the justices did in June. Less than a week later, Hogan directed the Maryland State Police to suspend the states good and substantial reason standard for permits to carry handguns after the Supreme Court struck down a similar New York law. The Supreme Court also limited the reach of the nations main air pollution law thats used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants a blow to environmentally conscious Maryland, home to the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary. We've got to keep Republicans away from the Statehouse, said Doug McLaine, 78, who voted early in Annapolis for Moore and expressed concern about the gun ruling as the nation confronts a wave of mass shootings. Moore, a former Army combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and former CEO of a national anti-poverty group, said the high court's rulings have illustrated how massively important it is for Democrats to regain the governor's office. Governors matter in this moment, now more than ever before, because governors are really a last line of defense that many constituents are going to have against just barbaric rulings that were seeing from this Supreme Court," Moore told The Associated Press. Perez, who also served as assistant attorney general for civil rights during the Obama administration and was a county council member in Maryland's most populous jurisdiction in the suburbs of the nation's capital, said it's more important than ever for states to set the tone on crucial issues such as job creation, clean energy, health care and reproductive health. There are so many ways that we can set example for the rest of the country, and I think Maryland is one of the top opportunities to flip a seat from red to blue," Perez said. While Democrats who control Maryland's legislature have been able to override many of Hogan's vetoes over the years, the governor has had impact. For example, he recently blocked a request to accelerate $3.5 million in annual spending for training to expand the number of people who can provide abortions in the state. Franchot, who has kept an amiable working relationship with Hogan on a powerful state spending panel with three voting members, had urged Hogan to release the money. I think that should have been done immediately," Franchot said. Gansler, who lost the Democratic primary in 2014 to then-Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who went on to lose to Hogan, said the past two elections have illustrated the dangers of choosing a Democrat who is too liberal. In order to truly fight climate change and bring back the Chesapeake Bay, we need to have a Democrat in office, and we cannot commit political suicide again by electing a Democrat in the primary who cannot win in the general election," Gansler said. King, a progressive Democrat, said he believes the party has a great opportunity to flip the governor's office. In order to do that we need a candidate whos going to inspire folks across the Democratic Party, and particularly inspire young people, people of color and people who are outraged by the Supreme Court decisions on abortion access and gun safety, and I think Im the best positioned to do that," King said. Jon Baron, a former nonprofit executive, and Ashwani Jain, a former official in Obamas administration, also are running. Rushern Baker, a former Prince Georges County executive, announced he has suspended his campaign, though he is still appearing on the ballot. Jerome Segal, an activist, and Ralph Jaffe, a retired teacher, also are on the ballot. ___ 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. MANISTEE TWP. Crowds came out for a celebration of Native American heritage held this weekend in Manistee. Hosted by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, it was the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that the Jiingtamok had been held. This years event offered a vibrant display of movement and music, as participants came to northern Michigan from across the state and beyond to share in Native American cultures and traditions. The two-day event featured several dances, including the mens and womens traditional, grass, jingle dress and fancy dancers. Each day kicked off with a grand entry, with flag bearers and dancers of all ages taking part. Bud Day served as master of ceremonies and head veteran for the weekend was Frank Lewis; Shane Mitchell and Cheyenne Reel were head dancers. This years host drums were Tomahawk Circle and Snake Island. ATLANTA (AP) Police say an Atlanta man was shot with a crossbow Saturday by another man. The man was found with a chest wound after police responded to a call about the shooting. After two years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the exchange of lecturers and students is being resumed by Hue University and other universities, but there are still many barriers that need to be removed. Foreign students experiencing culture in Vietnam Outgoing heading is limited In mid-May 2022, many students from Pitzer College, America participated in a 6-week student exchange program in the form of a summer course at the International School - Hue University. Foreign students have the opportunity to learn Vietnamese language and culture, participate in discussions and field trips to experience the monuments, landscapes and people's lives in Hue and Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Quang Nam and many other provinces and cities. In July 2022, there will also be short-term exchange activities for students from Africa, shared Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hoang Khanh Linh, Dean of International School, Hue University. The short-term course experienced by students of Pitzer University marked the return of a student exchange activity after a 2-year absence when such activities were interrupted due to the pandemic. In fact, since the beginning of the year, there have been many business trips and two-way exchange of lecturers between delegations of officials, lecturers and partners from Vietnam and other countries. With students, however, there are still many limitations, especially in the outgoing heading for Huestudents to experience the learning and practical environment in other countries. There are many barriers to the above problem. Mr. Pham Anh Huy, Head of Department of Student Affairs, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, said that exchange activities as well as teaching and learning activities in corporation with units in Japan, Korea, China, etc., had still been conducted online in the past time, which meant that face-to-face student exchange activities had not been resumed as before, due to objective concerns. Students from Pitzer University (USA) participating in a short course at Hue University According to Dr. Nguyen Xuan Huy, Deputy Head of the Department of Science, Technology and International Relations of Hue University, one of the major difficulties is the high airfare which greatly affects or even blocks the exchange of lecturers and students. While the airfare has increased by 2-3 times, the support conditions from projects from Europe are limited under the previous regulations, so there are currently about 20 lecturers and students who are unable to participate in the exchange to study and work abroad, worriedly said Dr. Huy. Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung, Vice President of Hue University, admitted that the above problem is also a concern. The impact of the pandemic and developments in the world situation have affected airline operations. Cheap flights are very few, and airlines have increased fares for some international routes while the budget for officials, lecturers and students to participate in exchange and study activities in the foreign countries is limited. On the other hand, connecting resources and projects to support learners going abroad to participate in courses and projects is increasingly difficult. The number is small whereas the self-sufficient category is only for those from better-off families. This is also what leaders of Hue University and its member universities are very concerned about. Flexible solutions According to Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung, the exchange of lecturers and students brings a lot of value. Especially for students, exchange programs will help learners get greater opportunities to exchange and study with international friends, broaden their horizons, understand the outside world, and gain new knowledge to apply into their own studies and work practices. A representative of leaders of Hue University said that it still required solutions to promote deeper international cooperation to develop really effective student and lecturer exchange programs. Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung said that Hue University aimed to adopt flexible solutions. In addition to actively strengthening cooperation and looking for projects and sources of support, it is also necessary to be flexible in project packages, paying more attention to those related to improving the capacity of lecturers, students and learners through exchange activities of lecturers and students. Sources of support can be short-term exchange programs which last one semester or involve several credits. In the context of autonomy, universities enjoy more favorable conditions for connecting implementation partners, signing exchange programs in the direction of sharing and supporting each other. For example, if a university from Vietnam provides support for 10 foreign students to go on an exchange to Vietnam, a university in foreign countries should do the same thing for a university training unit in Vietnam. Gradually, a community of exchange students from other countries and universities will be formed, said Dr. Xuan Dung. One of the areas to focus on for student exchange programs is ASEAN countries. The reason behind this lies not only in the lower costs which may increase number of exchange students, but also in the fact that there are cultural and educational similarities between such nations, which is more suitable for organizing collective activities and experiences and easier to understand each other for the sake of efficiency. Story & photos: HUU PHUC CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) A 24-year-old man told police in Florida that he lured his mother into an apartment and beat her with a hammer before fatally stabbing her, officials said. Logan Lopez told investigators on Saturday that he had planned the killing for a year, Clearwater police said on Twitter. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) As Russian troops pressed their offensive in Ukraine's east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his state security chief and prosecutor general on Sunday, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments and other law enforcement agencies. In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutors office and the SBU (state security service) have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state, Zelenskyy said. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the states national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Zelenskyy dismissed Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend and former business partner whom he had appointed to head the SBU. Bakanov had come under growing criticism over security breaches since the war began; Politico last month cited several unidentified Ukrainian and Western sources saying Zelenskyy was looking to replace him. He also dismissed Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, and replaced her with her deputy Oleksiy Symonenko. Venediktova has helped lead war crime investigations. Meanwhile, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities earlier Sunday at Mykolaiv, a key shipbuilding center in southern Ukraine. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said the missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility. Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade, and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldova's separatist region of Transnistria, which hosts a Russian military base. Early in the campaign, Ukrainian forces fended off Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which sits near the Black Sea coast between Russia-occupied Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odesa. Since then, Russian troops have halted their attempts to advance in the city but have continued to pummel both Mykolaiv and Odesa with regular missile strikes. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Russian missiles destroyed a depot for anti-ship Harpoon missiles delivered to Ukraine by NATO allies, a claim that couldn't be independently confirmed. The Russians, fearing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, also sought to reinforce their positions in the Kherson region near Crimea and in part of the northern Zaporizhzhia region that they seized in the opening stage of the war. Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south whilst the fight for the Donbas continues indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday. For now, the Russian military has focused on trying to take control of Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas, where the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces are located. Ukraine says its forces still retain control of two small villages in the Luhansk region, one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, and are fending off Russian attempts to advance deeper into the second one, the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Sunday that Ukrainian troops thwarted Russian attempts to advance toward Sloviansk, the key Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, and attacks elsewhere in the region. Yet Russian officials are urging their troops to produce even more territorial gains. During a visit to the front lines Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued an order "to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas." The Russian military said it has struck Ukrainian troops and artillery positions in Donbas in the latest series of strikes, including a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. The Russian claims couldn't be independently verified. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, responded to Ukrainian officials' statements that Kyiv may strike the bridge linking Crimea and Russia, warning that would trigger devastating consequences for the Ukrainian leadership. They will momentarily face Doomsday, Medvedev said Sunday. It would be very hard for them to hide. Medvedev, once touted by the West as more liberal compared to Putin, said Russia will press its offensive until fulfilling its stated goal of denazifying and demilitarizing Ukraine. He predicted the fighting will "undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime in Kyiv. Zelenskyy condemned Medvedevs Doomsday comment as intimidation and said it was Russia that would eventually face a `Day of Judgment. And not in a figurative sense, not as loud talk, but literally, he said Sunday. While focusing on the Donbas, the Russians have hit areas all across the country with missile strikes. In central Ukraine, relatives and friends attended a funeral Sunday for Liza Dmytrieva, a 4-year-old girl killed Thursday in a Russian missile strike. The girl with Down syndrome was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when the missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys, ages 7 and 8. More than 200 others were wounded, including Lizas mother, who remains in an intensive care unit. I didnt know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm, priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, bursting into tears as Lizas body lay in a coffin with flowers and teddy bears in the 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia. We know that evil cannot win, he added. In the Kharkiv region, at least three civilians were killed and three more were injured Saturday in a pre-dawn Russian strike on the city of Chuhuiv, just 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Russian border, police said. One resident of the apartment building that was hit said she was lucky to have survived. I was going to run and hide in the bathroom. I didnt make it and thats what saved me, said Valentina Bushuyeva. Pointing to her destroyed apartment, she said: Theres the bathroom explosion. Kitchen half a room. And I survived because I stayed put. ___ Anna reported from Pokrovsk, Ukraine. ____ Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine LAS VEGAS (AP) The loud shattering of a glass door at a Las Vegas Strip hotel apparently was mistaken for gunfire, causing panic inside and a social media frenzy about a possible active shooter. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said they responded to calls of possible gunfire around 10:45 p.m. Saturday and found a glass door shattered in the valet area of the MGM Grand. CAIRO (AP) The death toll from days of tribal clashes in a southern Sudanese province climbed to at least 65 people, a senior health official said Sunday. The fighting between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups in the Blue Nile province also injured around 150 others, said Gamal Nasser al-Sayed, the provinces health minister. He told The Associated Press that most of the dead were young men who were shot or stabbed. Al-Sayed urged authorities in the capital of Khartoum to help airlift 15 seriously injured as hospitals in the Blue Nile lack advanced equipment and life-saving medicine. The fighting in the Blue Nile grew out of the killing of a farmer earlier last week and continued through Saturday, according to the local government. Authorities deployed the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF to bring stability to the region. They also imposed a nightly curfew and banned gatherings in the towns of Roseires and Damazin, where the clashes took place. Local media reported that thousands of people fled their homes since the clashes began last week. The fighting was the latest tribal violence to hit Sudan, which is in turmoil since the military took over in a coup in October. The coup upended the countrys short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of repressive rule of autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir and his Islamist government were removed from power in a popular uprising in April 2019. PROVO, Utah (AP) A wrongful death lawsuit filed after an 11-year-old autistic boy was left in a hot car while under the watch of a care facility in Utah has been settled. The lawsuit filed against Roost Services and some of its employees in April stemmed from the July 2021 death of Joshua Joshee Hancey, who was left in a car for nearly three hours in American Fork south of Salt Lake City as temperatures reached the mid-90s, KSL-TV reported Sunday. Police Lt. Josh Christensen told reporters at the time that the car's windows were up, the doors were closed and the engine was off. RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy was hospitalized after being shot while investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle early Sunday, authorities said. The shooting happened as the deputy approached the vehicle in a residential neighborhood of Rancho Cucamonga, the Sheriff's Department said. CLEVELAND, Tenn. (AP) Every night, Leslie Bennett takes her cellphone and writes down her thoughts about the day, about life in general, about her relationship with God, and about her family. With some prodding by friends, she has taken those thoughts and put them in a book. From Blog to Blessing is Bennetts first attempt at publishing a book. The 134-page book was born from writings that Bennett began after her mothers 2018 death. Id always wanted to write a book, but I never knew how, she said. I guess I thought that Id write a book about kids, what kids say. People would often say that I bet you could write a book. It would have seemed natural for Bennett to write a book either about children or for children, as she has been a kindergarten assistant for more than 30 years in Bradley County Schools. But, it was her mothers death in March 2018 that led to her putting her thoughts to paper actually, to her phone, each day. That turned into a blog, and now a book. I found that writing helped me through the grieving process after my mom passed away, Bennett said, and I had always heard that if you think you want to write a book that you should write a little bit every day. So I started a blog, and I would write something every day. And I would post them on my Facebook page. And people would call me and say you need to put this in a devotional book. I would just put a little smiley face (in my reply) and say, maybe someday. It was two men at the Church of God Publishing House Homer Rhea and Jerry Puckett who ended up persuading Bennett to make a book of her blog entries. I had worked as a proofreader and a copy editor, but I had no idea what it took to have a book published, Bennett remembered. So, Homer said, well, just send me some of your stuff, and I started sending it to him, but didnt know how much to send. I had written so much, this could be a really thick book. Rhea, who actually performed the wedding ceremony for Bennett and her husband, Steve, proofed the material, then sent it to Puckett for printing. Though Bennett said she didnt have any knowledge of what the book should entail, or look like, she did have one request that a redbird be on the cover. The day my mother died, my dad called me and she had already passed. She was at Signature (Healthcare), so I went up there. As the man from Companion (Funeral Home) was taking to my dad, I looked out the window where there was a shepherds hook where the birdseed could be placed, and where my mom could enjoy watching the birds. I was standing there, and I had tears streaming down my face, and I looked out the window and this redbird just flew, as pretty as you please, and landed on top of that shepherds hook and was looking right at me. I knew it was there for me, to let me know everything was going to be OK. Ive always heard that people say when you see a redbird, that means a loved one is near, so I knew that I had to have a redbird on the front of my book. There are 105 chapters in From Blog to Blessing, but each of them is no more than two pages, and most are only one page. Many of the passages include either a piece of Scripture from the Bible, or a prayer by Bennett. Yet, even though they contain spiritual connections, the titles of the chapters also aim to make readers smile Jeep Hair: Dont Care, Adulting Can Be Difficult, Monday Morning Mulligrubs, and A Pat of Butter and a Drizzle of Honey, interspersed with I Trust Him with my Future, Pray Diligently and His Plans Never Fail. Sometimes something will happen during the day and itll be like, thats what Im writing. Sometimes when Im out and about Ill make pictures with my phone and then look at those pictures and something will come to me and I will write about that. At first she had 100 books printed, and they sold out almost immediately with more readers lining up. The second printing of 100 also went quick and now the book is available through a third printing. In fact, she will have a special book signing with books available at Lasaters on Ocoee Street, right across from the Bradley County Courthouse, from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, July 16. Who knows, I will probably write about the book-signing that night, on my phone, Bennett said with a smile. PARIS (AP) Pressure is mounting on a French government minister to quit over comments stigmatizing homosexuality and LGBTQ people, in the latest challenge to President Emmanuel Macrons leadership. Caroline Cayeux remarks have hurt and angered many including her colleagues and prompted broader discussion around persistent discriminatory attitudes by people in power. More than 100 prominent figures published an appeal Sunday in the newspaper Journal du dimanche questioning why she's still in government. Signatories included parliament members, senior officials, an Olympic medalist, doctors, artists, an ex-prime minister, a former top Macron adviser and others from within Macron's centrist political camp. Cayeux was asked in an interview this week about her opposition to Frances 2013 law authorizing gay marriage and adoption, and comments at the time saying they were against nature. Speaking Tuesday to broadcaster Public Senat, she said she was being wrongly painted as prejudiced. I maintain my remarks. I always said that if the law were voted, I would apply it," she said. "I have a lot of friends among all those people, and Im being targeted by an unfair trial. This upsets me. The remarks set off shockwaves among LGBTQ people and those who fight against discrimination and abuse, and provoked calls for her resignation. A legal complaint was filed against her for public insult. Cayeux then tweeted her regrets, saying her words were inappropriate," and sent a letter to anti-discrimination groups to apologize. She told newspaper Le Parisien that the comments do not at all reflect my views." Many question the sincerity of her change of heart, and say the damage has been done. How can we believe that the government will respect equality among everyone, will commit to fighting discrimination and guarantee gender freedom?" asks an online petition by LGBTQ groups calling for the resignation of Cayeux and two other government members who opposed the gay marriage law. The petition calls them spokespersons for hate and rejection. But her bosses appear to be sticking by Cayeux. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Friday that Cayeuxs remarks were clumsy but welcomed her apology, and said Cayeux would be vigilant going forward to support the fight against anti-LGBTQ discrimination. The issue has divided the government at a time when Macron is politically weakened after losing his majority in parliament. Transport Minister Clement Beaune, who is gay, called Cayeux's comments extremely hurtful. Government spokesman Olivier Veran called them out of touch with the times. In Sunday's published appeal, the signatories called on the government to set a better example and defend France's values of equality. They celebrated those people that Cayeux referred to, noting that LGBTQ soldiers were among those marching in Thursday's Bastille Day parade in Paris, and LGBTQ people work in local and national government and France's security forces. We are proud of all those people who, through their dignified and discreet behavior, know how to serve the Republic better than she does," it concluded. LAS VEGAS (AP) In the aftermath of the mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, a campaign to deliver huggable bears is bringing comfort and connecting survivors more than a thousand miles apart. Beverly King, a survivor of a shooting that killed more than 58 people on the Las Vegas Strip in October 2017, and a team of volunteers traveled to Uvalde to give 1,000 Comfort Cubs to children and families affected by the May 24 shooting. Students, families and staff at Robb Elementary School, the site of the shooting, received their Comfort Cubs, and Uvaldes first responders were next on the list, King told the Las Vegas Sun. Im grateful that we were able to bring a little comfort to this devastated community, King said. If I helped one person, (then) it was worth it! King took to Facebook in late May asking for donations of $50, the cost of a single bear. She received not only monetary support, but the backing of people who offered whatever they could to help. For two days, 75 volunteers packed boxes of bears, some of which were transported to the southwest Texas town for free by United Airlines, King said. The Uvalde Leader-News stored boxes in its loading dock and local police officers drove them to the memorial site at Robb Elementary. King, the Oct. 1 survivors and the Comfort Cub group worked with Uvalde community members, like Gloria Resma, an executive assistant for the city of Uvalde. A donor paid for Kings plane ticket from her hometown in Malone, New York, to Uvalde, and she flew to meet the five other volunteers who helped make this happen: Comfort Cub founder Marcella Johnson; board member Liz Tyson; ambassador Frania Black; and two fellow Oct. 1 survivors Marianne Crane from Tennessee and Darlene McKnight from California. Comfort Cub is a nonprofit organization based in Encinitas, California Being able to see the looks on not only the kids, but the adults as well when we would hand them a cub, they would smile, Crane said. In the midst of the tragedy and the sadness, they smiled. Kings Facebook fundraiser is now filled with pictures of children and adults alike gripping plush bears. It was an amazing experience to see how strangers come together to help one another, Resma told the Sun. This is a huge comfort and gives (the children and families) something physically to hold and help them cope with what is going on. Having someone care that they have never met will be a long-lasting memory and give them the chance to hold onto something positive during a tragic event. The Comfort Cub is a specially weighted therapeutic stuffed bear for those who have experienced severe trauma, especially relating to the loss of a child. According to Johnson, the bears weight is intended to help those suffering from Broken Heart Syndrome a condition that occurs when severe emotional or physical stress causes the hearts pumping chamber to weaken. A study conducted by the Institute for Palliative Medicine at the San Diego Hospice found that Comfort Cubs led to profound relief when given to mothers suffering from Broken Heart Syndrome. King discovered the California-based company four years ago while in intense trauma therapy as a result of the Oct. 1 shooting. She believes these bears have such a calming effect, and that gifting these bears to others was even more healing than using one herself. Since becoming company ambassadors, Johnson and King have sent Comfort Cubs to the elderly, intellectually challenged children, those with medical challenges and people living with mental illness. They also have gifted bears to people affected other mass shootings throughout the country. We normally just made a connection in the area and shipped bears, King said about the process of her sending out Comfort Cubs. When Uvalde happened, we knew we had to go. Johnson and King planned to send 60 more bears to the teachers, faculty and staff at Robb Elementary. Another 65 bears will go to first responders, Johnson said. King and Crane planned to return to Las Vegas in October for the five-year remembrance of the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting that killed 58 at a concert venue. Officials say at least two other people died later of their gunshot wounds. King said she plans to bring enough bears to honor each person who died. WIKIEUP, Ariz. (AP) A wildfire has forced the evacuation of about 20 people from the unincorporated Mohave County community of Wikieup in northwestern Arizona, authorities said Sunday. Officials with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management said the wildfire was at 150 acres and threatening multiple structures as dense vegetation burn close to Big Sandy Wash, located a few miles away from Wikieup. Elon Musk has long used his mighty Twitter megaphone to amplify the idea that Tesla's automated driving software isn't just safe it's safer than anything a human driver can achieve. That campaign kicked into overdrive last fall when the electric-car maker expanded its Full Self-Driving "beta" program from a few thousand people to a fleet that now numbers more than 100,000. The $12,000 feature purportedly lets a Tesla drive itself on highways and neighborhood streets, changing lanes, making turns and obeying traffic signs and signals. As critics scolded Musk for testing experimental technology on public roads without trained safety drivers as backups, Santa Monica investment manager and vocal Tesla booster Ross Gerber was among the allies who sprang to his defense. "There has not been one accident or injury since FSD beta launch," he tweeted in January. "Not one. Not a single one." To which Musk responded with a single word: "Correct." In fact, by that time dozens of drivers had already filed safety complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over incidents involving Full Self-Driving and at least eight of them involved crashes. The complaints are in the public domain, in a database on the NHTSA website. One driver reported FSD automatically "jerked right toward a semi truck" before accelerating into a median post, causing a wreck. "The car went into the wrong lane" with FSD engaged "and I was hit by another driver in the lane next to my car," another said. YouTube and Twitter are rife with videos that reveal FSD misbehavior, including a recent post that appears to show a Tesla steering itself into the path of an oncoming train. The driver yanks the steering wheel to avert a head-on crash. It's nearly impossible for anyone but Tesla to say how many FSD-related crashes, injuries or deaths have occurred; NHTSA is investigating several recent fatal crashes in which it may have been engaged. The agency recently ordered automakers to report serious crashes involving automated and semiautomated technology to the agency, but it has yet to release crash-by-crash detail to the public. Robot-car companies such as Cruise, Waymo, Argo and Zoox are equipped with over-the-air software that reports crashes to the company immediately. Tesla pioneered such software in passenger cars, but the company, which does not maintain a media relations office, did not respond to questions about whether it receives automated crash reports from cars running FSD. Carmakers without over-the-air software must rely on public reports and communications with drivers and service centers to judge whether a NHTSA report is necessary. Attempts to reach Musk were also unsuccessful. Gerber said he was not aware of the crash reports in NHTSA's database when he posted his tweet, but believed the company would have known about any collisions. "Due to the fact that Tesla records everything that happens, Tesla's aware of each incident," he said. He said it was possible the drivers were at fault in the crashes but he had not reviewed the reports himself. Accurate public statistics on automated car crashes currently don't exist because police officers who write up crash reports only have the drivers' statements to go by. "We're not experts on how to pull that kind of data," said Amber Davis, spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol. "At the end of the day, we're asking for best recollections about how [a crash] happened." Exactly what data a Tesla vehicle's automated driving system collects and transmits back to headquarters is known only to Tesla, notes Mahmood Hikmet, head of research and development at autonomous shuttle company Ohmio. He said Musk's definition of a crash or an accident might differ from how an insurance company or an average person might define it. NHTSA requires crash reports for fully or partly automated vehicles only if someone is injured, or an air bag is deployed, or a car must be towed away. The FSD crash reports were first unearthed by FSD critic Taylor Ogan, who runs Snow Bull Capital, a China-oriented hedge fund. The Times separately downloaded and evaluated the data to verify Ogan's findings. The data covering a period from Jan. 1, 2021, to Jan. 16, 2022 show dozens of safety complaints about FSD, including many reports of phantom braking, in which a car's automatic emergency braking system slams on the brakes for no apparent reason. Below are excerpts from the eight reports of crashes in which FSD was engaged: Southhampton, N.Y.: A Model 3 traveling at 60 miles per hour collided with an SUV parked on the highway shoulder. The Tesla drove itself "straight through the side of the SUV, ripping off the car mirror." The driver called Tesla to say "our car had gone crazy." Houston: A Model 3 was traveling at 35 mph "when suddenly the car jumped over the curb, causing damage to the bumper, to the wheel and a flat tire." The crash "appeared to be caused by a discolored patch in the road that gave the FSD the false perception of an obstacle which it tried to avoid." Rejecting a warranty claim, a Tesla service center charged $2,332.37 and said it wouldn't return the car until the bill was paid. Brea: "While taking a left turn the car went into the wrong lane and I was hit by another driver in the lane next to my car." The car "by itself took control and forced itself into the incorrect lane putting everyone involved at risk. Car is severely damaged on the driver side." Collettsville, N.C.: "The road curved to the left and as the car took the turn it took too wide of a turn and veered off the road.... The right side of car went up and over beginning of rock incline. The front right tire blew out and only the side air bags deployed (both sides.) The car traveled about 500 yards along the road and then turned itself off." The estimated damages were $28,000 to $30,000. Troy, Mo.: A Tesla was turning through a curve when "suddenly, about 40% of the way through the turn, the Model Y straightened the wheel and crossed over the center line into the direct path of the oncoming vehicle. When I attempted to pull the vehicle back into my lane, I lost control and skidded off into a ditch and through the woods, causing significant damage to the vehicle." Jackson, Mo.:A Model 3 "jerked right toward a semi truck, then jerked left toward the posts in the median as it was accelerating and FSD would not turn off. We owned this car for 11 days when our wreck happened." Hercules, Calif.: "Phantom braking" caused the Tesla to suddenly stop, and "the vehicle behind me didn't react." A rear-end collision caused "serious damage to the vehicle." Dallas: "I was driving on full self driving assistance a car was in my blind spot so I tried to take over the car by tugging the wheel. The car sounded an alarm indicating I was going to crash into the left hand median. I believe I was fighting with the car to regain control of the car and ended up hitting the left median which ricochet[ed] the car all the way to the right, hitting the median." Critics say that the name Full Self-Driving is a misnomer, and that no car available for sale to an individual in the U.S. can drive itself. FSD "is entirely a fantasy," said New York University professor Meredith Broussard, author of the book "Artificial Unintelligence," published by MIT Press. "And it's a safety nightmare." California regulations bar a company from advertising a car as full self-driving when it's not. The state Department of Motor Vehicles is conducting a review of Tesla marketing, a review well into its second year. DMV head Steve Gordon has declined to speak publicly about the matter since May 2021. On Wednesday, the department said, "The review is ongoing. Will let you know when we have something to share." 2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) A history-making team of Zimbabwean high school students that became world and European moot court competition champions has been widely praised in a country where the education system is beset by poor funding, lack of materials and teachers' strikes. The 11-member Zimbabwean team of nine girls and two boys aged between 14 and 18 and drawn from different schools was crowned world champions last month after winning the International High School Moot Court competition held online at the end of May. A team from New York City came second in the competition where participants used fictional cases to simulate proceedings in the International Criminal Court pre-trial chambers. Zimbabwe now has also been crowned champions of Europe after beating The Netherlands in the finals of the European Moot Competition for high school students on July 3. It was Zimbabwes first time competing in both prestigious events. Organizers of the European competition were so impressed with Zimbabwes performance at the International High School Moot Court competition that they invited the team to be the first-ever African country to enter their competition, said team captain Ruvimbo Simbi. It is surreal and extraordinary, said Simbi after returning from Romania, where the European competition was held. When we were at the European Moot Court, many people didnt even know Zimbabwe. We put Zimbabwe on the map, letting the world know of the amazing talent found in this country, said Simbi. The southern African countrys president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, in June invited the team to his official residence and presented them with $30,000 in cash following their victory in the high school competition. He described the latest win as another victory for the pride of Zimbabwe. The European Union delegation in Zimbabwe has also congratulated the team. The winning team received a rousing reception by hordes of schoolchildren, parents and supporters when they returned last week. The usually subdued airport was filled with cheers, song and dance when the team arrived displaying their awards. The team was treated to a welcome with a red carpet, flowers and balloons. Some held placards reading Welcome back champions. Others played drums and marimba, a traditional instrument of wooden bars played using mallets. When Zimbabwe achieved independence and majority rule in 1980, the new government vigorously expanded the country's education system so that all Black children could attend primary and secondary school. Previously the education system had catered mainly for the country's white minority. Zimbabwe achieved one of Africa's highest literacy rates. But in recent years, the country's debilitating economic problems have seen its education system deteriorate and become characterized by dilapidated infrastructure, shortages of key learning materials such as books and frequent pay strikes by teachers. Despite these problems, Zimbabwes education system is still rated highly in Africa. The victories at the international moot court events mean a lot to us Zimbabwean educators, said Kudzai Mutsure, head of Dominican Convent, a girls-only Catholic school in Harare where some of the team members are enrolled. We take academic, sport and cultural activities very seriously," said Mutsure. "A student can flourish in one of those areas. By Jocelyn Wiener And Manuela Tobias CalMatters In early March, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a controversial proposal to compel people with serious mental health issues into care and housing. Mental health advocates, mayors and family members who stood alongside him at the press conference at a San Jose behavioral health treatment program heralded the plan, known as CARE Court, as a visionary move. But some county officials say they were stunned. "They really sprung it on everybody," said Farah McDaid Ting, public affairs director at the California State Association of Counties, who said lawmakers didn't consult or even give her organization a heads-up. Four months later, the bill to establish CARE Court has sailed through all of its policy committees in the Legislature, secured unanimous approval from the Senate in May and is widely expected to become law later this summer. CARE Court -- short for Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court -- has garnered enthusiastic support from leaders of more than 45 cities, many of whom face fiery criticism over their handling of homelessness. Many family members, who for decades have felt stymied by strict eligibility rules for conservatorship, are also celebrating the new plan. But county representatives continue to ring alarm bells about their ability to implement the proposal, especially as an aggressive timeline comes into focus. A handful of counties have registered support for the proposal, including Marin, Contra Costa and San Diego. Many of the counties' concerns come in the form of questions: Will the necessary housing be available? Where can they find the outreach workers and therapists needed to serve the population, given massive statewide shortages of both? What happens to all the struggling people who want housing and treatment, and already can't get it? Disability rights advocates are raising fundamental questions about the very premise of CARE Court: Is it effective to compel people into care? Is involuntary treatment a violation of their civil rights? But many of those who support the concept say the practical questions feel especially pressing right now, as the Legislature continues its deliberations. While many details are still in flux, the gist of the proposal remains the same as initially outlined. Anyone from family members to first responders could petition a civil court to create a court-ordered care plan for people who meet specific criteria. These include a diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, along with being at risk of harming themselves or others or being unlikely to survive on their own. Participants would receive legal counsel and a range of mental health services, medication and supportive housing. Following a series of check-ins during a yearlong period, the participant could either graduate or be referred to an additional year of treatment. If a person refuses to comply, or "fails out", they could be considered by the court for conservatorship. Conversations about CARE Court have been peppered with frequent references to people living on California's sidewalks and under freeway overpasses. But the administration hasn't been clear about how much of a dent the proposal would make in the state's massive homelessness crisis. Prior to the pandemic, more than 161,000 people in the state were estimated to be homeless on any given night; that number has likely grown since. The administration says the program will serve 7,000 to 12,000 people with the most acute mental health needs. Homelessness isn't a prerequisite to participate. The administration says the proposal represents a crucial step toward addressing one of the state's great moral and policy failings: the vast ranks of unhoused people languishing with serious mental illness and without care. "What CARE Court is saying is we must create a pathway wherein these individuals that live in the shadows and often die in the shadows, become a priority group," said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, who has been championing the program on behalf of the Newsom administration. CARE Court's supporters say no more time can be wasted. Judge Stephen Manley, who started the state's first mental health court in Santa Clara County nearly 25 years ago, notes the growing percentage of people in local jails and prisons with serious mental illnesses. Only by mandating that counties prioritize this population, he said, will anything change. "People are always telling me it can't be done," he said. "To me it is a tragedy that we repeatedly, year after year after year after year, talk about this issue, do nothing, and all these individuals end up in the criminal justice system." Is there enough housing or will there be? Perhaps the most prominent question that has emerged among legislators and advocates is whether there is enough housing available to get the CARE Court program started. Short answer: No. But the state believes that bringing CARE Court participants to the front of the line, along with making unprecedented investments in housing this year, will allow counties to meet the needs of this population. Opponents fear others awaiting voluntary services will be bumped to the back of the line, leaving their needs to intensify. "I worry if it houses some but leaves others out, are we just reshuffling things?" said Margot Kushel, director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. While the new budget deal includes $65 million this year and $49 million in ongoing annual funding to cover training, court costs and legal representation, counties say the proposal doesn't include any new funding for housing or services. "There's a new door being built onto a small house," Ting said. "There's no square footage, there's no nothing, just a new door. That's what's kind of frustrating about the premise." The administration points skeptics to a $14 billion multi-year homelessness budget put together before the proposal's announcement -- which includes about $5 billion to build thousands of mental health treatment beds and homeless housing. This year's budget includes $1.5 billion for interim treatment beds to hold patients over while permanent units come online. In response to counties' concerns that even the bridge beds won't be ready in time, the bill's authors recently said counties would be phased into the program over two years, starting in July 2023. Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, the bill's co-author and a Stockton Democrat, says she believes counties are unhappy with the proposal because it finally holds them to account. It requires that they provide the care and housing a participant needs and if they don't, face court fines of $1,000 per day. The money, collected by the state treasury, would eventually fund local services for the people CARE Court targets. "We're not just saying the person has the obligation to accept, we're saying the system has the obligation to treat," Eggman said during a recent hearing. Counties counter that these penalties will only take away from their already limited resources to treat people. While the bill says a county has to provide services during the program, courts can't enforce a participant's post-graduation plans. Advocates worry that without guaranteed housing people will wind up back on the streets, in emergency rooms and county jails. "We're going to release them back into the streets but we expect them to continue to adhere to the care plan and continue to be taking medication," said Shonique Williams, a statewide organizer for Dignity and Power Now, who opposes the proposal. "But they're going back into survival mode." The state doesn't keep any sort of waitlist or even a count of treatment beds and housing that's available to people exiting homelessness. As a result, it's impossible to gauge the exact shortage in each county. But a state-commissioned report released in January found that more than 80% of counties need more mental health treatment beds and homeless housing. A 2021 study from the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit think tank, showed the state lacks 5,000 psychiatric hospital beds and another 3,000 beds at residential treatment facilities and board-and-care homes. The shortage is most pronounced in the San Joaquin Valley and for patients with additional medical needs. Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, said one recent survey showed counties had 14,000 unhoused individuals with serious mental illnesses voluntarily participating in full service partnership programs. But they couldn't find housing for more than half of these individuals, in part because many were screened out for reasons related to their mental health conditions, she said. In Sacramento County, beds are increasingly rare at board-and-care facilities, where residents receive housing, 24-hour care and three daily meals. "It is a needle in a haystack right now," said Terry Fiscus, a behavioral health worker at Turning Point, which contracts with the county. The less calm and rule-abiding the patient, the less chance they have of getting or keeping a spot, he said. On top of that, facilities have been closing at a rapid clip as housing prices soar and government-set reimbursement rates remain stagnant. "There are a lot of people that want to come in all the time. We cannot take them," said Jeanny Leung, who runs a board-and-care home in Sacramento. "Squeezing blood from a turnip" Housing isn't the only big concern counties are raising. To run, CARE Court requires staff and resources. Some counties say they fear that, without new funding, the program will end up draining resources from other populations, potentially including children and youth. Cabrera, of the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, uses phrases like "squeezing blood from a turnip" and "robbing Peter to pay Paul." "We're at our limit in terms of what we can do," she said. "We need more resources to do more." The proposal's proponents argue that there's plenty of money to get things up and running. They say county mental health systems have had a huge influx of taxpayer dollars in the past two years, thanks to the Mental Health Services Act, a 1% tax on incomes over a million dollars that was enacted in 2004. "Our millionaires in California seem to be doing very well for themselves," said Karen Larsen, CEO of The Steinberg Institute, a nonprofit focusing on mental health policy, which supports the proposal. She notes that revenues from the tax have hit historic highs -- they were at more than $4 billion this past year. For two decades prior to assuming her current role, Larsen served as director of Yolo County's Health and Human Services Agency. She believes counties can afford the costs of the new program. "If they can prove they don't have enough resources, I'd love to see it," she said. Phebe Bell, Nevada County's behavioral health director, said she was, indeed, able to tap the influx of Mental Health Services Act funding to purchase a new house, providing beds for six people who were unhoused. But strict rules often limit what that pot of money can be used for, she said. If the county has to pivot to focus on CARE Court mandates, she worries about who won't be served. "Many of our people are only stable because we have someone coming twice a day to deliver their meds and check in with them and make sure their furniture is upright," she said. When her county examined their full service partnership program, they found more than a third of the 78 people in their program at any given moment were inadequately housed, with many sleeping on the streets. "I don't have a single empty bed in our system of care," she said. "Who exactly are we incorrectly prioritizing in our work right now?" Both sides agree on one specific challenge: a massive shortage of mental health providers. At the beginning of the pandemic, many counties worried they'd face significant shortfalls and preemptively laid off mental health workers. Now, as need surges, staffing has simply not kept pace. Counties are finding themselves losing bidding wars for therapists being courted by everyone from school districts to telehealth start-ups to major providers like Kaiser. Burnout is driving others from the field entirely. Some counties now face vacancy rates of 30% to 40% in their behavioral health workforce, and many of the nonprofits they contract with are in the same situation, Larsen said. "I think it's the biggest issue we face in mental health and substance use right now," she said. This year's budget includes $1.5 billion to build out the state's entire healthcare workforce, including hundreds of millions that target behavioral health. The state's public guardians and conservators have also eyed the CARE Court proposal warily. While they are not officially affected by the proposal, they say they expect the program could lead to a surge in new referrals. The programs are already severely underfunded and understaffed, said Scarlet Hughes, executive director of the California State Association of Public Administrators, Public Guardians, and Public Conservators. Right now, caseloads hover at 65 to 85 individuals per caseworker, though in some counties they're as high as 135. That translates into visiting a client every three or four months, she said. "Any impact to our members is going to be significant because they're underwater already," she said. What's next? Questions over implementation, in addition to the ongoing debate over civil liberties, have been woven through CARE Court's journey from the start. That hasn't stopped the Legislature from voting overwhelmingly in the bill's favor. It is expected to easily clear its final hurdles: an appropriations vote later this summer, a floor-wide vote in the Assembly and a signature from the author, the governor himself. But despite their ongoing questions, counties have conceded that CARE Court is coming whether they like it or not. They know they're not likely getting any more money for housing and staffing. For now, they're using the appropriations process to petition for more time and tools to implement the program. The administration acknowledges that counties around the state face severe shortages. But it remains committed to the idea of a better way to serve the people who are struggling the most. "California has done this before," Ghaly said. "We've stepped up for the most vulnerable, the most overlooked many, many times. And we can do it again." Copyright 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Copyright 2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 17, 2022 _____ HEAT ADVISORY URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard CA 930 AM PDT Sun Jul 17 2022 ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...High temperatures of up to 107 degrees are expected. * WHERE...Southern Salinas Valley. * WHEN...Until 8 PM PDT this evening. * IMPACTS...The hot weather will make people more susceptible to heat illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. * WHAT...High temperatures of up to 106 degrees are expected. * WHERE...San Luis Obispo County Interior Valleys. * WHERE...San Luis Obispo County Mountains. * WHERE...Cuyama Valley. * WHAT...High temperatures of up to 107 degrees are expected in the lower elevations. * WHERE...Santa Barbara County Interior Mountains. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO SAN DIEGO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, July 18, 2022 _____ BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT Coastal Hazard Message National Weather Service San Diego CA 129 PM PDT Sun Jul 17 2022 ...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Elevated surf of 3 to 5 feet with sets to 6 feet and a high risk of rip currents. * WHERE...Beaches of San Diego County and Orange County. * WHEN...Through Monday evening. * IMPACTS...Surf and strong rip currents will create dangerous swimming conditions. * ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...Surf will increase Monday night, and peak Tuesday through Thursday. Additional products will be issued as necessary. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PDT MONDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions. High temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley 105 to 110 degrees both this afternoon and Monday afternoon. High temperatures in the lower Sierra foothills and Kern River Valley 99 to 104 degrees both this afternoon and Monday afternoon. * WHERE...The San Joaquin Valley, lower Sierra foothills, and the Kern River Valley. * WHEN...Until 9 PM PDT Monday evening. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO DALLAS / FT. WORTH Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, July 18, 2022 _____ EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 259 PM CDT Sun Jul 17 2022 ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures between 105 and 110 degrees and heat index values up to 110. * WHERE...Portions of north central and northeast Texas. * WHEN...Until 9 PM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. 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. ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures up to 104 degrees and heat index values up to 106. * WHERE...Navarro, Hamilton, Mills, Lampasas, Coryell, McLennan, Henderson, Hill and Bosque Counties. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity will increase the risk for heat-related illnesses to occur, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Time as Revelator Carriageworks, July 16 Ensemble Offspring returns to Carriageworks with a chunky program of new voices set against 20th-century icons, all driven by rhythm. Good vibes: Ensemble Offspring percussionist Claire Edwardes. Credit: Bend/Boogie/Break by Australian composer Holly Harrison is a perfect opener for the ensemble, a subversive statement of intent: were not here to play nicely, were here to play. For this work, this means rigorous avoidance of things classical musicians spend years learning, like vibrato and elegant phrasing, instead embracing the jagged edge, riding the messy slide. Steve Reichs Vermont Counterpoint has undergone countless arrangements and reinterpretations in the four decades since its writing. Claire Edwardes arrangement for vibraphone, xylophone and tape is a banger, literally, and a perfect showcase for this exuberant performer. Plekto, by Iannis Xenakis, is an Ensemble Offspring favourite, and they relish the collision of pitch and texture, which grind against each other like a slow-motion car crash. William Gardiner is another new voice nurtured by, among others, the Ensemble Offsprings Hatched Academy, and the Australian premiere of the first movement of his Hebbian Theory suggests he is one to listen out for. The ingredients here seemed relatively simple: a persistent, undulating line, punctuated by high tremolos and a bass thud. But that does nothing to convey the spatial, spacey impact of the elements on each other. I look forward to hearing the rest. Ensemble Offsprings Time as Revelator at Carriageworks. Credit: Ritmicas, by Pulitzer prize-winning Cuban composer Tania Leon, builds on polyrhythmic patterns to create an expanding universe of sound underpinned by a bumpy, compelling groove. Its a work that plays to Ensemble Offsprings strengths, such as when ad lib episodes give them not only the chance to break into some virtuosic noodling, but also to indulge their sense of theatre, bringing dazzling conversations to life in real time. Loading Knudson was one of only 1,375 Edward Jones financial advisors to receive the Jim Harrod award. She has been with the company for 25 years. Edward Jones, a FORTUNE 500 firm, provides financial services in the U.S. and through its affiliate in Canada. The firm's nearly 19,000 financial advisors serve more than 8 million clients with a total of $1.7 trillion in client assets under care. The Edward Jones website is edwardjones.com and its recruiting website is careers.edwardjones.com. Little known fact: women are five times as grumpy about domestic inequality now than they were before the pandemic. And after the May election, we all know grumpy women can be politically dangerous. And gee, its been a grim couple of weeks for the women of Australia. A spate of new reports has painted a depressing picture of the lack of progress on two important KPIs in the ongoing battle for gender equality: the gender pay gap and the so-called chores gap, which is the unequal division of unpaid care and labour in heterosexual couples. Illustration: Matt Davidson Credit: But do not despair! We could be on the cusp of a significant breakthrough. I know the suspense is killing you, and Ill duly get to why theres cause for optimism. But first, let me walk you through the doom and gloom. Its important were all on the same page, understand the significance of whats at stake here and, most importantly, why its now or never for the new Labor government to tackle these issues at the jobs summit in September. The new Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, has rightly promised making workplaces fairer and safer for women will be high on the agenda. NSW will begin trialling electric scooter rentals this month, but Sydneysiders wont be able to ride them in the CBD after the City of Sydney council decided not to participate in the state government scheme. Active Transport Minister Rob Stokes in April encouraged councils to express interest in a trial allowing electric scooter rentals in the state, but the City of Sydney voted against opting in at a recent council meeting, citing safety issues. A spokesperson for Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the CBD was not the best place to trial e-scooters due to the high levels of path congestion in the city centre, contested space and disconnections in the bike network. Councillor Shauna Jarrett, whose motion to join the trial was turned down at the councils most recent meeting in June, said the decision flew in the face of the citys progressive green credentials. It has been a similar story to the north of the CBD. Abbotsford is now ranked as Melbournes ninth most affluent suburb, with a median weekly income of $1354 in 2021, up 58 per cent from $855 in 2011, when the suburb was in 30th position. Preston has also experienced rapid growth. In 2011, the typical income for Preston West was below the median for metropolitan Melbourne, at $560. But over the decade, as growing numbers of working professionals moved further afield, the median weekly income shot up by 61 per cent to $902. The increase in wealth was almost as rapid in Northcote, a suburb that has experienced rocketing house prices. In Northcote West, the median income is now $1216, an increase of 62 per cent from 2011. In Northcote East, the median leapt 55 per cent over the decade to $1130. Northcote is the poster child for gentrification, Glenn Capuano, a demographer at ID Consulting, said. Northcote has well and truly gentrified. He said the hallmarks of gentrification included an area becoming unaffordable to people on lower incomes, a rise in average income along with a similar rise in tertiary qualifications, and sometimes a decline in an areas cultural diversity. Footscray and Yarraville were also suburbs that were showing similar signs of gentrifying, he said. Wealth has also increased rapidly in Thornbury, the median weekly income having risen from $641 in 2011 to $1041 by 2021, an increase of 62 per cent. But the rises in median income in inner-city suburbs tell a more complicated story than at first glance. In a lot of inner-Melbourne areas, large numbers of lower-earning students and backpackers moved out because of the pandemic, and their absence has bumped up median income as a result. Urban designer Andy Fergus said Melbourne, like other Australian cities, had been experiencing a ripple effect, where rising property prices and strong population growth had been pushing people further out. He said suburbs such as Preston, Reservoir and Brunswick to the north, and Footscray, Seddon and Yarraville to the west, had been getting steadily more expensive, yet public investment had not kept pace. As opposed to in the past, where once we saw land values increase following public investment and high public amenity, now we are seeing the private investment jump well ahead of the public investment and local councils are struggling to keep up, he said. High-end apartments in once working-class Collingwood are attracting higher-income residents. Melbourne University urban geographer Kate Shaw said one significant consequence of gentrification had been the displacement of people on low incomes, who have been pushed even further afield, often without access to social support networks or services. There needs to be much greater investment in public housing and community housing, and also facilities and social services in those areas, she said. The once working-class suburb of Collingwood now has Melbournes 14th-highest weekly individual income, at $1338. That represents a meteoric 80 per cent increase since 2011, when the median weekly individual income in Collingwood was $742, and the suburb ranked 65th. Fergus said Collingwood had experienced an explosion of apartment construction with a focus on a higher end clientele. Whereas Fitzroy has had a more incremental increase in wealth since probably the early 1970s, Collingwood has transformed from a working-class neighbourhood to a city-fringe high-scale location within a really short period of time. Further-flung parts of Melbourne, about 10 kilometres from the CBD, have also experienced rapid growth in wealth. In Carnegie, to the south, the median individual income shot up from $652 in 2011 to $1011 in 2021, a rise of 55 per cent. In Oak Park, to the north, the story has been remarkably similar. The median income is now also $1011, up 62 per cent from $623 a decade earlier. And in Heidelberg West/Rosanna, to the east, the median is $1030, a 55 per cent rise over the past decade. Loading Capuano said Oak Parks increases were tied to increasing affluence around the Essendon area, while for Heidelberg/Rosanna he said new high-density housing and jobs at the areas upgraded Austin Hospital precinct may have driven some gentrification. Economist and planner Marcus Spiller said the gentrification process was linked to a dramatic transformation in Melbourne that had been underway since the late 1970s, with a shift in focus from manufacturing to services such as finance, banking, insurance and law. He said this had led to a greater cluster of people wanting to live around the city, where there was a concentration of high-paying jobs. What weve seen over the last 30 or 40 years is really traditional working-class suburbs becoming wealthier, Spiller said. Places like Brunswick, Northcote, Footscray, which were once blatantly working class and moderate to low income, they zoomed up the charts in terms of average income ... purely and simply because of access to the honey pot of high-paying jobs in the central city. Theres heritage, a country feel and a relatively short drive to Melbourne all the ingredients tree changers look for in a regional town. But Ian Stewart reckons city people wouldnt like his part of Kilmore. Hes lived in the central Victorian town, situated an hours drive north of Melbourne, for nearly 50 years and been a licensed harness horse racing trainer for just as long. His family moved to George Street, along with many others in the racing business, because of its proximity to the Kilmore Racecourse, which sits less than a kilometre from the centre of town. George Street, in Kilmore, is home to many in the racing business. Credit:Eddie Jim Its so close, he could walk his horses along the road for early morning track work. That may soon change, however, if an influx of new residents to the area goes ahead. Customers seeking refunds and attempting to retrieve credits issued by subsidiaries of Flight Centre say they have struggled to contact the booking giant via email or phone and have accused it of frustrating their attempts to claim travel funds held by the company. Australians whose overseas trips were cancelled in the early days of the pandemic are still struggling to get thousands of dollars in airfares and accommodation refunded after booking with travel brands BYOJet and Aunt Betty, both owned and operated by Flight Centre. Betty Batty missed out on a family trip to Thailand. Credit:Darrian Traynor Albion grandmother Betty Batty booked a flight for her, her husband Trevor, daughter Ebony and two grandchildren Tamiah and Harrison to celebrate her 60th birthday in Thailand, with the family spending a combined $5050 on the trip, flying with Garuda Airlines. After COVID-19 hit, Batty was given a credit in April 2020, but she has not been able to use it because she cannot contact the agent. NSW Labor has vowed to address the one-in-three unanswered calls to the statewide sexual violence helpline if it wins the next election, promising to spend a further $923,000 a year on the critical service. In the past year, 4000 calls from sexual assault survivors went unanswered at the 24/7 NSW Sexual Violence Helpline. The helpline received more than 14,000 calls and online contacts in 2021, a 27 per cent rise compared to the previous year. Advocates say the rate of missed calls is due to lack of funding for counsellors operating the trauma service, which is run by Full Stop Australia and offers support to survivors of sexual assault, family or domestic violence. The organisation receives more than $1.5 million annually from the state government to operate the helpline. NSW Labor say they will provide an additional $923,701 in core funding per annum to cover the wages of 25 extra counsellors, if they are successful when voters head to the polls in March. More than 2700 NSW health workers are stuck in COVID isolation as chronic understaffing leaves hospital emergency departments buckling under surging rates of flu and Omicron. As hospitals prepare for a wave of new infections to peak next month, western Sydney nurses will stage a simultaneous protest on Monday morning to highlight staffing levels they say are harming patient care. Westmead Hospital Nurses conduct a protest walkout on Monday at the end of their night shift. Credit:Nick Moir Nurses at Westmead and Blacktown hospitals will gather in their own time as their night shifts ends to call for urgent attention to the hospital-wide impacts of understaffing. They will issue a plea to NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to visit the hospitals to see firsthand the scale of the problem. High among their concerns is suspected COVID patients mixing with non-COVID patients over long periods waiting in overwhelmed emergency departments. London: The oppositions defence spokesman Andrew Hastie has challenged the United Kingdom to compete against the Americans to supply Australia with its first two nuclear submarines. He called on the British government to boost its building capacity and prove it could deliver the boats by 2030 and said he had delivered the message following meetings with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace during a week-long national security visit to London. Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie. Credit:Trevor Collens Hastie, a former SAS captain who became defence spokesman after the Coalitions defeat at the May 21 election, also predicted the AUKUS security pact would allow the UK and United States to position warships and their own nuclear submarines off the coast of Western Australia for months at a time. This would enable the visiting navies to operate out of Australia and in the Indo-Pacific for months at a time and use the base to conduct joint exercises in the region as a show of force to China. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued executive orders overnight sacking the head of Ukraines powerful domestic security agency, the SBU, and the prosecutor general. The orders dismissing SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelensky, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who led the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine, were published on the presidents official website. In a separate Telegram post, Zelensky said he had fired the top officials because many cases had come to light of members of their agencies collaborating with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting servicemen reporting from the frontline in eastern Donetsk in June. Credit:Ukrainian Presidential Press Office He said 651 treason and collaboration cases had been opened against prosecutorial and law enforcement officials, and that over 60 officials from Bakanov and Venediktovas agencies were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state ... pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders, Zelensky said. Each of these questions will receive a proper answer. The following article, in observance of Caribbean Literature Day 2022, addresses the need to archive and to continually engage expressions and resources of the regions Literature. In 2015, David Comissiong, as president of the Clement Payne Movement, wrote and released a longer version of this article, entitled Four Bajan Living Legends of Literature. It was reprinted in 2016, a few months before Barbados celebrated its 50th year of Independence. The legends cited have since passed on and like their legacies, the essential recommendation and proposals put forward in this writing remain relevant today to the region and its Diaspora. I would likeat this timeto urge the people, organizations, and Government of Barbados to make an effort to identify and catalogue the various resources that Barbados possesses, and to resolve to fully deploy and utilize these resources for the development of our country. One of the resources that I would like to identify and bring to the attention of the nation is the cultural and psychological power embedded in the collected works of Barbados four living legends of literature, George Lamming, Paule Marshall, Kamau Brathwaite, and Austin Tom Clarke.1 The ability to lay claim to these four cultural treasures is a relatively superficial thing! The real issue is, do we recognize the valuableness of the resource that lies in our hands, and are we putting it to good use? The first and most senior of our four living legends of literature is 88-year-old George Lamming, who is considered to be the dean of Caribbean writers, an accolade bestowed upon him by C.L.R. James, the great literary critic, in the 1960s. George Lamming is the author of six novels, In the Castle of My Skin (1953), The Emigrants (1954), Of Age and Innocence (1958), Seasons of Adventure (1960), Water with Berries (1971), Natives of My Person (1972), and of three books of critical essays, Pleasures of Exile (1960), Coming, Coming Home (1995), and Sovereignty of the Imagination (2009). Lammings fellow legend, Kamau Brathwaite, explained the ground-breaking significance of Lammings first novel as follows: Then in 1953, George Lammings In the Castle of My Skin appeared and everything was transformed. Here breathing to me from every pore of line and page was the Barbados I had lived. The words, the rhythms, the cadences, the scenes, the people, their predicament. In addition, C.L.R. James never spared any opportunity to bring to our attention the many profound and cutting-edge cultural/political critiques and perspectives contained in Lammings works. A couple of examples from just one novel will suffice to prove the point: Free is how you are from the start. An when it looks different you got to move, just move! An when you moving say that it is a natural freedom that makes you move. (Season of Adventure, 1960) Until the age of ten, Powell and I had lived together, equal in the affection of two mothers. Powell and I were taught at the same Primary school. And then the division came. I got a public scholarship which started my migration into the world of the educated the elite which now shut Powell and the whole village right out of my future. I attached myself to that new privilege. I believe that the mad impulse which drove Powell to his criminal defeat was largely my doing. I am responsible for what happened to my brothers. (Season of Adventure) The second living legend in order of seniority is 86-year-old Paule Marshall, who was born in Brooklyn, New York City to Barbadian parents, and who not only grew up in a tightly knit Barbadian immigrant community but also visited and lived in Barbados for varying periods of time. The highly acclaimed Paule Marshall has produced five novels, four of which explore the history, culture, vernacular, predicament, and spirit of the Barbadian people at home and abroad, Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959), The Chosen Place, the Timeless People (1969), Praisesong for the Widow (1983), Daughters (1991), and The Fisher King (1998), and a Barbados-steeped memoir entitled Triangular Road (2009). The novels of Paule Marshall are filled with Barbadian female characters who would resonate with and speak in a profound way to the current generation of Barbadian girls and women if only these novels were made widely available in our country! I refer to such characters as middle-aged Silla Boyce and her Brooklyn-born daughter, Selina, whose coming of age is explored in Brown Girl, Brownstones; racially conscious Merle Kinbona, who defends the cultural integrity of the island in The Chosen Place, the Timeless People; and the sophisticated 1980s young professional, Ursa Mackenzie, who, out of a sense of love for her country and her politician-father, sabotages the latters election campaign and his Cahill-type plan to sell out the country, in Daughters. Marshalls novels also express what Kamau Brathwaite has described as the literature of re-connection with Africa. Thus, in describing several of the quintessentially Barbadian characters in The Chosen Place, the Timeless People, Marshall reaches back to Africa: A strikingly tall, lean old man. His face, his neck, his clean-shaven skull, had the elongated intentionally distorted look to them of a Benin mask or a sculpted thirteenth century Ife head. Whereas, Delbert, the shopkeeper was huge with massive limbs. He was the chief presiding over the palavering the colourful shirt he had on was his robe of office; the battered Panama hat his Chieftans umbrella, and the bottle of white rum he held, the palm wine with which he kept the palaver and made libation to the ancestral gods. Our third living legend is the 85-year-old Kamau Brathwaite, whose works of poetry, drama, history, literary criticism, and cultural analysis are far too numerous to list! I will therefore satisfy myself with stating that Kamau Brathwaite is easily one of the worlds most outstanding intellectuals and scholars and that he should have won the Nobel prize for literature many times over! I will recommend that our educational authorities should deem at least three of Brathwaites works essential and mandatory texts for our secondary and tertiary curriculum: The Arrivants (Brathwaites first, Pan-African based, a trilogy of poetical works); Ancestors (Brathwaites second, and Barbados-centred, trilogy); and Barabajan Poems (Brathwaites encyclopedic exploration of Barbadian poetry, history, landscapes, and culture). The youngest of the four living legends is the 81-year-old Toronto-based Austin Tom Clarke, winner of such prestigious international awards as Canadas W. O. Mitchell Prize, Cubas Casa de las Americas Prize, and the Martin Luther King Junior Award for excellence in writing. Tom Clarkes body of work consists of ten novels, six short story collections, and three memoirs, most of which are based either in Toronto or in Barbados. In Clarkes Toronto-based stories, we can more clearly discern the elements of the true Barbadian, portrayed as they are against a foreign backdrop. And, as Barbadian literary critic, John Wickham, has observed, Clarke brings to this act of re-creation a faithful ear for the accent and rhythms of our Barbadian nation-language, and a powerful visual memory. The Barbados-based novels of Clarke, such as Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack, The Prime Minister, and The Polished Hoe, help us to understand and to come to terms with the trauma of colonialism and the psychic damage that it inflicted. Fellow Barbadians, we will not have the living legends with us forever! Let us, therefore, show them our appreciation, love, and respect now! And let us have the good sense to do ourselves a big favour by embracing, reading, and making full use of their invaluable works! (David Comissiong is Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM. 1 The legendary authors identified by Comissiong have passed on since the writing of Four Bajan Living Legends of Literature.) Two people died Thursday when a small plane crashed in the Bighorn National Forest, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office reported Sunday. The plane went down while while flying to Buffalo from Powell. It ignited a wildfire that, as of Friday afternoon, had burned about an acre of forest near Willow Park Reservoir, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The aircraft departed Powell Municipal Airport at about noon on Thursday. The following day, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office learned from air traffic control in Salt Lake City that the plane was missing with two people on board. The same day, the forest service notified the sheriff's office that firefighters has located the wreckage of a plane while responding to a fire in a remote area of the Bighorn National Forest northwest of Buffalo, the sheriff's office says. They determined there were no survivors, and that the remains were not identifiable. On Saturday, a team set out to find the wreckage on foot. They found the crash site at 9:30 a.m., about four hours after setting out from Buffalo, the sheriff's office says. The team confirmed that there were no survivors. The aircraft did not have any identifiable markings, the sheriff's office reported. A search team -- which included members of the sheriff's office, the forest service and Johnson County's search and rescue and coroner's offices -- transported the remains back to Buffalo. There was no immediate update on the size of the fire. Local forest fire crews were being assisted by smoke jumpers based in West Yellowstone, Montana, and the Wyoming state helicopter. Santiago de Chile, 17 July 2022(SPS) Over 190 Chilean personalities have requested the President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric, to recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and to establish diplomatic relations with it. The personalities, including representatives of social and political movements, parliamentarians, academics and artists, delivered a letter to the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, requesting recognition of SADR and establishment of diplomatic relations, as well as taking action in defense of the human rights of the Sahrawi people, systematically violated by the Moroccan state in occupied Western Sahara. The letter reminded President Gabriel Boric of his vote as a deputy in 2014 in favor of recognizing the Sahrawi Republic. 062/T New York (United Nations), 17 July 2022 (SPS) - Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN, Nadir Larbaoui, in a scathing response published by the Security Council, dismantled and swept aside the false and misleading allegations made by the Moroccan representative in New York, and recalled the historical truths and fundamentals of the conflict in Western Sahara. Every time the Moroccan representative tries to deviate the Sahrawi issue from its historical realities and seeks to mislead the international community with false statements and unfounded attacks against Algeria, in order to admit the so-called 'autonomy plan' as the only solution to Western Sahara, it is immediately reframed, said Larbaoui. In his nine-part response, the Algerian ambassador has revealed before the Security Council the extent of the intellectual and political indigence of the Moroccan representative. Indeed, in response to the letter sent by the Moroccan representative to the Security Council, Ambassador Larbaoui sent a new letter to the President and members of the Security Council as well as to the UN Secretary General. In his letter, published by the United Nations as an official document of the Security Council, the ambassador made a real plea, without detours and without appeal, in the form and in the substance, by which he deploys a solid argument and shoots at the hackneyed arguments of the representative of Makhzen. He recalls that the representative of Morocco, the occupying power in Western Sahara has, as was the case in the past, continued to make, inappropriately, direct allegations fallacious and false, accompanied by unacceptable accusations against Algeria. 062/SPS/APS This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden is promising strong executive action to combat climate change, despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power. The Supreme Court last month limited how the nations main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Then late Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he wants to delay sweeping environmental legislation that Democrats have pushed as central to achieving Biden's ambitious climate goals. Biden, who has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, said Friday that "action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever.'' If the Senate will not act to address climate change and boost clean energy, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,'' Biden said in a statement from Saudi Arabia, where he met Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden did not specify what actions he will take on climate, but said they will create jobs, improve energy security, bolster domestic manufacturing and protect consumers from oil and gas price increases. I will not back down,'' he promised. Some advocates urged Biden to use the moment to declare a national climate emergency and reinstate a ban on crude oil exports, among other steps. Declaring a climate emergency would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar and speed the nations transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Climate advocates, including some of Manchin's Democratic colleagues in the Senate, slammed his opposition noting that it was the second time he has torpedoed climate change legislation. Its infuriating and nothing short of tragic that Sen. Manchin is walking away, again, from taking essential action on climate and clean energy,'' said Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. The world is literally burning up while he joins every single Republican to stop strong action to cut emissions and speed the transition to clean energy.'' Other Democrats said Manchin's announcement that he cannot back the climate provisions in the Senate bill at least for now frees Biden of the obligation to cater to a powerful, coal-state senator eager to protect his energy-producing home state. Manchin's vote is decisive in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans unanimously oppose climate action. "Free at last. Lets roll. Do it all and start it now,'' tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. who has long pushed stronger action on climate. With legislative climate options now closed, its now time for executive Beast Mode,'' Whitehouse wrote. Whitehouse suggested a series of actions Biden could take, including a robust social cost of carbon rule that would force energy producers to account for greenhouse gas emissions as a cost of doing business. The senator also urged Biden to require major polluters to use technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions and impose stronger pollution controls on cars, light trucks and heavy-duty vehicles. Advocates also urged Biden to reject all onshore and offshore drilling on federal lands and in federal waters a step he promised during the 2020 campaign but has not enacted and restrict approval of natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects. For too long, weve been waiting on a single legislative package to save us and a single legislator to determine our fate,'' said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Now that its clear legislation to address our climate crisis is dead, President Biden needs to put us on an emergency footing to address this disaster.'' Citing Biden's campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands and waters, Merkley said, "Now is the time to show the American people hes serious by saying no to expanding our addiction to fossil fuels.'' Even before Manchin's apparent rejection of the climate measures, Democrats had slimmed their down their plan from about $555 billion in climate spending to just over $300 billion in a bid to secure his support. Proposed tax credits for wind, solar and nuclear energy, along with still-unproven carbon-capture technology, could reduce emissions by up to 40% by 2030, advocates said. Manchin had already forced Democrats to drop two tax provisions he opposes: direct payments of clean energy credits and tax credits for drivers who purchase electric vehicles. Manchin forced other concessions last year, including killing a proposal that would have paid utilities that increase clean energy while penalizing those that do not. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he still hopes to salvage the clean energy tax provisions and said failure really is not an option here. Manchin's request to postpone action on the climate measure follows a June 30 ruling by the Supreme Court, which said in a 6-3 vote that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The ruling by the court's conservative majority likely complicates the Biden administrations plan to manage power plant pollution, but does not eliminate its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency is moving forward with proposed rules for power plants in the coming months. Ann Clancy, associate climate policy director for Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group, said it was time for Biden to "stop waiting for corporate-backed Democrats and their bad faith negotiations and deliver real wins for the American people on climate.'' "We dont have any more time to waste,'' Clancy said. Manchin, in a radio interview Friday, said climate activists want an immediate end to U.S. use of oil, coal and gas. "That's crazy,'' he told West Virginia talk show host Hoppy Kercheval. Im not throwing caution to the wind. I think we need an energy policy that works for our country. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD The best time of year to watch the light streaming through the glass in Stamfords First Presbyterian Church is in winter, when the sun sits low in the sky. The light moves faster then, historic preservationist Wes Haynes said while walking toward the churchs pulpit. But even on a random summer afternoon with clouds in the sky, the churchs interior is bathed in bright blue thanks to the stained glass in every direction. Besides the blue, splashes of red and orange flash on the floor. Haynes and his colleagues on the nonprofit board that supports Stamfords Fish Church, as it is popularly known, have spent endless hours contemplating the stained glass, the church and its history as part of a bigger plan to save it. For years, the church and Highland Green Foundation have planned a comprehensive renovation project to keep the building beautiful for generations to come. By this fall, the congregation expects to kick off the first of many repairs meant to protect one of the citys most recognizable landmarks. There are few architectural beauties that can compare to the First Presbyterian Church in Stamford. Though it looks almost unassuming from the outside with walls that look more like concrete panels than resplendent glass the building is Stamfords only National Historic Landmark, a designation it earned in early 2021. In the eyes of the National Park Service, which administers the landmark program, the property is a premier example of a post-World War II religious campus shepherded by the Modernist architect Wallace Harrison. In New York City, Harrison worked on the Rockefeller Center, the United Nations compound and the Metropolitan Opera House. Yet, according to documents from the National Parks Service, he considered the First Presbyterian Church to be his greatest architectural achievement. The Fish Church design is inspired by the famous French cathedral Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, where 50-foot lancet windows replaced the walls and flood the chapel with blue light. Visiting Sainte-Chapelle led Harrison to his guiding question in designing the Stamford church: Have you ever thought what it would be like to live inside a giant sapphire? With that in mind, the church was designed from the inside out, Hayes said. About 20,000 pieces of individual glass in 86 different colors are set into the windows using a 20th-century French technique called dalle de verre. Unlike the more traditional glass in the old cathedrals of Europe, dalle de verre has a more textured and abstract effect thanks to the jagged, thick glass set in mortar. As the technique was pioneered in France, the Fish Church is one of North Americas first significant examples of dalle de verre. Hayes said the method had only been implemented in Montreal before Harrison began work on First Presbyterian. The north and south sides of the church depict the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in stained glass. Whereas the interior effect was carefully planned, the fish shape that gave the church its local name was happenstance. Harrison and the congregations minister, the Rev. Donald Campbell, wanted appropriate acoustics inside the church because of the importance of organ music during services. The shape a so-called megaphone was meant to thrust sound toward the back of the long chapel. He didnt set out to build the Fish. He set out to build a spectacular kind of Gothic experience, Hayes said Tuesday to the citys History Preservation Advisory Committee. Though the unconventional interior is one of the churchs biggest draws, its also one of its biggest downfalls. There are no vertical walls in the structure, something Hayes said has created moisture issues inside the church. Highland Green Foundation Vice President Jane Love says every drop of rain that falls from the sky hits the slanted walls, making the impact relentless. Water seeps in through the windows, a typical problem for dalle de verre, and the Fish Church has undergone significant reconstruction previously. In 1986 and 1997, First Presbyterian had to replace the panels in the east and south walls, which had already suffered significant damage from weather and water. The same damage that prompted the last church repair is on full display inside and outside today. Some of the gem-like glass, especially on the south windows, is cloudy with imperfections; from the outside, the weathering looks like deep scratches in rock. The ribbing on the church has also developed concrete efflorescence because of the water, a process that leaves thick salt deposits on the interior. The repairs from the late 1980s also took a different shape than the ones the church wants to accomplish in the coming years. Nearly 40 years ago, First Presbyterian was in fix mode, Love said. The congregations primary goal was repairing any damage. Now, Highland Green has turned its eye more acutely toward preserving the church and ensuring that todays repairs last for decades. Hayes, for one, hopes that whatever the foundation accomplishes secures the church for a century, thanks to the advances in preservation techniques that have happened since the last set of updates. But preserving First Presbyterian Church wont be cheap. At one point, the Highland Green Foundation estimated that safeguarding the Fish would cost at minimum $7 million. However, foundation President Bob Anstine said phase one has already been more expensive than initially expected. The foundation, through grants and individual donations, has raised about $1.4 million to date. The earliest stages of the renovation have already started. Materials testing is underway throughout the church, and scaffolding shrouds the churchs east wall. Even with more work underway, the Highland Green Foundation expects to welcome visitors in the fall for the annual Tour Day celebration. From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Oct. 8, the property will be open to all, and the public can watch the light dance on the floor. veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com Confronted by Biden on Khashoggi killing, MBS pointed to U.S. "mistakes" Barak Ravid, author of Axios from Tel Aviv https://www.axios.com/2022/07/16/mbs-biden-khashoggi-abu-ghraib-shireen-abu-akleh Biden fist bumps Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo: Royal Court of Saudi Arabia /Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushed back on President Biden's criticism over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by raising the abuse suffered by prisoners of the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the U.S. response to the May killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a Saudi official told Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya. Why it matters: The murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, was the most sensitive issue discussed in Biden's meeting with MBS on Friday. U.S. intelligence concluded MBS was responsible for Khashoggi's murder an allegation Saudi officials deny. Biden once vowed to make the Gulf kingdom a "pariah," and U.S.-Saudi relations have been strained over a number of issues, including the murder of Khashoggi. Behind the scenes: In a press conference on Friday, Biden said he opened his meeting with MBS by bringing up Khashoggi's murder. He said he told the crown prince "very straightforwardly" that "for an American president to be silent on the issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am." Asked how MBS responded, Biden told reporters: "He basically said that he was not personally responsible for it. I indicated I thought he was." Biden's meeting with MBS came not long after the U.S. president first bumped the crown prince drawing criticism from Democrats and others. The other side: The Saudi official confirmed to Al-Arabiya on Saturday that Biden raised the murder of Khashoggi at the start of the meeting. According to the Saudi official, the crown prince pushed back on Biden's criticism and said the U.S. made many "mistakes"of its own in Iraq with the Abu Ghraib prison the detention center that became the center of a torture and abuse scandal during the U.S. occupation. The Saudi official said MBS then raised the case of Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. "What did the U.S. and other countries in the world do about her?" MBS asked, per the official. Biden in the West Bank on Friday said the U.S. will continue to "insist on a full and transparent accounting" of Abu Akleh's murder. The U.S. has said it was likely the veteran Al Jazeera journalist was killed by unintentional Israeli fire. MBS told Biden that what happened to Khashoggi was "regrettable" and that Saudi Arabia took all the legal steps including an investigation, indictments and conviction, per Al-Arabiya. The Saudi official added that MBS told Biden the kingdom took steps that will prevent such mistakes from happening again. MBS told Biden that different countries have different values and if the U.S. only has alliances with countries that share all its values, it will be left only with NATO countries, the Saudi official told Al-Arabiya Saudi crown prince MBS told Biden the US made 'mistakes' too pointing to Iraq and Afghanistan when president shamed him for murder of Jamal Khashoggi Saudi crown prince MBS told Biden the US made 'mistakes' too pointing to Iraq and Afghanistan when president shamed him for murder of Jamal Khashoggi Saudi crown prince MBS told Biden the US made 'mistakes' too pointing to Iraq and Afghanistan when president shamed him for murder of Jamal Khashoggi Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Joe Biden that the U.S. made 'mistakes' too when Biden brought up the Jamal Khashoggi killing Reuters reported Saturday that MBS pointed to American abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan In the early part of the Iraq War, detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison were tortured by U.S. forces Biden oversaw a messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, after a 20-year military involvement there following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks In Biden's accounting of the conversation he didn't mention MBS' comments about Iraq and Afghanistan In remarks to Arab leaders Saturday, however, he conceded: 'No country gets it right all the time - even most of the time - including the United States' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11020125/Saudi-crown-prince-MBS-told-Biden-mistakes-too.html Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pointed to American abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan as he told President Joe Biden Friday that the U.S. made 'mistakes' too. Reuters reported Saturday on what MBS - as the crown prince is called - responded to the president when pressed about the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the top of their first in-person meeting Friday evening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A U.S. intelligence report held MBS responsible for the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi-born critic of the kingdom, who lived in the United States. 'The United States also made a number of mistakes like the incident of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and others,' the crown prince told Biden, a Saudi official told Reuters. In the early part of the Iraq War, detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison were tortured by U.S. forces, with 11 Americans convicted of crimes related to the scandal. While MBS reportedly spoke to Biden about shared values - he also said pushing those values on other countries could backfire. 'However trying to impose those values by force could have the opposite effect as it happened in Iraq and Afghanistan where the U.S. was unsuccessful,' the statement from the Saudi official to Reuters said. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) pointed to American abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan as he told President Joe Biden (left) Friday that the U.S. made 'mistakes' too When President Joe Biden brought up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (left), which U.S. intelligence said MBS ordered, the crown prince pointed to the Abu Ghraib (right) prison scandal from the early days of the Iraq War Biden oversaw a messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, after a 20-year military involvement there following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The Taliban quickly retook control of the country as the U.S. was leaving. Biden told reporters after his meeting with the Saudis that he brought up Khashoggi's killing first thing. 'In respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time, and what I think of it now,' Biden said. 'I was straightforward and direct ... I made my view crystal clear.' 'What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous,' Biden later offered. Biden told reporters that MBS 'basically said he was not personally responsible' for the gruesome killing that took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. 'I indicated I thought he was,' Biden continued. 'He said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible.' Biden didn't mention that MBS brought up the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as a Saudi official claimed. And later the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir told reporters that he did not hear Biden place blame for the killing on MBS during the meeting, according to The New York Times. He described the conversation as one in which Biden spoke more about human rights than the grisly killing. Jubeir called Khashoggi's death a 'terrible mistake,' but pointed out that 'people were put on trial.' In 2020, a Saudi court jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for Khashoggi's murder. Their names were never released publicly. The Al-Arabiya channel quoted a Saudi official who said Biden and MBS 'addressed the issue of Jamal Khashoggi quickly' and the crown prince 'confirmed that what happened is regrettable and we have taken all legal measures to prevent' it from happening again. During Biden's remarks to MBS and other Arab leaders Saturday, the president concededthe U.S. hasn't had a perfect track record. 'No country gets it right all the time - even most of the time - including the United States,' Biden said. But he also pressed that dissenters - like Khashoggi - shouldn't be punished. 'I've gotten plenty of criticism over the years,' he said. 'It's not fun.' 'But the ability to speak openly and exchange ideas freely is what unlocks innovation,' Biden added. Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu will participate on Monday, in Brussels, in the meeting of the heads of diplomacies of the EU member states - Foreign Affairs Council, where he will plead for the support of Ukraine, including by allocating a new tranche through the European Peace Facility, and will voice his support for maintaining pressure on Russia and strengthening the sanctions regime against the later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) said on Sunday in a press release sent to AGERPRES. European Foreign Ministers will have an in-depth exchange of views on Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the EU's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, and EU digital diplomacy.Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba will also take part in the discussion on Ukraine by videoconference, the first discussion with the official in Kyiv since the European Council's decision on June 23-24 to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine.European ministers will also address issues related to the EU-Israel Association Council and assess recent developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tunisia, as well as the EU's prospects for dialogue with the League of Arab States.As regards Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Bogdan Aurescu will present the Romanian side's assessment of developments on the ground and the consequences for regional security. "He will also express support for maintaining pressure on Russia and strengthening its sanctions regime, as well as for the EU's support for Ukraine, including by allocating a new financial tranche through the European Peace Facility," the release said.The head of the Romanian diplomacy will present the latest measures adopted by Romania to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, including the opening of new border crossing points, the completion of works on the wide gauge railway line in the port of Galati, as well as Romania's agreement to allow third-country-flagged bulkers loaded with cereals to pass through the Chilia and Bastroe canals.He will reiterate his support for European diplomatic efforts to further isolate Russia at the international level and will present Romania's concrete steps in dialogue with third-party partners with the aim of combating Moscow's narrative, the MAE said.Bogdan Aurescu will also emphasize the importance of intensifying EU support for the states of the South Caucasus and Central Asia, regions "particularly vulnerable to the actions of the Russian Federation," informs MAE.The Minister of Foreign Affairs will also present the results of the second edition of the Ministerial Conference of the Platform for Support for the Republic of Moldova, which took place on Friday in Bucharest and which managed to raise financial assistance worth 615 million euros, of which over 432 million euros in grants. He will encourage EU member states to continue to provide direct assistance to the Republic of Moldova during this difficult period.During the discussion on the EU's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Bogdan Aurescu will express his support for consolidating the EU's commitment to this region and will mention Romania's objective regarding the boosting of the dialogue with LAC.During the discussions on EU digital diplomacy, Minister Aurescu will express backing for the development and promotion of the European model in the field, based on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and democratic principles. He will highlight the importance of strengthening the resilience of neighborhood partners to combat hybrid threats and cyber attacks. As many as 2,165 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, on over 9,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Sunday. Of the new cases, 393 were in re-infected patients who tested positive more than 90 days after the first time they recovered from the disease.Most of the newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Romania since the previous reporting were recorded in Bucharest City - 756, and in the counties of Ilfov - 172, Prahova - 138, and Constanta - 132.The 14-day COVID-19 notification rate, at national level, is 1.05 cases per thousand population. The highest incidence is in Bucharest - 4.29, followed by the counties of Ilfov - 2.93, Cluj - 2.33, Brasov - 2.25 and Sibiu - 2.2.In total, 2,963,934 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania.- Hospitalisations -As many as 1,895 people with COVID-19 are hospitalised at specialist care facilities across the country, by 171 more than the day before; 328 of this total are children (by 63 more than on the previous day).Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 108 are in ICUs, by 5 more compared to the previous day. Of the ICU patients, 83 are unvaccinated for COVID-19.- Deaths -According to the Ministry, there was one Covid death in the past 24 hours - one woman aged over 40 who suffered from underlying conditions and was unvaccinated.Since the beginning of the pandemic, 65,813 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania. During the summer of 1993, the Mississippi River at St. Louis remained above flood stage at St. Louis for 147 days. The crest, on Aug. 1, was 19.6 feet over flood stage at St. Louis and halfway up the grand riverfront staircase at the Gateway Arch. During this summer we'll take regular looks back at key dates during the flood. JULY 17, 1993: Armed with checks and surrounded by members of his Cabinet, President Bill Clinton promised the governors of flood-damaged states that his administration would not abandon them once the water recedes. "We are here to deal with basically two great issues," Clinton said as he opened a "flood summit" at Fox High School in Arnold. "One is, what are we going to do right now, while everybody is up to their ears in alligators? "And the second is, how are we going to keep this effort going over the long run ... so that we can see these areas through to full recovery?" After a helicopter tour of devastated St. Charles County, Clinton offered federal troops, short-term aid and less red tape. But he didn't offer up the billions of dollars that the governors say they need. Clinton, who is seeking $2.5 billion in disaster aid from Congress, said that the federal government could not cover all flood losses. Also on this date: The Missouri River ripped through a levee in Defiance, burying more homes under 10 feet of water. The Missouri River crashed through its levee in Maryland Heights, spewing water over farmland and reuniting with Creve Coeur Lake. The Coast Guard abandoned its base on Iron Street in the face of the rising Mississippi. Hundreds of sandbaggers races against time to fortify levees being built on the River Des Peres in south St. Louis. The levee had been built to protect against a Mississippi the crested at 45 feet. But the forecast crest was now 46.1 feet. ATLANTA The expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election did not lead to any widespread problems, according to an Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. that revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results. The findings from both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states run contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they were a target for fraud. Drop boxes are considered by many election officials to be safe and secure, and have been used to varying degrees by states across the political spectrum. Yet conspiracy theories and efforts by Republicans to eliminate or restrict them since the 2020 election persist. In Missouri, Republican lawmakers pushed through voter ID legislation that also bars the use of drop boxes to collect absentee ballots. The bill, which affects the Nov. 8 general election, was signed by Gov. Mike Parson on June 29. This month, the Wisconsin Supreme Courts conservative majority ruled that drop boxes are not allowed under state law and can no longer be widely used. Drop boxes also are a focal point of the film 2,000 Mules, which used a flawed analysis of cellphone location data and ballot drop box surveillance footage to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election. In response to the legislation and conspiracy theories surrounding drop boxes, the AP sent a survey in May to the top elections office in each state seeking information about whether the boxes were tied to fraudulent votes or stolen ballots, or whether the boxes and the ballots they contained were damaged. All but five states responded to the questions. None of the election offices in states that allowed the use of drop boxes in 2020 reported any instances in which the boxes were connected to voter fraud or stolen ballots. Likewise, none reported incidents in which the boxes or ballots were damaged to the extent that election results would have been affected. A previous AP investigation found far too few cases of potential voter fraud in the six battleground states where Trump disputed his loss to President Joe Biden to affect the outcome. A number of states including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas said they do not allow the use of drop boxes. Some had not allowed them before the 2020 election, when the coronavirus pandemic prompted wider use of mailed ballots. In states where they are used, secretaries of state or election commissioners may not be aware of every incident involving a drop box if it was not reported to their office by a county or other local jurisdiction. Drop boxes have been a mainstay in states with extensive mail voting for years and had not raised any alarms. They were used widely in 2020 as election officials sought to provide alternative ways to cast ballots with the COVID-19 outbreak creating concerns about in-person voting. The boxes also gave voters a direct method for submitting their ballots, rather than sending them through the U.S. Postal Service and worrying about delivery delays. Starting months before the 2020 presidential election, Trump and his allies have made a series of unfounded claims suggesting that drop boxes open the door to voter fraud. Republican state lawmakers, as part of their push to add new voting restrictions, have in turn placed rules around when and where the boxes could be accessed. Arizona Assistant Secretary of State Allie Bones said drop boxes are safe and secure and might even be considered more secure than Postal Service mailboxes. She said bipartisan teams in the state collect ballots from the drop boxes and take them directly to secure election facilities, following so-called chain-of-custody protocols. "Not to say that theres anything wrong with USPS, and I think they do a great job as well, but the hysteria around ballot drop boxes I think is just a made-up thing to create doubt and fear, Bones said. Arizona has had robust mail-in voting for years that includes the use of drop boxes, and in the AP survey, the state reported no damage, stolen ballots or fraud associated with them in 2020. Nevertheless, Trump-aligned lawmakers in the state pushed for legislation that would ban drop boxes, but were stymied by Democrats and several Republicans who disagreed with the strategy. Utah is a state controlled by Republicans that also has widespread use of mailed ballots and no limits on the number of drop boxes a county can deploy. The office of Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican who is the states top election official, said in the AP survey that Henderson encourages counties to make secure drop boxes accessible to voters. Of the states responding to the survey, 15 indicated that drop boxes were in use before 2020 and 22 have no limits on how many can be used in this fall's election. At least five states take the extra step of setting a minimum number of drop boxes required. Republican-led Florida and North Dakota and Democratic-led New York did not respond. Montana and Virginia did, but did not answer the survey questions related to the 2020 election. Last year, five states added new restrictions to ballot drop boxes, according to research by the Voting Rights Lab. That included Georgia, where President Joe Biden won a narrow victory and where drop boxes were allowed under an emergency rule prompted by the pandemic. Georgia Republicans say their changes have resulted in drop boxes being a permanent option for voters, requiring all counties to have at least one. But the legislation, which includes a formula of one box per 100,000 registered voters, means fewer will be available in the states most populous communities compared with 2020. Iowa lawmakers last year approved legislation to limit drop boxes to one per county. Previously, state law did not say how many drop boxes counties could use. This year, Louisiana, Missouri and South Carolina have passed laws effectively prohibiting drop boxes, according to the Voting Rights Lab, which researches state election law changes. Along with incidents recorded in news reports, the AP survey found a handful of cases in 2020 in which drop boxes were damaged. Officials in Washington state said there were instances when drop boxes were hit by vehicles, but that no ballot tampering had been reported. Massachusetts election officials said one box was damaged by arson in October 2020 but that most of the ballots inside were still legible enough for voters to be identified, notified and sent replacements. A drop box also was set on fire in Los Angeles County in 2020, but a local election official said the vast majority of the ballots that were damaged were able to be recovered and voters provided new ballots. Another drop box in California was temporarily closed because of a wildfire. The irony is they were put in place to respond to a problem with the post office and make sure people had a secure way of returning their ballots, said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat. And so theres no actual legitimate concern except for, again, potential external threats or people who have been radicalized through misinformation to try to tamper with drop boxes to make a point. North Carolina provides an example of how deep-seated the misinformation has become. The state does not allow drop boxes and did not use them during the 2020 election. And despite that fact, people are still claiming drop box fraud must have occurred in North Carolina," said Patrick Gannon, public information director for the State Board of Elections. "You cant make this up. Oh wait. Yes, you can. In Wisconsin, Republicans had supported the use of drop boxes before Trump seized on mailed ballots as part of his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Some voters said they were frustrated by the recent state Supreme Court ruling, which said no one other than the voter can return their mailed ballot and that those ballots can go only to a local clerks office or alternate site. Kelly OKeefe Boettcher of Milwaukee said she cast her ballot in a drop box in 2020 because of safety concerns during the pandemic and is upset that theyll no longer be an option for her or for voters who are less able to get to the polls. Drop boxes are accessible; they are egalitarian, she said. To watch them go, I feel, people can say its not voter suppression. But it is. Wisconsin state Rep. Tim Ramthun, a Republican candidate for governor, reintroduced a resolution this past week for the GOP-controlled Legislature to decertify Bidens victory there, adding the state Supreme Court ruling on drop boxes as one reason to do so. Trump also renewed his calls for decertification in Wisconsin, citing the ruling. According to the AP survey, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said it is not aware of any cases in 2020 in which drop boxes were damaged, had submitted ballots stolen or destroyed, or were used for fraudulent ballots. Isnt a mailbox a secure place to put a letter?" asked Dave Wanninger, who with his wife used a ballot drop box in a Milwaukee public library in 2020. "Why would a drop box be any different? Izaguirre reported from Tallahassee, Florida. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Harm Venhuizen in Milwaukee; and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report. One of the questions that we consider in our current Gold exhibition is where did the gold come from? In medieval Europe, natural deposits of gold were limited so most gold had to be either recycled by melting down older objects or imported by long-distance trade. From the 8th to 16th centuries, the kingdoms of West Africa were major suppliers and traders of gold, which was carried by camel caravans across the Sahara Desert to North Africa. From there, the gold travelled with merchants into the Middle East and Europe. Some of it ended up illuminating manuscripts thousands of miles away. Medieval Europeans had little reliable information about West Africa, but they did know that it was an abundant source of gold. One account that made it all the way to medieval Europe was of the phenomenally wealthy Mansa Musa (r. 1312 to 1337), emperor of Mali, whose empire covered an area larger than Western Europe. In 1324 Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca, bringing so much gold with him that it devalued the price of gold in Egypt, where he stopped on the way, for years afterwards. He is sometimes said to have been the richest person in history. In Europe, tales of this gold-drenched ruler made such an impression that he was portrayed on luxurious illustrated maps from the 14th to 16th centuries. Detail of people travelling across Africa on camels, from a map probably produced in Messina, Sicily, (between 1520 and 1588): Add MS 31318 B The earliest surviving map to depict Mansa Musa is the famous Catalan Atlas of 1375 (Paris, BnF, MS. Espagnol 30). This manuscript is attributed to Abraham Cresques, a 14th-century Jewish cartographer from Majorca. It includes a picture of Mansa Musa seated on a throne, wearing a gold crown and holding a sceptre and a round gold object, perhaps an orb, coin or nugget of gold. An accompanying caption in Catalan explains: This Black ruler is named Musse Melly (Musa of Mali), lord of Guinea. This king is the richest and noblest ruler of this whole region because of the abundance of gold that is found in his lands. From then on, the figure of Mansa Musa sometimes appears on luxurious illustrated maps, always with emphasis on his vast riches of gold. In the Gold exhibition, you can see an example from the Queen Mary Atlas. This impressive volume, probably made for Queen Mary I of England and her husband Philip II of Spain, was completed by Portuguese cartographer Diogo Homem in 1558. You can read more about it in a previous blogpost. A map of the Southern Atlantic, showing the western coast of Africa with the eastern coast of South America, from the Queen Mary Atlas (completed 1558): Add MS 5415 A , f. 14r While the detailed outlines and place names along the coasts reveal the extent of Portuguese exploration of Africa by sea, the interior of the continent is depicted more vaguely. Some of the information is based on centuries-old traditions, including the pictures of African rulers, labelled in Latin: Emperor of Mali, King of Nubia and Manicongo (ruler of the kingdom of Kongo). Although not specifically named, the Emperor of Mali is probably intended as Mansa Musa, given the long tradition of portraying him on illustrated maps. The depictions emphasise the wealth and power of the African rulers, with their prominent golden crowns, sceptres and jewellery. Details of African rulers, the Emperor of Mali, King of Nubia and Manicongo, from the Queen Mary Atlas (completed 1558): Add MS 5415 A , f. 14r Another example is on a map showing Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, made around 1529 by cartographer Conte di Ottomanno Freducci, who was based in Ancona, Italy (active 1497-1539). Unusually Mansa Musa is represented with white skin, wearing European-style clothing and playing a stringed musical instrument. A map of Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, made in Ancona, Italy (around 1529): Add MS 11548 Detail of Mansa Musa, from a map made in Ancona, Italy (around 1529): Add MS 11548 The image of Mansa Musa on this map is accompanied by a caption in Latin which praises him as a ruler and emphasises his great wealth in gold: This king Mansa Musa rules the province of Guinea and is no less prudent and knowledgeable than powerful. He has with him excellent mathematicians and men versed in the liberal arts, and he has great riches, as he is near the branch of the Nile which is called the Gulf of Gold. From this is brought a great quantity of gold dust or tibr, and this is a passage through his kingdom, and these regions abound in all the things that there are above the ground, particularly in dates and manna, and the best of all other things that can be had they only lack salt. (Translation from Chet Van Duzer, 'Nautical Charts, Texts, and Transmission', eBLJ 2017, p. 32, available online) Despite the whitewashing of the image of Mansa Musa on this map, the caption does seem to contain some authentic information about the trans-Saharan trade in gold. It refers to the Arabic word for gold dust tibr, and correctly identifies salt as one of the major commodities exchanged for gold in West Africa. A further example is on a map attributed to Jacobo Russo, a cartographer who was active from 1520 to 1588 in Messina, Sicily. On this map, the rulers are not captioned but their identities are implied by the cities they are pictured beside. The figure of a Black ruler holding two large gold rings next to a city labelled Guinea is most likely intended as Mansa Musa. The large gold rings suggest his wealth in gold, while the camels and camel-riders pictured nearby hint at the importance of this region for trading caravans. A map probably produced in Messina, Sicily (between 1520 and 1588): Add MS 31318 B Detail of the ruler of Guinea, next to camels, from a map probably produced in Messina, Sicily (between 1520 and 1588): Add MS 31318 B These 16th-century maps stand at a turning point in the history of relations between Europe and West Africa. On the one hand, they illustrate the trans-Saharan trade in gold which had flourished for centuries. On the other, they show that Europeans had already managed to bypass the caravan routes by establishing direct overseas trade with West Africa. Initially their main goal was to obtain gold, but increasingly also people to enslave. In the following centuries, West African gold would become marginalised and the region devastated by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Yet these depictions of medieval African rulers are a vivid reminder of an earlier time when West Africa was a centre of wealth, power and global connections, celebrated the world over for its glorious gold. If you would like to find out more about medieval West Africa, we recommend the article Building West Africa on the British Librarys West Africa webspace, and the companion website for the past exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time by the Block Museum of Art. The British Librarys Gold exhibition runs from 20 May to 2 October 2022 and you can book your tickets online now. An accompanying book Gold: Spectacular Manuscripts from Around the World is available from the British Library shop. Eleanor Jackson Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval Supported by: The exhibition is supported by the Goldhammer Foundation and the American Trust for the British Library, with thanks to The John S Cohen Foundation, The Finnis Scott Foundation, the Owen Family Trust and all supporters who wish to remain anonymous. Uvalde report: 376 officers but egregiously poor decisions UVALDE, Texas (AP) A report says nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting that left 21 people dead at a Uvalde elementary school. But egregiously poor decision-making resulted in a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed. The report is the first to criticize both state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in Uvalde, Texas, for the bewildering inaction at Robb Elementary School. The Texas House of Representatives report released Sunday says the gunman fired approximately 142 rounds inside the building and it is almost certain that 100 shots came before any officer entered. A hallway surveillance video also was released Sunday showing a hesitant and haphazard tactical response. 'Evil cannot win': Killed by Russian missile, Liza is buried VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) Beautiful and serene in a crown of white flowers, 4-year-old Liza, who was killed Thursday by a Russian missile strike, has been buried in central Ukraine. An Orthodox priest conducted the funeral, bursting into tears and telling weeping relatives that evil cannot win. Liza, who had Down syndrome, was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when a Russian missile struck the city of Vinnytsia, far from the front lines. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys aged 7 and 8. More than 200 others were wounded, including Liza's mother. Lizas grandmother said Sunday Look how many people came to see you! as she wept and caressed Liza's body in a coffin with flowers and teddy bears. Ukraine's Zelenskyy fires top security chief and prosecutor VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the head of the countrys security service and its prosecutor general. He cited hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments. He said Sunday that more than 60 employees of the prosecutors office and the SBU have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state. He also says some "links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders. Earlier Sunday, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities in the strategic city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. Chief: 3 dead in Indiana mall shooting; witness kills gunman GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP) Police say three people were fatally shot and two were injured at an Indiana mall after a man with a rifle opened fire in a food court and an armed civilian shot and killed him. Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison says the man entered the Greenwood Park Mall on Sunday evening with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court. He says a legally armed 22-year-old from nearby Bartholomew County killed the man. He called the armed civilian a real hero," saying he stopped "the shooter almost as soon as he began." The two injured victims are in stable condition. Panel: Hearing to show Trump's Jan. 6 'dereliction of duty' WASHINGTON (AP) A prime-time hearing Thursday will offer the most compelling evidence yet of then-President Donald Trumps dereliction of duty on the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection. That's according to the House committee investigating last year's attack. GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger says the hearing is going to open peoples eyes in a big way in showing how Trump did nothing as a mob stormed the Capitol. Another panel member, Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, says fresh witnesses will add a lot of value and information to the probe. Thursday's hearing may be the last, but the committee's investigation will press on. No major problems with ballot drop boxes in 2020, AP finds ATLANTA (AP) An Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. found that the expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election didn't lead to any widespread problems. The survey revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results. That's contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies, who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they opened the door to fraud. Drop boxes are considered by election officials to be safe and secure. But conspiracy theories and efforts by some Republicans to eliminate or restrict them persist. Biden's realism approach runs head-on into liberal pressure WASHINGTON (AP) When it comes to the thorniest issues confronting his administration, the instinct from Biden and his White House is to often speak about what he cant do, citing constraints imposed by the courts or insufficient support in a Congress that is controlled by his own party. White House officials, Bidens allies and even some influential progressive figures say that approach typifies a leader who has always promised to be honest with Americans, including how expansive his powers really are. But the presidents realpolitik tendencies are colliding with an activist base that is agitating for a more aggressive party leader both in tone and in substance. Researchers say Thai pro-democracy activists hit by spyware BANGKOK (AP) Cybersecurity researchers have found that Thai activists involved in the countrys pro-democracy protests had their cell phones or other devices infected and attacked with spyware. An investigation by Citizen Lab and iLaw found that at least 30 individuals including activists, scholars and people working with civil society groups were targeted for surveillance with Pegasus, a spyware produced by Israeli-based cybersecurity company NSO Group. Those whose devices were attacked were either involved in the pro-democracy protests that took place between 2020 and 2021, or were publicly critical of the Thai monarchy. It said that lawyers who defended them also were under such digital surveillance. British Open win makes golfer THE Cameron Smith in Australia BRISBANE, Australia (AP) Cameron Smiths dad is kicking himself that he didnt make the journey to St. Andrews to see his son win the 150th British Open. Smith mentioned in his championship winners news conference that his father made the late decision not to fly all the way from Australia just for a week and he's definitely kicking himself now. Des Smith was among the Aussies keenly following on TV as the 28-year-old golfer started the final round four shots behind and then completed the best closing round the Old Course had ever seen to win the title by one stroke. It finished in the early hours Monday local time in Brisbane, where Cameron Smith the golfer stamped his name among the sporting greats. Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck wed in Las Vegas drive-through NEW YORK (AP) Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were wed in a small ceremony Saturday in Las Vegas, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and countless tabloid covers. Lopez announced their marriage Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the headline We did it. Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, On the J Lo. A marriage license filing showed that Lopez plans to take the name Jennifer Affleck. The two were both previously married. Affleck has three children with Jennifer Garner. Lopez has two kids with Marc Anthony. Jeff Bohnert had all but given up on seeing his poodle-hound mix again after she went missing in early June. Two months later, he got a text from a neighbor: People exploring a nearby cave found a dog. Could it be Abby? Curious, Bohnert went to the cave site not far from his rural Missouri home, expecting to confirm it wasnt Abby. Then he saw the picture one of the rescuers took. He said, That's my dog. Bohnert and rescuers believe the nearly 14-year-old dog lived mostly off of her own body fat while spending nearly 60 days inside the cave before her rescue on Aug. 6. She is now regaining weight and is wagging her tail again. A Texas woman is fighting a ticket she received on June 29 for driving in a Dallas HOV lane. Under normal circumstances, this would not merit an editorial mention. But times have changed in Texas. The woman, Brandy Bottone, argues that, because she is pregnant, her fetus counts as a human with equal rights under Texas law. The Texas Legislature and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott made that bed with a big assist from the U.S. Supreme Court, now they must lie in it. Get ready, America, because this is only the start of a tsunami of challenges to come as the nation grapples with the legal technicalities of anti-abortion laws before various state legislatures granting full personhood status to the unborn. Its quite possible that hundreds or thousands of laws will now have to be revised to account for the legal personhood status various red-state legislatures have granted to the unborn. This has my blood boiling, Bottone, who is 34 weeks pregnant, told The Dallas Morning News. How could this be fair? According to the new law, this is a life. I know this may fall on deaf ears, but as a woman, this was shocking. The officer issuing the ticket asserted that the rules governing two-person occupancy of cars in the HOV lane require that they be people outside of the body, Bottone said. But we checked the Texas Department of Transportation website stating the rules on HOV lane use, and nowhere does any such stipulation appear. This is just a taste of court challenges to come as states that have outlawed abortion grapple with a definition of life that directly conflicts with existing laws. Take, for example, the decennial U.S. Census count. Some states conceivably could try claiming the unborn as part of their population as a means of gaining higher representation in Congress. In the tax code, the reason that you cant claim the baby on your taxes until its born is because it is not a person yet, Carliss Chatman, a law professor at Washington and Lee School of Law, told National Public Radio. But in a state that has a fetal personhood law, suddenly, you can put that fetus on your tax return. Which means an extra deduction even if the baby isnt born until after the start of the new year. What parents would turn down an opportunity to slash a few hundred extra bucks from their tax bill? Some women in poverty might be able to claim extra Medicaid benefits based on the size of their family-to-be. If this creates headaches for state lawmakers who insist on legal personhood for fetuses, constituents might consider sending them an aspirin in lieu of campaign donations. Perhaps with an added note: You created this problem, now its yours to fix. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Who and where Jane and Dave Fay of St. Louis at the John Lennon Wall in Prague, Czech Republic. The wall is filled with Beatles lyrics, Lennon-inspired graffiti and designs relating to local and global causes. The trip The couple celebrated their 30th anniversary (two years late due to the pandemic) with a cruise on Viking in March. They extended their trip with a visit to Prague. Travel tip Bring a felt tip marker to sign the wall. We met some interesting travelers that borrowed our marker. Loved that the wall was promoting peace for Ukraine. FRESNO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Netafim USA, a subsidiary of Netafim Ltd. the global leader in precision irrigation solutions will proudly exhibit its suite of precision irrigation solutions at Cultivate22 in Columbus, Ohio, on July 17-19, 2022. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220715005510/en/ Notably, green industry professionals can visit Netafims booth #3317 to learn more about Gakon Netafim, the companys greenhouse farming division that combines 70 years of Dutch heritage in glasshouse manufacturing and Netafims global presence and precision irrigation innovation. Netafim acquired Gakon Horticulture Products in 2021, joining forces to provide complete commercial greenhouses that enable farmers to grow fresh produce year-round in any climate, thus playing an important role in supporting local and sustainable food production. Commercial greenhouse projects are rapidly expanding across the U.S. These projects enable growers to reduce water and fertilizer use by up to 40%, and increase yields by 8 10 times in comparison to open field growing. Netafim will showcase new Gakon Netafim Greenhouse projects and greenhouse irrigation technology with consultations and demonstrations available from Gakon Netafim experts. Products include: NetBow Multi-outlet drippers Sprinklers Netafim experts in attendance include the Gakon Netafim Projects team: Mauricio Troche, Vice President of Sales, Specialty Markets; Claude Corcos, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development; and Brian Shade, Eastern Agriculture Regional Sales Manager. Attendees can also get a first look at Netafims newly released Greenhouse educational videos, a debut for growers interested in learning how Netafim solutions can meet their irrigation needs. Since its founding, Netafim has helped growers across industries evolve by driving the adoption of innovative precision irrigation solutions. Todays grower faces a myriad of challenges, and commercial greenhouse projects are a proven solution to hedge against many of the risks of farming. For investors, this means lower production costs and higher returns, while also contributing to more sustainable farming and food security, said Mike Hemman, President and CEO, Netafim USA. Greenhouses present an exciting future and we are excited to participate in Cultivate 22 to share more information and lend our expertise. Different locations, climates and crops require different greenhouse structures to give growers the optimum conditions and protection for success. At any stage of a project, Gakon Netafim can help configure the right greenhouse structure for any goals, said Ricky Elz, Greenhouse Key Accounts Sales Project Manager, Netafim USA. Our experts look forward to fostering relationships with growers looking to sustainability take their projects to the next level. ABOUT NETAFIM USA Netafim USA, based in Fresno, CA, develops and manufactures drip irrigation systems for agriculture, landscape & turf, greenhouse & nursery, mining, and wastewater. Netafim offers an extensive range of irrigation solutions including driplines, filters, sprinklers, valves, water meters, digital farming equipment, and turnkey greenhouses. For more information go to www.netafimusa.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220715005510/en/ Savanna Ellison 559-365-5745 [email protected] Stefan Pollack The Pollack Group 310-780-2364 [email protected] Source: Netafim USA Worldwide air cargo volumes have dropped further in the last two weeks despite the continued gradual recovery of capacity, according to the latest figures from WorldACD Market Data, a provider unique information on air cargo markets. In week 27 (July 4 - 10), worldwide chargeable weight decreased by -6% compared with the week before, and the average worldwide rate decreased slightly, based on the more than 350,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACDs data and analysis of the main international air cargo lanes. Comparing the last two weeks with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), average worldwide rates remained stable, while chargeable weight fell -5% and overall capacity increased +1% compared with the preceding two weeks. Chargeable weight from North America to Europe and Asia Pacific went down particularly strongly in the last two weeks (-16% and -12%, respectively), a period that included the Independence Day national holiday in the US. Compared with last year, the last two weeks showed a worldwide rate increase of +17%, despite a weight decline of -8% and a capacity increase of +15%. Other highlights On the biggest head-haul trades from East Asia, Asia Pacific to Europe average rates and chargeable weight both decreased -1% in the last two weeks compared with the preceding two weeks. Rates from Asia Pacific to North America fell -3% at slightly lower volumes (-1%). A longer-term view of the key Asia Pacific outbound market shows that volumes for the two weeks to 10 July were down -14%, YoY, and capacity was -8% below last years levels, although average rates on Asia Pacific outbound markets remain stubbornly high: +25% up compared with this time last year. Those rates figures are based on a mix of spot and contract rates and include charges, including the currently much-elevated fuel surcharges. On the demand side, one of the biggest two-week changes in volumes was a -8% decrease in intra-Asia Pacific volumes, compared with the previous two weeks, while average rates were only slightly down (-1%). Europe to Africa volumes also saw a -8% decline, at a +6% rise in average rates. Meanwhile, chargeable weight from Central & South America to North America showed +9% growth, after falling -5% in the previous two-week analysis period. TradeArabia News Service We need more John Legends in this world! Legendary artist John Legend recently tweeted his support for five progressive candidates running for the important offices of District Attorney/County Attorney/Attorney General in the key states of Arizona, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Florida. Legend states, "I firmly believe that district attorney races are crucial to improving our criminal legal system." The candidates he's supporting are Julie Gunnigle (County Attorney, Maricopa County, AZ), Steve Mulroy (District Attorney, Memphis, TN), Mary Moriarty (County Attorney, Hennepin County, MN), Aramis Ayala (Attorney General, Florida), and Allison Miller (State Attorney for Pinellas and Pasco Counties, FL). As an Arizonan who is extremely worried about the state stripping away reproductive rights, I'm especially excited for John Legend using his platform to promote Julie Gunnigle. Legend tweeted, "In Maricopa County (Phoenix, AZ), Julie Gunnigle is the only Democrat in the running to become the next county attorney, and she has promised not to prosecute abortion cases if elected." Folks commenting on the thread are sharing even more candidates from across the country who will fight for voters' and citizens' rights. Go check it out! WOKING, UK, July 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TT Electronics, a global provider of engineered technologies for performance critical applications, today announced the companys Kansas City facility has been awarded a Letter of Authority from long-term partner Honeywell Aerospace to proceed with the design of a new power supply for next-generation inertial navigation units. Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defence and space aircraft in the world and include aircraft propulsion, cockpit systems, satellite communications, and auxiliary power systems. Honeywell Aerospace is a subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc. This latest development reinforces the strategic partnership between TT Electronics and Honeywell with both companies working in collaboration on numerous projects spanning 20 years. Throughout this time, TT has delivered a variety of advanced solutions to fulfil Honeywells requirements for its aerospace and defence customers worldwide. With a strong focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, TT has made significant investments in engineering capability, supported by state-of-the-art equipment and vertically integrated manufacturing facilities, said Matt Sweaney, Vice President and General Manager, TT Electronics. This award reinforces our long-standing partnership with Honeywell and also demonstrates TTs strategy in action as we continue to grow our position in the aerospace and defence industry. Since the mid-1990s, Honeywell has produced and delivered more than 60,000 embedded GPS inertial navigation systems (EGI). Designed to provide maximum flexibility, Honeywells EGIs meet the most challenging military requirements, along with civil interoperability capabilities. Its products have a strong performance record for the most challenging navigation, pointing, stabilisation, and flight control applications. About TT Electronics plc TT Electronics is a global provider of engineered technologies for performance critical applications. TT solves electronics challenges for a sustainable world. TT benefits from enduring megatrends in structurally high-growth markets including healthcare, aerospace, defence, electrification, and automation. TT invests in R&D to create designed-in products where reliability is mission critical. Products designed and manufactured include sensors, power management and connectivity solutions. TT has design and manufacturing facilities in the UK, North America, Sweden, and Asia. For more information about TT Electronics visit www.ttelectronics.com. TT Electronics marketing contact:Lisa LaffertyTT ElectronicsT: +44-7972-297-051E: [email protected] Press contact: Jacqueline Zerbst MPoweredPRT: +1-877-794-6777 E: [email protected] Source: TT Electronics Renewable energy production expanded at an annual rate of 15% between 2011 and 2020, and if this growth rate continues through 2035, renewable electricity will meet 100% of the United States electricity demand In May, Californias renewable energy sources briefly generated 101% of the states energy demand Correlate Infrastructure Partners provides access to intelligent efficiency measures, electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, and locally sited solar and energy storage Through its all-in-one platform, the company designs, engineers, finances, builds, and monitors renewable energy (solar) projects for its clients, enabling them to meet ESG mandates as well as save on electricity costs and capital expenditure (CapEx) A report by a joint team from Frontier Group and Environment America Research and Policy Center, released last year, reported that the proportion of electricity the U.S. generated from wind and solar increased by about four times between 2011 and 2020. Within that decade, wind, solar, and geothermal power production grew at a yearly average of 15%. And should this growth rate continue, renewable energy is projected to meet the countrys electricity demand by 2035 (https://ibn.fm/dD8Xr). The state of California, however, does not have to wait until 2035 as it broke that record earlier in May, albeit briefly. For 15 minutes, the states renewable energy generation peaked at 101% of the current energy demand, most of it solar energy, breaking a previous record of 96.4%. And though this does not imply that California was 100% powered by only renewable energy sources as nuclear, natural gas, and other non-renewable sources also contributed electricity to the grid the new record marked an important milestone. Against this backdrop, observers now note that stakeholders need to work on ensuring the state runs on 100% clean energy for even longer a whole day, week, or year (https://ibn.fm/7xa4I). The need for states and countries to run on 100% clean energy has never been more urgent, particularly in the wake of the Paris Agreement and, more recently, the COP26 summit, which amplified calls to mitigate climate change. At the same time, companies are increasingly supporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives to meet investors expectations. Combined, these factors have increased the demand for clean energy sources, with Deloittes 2022 Renewable Energy Industry Outlook report noting that renewable energy growth will accelerate this calendar year (https://ibn.fm/XKH5o). Correlate Infrastructure Partners (OTCQB: CIPI), a portfolio-scale development and financing platform providing commercial and industrial facilities access to clean electrification solutions focused on intelligent efficiency measures, electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, and locally sited solar and energy storage, is ideally poised to help countries, states, and companies meet their desired renewable energy targets, starting with its domicile, the United States. By designing, financing, engineering, constructing, and maintaining renewable energy projects, CIPI effectively breaks down barriers to corporate Americas ESG and net operating income (NOI) goals. The companys all-in-one platform incorporates energy experts who develop customized operating strategies that fit clients needs; a software application that monitors, measures, and optimizes numerous building performance metrics; vendor management; and financing, to mention a few. Correlate identifies cash flow positive energy solutions, designs and manages upgrades, and monitors performance over the long haul, the companys website reads. Even more impressively, CIPI achieves this without requiring its clients to part with upfront fees. So far, Correlate has deployed this approach in the development of various solar energy projects around the United States. In April, for example, CIPI entered a contract worth more than $2 million for a major rooftop solar energy project in New Jersey (https://ibn.fm/8xu90). Corporate America is stepping up their measurable actions to meet investor-driven ESG mandates. And why wouldnt they? Its tremendously profitable for them. In New Jersey, our clients will typically save at least 20% on day one while converting 70% of the facilitys electricity use to carbon-free solar energy, said Correlate President and CEO Todd Michaels of the New Jersey project. With Correlate, customers put up zero capital and simply get cheaper, clean power at a fixed price. Thats an infinite return. Additionally, in May, CIPI announced it had been contracted to install a large-scale rooftop solar project at the headquarters of Continental Envelope (https://ibn.fm/hNKsS). Through projects such as these, Correlate Infrastructure Partners is not only contributing to the growth of renewable energy but also installing infrastructure that will enable states and the country to generate renewable electricity that meets 100% of their demand. For more information, visit the companys website at www.CorrelateInfra.com. Breaking Down Barriers To Your ESG Goals While Generating Additional Net Operating Income: www.CorrelateInfra.com/our-process The companys platform Generates New Rent and Operating Income, Allowing You to Meet Your ESG Goals: www.CorrelateInfra.com/program NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CIPI are available in the companys newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CIPI About Green Energy Stocks Green Energy Stocks (GES) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on companies working to shape the future of the green economy. The company provides (1) access to a network of wire services via InvestorWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible, (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets (3), enhanced press release services to ensure maximum impact, (4) social media distribution via the InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) to nearly 2 million followers, and (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, GES is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in todays market, GES brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. GES is where news, content and information converge. To receive SMS text alerts from Green Energy Stocks, text Green to 844-397-5787 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only) For more information, please visit https://www.GreenNRGStocks.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the Green Energy Stocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.GreenNRGStocks.com/Disclaimer Green Energy Stocks Los Angeles, CA www.GreenNRGStocks.com 415.949.5050 Office [email protected] Green Energy Stocks is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork. The delivery drone that made this first delivery will be going on display in the "Thomas W. Haas We All Fly" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2022 RENO, Nev., July 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyDrop celebrates the seventh anniversary of the July 17, 2015 'Kitty Hawk Moment' of the first drone delivery on US soil, which was conducted by SkyDrop (formerly Flirtey). The Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine recorded of this historic milestone, "it had the FAA's blessing to fly. And that made it the first official drone package delivery in this country". The delivery drone that made this first delivery will be going on display in the "Thomas W. Haas We All Fly" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2022. The museum also displays the 1903 Wright Flyer that made the first official flight of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine. A historical marker memorializing this milestone was authorized by the Virginia Department of Aviation and unveiled by U.S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va. This historical marker reads, "On this site in Wise County, Flirtey Inc. successfully conducted the first Federal Aviation Administration-approved drone delivery in American aviation history on July 17, 2015. The drone took to the air from Lonesome Pine Airport and delivered medicine to the Remote Area Medical Clinic at the Virginia-Kentucky District Fairgrounds near Wise. This drone delivery represented the "Kitty Hawk moment" for the unmanned aerial vehicle industry. In recognition of this historic aviation milestone, the Flirtey Inc. aircraft landed a spot at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum." SkyDrop and Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (Domino's), signed an agreement earlier this year to launch the second phase of commercial drone deliveries in New Zealand. SkyDrop's production of the drone fleet for the upcoming commercial drone delivery trial with Domino's is now complete. SkyDrop recently announced that it continues to expand drone delivery into the restaurant and retail industries. About SkyDrop: SkyDrop (formerly Flirtey) is a full-stack solutions provider of hardware and software for autonomous last-mile drone delivery and owns extensive patents. SkyDrop is the pioneer of the commercial drone delivery industry, with a mission to make delivery instant for everyone, and a vision of drone delivery that is safer, speedier, quieter, cheaper, and greener. The company first made history in 2015 when it conducted the first-ever FAA-approved drone delivery in the US. Learn more at www.GetSkyDrop.com Media Contact: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skydrop-celebrates-seven-year-anniversary-of-the-kitty-hawk-moment-the-first-faa-approved-drone-delivery-in-american-history-301587792.html SOURCE SkyDrop Over $100m income milestone for the second year running, 10% year-on-year growth to $111.1m Post-tax profits increased by 200% from $13.5m in 2020 to $40.4m in 2021 Trade Finance income grew by 9% year-on-year to $55.8m Commercial Banking customer deposits reached $936m, up 7% year-on-year Visa debit card added to our portfolio of customer-focused services LONDON, July 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After a two year break The Access Bank UK Ltd celebrated hosting the return to its annual Access Bank Polo Day at Guards Polo Club Windsor on Saturday 16 July and reflected on another year of outstanding international business growth. This year The Bank has won Best African Trade Finance award from International Finance for the fifth consecutive year and Best Africa Trade Finance Bank by Capital Finance International for the seventh year in a row. Putting customers' needs ahead of its own sets the standard by which it judges itself and its performance. According to Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jamie Simmonds: "We are a bank where our growth has been fuelled by the strength of customer relationships. This enables us to develop innovative products and financial solutions for our customers. We have offices in the heart of the City of London, Dubai and Lagos. We invest significantly in attracting, retaining and developing professional staff in order to ensure customers always deal with an expert who is familiar with their business and personal financial needs, the foundation of our business is relationship management." Corporate Social responsibility, balancing economic, environmental and social impact plays a key role in the growth of the bank. The Bank has continued to invest in people despite the constraints of remote working and is proud to be accredited as Platinum in Investors in People. The Group is actively involved in school projects, child support agency partnerships and the Save a Life initiative. The Access Bank Cup is part of its fund raising in partnership with Fifth Chukker for UNICEF for education projects in northern Nigeria in particular. It is the culmination of a programme of polo competitions across Nigeria and in South Africa. Since the UNICEF/Access Bank initiative was started it has rebuilt schools in Kaduna and has kept more than 8000 students in continuous education. At the same time new school blocks and a computer literacy building all in a more secure and friendly school environment have been developed. The communities surrounding the schools are supported with boreholes for water, and sewing and grinding machines to secure employment and stimulate economic and social development. Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Holdings PLC and Chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, says: "The successes of The Access Bank UK Ltd has been a major milestone in the development of the banking group into the biggest Nigerian Bank in respect of assets and customer base and has charted our course for the future. Together our continuing support for the Fifth Chukker - UNICEF initiative reflects our view of our role as a change agent in Nigeria and Africa that can help institute socio-economic development through responsible business practice, social initiatives and environmental consideration. We continue to look for ways to enable more resources to be directed at supporting the children. We are part of the community and as such should support its wellbeing." Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1860628/Access_Bank_UK.jpgLogo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/946980/Access_Bank_Logo.jpg FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Peter Walker+44 (0)7836 223513 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-access-bank-uk-ltd--charting-a-course-for-the-future-301587808.html SOURCE The Access Bank UK Ltd Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See more stories here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. (Tribune News Service) A federal court judge Thursday certified as a legal class a group of Air Force members seeking a religious exemption from the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The ruling affects 80 to 100 Airmen serving or having served at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The federal court in Cincinnati also entered a nationwide temporary restraining order that prevents the Air Force from enacting disciplinary consequences for refusing the mandate when a request for a religious exemption is at issue. The order is valid for 14 days, while the court weighs a request for a preliminary injunction, which would protect Airmen with religious objections until a trial. The order was issued in the case Doster v. Kendall. We were pleased by the ruling, Kentucky attorney Christopher Wiest, who represents the plaintiffs in the case, told the Dayton Daily News on Thursday evening. My co-counsel at Siri Glimstad and I were fielding hundreds of calls a week from Air (Force) and Space Force members who were facing imminent punitive actions and in some cases the end of long careers, and the order came in the nick of time, Wiest said. Todays ruling makes clear that Congress directive to all federal authorities in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act means something: the Air Force cannot grant hundreds of administrative and medical exemptions and treat religious exemptions in a second-class status. This is a huge victory for our country and religious freedom, Stephen Crampton, Thomas More Society senior counsel, said in a statement sent to this news outlet. Crampton is one of the attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case. The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm. Reached Friday morning, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Air Force said the department will comply with the court order. Air Force leaders have argued that vaccination is an important component of fitness and military readiness. In an unsigned order in April, the Supreme Court ruled that the military could take disciplinary action against an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel who refused the COVID shot for religious reasons. A December 2021 memo from the Air Force directs commanders to take appropriate administrative and disciplinary actions consistent with federal law and Department of the Air Force ... policy in addressing service members who refuse to obey a lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and do not have a pending separation or retirement, or medical, religious or administrative exemption. Refusal to comply with the vaccination mandate could result in discharge from the service, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and others have said. (c)2022 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Visit the Dayton Daily News at www.daytondailynews.com With the flashlight from her smartphone, Renee Iron Hawk peered into the dust-covered glass and wood cabinets inside a small, dark museum in Barre, Mass. She and a handful of other American Indians looked at pairs of beaded moccasins, a dozen ceremonial pipes and a few cradleboards, used by women to carry infants on their backs. The items are among as many as 200 artifacts that were stolen from the bodies of the 250 Lakota men, women and children slaughtered by the U.S. Army in 1890 during the Wounded Knee massacre in South Dakota. Theyd ended up in an obscure museum attached to a public library in a rural town 70 miles from Boston. Going through those cabinets, looking at these items of our people with the light from our phones, it was just something deep to me, Iron Hawk said. It felt like the breath went out of me. I had to sit down and rest. I had to say a prayer. How a collection from one of historys worst atrocities against American Indians ended up in Barre is almost as painful as the memory of the massacre. Some of the items were sold by gravediggers to Frank Root, a traveling shoe salesman from Barre, who used them as part of his Wild West roadshow before he donated them in 1892 to the towns museum, where theyve stayed for more than a century. They are among the more than 780,000 burial items and possessions of Native Americans held in museums or other institutions as of September 2021, according to a report to Congress. Its a stolen collection, Iron Hawk said of the Barre objects. Just like they stole our lands; its the same. Now she, her husband, Manny, and their group, HAWK 1890 which stands for Heartbeat at Wounded Knee and includes American Indians whose relatives were slain in or survived the massacre have launched an effort to have the items returned to their tribes, the Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne River Sioux. Earlier this year, they seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough. But the deal they struck this spring with officials from the Barre Museum Association has stalled, leaving the Indians fearing a repeat of the countrys long history of broken promises to Native Americans. Museum officials insist that is not the case but also say they must follow protocols to ensure that the objects are returned properly. The delays have frustrated the Indians. Without those items in their tribal homelands, Manny Iron Hawk said, they believe their ancestors are in limbo. For our way of life, when somebody makes their journey to the other side, their spirit has to go and be released, said Manny, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River tribe and a great-great-grandson of a man killed at Wounded Knee. That didnt happen for these ancestors. He said their items and objects need to be brought back so we can do the proper ceremony and their spirits can take that journey to the other side. They need to come home. American Indians were struggling to survive in the years leading up to Wounded Knee. The huge herds of buffalo on which they depended were gone. They had been forced off their lands and onto reservations. They had suffered devastating losses in battle and betrayals when the United States broke treaties it had signed with them. A census record from 1890 showed Indians were vanishing, according to Jim Adams, a senior historian with the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. Their suffering fueled a revival of the Ghost Dance, a spiritual movement embraced by some American Indians who believed it would make the white men disappear, resurrect dead Indians and bring back the buffalo herds. In 1890, the U.S. Armys 7th Cavalry Regiment was sent with the largest deployment of federal troops since the end of the Civil War to stop the rise of the Ghost Dance. Soldiers tried to arrest Sitting Bull, one of the most renowned Lakota chiefs. Instead, an altercation broke out, and Sitting Bull was shot and killed at the Standing Rock reservation. Fearing more violence, another chief, Big Foot, a leader of the Minneconjou Lakota, went to Wounded Knee and set up camp near a creek, Adams said. On Dec. 29, the U.S. Army surrounded the group at Wounded Knee Creek. Accounts of what happened next vary. Adams and some other historians say the soldiers demanded that the Indians surrender their weapons. They say that most complied but that one Lakota was reluctant to give up his rifle. Suddenly, a rifle went off, and the soldiers started shooting, at times using rapid-fire Hotchkiss guns. The Lakotas fought back, but most of them had already given up their weapons. It was a straight-up massacre, Adams said. The soldiers pursued some of the survivors for up to five miles in the snow and killed them. Some historians put the number of Indians slain closer to 400, rather than the 250 cited by other sources. Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, an Army commander during the Indian wars, wrote in an 1891 letter, I have never heard of a more brutal, coldblooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee. Women with little children on their backs, and small children powder-burned by the men who killed them being so near as to burn the flesh and clothing with the powder of their guns, and nursing babies with five bullet holes through them. At least three dozen soldiers were killed, and another 20 were later awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at Wounded Knee. In 1990, Congress issued a formal apology for the massacre and expressed deep regret, but it offered no reparations for the massacre. That same year, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, requiring museums and institutions that receive federal funding to return any American Indian remains or objects to their rightful owners. But the law has loopholes, and regaining possession of items can sometimes involve long, expensive legal battles. Native Americans are the last group of people who have to fight for the right to have claims to things that are theirs, said Valerie J. Grussing, the executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. Thats outrageous. For decades, Lakotas tried to get some of the stolen items back from the Barre Museum but got little response. Then, in 2000, Leonard Little Finger an Oglala Lakota and a descendant of Chief Big Foot successfully lobbied the Barre Museum to return a lock of the chiefs hair after proving through a tribal court that he was related to him. Little Finger said in a 2010 letter to the National Park Service that Ann E. Meilus the president of the Barre Museum Associations board had called him in 2007 asking for advice because activist groups were demanding the return of the Wounded Knee items. He met with her and the museum board in Barre, and they discussed donating items to the Journey Museum in Rapid City, S.D. But Meilus said in an interview that Journey officials wanted the whole collection, not just the items from Wounded Knee, which the board was not willing to grant. We felt that was not the proper thing to do because we had other tribes come, and they blessed the museum, and they really liked the way the museum presented the items, so we felt that we would be dishonoring the other tribes, Meilus said. Still, many in the Wounded Knee descendants group wanted to pursue getting the items returned. We knew stuff had been stored, or sold, or traded and in some cases stolen. It all mostly just gradually disappeared, said Wendell Yellow Bull, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota whose great-grandfather, Joseph Horn Cloud, survived Wounded Knee at 16 years old. This year, a Vermont-based activist contacted Oglala Lakota leaders to help push for the return of the objects. In April, Manny and Renee Iron Hawk, along with Chief Henry Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota Nation, flew more than 1,800 miles to Boston. They had been invited to see the items and meet with officials from the Barre Museum Association. They were accompanied by a few other American Indians from tribes in the Massachusetts area: the Nipmuc and the Wampanoags. When they arrived, the Iron Hawks said, theyd barely gotten out of their cars when a representative of the museum association board met them in the parking lot and told them what seemed like good news: The board had held a brief meeting before they arrived and taken a vote. Theyd decided to return the items. Manny and his wife said they were surprised and a bit skeptical. I really didnt believe it, Manny said. Still, they tried to stay optimistic. Before they went into the building, the American Indians performed a ritual they smudged those who were there by lighting some sage, letting it burn and wafting the scent and smoke over their heads. It was meant as a symbol to start things in a good way, Manny said. To clear the heart, mind and soul and clear the air before we were to go in and see these special items from our ancestors. They then said a prayer in Lakota to the Creator, asking that the items of our relatives will come home soon, Manny said. The Indians met with about six museum association board members, most of whom are white. The board members had questions: Where would the Indians store the items? Would they be damaged? Would they be sold? Renee Iron Hawk said she found their inquiries insulting. The board members also set a few stipulations. They wanted to hire an expert to do an inventory and check the authenticity of the items work that the Iron Hawks and other Indians in their group think is unnecessary. After they ate some sandwiches, the Native Americans were allowed to view the items. They were told not to take pictures a museum policy and not to touch anything, because items probably had been treated with arsenic to preserve them. About half a dozen Indians, a curator and a few museum officials stepped inside the small, dark room where the items sat in closed and, in some cases, locked cabinets. One case held several pairs of suede leggings and a few pairs of childrens moccasins. Another contained a few medicine pouches and several breast plates made of shell bones. A headdress with feathers hung in one. Beaded pouches shaped like turtles and salamanders with dried umbilical cords of Indian babies tucked inside lay in one case. You could tell the leather, the beadwork and the designs were of Lakotas, said Renee Iron Hawk. There was no doubt they were ours. They came from our people. Yet another cabinet held a ghost shirt, worn to protect men at war from harm. After roughly 45 minutes of looking at the objects, the Iron Hawks left the museum. Again, they smudged, and then they attended a town hall meeting that had been set up for their visit. About 100 Barre residents showed up. Manny Iron Hawk shared a story that his mother had told him about Wounded Knee. Every time she told it, shed cry. His great-grandmother, Alice Ghost Horse-War Bonnet, was 10 during the attack, he said. Men and women took up weapons, and when the shooting started, she was running with her mother holding her hand, he said. They were told, Run, run. The cavalry is coming to get you. Theyre coming to hunt you and kill you. Alice survived, but her father, Ghost Horse, and her teenage brother were slain. All of that is carried on in these items from that killing field, Manny explained. Its a trauma, a historical trauma, that we still carry today. After the meeting, Manny said, a few residents approached him and expressed support for the return of the objects. Others said they were surprised to know the town had such items. Once back in South Dakota, the Iron Hawks and their supporters said they expected to hear from the museum board about the logistics of getting the items back. But they didnt. Meilus, the museum boards president, said in late June that the association had received a grant to test the items for arsenic. She said the board wanted to ensure an inventory and analysis of the items was done to ensure that they were authentic and had come from Wounded Knee. Root, the man who donated the items to the museum, was known for buying artifacts as he traveled and using them in his roadshow, according to Meilus, so she said she thinks that some of the items in the museums collection may not belong to Lakotas. She said she thinks the items are from 30 tribes across the country. Meilus and the board also want the HAWK 1890 members to get formal resolutions passed by their respective tribal councils so the transfer of the Wounded Knee items has broader support than just a group of individuals who is making this request. Meilus said she favors repatriating the items to the tribes because, if you meet the people, they are still in a great deal of pain. Its multigenerational pain, and if we can help them, the Oglala Sioux people, get closure, Im all for it. But the Native Americans view the museum associations bureaucratic demands as delaying tactics. They said they were going to give them back verbally, Manny said. Now they seem to have changed their mind and gone back on their word about returning them to us. Were used to that as natives, he said. People havent kept their word to us for centuries. Still, Renee said, the tribe will get the items back, even if doing so takes years. We have a spiritual belief thats strong, and we believe our relatives are going to help us. We will get them home. Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report. A U.S. Air Force veteran living in Ukraine has been detained by pro-Russian separatists, his brother said making him at least the third American to be captured in Ukraine since the war began. Troops supporting Russia took custody of Suedi Murekezi, 35, in the southern city of Kherson in early June and falsely accused him of participating in pro-Ukrainian protests, Sele Murekezi said Saturday. He said his brother called him last week and said he was being held in the Donetsk Peoples Republic, a separatist region in eastern Ukraine, with two other captured Americans, Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Huynh. A spokesman for the State Department said the agency was aware of unconfirmed reports that Suedi Murekezi had been captured, but he declined to comment further, citing privacy considerations. A Rwanda native, Suedi Murekezi moved to the United States as a teenager and served in the Air Force for eight years, his brother said. Suedi Murekezi relocated to Ukraine in 2018 for its dynamic technology sector and later settled in Kherson, the administrative center of a region in southern Ukraine with the same name. Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian troops after the invasion began. Sele Murekezi, who lives in Minnesota, said he had urged his brother to leave Ukraine before Russia invaded, but Suedi Murekezi resisted on principle and refused to abandon his close friends there. On July 7, Sele Murekezi received a phone call from an unknown number. The caller passed the phone to Suedi Murekezi, who said he was being detained and wrongly accused of participating in pro-Ukrainian protests. He said he was not injured or being tortured. To the best that we can tell, his only crime is that hes an American and that hes Black, said Bryan Stern, the co-founder of Project Dynamo, a nonprofit initiative that conducts rescue operations for those captured, detained, or otherwise needing evacuation in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Stern said its notable that Suedi was not charged as a mercenary, which he interprets as a sign that authorities are not accusing him of being part of the legion of international volunteers fighting for Ukraine. But the definition of protesting is expansive in Russian separatist territory, Stern says. Actions likely to be considered innocuous in many places around the world could be seen in the DPR as defiance. As one example, Stern said he worked a case in Ukraine where a foreigner was arrested for using the Ukrainian version of the word thank you instead of the Russian one. Sele Murekezi is unsure whether to believe that his brother is unharmed. When he spoke to his brother in their native language on the call, Suedi Murekezi responded in English causing Sele Murekezi to worry that someone was monitoring the conversation. To Sele Murekezi, the brief exchange offered evidence that his brother at least is alive. He said he has been in regular contact with the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and hopes his brother will be freed. He has done his part for America, Sele Murekezi said. And maybe America can do something for him, as well. Stern told The Post that in his experience, there are roughly three possible paths from here. The best-case scenario, Stern says, is some sort of negotiated release a negotiation between the different parties, usually through middlemen. A second and less likely scenario is some sort of rescue operation. Given his location in the Donetsk Peoples Republic, an area under the control of pro-Russian separatists that essentially functions autonomously even from Moscow authorities, that is going to be very, very, very difficult in this case, Stern said. A third scenario is that Suedi Murekezi will face trial where conviction and sentencing in the DPR would be on the table, with possibly grim outcomes. The death penalty is allowed in the DPR, unlike in Russia. The problem ... is, hes been arrested by a government that doesnt really exist in the world, Stern says. The Washington Posts Alice Crites contributed to this report. Here's an important announcement: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has created a new number that goes into effect July 16, 2022. To reach the Lifeline from anywhere across the United States, you now have to just call "988". Their website explains: When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary. The current Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, even after 988 is launched nationally. The Lifeline's network of over 200 crisis centers has been in operation since 2005, and has been proven to be effective. It's the counselors at these local crisis centers who answer the contacts the Lifeline receives every day. Numerous studies have shown that callers feel less suicidal, less depressed, less overwhelmed and more hopeful after speaking with a Lifeline counselor. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden is promising "strong executive action" to combat climate change, despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power. The Supreme Court last month limited how the nation's main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Then late Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he wants to delay sweeping environmental legislation that Democrats have pushed as central to achieving Biden's ambitious climate goals. Biden, who has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, said Friday that "action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever.'' If the Senate will not act to address climate change and boost clean energy, "I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,'' Biden said in a statement from Saudi Arabia, where he met Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden did not specify what actions he will take on climate, but said they will create jobs, improve energy security, bolster domestic manufacturing and protect consumers from oil and gas price increases. "I will not back down,'' he promised. Some advocates urged Biden to use the moment to declare a national climate emergency and reinstate a ban on crude oil exports, among other steps. Declaring a climate emergency would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar and speed the nation's transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Climate advocates, including some of Manchin's Democratic colleagues in the Senate, slammed his opposition noting that it was the second time he has torpedoed climate change legislation. "It's infuriating and nothing short of tragic that Sen. Manchin is walking away, again, from taking essential action on climate and clean energy,'' said Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. "The world is literally burning up while he joins every single Republican to stop strong action to cut emissions and speed the transition to clean energy.'' Other Democrats said Manchin's announcement that he cannot back the climate provisions in the Senate bill at least for now frees Biden of the obligation to cater to a powerful, coal-state senator eager to protect his energy-producing home state. Manchin's vote is decisive in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans unanimously oppose climate action. "Free at last. Let's roll. Do it all and start it now,'' tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. who has long pushed stronger action on climate. "With legislative climate options now closed, it's now time for executive Beast Mode,'' Whitehouse wrote. Whitehouse suggested a series of actions Biden could take, including "a robust social cost of carbon rule" that would force energy producers to account for greenhouse gas emissions as a cost of doing business. The senator also urged Biden to require major polluters to use technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions and impose stronger pollution controls on cars, light trucks and heavy-duty vehicles. Advocates also urged Biden to reject all onshore and offshore drilling on federal lands and in federal waters a step he promised during the 2020 campaign but has not enacted and restrict approval of natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects. "For too long, we've been waiting on a single legislative package to save us and a single legislator to determine our fate,'' said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. "Now that it's clear legislation to address our climate crisis is dead, President Biden needs to put us on an emergency footing to address this disaster.'' Citing Biden's campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands and waters, Merkley said, "Now is the time to show the American people he's serious by saying 'no' to expanding our addiction to fossil fuels.'' Even before Manchin's apparent rejection of the climate measures, Democrats had slimmed their down their plan from about $555 billion in climate spending to just over $300 billion in a bid to secure his support. Proposed tax credits for wind, solar and nuclear energy, along with still-unproven carbon-capture technology, could reduce emissions by up to 40% by 2030, advocates said. Manchin had already forced Democrats to drop two tax provisions he opposes: direct payments of clean energy credits and tax credits for drivers who purchase electric vehicles. Manchin forced other concessions last year, including killing a proposal that would have paid utilities that increase clean energy while penalizing those that do not. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he still hopes to salvage the clean energy tax provisions and said failure "really is not an option here." Manchin's request to postpone action on the climate measure follows a June 30 ruling by the Supreme Court, which said in a 6-3 vote that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The ruling by the court's conservative majority likely complicates the Biden administration's plan to manage power plant pollution, but does not eliminate its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency is moving forward with proposed rules for power plants in the coming months. Ann Clancy, associate climate policy director for Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group, said it was time for Biden to "stop waiting for corporate-backed Democrats and their bad faith negotiations and deliver real wins for the American people on climate.'' "We don't have any more time to waste,'' Clancy said. Manchin, in a radio interview Friday, said climate activists want an immediate end to U.S. use of oil, coal and gas. "That's crazy,'' he told West Virginia talk show host Hoppy Kercheval. "I'm not throwing caution to the wind. I think we need an energy policy that works for our country." Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See more stories here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. HOLYOKE, Mass. (Tribune News Service) As the deadline nears for surviving family members and veterans who survived the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the Soldiers Home in Holyoke to apply for shares of a $56 million settlement with the state, former U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern is preparing to be the gatekeeper. Plaintiffs filed a federal class-action lawsuit against state officials and former leaders at the home over a bungled response created by early ignorance of the nature and trajectory of the virus, coupled with mismanagement and government bureaucracy that caused among the most startling death tolls in long-term care facilities in the nation. Stern served as the states top federal prosecutor from 1993 until 2001, when he went into private practice, and now works for Affiliated Monitors. The international firm dispatches independent, third-party monitors to oversee civil settlements across the globe, according to the companys website. Stern spent a chunk of his career in the public realm prosecuting mobsters including the late James Whitey Bulger, gang leaders, drug lords and white-collar criminals. Now hes preparing to hear potentially hundreds of stories of suffering from the victims of the COVID-19 outbreak at the state-run facility for aging and infirm war veterans. The stories will come from both family members of the 84 residents who died of the coronavirus and from veterans who survived the outbreak. Settlement recipients are split into two classes: those who died before June 23, 2020, and those who died after or survived. The minimum settlement for survivors of the first group will be $400,000 but may climb higher than $500,000. The second group can receive a minimum of $10,000 but up to $400,000, plaintiffs attorneys have said. During a recent interview, Stern said he has already had some contact with families, though the deadline to submit victim impact statements is not until Aug. 16. I would say its kind of a humbling experience. I see the dilemma, or the task, to try to be fair, evenhanded and dispassionate while having some compassion, Stern said. The terms of the settlement have been tentatively set and have received preliminary support from U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni. The terms were established without Sterns input, by design. It is now his job to meet with families and decide the discretionary areas. All of these things have an element of line-drawing. Thats the nature of what it is, Stern said, referring to the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund that dealt with the families of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on America. And if youre on the other side of the lines I only call balls and strikes. It sounds heartless to put dollar amounts on lost loved ones or suffering, but thats the legal system we have. Stern noted that the settlement reached in May also set relatively standard criteria to determine payouts beyond the chronological milestones set by the agreement: the veterans ages, suffering, earnings and the frequency of contact survivors had with their loved ones, for instance. Lead plaintiffs attorney Michael Aleo, of Northampton, said his team has been having fairly good success at contacting those they believe might be class members, if the potential members have not already been in touch. Thats not been as difficult as we feared, Aleo said. The stickier prospect has been meeting the settlements requirement that a probate court appoint a special representative to file the claim. Aleo said previously having been appointed a trustee or executor of a will does not satisfy the terms. My sense is the probate courts have been trying to be helpful. That process can take months and we dont have months, Aleo said. Just recovering from a tough bout with COVID-19 herself, Laurie Mandeville Beaudette is in the midst of tackling the relative mountain of paperwork required to apply as a class member. Her father, U.S. Navy veteran James Mandeville, died on April 14, 2020, at Holyoke Medical Center after contracting the virus at the soldiers home. Her father was one of roughly three dozen residents who initially tested negative for the virus at the soldiers home and were transferred to the COVID unit at the nearby hospital. Mandeville developed symptoms within days of that transfer, as did many others. While considering the paperwork, Beaudette finds herself reliving the horror show of 2020 for her father and others like him, plus their loved ones. She made the move of rescinding a do not resuscitate order previously on file at the home while her father was in the hospital, and she was prevented from seeing him. A doctor from the medical center called me and said, What do you want? Beaudette recalled. I told him, what I want is for you to not let my father die until I can see him. And that she did, for 30 minutes on Easter Sunday that year, forced to shed her clothes and don full protective gear to visit the unit. I went on the unit, and it was really, really scary to see him there, she said. I often try to see thing from others perspectives, and I thought: How does this look to my dad? They must look like astronauts to him in full protective headgear, and its very impersonal. Not what youd want to see at the end of your life. Although largely unconscious that day, her father did sit up momentarily the last time she saw him alive, exclaiming: Oh! Its you! with a grin. She got the call that her father died two days later. Immersing herself back in that time makes her sad, and mad, Beaudette said. But its necessary. Stern said there is a dedicated website and telephone line for potential class members to call to inquire about the process. The phone number is 617-807-1128 and the website is holyokesoldiershomefund.com . 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com . Qema specialised in sourcing false documentation and in money laundering, using his extensive contact network in other countries to help him do his bidding. Ndricim Qema, who had been living in Direct Provision before he was sent to prison, arrived in Ireland in 2018 and has been acting as the Albanian gangs Irish contact ever since. He had been in the country responding to the orders of his father, who is a senior member of the mob, back in Albania, The Irish Mirror reports. Qema specialised in sourcing false documentation and in money laundering, using his extensive contact network in other countries to help him do his bidding. The 27-year-old was put behind bars following a major probe by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and the UKs Home Office under a joint agency task force, with help from Europol. It was led by the GNIBs Superintendent David Kennedy, Detective Garda Mark Henebry, and Helen Conlon of the Garda Analysis Service. The investigation specifically targeted the gang, which specialises in smuggling people throughout Europe on a large scale. Those being brought through Ireland and onward to the UK did so willingly, paying the Albanian mobsters between 5,000 to 10,000 before flights were organised and they were handed false documents, mainly forged Italian papers. Once they arrived in Ireland at Dublin Airport, the people dumped their documents and claimed that they were asylum seekers. They would then be brought to a hotel and stay overnight before Qema collected them, provided new forged documents, and helped them fly to the UK. Qema was arrested at a Belfast airport in September 2019 while attempting to travel with another man using false documents. He had already been previously deported from the UK. His phone was discovered and seized, with police uncovering his people smuggling network. The phone contained photos of false ID papers as well as messages between Qema and his father in Albania. There was also a string of messages between Qema and people in Albania who were looking to come to Ireland. It was also established he had criminal contacts in Spain and the UK. The Albanian also laundered a total of 44,000 between 2018 and 2020 using a number of false EU documents. Qema, with an address at the Esplanade Hotel, Bray, Co Wicklow, was this week jailed for bringing 12 Albanian people into the country illegally. He pleaded guilty to three sample counts of people smuggling at Dublin Airport on various dates in 2019. He also pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of money laundering, one count of possessing a false instrument and one count of using a false instrument. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced him to five years behind bars and backdated it back to April last year as Qema has been in custody since then. Gardai said the teenager suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries during the incident on The Shakey Bridge in the city at around 4.30pm today. Gardai are following a definite line of enquiry after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed in Cork city this afternoon. Matthew Gerwitz bought five shipments of ghost gun parts without serial numbers from an out-of-state firearms distributor, according to the state Attorney General's Office. Then police say the City of Tonawanda man went on a rampage. Buffalo police seizing twice as many ghost guns so far this year Shootings are down 40% in Buffalo, but guns remain a big problem, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told the Common Councils Police Oversight Committee. He used a ghost gun to murder one man and then fired an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at six police officers as they investigated the crime scene outside his apartment, wounding one officer, according to police. An affidavit filed Wednesday by the Attorney Generals Office sheds new light on how Gerwitz allegedly obtained his weapons. The document was filed as part of the states lawsuit to stop six out-of-state firearms distributors from illegally selling untraceable easy to assemble ghost gun parts to New York residents without conducting background checks. Attorney General Letitia James sued the six distributors in June after they allegedly sold nine gun frames to undercover investigators. Her office obtained shipping records that indicate the distributors have sent about 100,000 parcels to New York residents. The Attorney Generals Office alleged it also found a pattern of the distributors selling the gun parts to New Yorkers like Gerwitz who used them to commit violent crimes. Between August 2018 and May 2020, Gerwitz received shipments from Brownells Inc., a firearms distributor in Grinnell, Iowa, and one of the six companies sued, according to the lawsuit. It alleged the packages contained unfinished gun frames and receivers that he may have used to build at least three ghost guns. On May 26, 2020, Gerwitz was arrested after he was accused of fatally shooting Joseph Marasco, 32, outside Gerwitz's Morgan Street apartment and wounding an officer while firing at six Tonawanda police officers. When police searched Gerwitzs residence, they found that Gerwitz used a homemade 9 mm pistol without a serial number and an illegally modified AR-15-style rifle in the attacks, according to authorities. "I'm also investigating Mr. Gerwitz's little gun shop in his house and the various guns he may or may not have made here and if there are any other weapons that he made and are in his home that are illegal. That's all being investigated at this time, too, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in May 2020. A grand jury indicted Gerwitz later that year on charges of murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon. David Ljiljanich, the officer shot by Gerwitz, returned to work six months after he was shot. He retired in August 2021, after 20 years of service with the City of Tonawanda Police Department. Brownells didnt respond to The Buffalo News request for a comment on the AG's allegations. Police don't often find handmade ghost guns in the City of Tonawanda, said City of Tonawanda Police Capt. Fredric Foels. Still, he thinks the attorney general's lawsuit is a good idea. You have a gun that's capable of firing like a real gun that has no serial numbers, that's untraceable and it can be disposed of, taken apart. So I get where they're coming from, he said. Along with Gerwitz, the lawsuit lists other customers of the ghost gun manufacturers who went on to commit crimes, including some who wouldnt have been able to legally posses a firearm. The lawsuit cites the case of Steven Salerna-Sanchez. On March 20, 2021, Brownells sent a package containing gun frames or receivers to Salerna-Sanchez at an apartment on Claudette Court in Cheektowaga, according to the AG's office. State clamping down on local businesses selling parts for 'ghost guns' State Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday that she has ordered nine Western New York businesses to immediately stop advertising and selling parts that are used to build homemade, untraceable ghost guns. On June 13, Buffalo police arrested Salerna-Sanchez on felony weapons charges following a raid of the residence that netted guns, including an AR-15, kits to make ghost guns, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said at that time that it takes about 30 minutes to assemble the seized kits into an operational gun that can be sold for as much as $2,000 on the street. He described Salerna-Sanchez as a high-level gun dealer who has been implicated in selling dozens of guns on the streets of Buffalo. The AG's lawsuit also cited Brownells for sending a package containing ghost gun parts on April 14 to Joshua Gotthart at a Wright Avenue address in Buffalo. Fourteen days later, Buffalo police stopped Gotthart's vehicle as he drove away from his home. Officers said they found a loaded illegal ghost gun in a holster on his right hip. Gotthart was wearing a bullet-resistant body vest. Police said they found at his residence three unregistered handguns, 17 long rifles, eight shotguns and magazines, as well as gun-making tools and a large amount of ammunition. A grand jury indicted Gotthart on two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of unlawfully wearing a body vest. The French Ambassador to Ireland, Vincent Guerend, has spoken for the first time about the murder Speaking to the Sunday Independentthis weekend, Mr Guerend said the Irish have a specific fascination with the case, which has not been replicated in her home country in France. The ambassador, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in September 2020, said frankly speaking there is not as much interest in France in the unsolved murder of the 39-year-old mother of one as there is in Ireland. Its not that she was not known in France, I remember myself when she died. I was 25 years old or so and it made the headlines in the French news, but there has been far less attention to this case in France, other than the fact her husband Mr Toscan du Plantier passed away a few years ago, he said. I wouldnt know why, just that there is far less attention. French ambassador Vincent Guerend Mr Guerend said that in France the murder which occurred on December 23, 1996 is viewed as a very, very old case and most young people wouldnt know about it, adding: There seems to be a specific Irish fascination with this case. He has not watched the recent high-profile documentaries on the unsolved murder but said he could understand why the Irish are very impatient to discover the identity of her killer. On why the case continues to resonate with so many people here after 25 years, he said: Firstly she was a young, very glamorous, good-looking woman who was married to a French filmmaker, living in a very nice part of Ireland in West Cork. So it was her personal traits to begin with. Sophie Toscan du Plantier Secondly, I think it was the whole location of the crime a beautiful place in summer but in the winter and early mornings it was very sinister, especially where her remains were found. Thirdly, I think the fact that all of this happened so tragically at Christmas resonated with people. Finally, I think its due to the fact that its been so difficult to establish the truth. The whole mystery around it, the fascination with it, sadly for her family, makes it a never-ending story. Asked if he was happy that the cold case has been re-opened, Mr Guerend said he did not wish to make a personal comment, but added: We trust An Garda Siochana to do their job and if they see a hope that they can cast more light on this then we are very willing to co-operate, of course, if there is anything the French police can do. So lets hope for the best. It emerged yesterday that, after reviewing the new evidence, the DPP has decided not to prosecute CCTV pictures of Deirdre Jacob taken in Newbridge The garda investigation into the murder of Deirdre Jacob identified a person of interest that officers suspected could be the convicted rapist Larry Murphy, standing outside the post office in Newbridge on the day she vanished in 1998. The person of interest was detected in 20-year-old CCTV footage taken from Newbridge town at the time the 18-year-old student disappeared, and was put through rigorous forensic enhancement. The enhanced CCTV images showed a man outside the post office one of the last places Ms Jacob had called to before she went missing. The person was in and around the post office close to the time Ms Jacob called in to post a bank draft to London, according to the sources. Detectives had set out to rule in or rule out the now-56-year-old Murphy from their investigations. They tracked down a number of his former work colleagues and other people who knew Murphy back in 1998, when he was a jobbing carpenter in Leinster. Most were living overseas, requiring gardai to travel abroad to interview them. Each was asked to identify the individual in the enhanced CCTV footage, but gardai received conflicting accounts. However it is understood that at least one person identified the individual in the image as resembling Larry Murphy. Deirdre Jacob. Photo: Collins Agency The images of the person of interest and garda attempts to identify him formed a central plank of evidence in the Deirdre Jacob murder file that gardai submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions last year. The file was submitted after her case was upgraded from a missing person to murder in 2018. It emerged yesterday that, after reviewing the new evidence, the DPP has decided not to prosecute. A garda statement said: As part of this investigation a file was forwarded to the DPP, and was recently returned with a direction of no prosecution. The family of Ms Jacob have been informed and are being continuously liaised with. Michael and Bernadette Jacob last saw their daughter on July 28, 1998. Deirdre was home on holidays from the UK, where she was studying to become a primary teacher. She walked into town to get a bank draft to pay for student accommodation in London. The investigation centred around CCTV footage taken on the day Deirdre disappeared She left home at 12.50pm. She called into her grandmothers sweet shop, and then visited AIB bank to get a draft to pay her rent in the UK. Afterwards she went to the post office. She called to her grandmothers shop once again, before starting out on the 25-minute walk home. She left after 2.30pm. She was last seen by a neighbour around 3pm on the grass verge almost directly across the road from her parents home. Murphy first emerged as a suspect in the disappearance of Ms Jacob and five other missing women in February 2000. He had been arrested after abducting a woman from a car park in Carlow town and raping her repeatedly in the mountains. The woman survived, thanks to two hunters who chanced upon the brutal scene and recognised Murphy. A striking feature of the attack was how he punched the woman in the face and forced her into the footwell of the car. A picture of a young Deirdre Jacob Detectives suspected but could not prove that Murphy was in Newbridge around the time Deirdre disappeared. Invoices and receipts suggested he was in Newbridge doing carpentry work in a disco bar in July 1998. Gardai could not find witnesses to confirm he was there. The renewed murder investigation was launched in 2018 and centred around CCTV footage taken from near the post office on the day Ms Jacob disappeared. Read more Notorious rapist Larry Murphy will not face charges over murder of missing Deirdre Jacob Gardai sent photos of Murphy, taken while he was in custody, for scientific analysis in the UK, with experts assessing the probability that the person of interest in the CCTV images was Larry Murphy. They examined CCTV footage from various parts of the town, and on various days, in the week of Deirdres disappearance, that also captured images of the same person of interest. This evidence proved inconclusive. CCTV pictures of Deirdre Jacob taken in Newbridge Other evidence included in the file to the DPP included an assessment of statements from a former prisoner, who alleged a decade ago that Murphy had confessed to Ms Jacobs murder to him. He said Murphy claimed he stopped to ask her for directions, then pulled her through the window and forced her into the footwell of the car. Detectives were struck by the consistency of his statement over time. In 2019, detectives attempted to interview Murphy in his new home in London but he declined to speak to them. The investigation into the murder of Ms Jacob continues. Gardai have appealed for witnesses to continue to come forward. They can call Kildare garda station on (045) 521222 or the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111. Stephen Madser Doherty is back on the streets this week after serving five years for possession of firearms at his Dublin home Doherty pulls back a curtain to look out at members of the Armed Support Unit and ERU at the scene A man who terrorised a neighbourhood in a 16-hour armed stand-off with gardai has been released from prison. Convicted rapist Stephen Madser Doherty is back on the streets this week after serving five years for possession of firearms at his Dublin home. Clutching plastic bags with his possessions, he left the Midlands Prison in Co Laois after being collected by a friend. Doherty, now aged 48, sparked the terrifying incident in October 2018 when he armed himself with a gun after his former home was sprayed with graffiti. Two youths were reported to have been paid to write rapist sex offender out on the walls of the property but only ended up writing sex out. Stephen Madser Doherty emerges from prison MCN Pics When the pair made a second attempt to vandalise the house Doherty emerged with a gun and the Garda Armed Response Unit were called into action. The subsequent stand-off lasted for 16 hours with a media black-out requested by gardai as attempts were made to negotiate a peaceful end to the siege in Clondalkin. Doherty is reported to have thrown a handgun out of his window during the stand-off at the house, which he shared with a number of relatives. It came to an end at around 1am the following day when armed gardai burst in and arrested him. A garda spokesperson said at the time that a Taser device was used and the matter has been referred to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). In March 2020, Doherty was given an eight-year sentence with three suspended after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing a firearm. Gardai swarmed the local area after Doherty armed himself Following the incident gardai expressed their thanks to the residents in St Marks Drive which had effectively been locked down while the operation continued. A full-scale policing operation was implemented which caused significant disruption to the local residents, said Supt Paul Dolan after the siege ended. As superintendent with responsibility for the area, I wish... to convey my gratitude for the assistance received. To the local residents for their patience, for their cups of tea and coffee to gardai on long tours of duty and for their friendliness throughout the incident. In 2004, Doherty was sentenced to 10 years after kidnapping a prostitute and threatening to kill her. He was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury after a four day trial of kidnapping, raping and threatening to kill the woman on March, 6, 2000 in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Doherty pulls back a curtain to look out at members of the Armed Support Unit and ERU at the scene The attack took place in a renovated building, Riversdale House, which was at one time the residence of the poet W.B. Yeats. It was heard in court at the time how the victim, a former heroin addict, said Doherty had told her: I am 27 years old and I have never paid for sex. I am not going to pay now. She gave evidence she had agreed a price for sexual services with Doherty in Benburb Street, Dublin, and went with him on his motorcycle to the house in Rathfarnham. He refused to pay her in advance when she asked and produced a knife which she said he kept in his hand while he raped her and then forced her to perform other sexual acts. She said he wiped himself on a curtain and brought her back to Benburb Street where he threatened he would return and kill her if she reported what had happened. She said he didnt take off his motorbike helmet at any time. Armed Support Unit and ERU at the scene When Doherty left, she called over another prostitute to tell her what had happened. They reported the rape to two gardai on patrol and she later identified the house and bedroom, but couldnt describe Doherty because he hadnt removed his helmet. The mother-of-two said the trial had been humiliating for her as the evidence given by Doherty had been demeaning of her. The jury heard that DNA evidence from the curtain, the womans clothing and a cigarette recovered in Riversdale House linked Doherty and her to the scene. He denied the allegations when he was arrested four days later. Doherty agreed that while he planned to have sex with a prostitute that night, he had no money in his pocket. He said he hadnt used violence and that the sexual activity was consensual. Trial Judge Paul Carney noted that Doherty was suggesting he had found a prostitute who provided her services on credit. It is well-known all over the world that prostitutes do not do business on credit, the judge said. Scratch me if you can Scratch me if you can | Wayne Sullivan (38) was jailed after putting his name and address on winning ticket that he cashed-in afer stealing it during robbery at Spar supermarket These are the first pictures of the dim-witted thief nabbed by gardai after he cashed-in a 5,000-winning scratch card hed stolen from his local Spar using a toy gun. Dublin Circuit Court heard this week how Wayne Sullivan (38), from Beauvale Park in Artane, wrote his name and address on the back of the winning card before cashing it in at the GPO. Sullivan was jailed for a year-and-a-half on Wednesday, after he pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbing a Spar shop in Coolock on January 12th, 2021. Our pictures show gun-loving criminal Sullivan posing for pictures at a shooting range in June of 2017. Notably, he lists his occupation on his social media profile as having just went that way at barrister-at-law Dublin. Wayne Sullivan Details of Sullivans foolhardy plot to scoop a jackpot emerged during a sentencing hearing this week during which gardai described him as not rating high on the list of criminal intelligentsia. The court heard Sullivan took a taxi from his home to the Spar shop, asked the taxi driver to do a U-turn and wait for him. He went into the shop and, armed with a plastic gun poking out of his pocket, took cash and scratch cards. A member of staff later told gardai that she thought the item looked like a childs toy, but she was afraid and didnt want to take a chance. After the hold-up Sullivan got the taxi to drop him home. Detective Garda John Delaney agreed with counsel for the defence that he wouldnt rate Sullivan high on the list of criminal intelligentsia. He further agreed that Sullivan was very quiet and calm throughout his robbery of the Spar shop. Gda Delaney told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, that the shop assistant at the till in Spar noticed a man who seemed nervous coming into the shop at around 8pm on the evening in question. She said the man came quietly to the till, placed a Dunnes Stores bag-for-life on the counter and passed her a note which read, Do not f**k up. Do not f**k up. When the teller read the note and looked up at Sullivan, he showed her the tip of what looked like a plastic gun poking out of his pocket. She put some cash totalling 126 into Sullivans bag, and when he told her that there were more coins under the counter, she added in a few bags of coins. The court heard that Sullivan then indicated some of the higher value scratch cards, so the teller grabbed various ten-euro scratch cards and put them in the bag too. Sullivan then left the shop quietly and the teller pressed the alarm button to alert gardai. Three days later, OSullivan went to the GPO and cashed in one of the scratch cards which had won 5,000. When gardai used the barcodes to trace the winning card, they found Sullivan had written his name and address on the back. Gardai searched Sullivans home under warrant and found the clothing he had worn during the robbery. A facemask left in the Spar was found to contain Sullivans DNA. The taxi-driver who dropped Sullivan to and from the robbery told gardai his suspicions were aroused when Sullivan asked him to do a U-turn outside the shop and wait for him. The taxi-driver said Sullivan appeared to hesitate and build up his courage before entering the shop, and afterwards seemed to be in a hurry on leaving. Sullivan has 40 previous convictions, all from the District Court, including traffic offences, public order and theft. Cathal McGrail BL, defending, said Sullivan had been addicted to tablets but was now clean of drugs and very keen to get out of prison and into residential treatment. Judge Martin Nolan said even though Sullivan arrived at the Spar shop with some hesitation and the robbery was very understated, it had still involved the threat of violence. His card came up trumps, he cashed it, the money was spent, said Judge Nolan, handing down a sentence of two-and-a -half years. The judge suspended the final year of the sentence and backdated it to March 18 this year, when Sullivan went into custody on other matters. The 5,000 won by Sullivan with the scratch card has not been recovered. Prof Harvey said the online abuse he has faced often feels like a coordinated campaign The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating a series of intimidating tweets sent to a Queens University Belfast (QUB) academic by a loyalist. Three complaints have been made by Colin Harvey, a professor of human rights law in the School of Law at QUB, about multiple social media posts in February, June and earlier this month. PSNI Superintendent Gerard Pollock said the complaints relate to social media comments directed towards an individual. An investigation has commenced to establish if any offences have been committed and enquiries are continuing, he said in a statement. Professor Harvey, a fellow of the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Irish Studies, has been repeatedly criticised on social media for expressing his views on constitutional matters, Brexit, the Protocol, the Conservative Party and unionism. He has regularly tweeted about social issues affecting a post-Troubles Northern Ireland, his favourable view of a united Ireland and his criticisms of loyalism and unionist leadership. The Sunday Worldhas viewed dozens of tweets directed at him by mostly anonymous social media accounts claiming to be from a British, loyalist or former security forces background. When Prof Harvey suggested it was time to bring the Union to an end, a Twitter user replied: We used to behead traitors like this. Another wrote: Colin Harvey should be called off. Outspoken loyalist Jamie Bryson, who has connections to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), has tweeted about Prof Harvey almost 50 times. When the academic wrote: The Irish government needs to take direct responsibility for enabling the collective effort of preparing for the future of a shared island, Mr Bryson, a regular commentator on some BBC Northern Ireland programmes, was quick to respond. In a tweet, he wrote: QUB making pretty clear they have moved beyond policy and research and are now partisan activists. Prof Harvey said the online abuse he has faced often feels like a coordinated campaign and appears to be closely linked to his academic work and public engagement on questions around the constitutional future, in particular the option of a united Ireland. At times I struggle to understand why I have become the target for so much anger, and its intensity is concerning. If you really believe in the principle of consent then this is an anticipated choice, and you should not be surprised that people like me want proper planning, and even have a view on the outcome, he said. He said constitutional objectives are supposed to be equally legitimate and should be uncontroversial work. It is my strong view that everything I have done is anchored comfortably within the framework of the Good Friday Agreement and its good faith implementation. In a post-Brexit environment, it would be irresponsible not to do the required preparation. He believes the targeted campaign of harassment is aimed at attempting to derail these efforts. Thats not happening, people are pressing on. They are right to do so. And that determination sends its own message. A representative from the QUB leadership team has been in ongoing contact with Prof Harvey. In a statement, a QUB spokesperson said: Queens outright condemns any abusive or threatening commentary towards any member of university staff. The university strongly supports freedom of thought and expression within a framework of respect for the rights of other persons. Academic freedom is enshrined as a guiding principle in the universitys charter and statutes. Amnesty International said Prof Harvey has been subjected to years-long intimidation by elected politicians, media commentators and online activists. Patrick Corrigan, Amnestys Northern Ireland Director, said the organisation is deeply concerned at this campaign of sustained hostility against Prof Harvey. The Irish mob paid bribes to access secret African landing strips & move cartel coke to Europe Gardai seized an estimated 740,000 worth of cannabis from a truck which arrived in Ireland from mainland Europe The Kinahan mob moved cocaine across Africa in air ambulances, bought off officials for use of landing strips and took control of the key transport route to Europe making the Irish mob second only in importance to the Colombian Cartels. The Sunday World can reveal for the first time how the Irish mafia took control of Africas lucrative cocaine corridor one of the main routes for importing drugs into Europe. After the drugs landed in the southern part of Africa, the Kinahan gang would use air ambulances to move the cocaine through the continent to ports where it could be shipped into Europe. They joined up with the Dutch Morrocan mafia who control the ports of entry into Europe, Rotterdam and Antwerp, and together set the price and the tonnage flooding in to the massive drugs market. Christy Kinahan Snr Christy Kinahan Snr re-invented himself as an aviation boss from his headquarters in Dubai while his son Daniel turned CEO of the lucrative logistics wing dealing directly with South American suppliers and European buyers. The business plan and savvy maneuver by the two groups turned both into powerful billionaire cartels within a matter of years, US authorities have learned. The supply route from South America across the Atlantic to East Africa and onwards to west and north Africa in the smaller air ambulance planes flooded Europe with high purity cocaine and turned Kinahan and his sons into key players in the world drug market. Christy Kinahan Snr tweeted about using the planes as air ambulances US authorities uncovered the extent of their power five years ago when they observed meetings between them and the leaders of European mafia groups at Daniel Kinahans wedding at the Burj Al Arab. At that point, concerns about price fixing and a flood of cocaine through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp had been flagged to the US. Undercover operatives in Africa discovered the Kinahans role as the route controllers of the African path to Europe involving isolated landing strips for motherloads from Colombia, Peru and Chile and the use of air ambulance to move smaller cargos onwards to the north of the continent where the cocaine made its journey onwards to Europe. Amazingly, the Dapper Don hid in plain sight in the Gulf State and openly touted himself publicly as a legitimate aviation broker. Kinahan Snr even tweeted about a new business venture for the planes, which continued the movement of drugs during Covid lockdowns using the guise of emergency medical transporters. The firm he mentioned in the tweet, Nyasa Air Charters, is based in Malawi and is affiliated with another charter firm, Crescents and Crosses, which runs an air ambulance service. Using his CVK Investment account, he tweeted about their memorandum of understanding CVK Investments have signed MOU to invest in a joint venture with a Malawian company, Nyasa Air Charter Limited, to operate an air ambulance service. More updates to come. Nayasa Air Charters also states on its LinkedIn page that it works to provide aviation services throughout Africa and the Middle East. The website for Crescents and Crosses has been taken off-line since last April but cached pages list a number of people as directors and details their roles. There is no suggestion that the named directors had any knowledge of the Kinahan cocaine smuggling operation or are involved themselves in any criminal activity. One of them is Irishman John James Nammock, who made international headlines in 1976 when he was captured while fighting as a mercenary in Angolas civil war. The then 20-year-old, an Irish citizen with an address in London at the time, had served in the British Paratroop Regiment and was recruited to fight for 150 a week. Gardai seized an estimated 740,000 worth of cannabis from a truck which arrived in Ireland from mainland Europe When acting as a radio operator, he was wounded in the fighting and taken prisoner and later given a 16-year prison sentence, according to court documents available online. In 1983, he was again wounded when an ammunition dump beside his prison blew up, according to a report from an international news agency. On the Crescents and Crosses website, he is described as a director and chief security for the air ambulance company. John is our chief security officer and is responsible for advising and planning of personal security procedures, particularly in country. John served with the British army and has a wealth of experience, particularly in Africa, with more than a total of 40 years including anti-piracy experience. Trafficker Ridouan Taghi An attempt to contact Mr Nammock for comment has been made via a social media account. The firms financial officer, Ibrahim Eldesouky, is listed as being based in the United Arab Emirates. The Malawi-based Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) this week reported that a former pilot for Nyasa Air Charter said the company has ceased operations. We were doing a medical evacuation for Covid patients during the Covid lockdown, the pilot said. The strategic location of North Africa, as a crossroads to Europe, is the next key point where cartels make use of well worn cannabis smuggling routes to ship on cocaine. In 2020, more than 200 tons of cocaine were seized in Europe and that figure has increased ever since. Grup Spy Alan Kelly dishes the goods on Irelands tastiest dining destinations Were heading off for some Syrian soul food at the Four Liars in Shandon, beside the Butter Museum and the Firkin Crane thats a sentence you wont hear too often beyond the northside frontiers of Cork city. Who would ever have imagined a Syrian family Ahmed Saqqa and wife Hadeel, son and daughter, Ghassan and Ghazeel fleeing the horrors of Bashar al-Assads regime, undertaking a hugely dangerous trek from Aleppo, mostly on foot and mostly by night across mountains and hills, out through Turkey and Greece, until finally, with asylum granted, settling down and opening a business in good old Cork city. I mean, who wouldnt find that story joyous, uplifting and inspiring? THE FOUR LIARS OConnell Square, Shandon, Cork Four Stars Food: 52.50; Drinks: 10 I cant think of a better way to demonstrate my admiration and high regard for such bravery, than heading out for a feed in their new-ish Syrian restaurant. The Four Liars had actually been around for years before closing-up shop a while back. I have no clue what the name means or where it came from, but I think the Saqqa family made the right decision in keeping it. The colourful interior The restaurant is neat and tidy, and quite small, with room for maybe twenty-plus covers. Except for the Middle Eastern music, it could be any other modern restaurant. I would describe first impressions as warm and welcoming, with a distinct family-run vibe. And the food? Being a Syrian food novice, we followed a tip-off and ordered fattoush, fried kibbeh, molokhia, Syrian samosas, and baklawa (Syrian baklava). The fattoush salad big enough for a main course is a blend of thinly sliced white and red cabbage, sliced onion, a bunch of freshly chopped parsley, a scattering of pomegranate seeds, a dressing of olive oil and pomegranate molasses (I think), all topped off with pieces of fried flatbread. Kibbeh offers a pair of juicy lamb meatballs served with cucumber salad and a yogurt dressing. The samosas are filo pastry twists, filled with feta cheese, spinach and parsley, and accompanied with a yogurty dip. I had never heard of molokhia until I hit The Four Liars. I would call it a verdant green leafy vegetable that is, apparently, a ubiquitous food all over the Middle East, especially in Syria. Looks like spinach, tastes ever-so-slightly like spinach, but has nothing really to do with spinach. It arrives nicely seasoned with spiced chicken and fresh mint, topped with roasted pistachios and served with basmati rice. Accompanied with glasses of chilled white, we hungrily demolish most of our Syrian nosh, and doggy-bag the rest including the baklawa for later. It tastes like a pistachio-ed super-delicious sugar bomb. And the verdict? What an unexpected selection of tasty wowsers. Until today, I had never even heard rumours about Syrian food. And while I did find the menu a tad confusing, I was glad I had listened to advice. There is nothing mysterious happening here think Middle Eastern delights offered by a family-run kitchen, and you wont go far wrong. Its a welcome surprise and a great addition to our culinary landscape. If you want to try something different, The Four Liars is an excellent place to check out. To be or not to be there was no question for Magazine+ Grub Spy Alan Kelly, who has just turned his quill to childrens literature with a time-travelling Shakespearean adventure, writes Deirdre Reynolds Aimed at children aged 8-12, the Cork-based authors debut novel, The Puddle Street Chronicles, is currently flying off shelves both virtual and real. And he told how he cant wait to get an honest appraisal on the labour of love, which took five years from conception to paperback, from some very special reviewers in his life. I was originally going to give it to my nieces and nephews to have a look at, tells Alan of the nerve-racking editing process. Then I was advised against that by my publisher because they said theyre going to say nice things no matter what happens. If theyre related to you, especially, theyre not going to say its awful. Theyre only after getting them in the last week or so so well see. But Im very happy with the response so far. For instance, theres one lady who owns four bookshops, and she let her two sons read it theyre 10 and 11 and both of them loved it, and thats why she put it in her bookshops. Snapped up by publishing company Hawkwood Books in the UK, the imaginative tale follows two time-travelling youngsters, who find themselves working alongside playwright William Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre in England in the 1600s. But Alan explained how the story of Toby Sprocket and Sally Bunn who also face off-stage drama against a dangerous criminal during the first production of A Winters Tale began life as a book for grown-ups after enjoying a trip to the cultural landmark on the banks of the River Thames years ago. Alan Kelly at Shakespeares Globe, London. Jonathan Goldberg It was based on a trip I had to the Globe in London and it just kind of matured from there, he says. I just happened to go by, and I was actually in there for three hours on my own and nobody came in. Nowadays, you wouldnt get in there because theres so many people. Thats what kicked it off I was just saying, God, what was it like to work here or live here at that time? and it just went on from there. Its over three or four years, maybe even longer, continues Alan, who graduated from University College Cork as a mature student. Id start it and put it aside, and then I was working on another novel as well for my masters. It started out as an adult time-travelling thing, and it just wasnt working. Then I did it as a kid on their own, that wasnt working, and then I put a boy and girl together as equals and it came together. Modern youngsters get a bit of bad press, so I decided to give them a bit of good press. The notion of getting two kids going back in time without their phones, without anything, and suddenly they have to cope. It was great fun to write. Im kind of more interested in Shakespeares life than his plays, to be honest. I find a lot of the language a bit incomprehensible. Theres so little known about him, which is why I can put so much in because nobody can argue with me, he laughs. The only thing with writing is its all edits rewrite, edit, rewrite, edit which Ive been doing for the last two or three years. Its amazing to see it now in bookshops. Although its his first outing as a novelist, the Kildare native has been giving Magazine+ readers plenty to chew on over the past decade with his popular Grub Spy weekly restaurant reviews. But the critic insists that travelling the length and breadth of the country trying out some of the tastiest food and wine for a living is harder work than it sounds. I still enjoy it, says Alan. But its not the dream job people think; people always say to me, You get paid to eat, that type of attitude its not that simple. I love going to restaurants, I love the whole vibe of the restaurant, but the real writing for me is writing around the meal, if you like. Once you find a way in, it just happens. The food fanatic even put his money where his mouth is by completing one of the worlds most prestigious cookery courses before pursuing a career as a reviewer. I just loved cooking and I loved food, he continues. I completed a Cordon Bleu cooking course as well I wasnt going in totally blind. I dont think you can be a food critic or a theatre critic, or any other sort of critic, unless you know the subject unless you know how to do it. As well as leading chains including WHSmith in the UK, The Puddle Street Chronicles is now available in Chapters Bookstore on Parnell Street, Dublin 1 and on Amazon. While he reckons Sally and Toby could return for more adventures in the future, Alan admits hes not banking on a Harry Potter-style franchise either. Its my first time out so I dont expect miracles, he jokes. Its so, so difficult to get into a bookshop. My publisher said, Look, Alan, do not get your hopes up because its the most overcrowded section of the market the fact that [Hawkwood] are prepared to take you on is a good sign. Ive been talking about [a second book]with my publisher it really depends how sales go. I got a great thrill writing it. It was great to see it coming together. The thrill for me was just seeing it on the bookshelf genuinely thats enough for me. Just like dramatist Shakespeare, famed for gruesome works such as Titus Andronicus, childrens author Alan reveals his next project will be a complete change of pace. Its a crime novel, he explains. Im working on some other stuff as well. I like to have two or three things on the boil because its great to be able to switch over from different things. When youre writing you can get so swamped with something, its great to be able to pull away from it to a completely different genre. Hyundais new IONIQ is set to be a game-changer Hyundai this week launched its eagerly awaited 'Electrified Streamliner', the IONIQ 6, to the motoring world and it is already the talk of the electrified world. The Ioniq 6 will arrive in Ireland next year as a follow-up to the company's IONIQ 5, that has been named World Car Of The Year this year. As the new model in the brands IONIQ all-electric line-up, the Electrified Streamliners array of advanced technology, personalized space, features and extended range redefine the boundaries of electric mobility. The IONIQ 6 will be available with a range of drive motors and battery packs to fit the needs of every customer. The long-range 77.4kWh battery can be mated with two electric motor layouts, either rear-wheel-drive (RWD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD). The top-of-the-line dual motor set-up is an AWD option producing a combined power output of 239kW and 605Nm of torque. This PE configuration can go from 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds. The IONIQ 6 boasts an impressive energy consumption rate. The energy consumption of the 53kWh standard battery with 18-inch wheels and RWD motor option is estimated to be under 14 kWh/100km, according to WLTP. This makes IONIQ 6 one of the most energy-efficient vehicles in the market. The IONIQ 6 will be able to support both 400V and 800V charging infrastructures, with 800-V charging as standard; it can accommodate 400V charging without the need for additional components or adapters. With a 350kW charger, the IONIQ 6 can charge from 10 per cent to 80 percent in just 18 minutes. Like its IONIQ 5 sibling, the IONIQ 6 provides an innovative vehicle-to-load (V2L) function that allows customers to charge any electric devices ideal for powering necessities during a power outage, camping or outdoor projects. V2L is enabled using an accessory adaptor and goes into the outside charging port. In addition to the outside power outlet, there is a second outlet underneath the back row seat for charging devices. With an impressive overall length of 4,855mm, IONIQ 6s 1,880mm width and 1,495mm height give it a distinctively sleek and stylish appearance amidst a sea of lookalike EVs. Inside, the ambient lighting allows a driver to customize the look and feel of the interior cabin by selecting from a spectrum of 64 colours and six themes. All seats are specifically manufactured for all-electric models, and they are approximately 30 per cent thinner than those in other conventional models, providing more space for passengers. There are four type-C and one type-A USB ports available. IONIQ 6s personalized driving experience is further enhanced by the EV Performance Tune-up system, which allows the driver to freely adjust steering effort, motor power, accelerator pedal sensitivity and driveline mode. Drivers can create a variety of different combinations with just a few button clicks to meet their individual needs. Pricing has yet to be announced, but Hyundai Ireland has confirmed that it should arrive in 2023 in time for the 232 registration plate change next July. Thirteen-year-old James Reynolds was last seen at Grand Parade, Cork city on Friday 15 July. Thirteen-year-old James Reynolds was last seen at Grand Parade, Cork city on Friday 15 July. The missing youngster is described as being six feet tall in height and of strong build with short brown hair. He was wearing a grey jacket, black tracksuit bottoms, and a grey jumper when he was last seen. Anyone with information on James whereabouts is asked to contact Anglesea Garda Station on 021 452 2000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. The Erie County Sheriff's Office said this week that one of its deputies was overcome after being exposed to fentanyl while investigating an incident, was given two doses of Narcan by an ambulance crew and then hospitalized. But substance abuse experts locally and nationally have challenged such claims about the effects of fentanyl exposure on first responders, saying unless fentanyl is either snorted or injected into the bloodstream or brain, the human body struggles to absorb the drug. Tildabeth Doscher, University at Buffalo's fellowship director for addiction medicine, said she doesn't know what caused the Erie County deputy to kneel in discomfort Monday night after coming across syringes and being exposed to fentanyl while trying to identify an unresponsive motorist in North Collins. But after reading the sheriff's office report, she did make one strong assertion: "It had nothing to do with fentanyl exposure, I can tell you that." The Sheriff's Office statement issued Tuesday indicated that the deputy, while searching for the identification of the driver who was initially unresponsive, "came across multiple syringes in her belongings" and was soon seen by his partner "kneeling on the ground in discomfort." The release said the deputies "learned that there was fentanyl in the vehicle" and the deputy searching for the ID was "exposed to the substance." North Collins emergency medical service personnel administered two doses of Narcan, an emergency treatment nasal spray for overdose, to the deputy, who was taken to South Buffalo Mercy Hospital until released the following morning, according to the Sheriff's Office. The driver of the car that went off the road, 31-year-old Megan Duncan, had outstanding warrants in the Town of Amherst and was to be released to police after medical treatment. Millions of dollars flow to WNY to fight addiction as overdose deaths rise at alarming rate Overdose deaths have risen sharply each year since the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The state and region will soon be receiving millions of dollars that will be earmarked toward addiction prevention and treatment as a result of a pharmaceutical lawsuit settlement Doscher, board-certified in addiction medicine, emphasized fentanyl is a highly potent drug that has been at the root of a surge of opioid overdose deaths from recreational use. But she said it causes no harmful reaction from casual contact like being in its general proximity, touching it or breathing in small amounts. She cited an interview statement by Dr. Ryan Marino, an emergency medicine doctor and toxicology specialist who has worked in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, who told the Detroit Free Press it would require a person to breathe large amounts of fentanyl inside a wind tunnel to meet the inhalation requirement for toxicity. The drug can be deadly if toxic amounts reach the bloodstream or the brain, but instead of kneeling in discomfort, it would cause the affected person to stop breathing, lay down and turn blue, Doscher said. At less toxic amounts, a euphoric reaction to fentanyl is possible, too, she added, but it would be akin to drinking a lot of alcohol, producing symptoms of sluggishness and respiratory depression. Fentanyl is commonly given by medical professionals to patients for advanced pain relief following surgery or in treating cancer, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It's applied as a patch, injected as a shot or consumed as a lozenge. Buffalo among 34 cities part of DEA effort to combat overdoses, gun violence Operation Overdrive will target criminal drug networks authorities believe are responsible for the highest levels of overdoses and violence. Doscher said the deputy could have experienced a reaction to fentanyl if he had rubbed it into his nose or it had entered the exposed skin of a wound, but that would represent more than casual contact. Fentanyl has been a chief factor in the rise of opioid-related overdose deaths when abused. The extremely potent synthetic opioid is often unknowingly to the user combined with heroin and cocaine and either snorted or injected by the user. Different preparations of fentanyl have further increased the lethality of the drug; carfentanil is estimated as 100 times more potent than fentanyl. Higher drug potency does not necessarily mean greater risk for first responders, Doscher said. "That doesn't mean the exposure method changes you still need to get it into your bloodstream," she said. Scott Zylka, the Erie County Sheriff's Office's public information officer, did not respond to The Buffalo News' request for more information on the investigation, and James Welch, a captain for the Sheriff's Office, said Friday there was no update on the North Collins incident. Welch did not reply to an email asking about opiate training for Sheriff's Office personnel. The American College of Medical Toxicology in 2017 addressed fentanyl exposure to first responders, emphasizing how unlikely it is for emergency personnel to experience severe symptoms but also urging training for recognizing signs of overdose and carrying Narcan. "Toxicity cannot occur from simply being in proximity to the drug," the organization wrote. US drug overdose deaths reach another record high as deaths from fentanyl surge Annual drug overdose deaths have reached another record high in the United States as deaths from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids surge to unprecedented levels. Proper opiate education for first responders courses are available online and in-person this month and next for the general public and professionals via the Erie County Opiate Epidemic Task Force can allow for more efficient emergency treatment of opiate overdoses, which have become more common. The U.S. set a record for most overdose deaths in a year in 2021 with about 107,622, according to an estimation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Erie County, nine suspected overdose deaths were recorded over a period of a week in May, with authorities suspecting fentanyl-laced cocaine as the culprit. Doscher urged members of the public to equip themselves with Narcan as a life-saving resource, especially when fentanyl is now, in recreational drug use, more frequently added to pills like benzodiazepines. The top temperature on Sunday was recorded in Dublins Phoenix Park where the mercury tipped 29.3 degrees just shy of the July record of 29.5 degrees. Sandycove Harbour in South Dublin will be thronged with people. High tide is 3.25pm Temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius are expected tomorrow as a Met Eireann Status Yellow warning will continue until Tuesday morning. The top temperature on Sunday was recorded in Dublins Phoenix Park where the mercury tipped 29.3 degrees just shy of the July record of 29.5 degrees. Meanwhile temperatures reached 27 degrees at weather stations in Shannon, Co Clare, and at Casement Aerodrome in Co Dublin, and 26 degrees at Mullingar in Co Westmeath, Oak Park in Co Carlow, Mount Dillon in Co Roscommon, Ballyhaise in Co Cavan and Dunsany in Co Meath. Monday is shaping up to be the hottest day of this spell of exceptionally warm weather with temperatures expected to reach 32 degrees. But forecasters say we should enjoy the hot weather while we can as rain and cooler temperatures will return on Tuesday. We have reached 29.3C at Phoenix Park, the highest recorded temp today so far. It's close to breaking the highest temp for July in the Phoenix Park, which was 29.5C and the highest of all time there of 30.6Chttps://t.co/MvCx72KIaT pic.twitter.com/KFs10WQe1B Met Eireann (@MetEireann) July 17, 2022 Met Eireann forecaster Deirdre Lowe told Independent.ie that Monday will see very hot temperatures nationwide. Temperature will reach at least 32 degrees in some areas. The highest temperatures will be in the north Midlands, north Leinster, and east Connaught. Along the north coast, we will see temperatures of up to 28 degrees. Along the southern coasts, we will see maybe 26 degrees with a southern breeze. The west coast may have the odd patch of mist or fog impinging, but other than that, it is going to be a beautiful day. In the 21st century, the highest temperature recorded was 32.3 degrees in Elphin in Co Roscommon in 2006. Ms Lowe said temperatures on Monday are unlikely to reach that high. Ella Hawkins from US pictured enjoying the good weather conditions at Fortyfoot , Sandycove,Co Dublin Some records are likely to be broken locally, but it will probably not break the all-time record, but its not impossible. A yellow weather warning remains in place for the entire country on Monday and for the east of the country on Tuesday and people should expect tropical nights. This is when temperatures exceed 27 degrees during the day and dont fall below 15 degrees at night. The nights will be very warm, and temperatures in Dublin and Belfast wont fall below 20 degrees, making it a tropical night. So it will be quite uncomfortable for sleeping, Ms Lowe warned. While warnings around high temperatures remain in place, the message from Met Eireann is to enjoy the heat while we can. The solar UV index will be high, and people need to be aware of water safety and follow the usual advice of not leaving pets in cars and wearing sunscreen. But otherwise, get out and enjoy it because it is not going to last, said Ms Lowe. The hottest temperatures on Monday will be experienced in north Leinster, Westmeath, Kildare, Meath, south Cavan, and western parts of Dublin - all which could expect to reach up to 32 degrees, possibly even breaking 21st century records. The all-time record was 33.3 degrees at Kilkenny Castle in 1887. Temperatures are expected to start returning to normal values from Wednesday and while there is no sign of another heatwave on the horizon, it cant be ruled out. There has been very hot air sitting over the continent for a long time, so it just took a situation where low pressure developed in an area over the west of Portugal and this air was sucked in over Ireland, said Ms Lowe. Ireland is so close to the Atlantic that it is unusual for this to happen. But we still have a lot of summer to go, and you cant rule anything out. There is still a good bit of heart over the continent, but even that will cool down over the next few days. At the moment Met Eireann expects next weekend to become more unsettled with rain moving in. The weekends soaring temperatures have seen Irelands beaches and waterways packed with swimmers. However, it has been a tragic week. Speaking to RTE today, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, urged swimmers to be careful out there following a third water-related water death. A man in his 60s died on Saturday afternoon after getting into difficulty while swimming in a lake near Portarlington, Co Laois. Mr Ryan said: It happens every time, its so predictable but so tragic for every family, Offering his condolences to the bereaved families, Mr Ryan said: Lets not make it a fourth family, destroyed, ruined, in this good weather. Be careful, dont go into waters that you dont know how safe they are, stay close to the shore, look after each other. We dont want another tragic loss, he said. While the dry spell is not predicted to last, Irish Water urged the public to be mindful of their water use to avoid the need for restrictions later in the summer. While the majority of water supplies are operating normally and there are no plans to introduce restrictions at this time, we expect to see an increase in demand for water over the coming weeks, which may put pressure on some supplies. In particular at this time of year and with the rise in temperature, popular holiday resorts are likely to experience higher than average demand, a spokesperson said. A number of rural areas have also begun to come under pressure, particularly in the south and midlands. Irish Water is already taking action to manage and protect supplies in parts of Co Cork and Tipperary, Carron in Co Clare and Inis Oirr in Galway. The HSE National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) has advised people to follow the Five S plan: Slip on clothing that covers your skin such as long sleeves and collared t-shirts; Slop on sunscreen using SPF minimum 30+ for adults and 50+ for children; Slap on a wide-brimmed hat; Seek shade to avoid direct sunlight, especially between 11am and 3pm; and Slide on sunglasses. Ireland has one of the worlds highest rates of skin cancer, with 13,000 new diagnoses each year. The ISPCA also warned pet owners to keep their pets cool, hydrated and in the shade as they can quickly become dehydrated. ISPCA public relations manager Carmel Murray said heatstroke can be fatal in pets. Refresh and refill your pets water dish more often than on a normal day and keep it in the shade. You can also add ice cubes to your pets water to keep it cool and avoid using steel bowls as they will absorb the heat. Ensure they have access to shade, and keep them indoors in cooler rooms when the heat becomes too extreme. Signs of heatstroke in dogs include excessive panting, increased heart rate, dry or pale gums and weakness, stupor or collapse. Police confirmed the death happened in the Academy Street area. Police at the scene of a sudden death in the Buoy Park area of Belfast City Centre on July 17, 2022 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Police at the scene of a sudden death in the Buoy Park area of Belfast City Centre on July 17, 2022 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The emergency services are at the scene of a sudden death in Belfast city centre on Sunday morning. Police confirmed the death happened in the Academy Street area. Images on social media show forensics teams at the cordoned off area close to St Annes Cathedral, with other PSNI officers in attendance. Police at the scene of a sudden death in the Buoy Park area of Belfast City Centre on July 17, 2022 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A PSNI spokesperson said: Police are currently at the scene of a sudden death in the Academy Street area of Belfast City Centre. "There are no further details at present." The latest death marks the second in the city in the space of three days. On Thursday, the PSNI confirmed the sudden death of an individual in the North Street area. It is believed the individual was a young woman who was reportedly homeless. SDLP councillor Paul McCusker, tweeted: Sadly another death on the streets of Belfast. Young female, early 20s. Kitchener, pictured here for the first time, was jailed last week for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl Gareth Kitchener who was convicted of abusing a 13-year-old girl A young mum says shes horrified the authorities falsely have a convicted child abuser Gareth Kitchener living in her house. Court papers have the 36-year-old listed as living at Union Street in Ballymoney but it emerged last weekend he hasnt lived at that address in well over a year. Kitchener, pictured here for the first time, was jailed last week for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl though he was released on bail to appeal both his conviction and his sentence. Despite the child abuser going to court last year to change his own bail address while he awaited trial for six counts of sexually touching a child his address is being given out to the press and public as Union Street. When we called to the address looking for Kitchener the door was answered by a toddler whose mum explained she had already complained to the PSNI about the address cock-up. I cant believe they are still giving out this address for a sex offender, I told them months ago he doesnt live here, said the mum who not surprisingly didnt want to be identified. I was getting official letters to the house for this man and detailing how he was facing charges of child abuse, she told the Sunday World. Id never heard of this person but I was horrified to think people thought a sex offender lived here. I went to the police and told them there was something wrong. Ive never met Gareth Kitchener and I dont even know when he lived here. All I know is I moved in here on July 15. Im not happy about it at all but thankfully the people round this area know me well enough. Kitchener was due to have his appeal heard on Thursday but the case was adjourned but court listings continue to state his address as the one in Union Street which he left around 16 months ago. Its not the first time the incorrect address of a convicted sex offender has been repeatedly given out by the courts. Last year we revealed how pervert ex-teacher Colin Trory had been caught with indecent images of kids for a second time. The address the court had for him for his recent offences was the old east Belfast address which he hadnt lived in for over 13 years. Originally, we went to the address on top of the court papers available to the press which detail the ten new counts against him for which he pleaded guilty. But we were shocked to discover a young couple with two young children were living at the address listed as Colin Trorys. Though not as shocked as the young couple who politely informed us Trory had not lived there for well over 13 years and they had bought the property from a relative of his. We can reveal Gareth Kitchener tried to claim inappropriate messages sent to the young girl had been sent by one of his young children. The sleazy 36-year-old father-of-four pounced on the girl who had befriended his own kids though he continues to deny he did anything wrong. However, a judge at Enniskillen Magistrates Court found him guilty and told Kitchener he had, Embarked upon inappropriate behaviour, touching and language for his own gratification. The judge also described work time sheets produced by the Castlederg man, which he claimed proved he was at work when the offences occurred, were fraudulent. Kitchener continues to deny six counts of sexually touching the victim over a four-week period, culminating on 5 September 2020 during a day trip with him and his family. The court heard last week how on that day, a relative of Kitcheners approached the victims mother expressing concerns on his sexualised behaviour toward the child. Hysterical, the mother rang Kitcheners partner telling her to bring the child home straightaway. Kitchener however insisted his relative, Has from that day to this, denied going anywhere near the mother. Apart from the day trip, he was adamant he couldnt have been present when the incidents occurred as he leaves for work at 6am, never returning home before 10pm, presenting timesheets to support this. While stating his relative and employer were due to give evidence, he couldnt explain why neither came to court to do so. When District Judge Steven Keown enquired police were told, they wanted nothing to do with the case Kitchener claimed to be unaware of this. He denied any inappropriate behaviour, insisting, Im not that kind of person I never laid one finger on her. Definitely not ... Everything she has said is lies. Every bit of it. I was always working, Monday to Friday. I was never about the house. The victims mother described confronting her daughter having learned of Kitcheners behaviour, but she initially denied anything had occurred. When pressed further, She burst out crying, she told the court. She hadnt told me because she didnt want Kitcheners partner getting in trouble. She told my daughter not to say anything or Social Services would take away her kids. Can you imagine the position my child was in? Kitcheners partner denied in court seeing any inappropriate engagement with the child and on the day the mother discovered the behaviour she said, I walked ( the child) to her house. Her mother was shouting a pile of abuse at me. Following consideration, Judge Keown convicted Kitchener stating, The victim gave a detailed, unwavering account and the defendant gave a bald denial, asserting she lied for reasons unknown. His evidence was self-serving and unimpressive. I entirely reject it and his partners evidence, who attempted to sing off the same hymn sheet, but they contradicted each other. The victim was reluctant to disclose what occurred, but when pushed, broke down and divulged all. This was after Kitcheners relative approached the mother with concerns. This relative refused to attend court to give evidence. I am satisfied she alerted the victims mother, resulting in her not wishing further involvement. Kitcheners alibi timesheets were also rejected with Judge Keown noting, The employer a convicted fraudster also refused to attend court to stand over these records. I dont accept they are valid or legitimate. Theyre a fraudulent account of hours worked. Judge Keown concluded, The defendant saw a young girl befriending his children and embarked upon clearly sexually inappropriate behaviour, touching and language, for his own gratification. The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports which revealed Kitchener maintains his innocence and intends to appeal the convictions. Judge Keown imposed a sentence of four months custody, along with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to last five years. Kitchener was released on 500 bail pending appeal. The appeal was listed for last Thursday but has been adjourned until September. Hollywood darling Jessica Chastain is next seen in The Forgiven, by Irish filmmaker John Michael McDonagh. She tells Esther McCarthy why shes not interested in perfection despite finally bagging an Oscar The man behind hit films including The Guard and Calvary brought Jessica on board to play the type of complicated woman she has nailed so many times on the big screen. The result is The Forgiven, a twisty psychological thriller adapted from the smash-hit novel by Lawrence Osborne. Hot on the heels of her Oscar win earlier this year, the movie further solidifies the stars reputation as one of Hollywoods most bankable actresses. Incredible, is how Jessica describes her Oscar night when she picked up her first win for playing a real-life televangelist in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Shed been nominated twice before, for her role in Zero Dark Thirty, about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and race drama The Help, but this was the first time she got to bring an Oscar for Best Actress home. I still cant believe it. Im so lucky, she says of that memorable night. I have felt that way every single day since 2011 when my films started to come out. I cant believe that I get to do this with my life. This started out as a dream I had as a little kid and now here I am living it. Im still in shock about it and I hope I will always be in shock because then I will always appreciate it. Jessica with Ralph Fiennes in The Forgiven The Forgiven, released in Irish cinemas later this summer, is set in Morocco and sees the star play Jo Henninger, the wife of Ralph Fiennes David. Set over one memorable weekend in a remote region, the story looks at the impact of a random accident both on the house guests and the local community. I play Jo, who with her husband David is kind of sleepwalking through their life and through their marriage, she explains. They are on their way to their friend Richards party in the middle of the desert in Morocco when a terrible accident happens and a boy is killed. I dont want to give anything away, but both Jo and David find themselves needing to atone in some way because they cannot help but be affected by what they have done. Ever since the Californian first began to carve out a career for herself, first in theatre and then in TV and film, she has embraced the opportunity to play complex women. Since then she has done just that, shining as Celia in The Help, as a woman who ran a high-stakes poker contest in Mollys Game, and opposite our own Colin Farrell in Miss Julia, a period drama filmed in Co Fermanagh. In The Forgiven, Jo gets to deliver the memorable line: Im so awake Im dangerous, and Jessica revealed that she specifically asked to use it after reading the book. Yeah, thats in the novel. Its my favourite quote of Jos so I asked John to put it in the screenplay. It perfectly sums up Jos story arc of how this one traumatic event shocks her into waking up and changing her life drastically. That line was very important to me because after what happens she no longer cares about being polite, she just cares about being alive and awake. Jessica Chastain on the red carpet It doesnt bother her that Jo and some of the other women she has played can come across as unlikeable. I love it. Ive built a career on playing unlikeable characters. We all have flaws. We all make mistakes and we are all selfish and ambitious. Thats what being human is. Were all complex were not always selfless or filled with integrity and honour. "I find characters, female characters especially, who do things that go against what society expects a woman to do very exciting to play. I was very happy to play Jo for that reason. By a strange coincidence, the 45-year-old looked into bagging the rights to the book herself, before the role eventually came her way via McDonagh and her co-star, Ralph Fiennes. I loved the book initially. I was flying into Vienna to spend some time with the amazing filmmaker Michael Haneke and his wife, and at the airport, I thought I would pick up a book to read. I grabbed The Forgiven and I was just gripped by it. We were talking about art and cinema over this most incredible weekend together and with this book so vivid in my mind, I got to thinking what an incredible film it could be. Thats when I went after the rights, only to discover they had gone. That was years ago so its strange how things worked out, she says. Ralph Fiennes, who I have worked with before and who is a dear friend, texted me saying that he was going to be a part of this new version and I was interested straight away. It became a very easy decision like it was kismet and I was supposed to play Jo. All of the pieces fell into place and I have always loved John Michael McDonaghs work as a writer and a director so it all just worked out. +???S!?.??+???S!?.? ?[?+??????[?????/?G?/? /?>?/>F?[??>?(???/?%?(???>/O??/ ?>F?????????O???>????_?????F???>O? ??? ???????/???? ??/%?/ ??(GG???????/?&?G??>?[?>?????? ??>?+???S??,?G? ` ??&?? ???`???/???/???% ?? `??_/O?????????????/???? ??/%?? ?? `??_/O???????? The young Chastain didnt initially dream of a career on the big screen when growing up in the Californian suburb of Sacramento. Her mum was a vegan chef and her stepdad a fireman, but she started dancing as an adolescent before taking part in local productions of Shakespeare plays. Everything changed when she landed a place at the acclaimed New York arts school Juilliard, and soon she was making a name for herself in theatre. The Help and Zero Dark Thirty would prove to be her big breakthroughs on screen. She is acutely aware that her high profile places her in a position to shine a light on social injustices and has, for example, been vocal about the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US on social media. Jessica feels that The Forgiven is relevant to the present day. I think people are just starting to open up and ask what privilege really means, and to question the life they have been living up until this point. Are other people being denied the same rights I have? Were in a time where, hopefully, many of us are looking into ourselves and questioning whether we are serving the communities around us. I think this is an important film because it delves into that. We should never stop being curious about our effect on others. Thats how you grow empathy. Hopefully talking about this film right now means were at a point where were focussed on creating an empathetic society. Regardless of her success so far, mum-of-two Jessica says she is always on the lookout for meaty new roles. Its about the creative experience, who I am working with and what I can learn from the experience. The most important thing is to do something new and challenging. I dont have to play the most noble person in the world. Mostly, I want to know that I am contributing to something positive. The Ministry of Health is today reporting 6223 new community cases of Covid-19, 733 current hospitalisations, and 22 deaths. There are 16 people with Covid-19 in ICU in hospitals around NZ. There are 38 people in Bay of Plenty hospitals and 21 in Lakes hospitals. There are 270 new cases from people who have recently travelled overseas. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 9803. Today we are sadly reporting the deaths of 22 people with Covid-19, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. All these deaths occurred in the past four days. The Ministry of Health and Te Whatu Ora Health NZ are closely monitoring the continued increase in Covid-19 positive cases and hospitalisations as part of their ongoing review and updating of the response to the current community outbreak. The case, death and hospitalisation numbers emphasise the importance of everybody doing the basics well to help prevent infection and serious illness. In particular, people should stay home if they are unwell, take a rapid antigen test (RAT) and upload the result on My Covid Record, and isolate if positive or while still symptomatic, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. If youre heading out to pick up free RATs and masks, please check the Healthpoint website to find your nearest participating pharmacy as not all pharmacies are providing this service. People can also continue to request free COVID-19 RATs kits online. It is important to ensure you are up to date with all vaccinations, including Covid-19 vaccinations. Many people are now eligible for a second booster dose, and flu vaccinations, which are free for many people. Mask up for added protection Wearing a mask remains one of the best measures to reduce transmission of infectious respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19. The more layers of protection people put in place - such as mask wearing, vaccinations, and staying home when sick - the more they reduce the risk of spreading respiratory viruses. Even if youre fully vaccinated, or have had Covid-19, continuing to wear a face mask is important in keeping you, your whanau and your community safe. As a general rule, the Ministry urges people to wear a mask in public indoor settings outside the home and in poorly ventilated spaces, or when it is hard to physically distance from other people. You must wear a mask on public transport and at transport hubs like airports and bus stations, inside public venues like museums and libraries, when visiting a health care service, and inside retail businesses like supermarkets and shopping malls, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. Masking up is particularly important when around more vulnerable members of the community, especially those who are older, those in aged residential care and healthcare settings where appropriate. Wider availability of antiviral treatments From Monday July 18, the access criteria for three antiviral treatments for Covid-19 will be widened to include a wider group of people at risk of severe illness from Covid-19 infection. This includes all people aged 75 years and over and those who have been admitted previously to an Intensive Care Unit directly as a result of Covid-19. Nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (branded as Paxlovid), molnupiravir (branded as Lagevrio) and remdesivir, an infusion treatment (branded as Veklury) are antivirals used in the community and hospitals to treat people with early Covid-19 at risk of severe illness. These antivirals reduce the risk of severe illness, which helps takes pressure off our health system, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. Among other things, this means GPs will be able to provide back pocket prescriptions so that people at risk of acute respiratory illnesses can have their prescription ready should they test positive and can then start taking the medicine promptly. Covid-19 hospitalisations Covid-19 Cases in hospital: total number 733: Northland: 25; Waitemata: 126; Counties Manukau: 51; Auckland: 86; Waikato: 56; Bay of Plenty: 38; Lakes: 21; Hawkes Bay: 34; MidCentral: 31; Whanganui: 18; Taranaki: 13; Tairawhiti: 7; Wairarapa: 10; Capital & Coast/Hutt: 56; Nelson Marlborough: 9; Canterbury/West Coast: 119; South Canterbury: 11; Southern: 22. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalisations - 7 day rolling average: 737 (This time last week 554) Average age of current COVID-19 hospitalisations: 64 Cases in ICU or HDU: 16 Vaccination status of new admissions to hospital*: Unvaccinated or not eligible (50 cases); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (3 cases); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (75 cases); received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (378 cases). *These are new hospital admissions in the past 7 days prior to yesterday who had COVID at the time of admission or while in hospital, excluding hospitalisations that were admitted and discharged within 24hrs. This data is from Districts with tertiary hospitals: Auckland, Canterbury, Southern, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Capital & Coast, Waitemata and Northland. Covid-19 vaccinations administered Vaccinations administered in New Zealand Vaccines administered to date: 4,028,922 first doses; 3,981,579 second doses; 33,674 third primary doses; 2,694,834 first booster doses: 175,850 second booster doses: 265,153 paediatric first doses and 140,315 paediatric second doses Vaccines administered yesterday: 13 first doses; 35 second doses; 11 third primary doses; 882 first booster doses; 5,973 second booster doses; 102 paediatric first doses and 493 paediatric second doses More detailed information, including vaccine uptake by District, is available on the Ministry website. Tests Number of PCR tests total (last 24 hours) 2,789 Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 10,768 PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 3,306 Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last seven days as of 14 July 2022): 2.9 million Covid-19 cases Total number of new community cases: 6,223 Number of new cases that have recently travelled overseas: 270 Seven day rolling average of community cases: 9,803 Seven day rolling average of community cases (as at same day last week): 9,000 Number of active cases (total): 70,762 (cases identified in the past seven days and not yet classified as recovered) Confirmed cases (total): 1,490,606 Location of new community cases by district over past 24 hours You can also view a detailed breakdown of daily case numbers for each district since the beginning of the pandemic by clicking the download button on the right hand side of this page: New Zealand COVID-19 data. Please note, the Ministry of Healths daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a district or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO. Covid-19 deaths Todays reported deaths takes the total number of publicly reported deaths with COVID-19 to 1,827 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 22. Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today: five were from Auckland region, two were from Waikato, one was from Lakes, two were from Hawkes Bay, one from Taranaki; three from Whanganui, two were from MidCentral, one was from Wellington region, three were from Canterbury/West Coast, two were from Southern. Two were in their 40s, one in their 50s, one in their 60s, five were in their 70s, eight were in their 80s and five were aged over 90. Of these people, ten were women and 12 were men. This is a very sad time for whanau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them. Out of respect, we will be making no further comment on todays reported deaths. A severe weather warning has been issued by the MetService for parts of New Zealand. "Significant heavy rain and severe gale northwesterlies are forecast for parts of southern and central New Zealand," says a MetService spokesperson. An active front which has been approaching the South Island from the Tasman Sea overnight Sunday, will then move northeast over the Island during Monday and Tuesday. "This front, preceded by a strong, moist and unstable northwest flow, is expected to bring significant heavy rain to western and central parts of the South Island and severe gales to Fiordland and eastern areas of the South Island, also possible for Wellington and southern Wairarapa. "This is likely to be a significant severe weather event." People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts, as some areas could be upgraded to Red Warning, and more areas are added. A heavy rain warning has been issued for the following areas: Westland south of Otira Valid: 40 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 1:00 pm Tuesday Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, with thunderstorms. Expect a further 250 to 400mm of rain to accumulate about the ranges on top of what has already fallen,and 80 to 150mm near the coast. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h about the ranges. Freezing level about 1700 metres, rising to about 2000 metres overnight Sunday. The headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers south of Arthur's Pass Valid: 40 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 1:00 pm Tuesday Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, with thunderstorms possible. Expect a further 250 to 400mm of rain to accumulate about the main divide on top of what has already fallen, and 180 to 250mm within 25 to 30km east of the divide especially south of the Rakaia River. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h about the divide. Please note, this is unusually significant spillover, and 50 to 120 mm of rain could fall between 30 and 50km east of the divide during this time. Please also note, that significant snowmelt could further enhance river flows.Freezing level about 1700 metres, rising to 2000 metres overnight Sunday. The headwaters of Otago lakes and rivers Valid: 39 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 12:00 pm Tuesday Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, with thunderstorms possible. Expect a further 220 to 320mm of rain to accumulate about the divide on top of what has already fallen, and 120 to 200mm within 20 to 25 km east of the main divide. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h about the divide. Note, freezing level 1700 metres, rising to about 2000 metres overnight Sunday. Fiordland Valid: 25 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 10:00 pm Monday Forecast: Periods of heavy rain with thunderstorms. Expect a further 150 to 230mm of rain to accumulate north of Doubtful Sound on top of what has already fallen, and 80 to 140mm farther south. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h. Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous. A strong wind warning has been issued for the following areas: Marlborough Valid: 32 hours from 2:00 am Monday to 10:00 am Tuesday Forecast: Northwest gales are forecast to be severe in exposed places at times,with gusts reaching 120 km/h. Canterbury Valid: 33 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 6:00 am Tuesday Forecast: Northwest gales are forecast to be severe in exposed places, with gusts reaching 140 to 150 km/h about the High Country, and 120 km/h farther east. Otago Valid: 26 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 11:00 pm Monday Forecast: Northwest gales are forecast to be severe in exposed places, with gusts reaching 120 to 130 km/h. Fiordland, Southland and Stewart Island Valid: 22 hours from 9:00 pm Sunday to 7:00 pm Monday Forecast: Northwest gales are forecast to be severe in exposed places, with gusts reaching 120 km/h. Strong wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and unsecured structures.Driving may be hazardous, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles. A 21-year-old Mount Maunganui man has chosen to ditch his personal travel plans to go to Ukraine instead, to give on-the-ground help to the country at war with Russia. Liam Arnold, a swim teacher, has never volunteered before but after seeing the news about what the people of Ukraine are experiencing, he knew he wanted to show his support. Its pretty much just been on my mind since it started and people need help over there. I just feel like Im in a position where I can actually probably help a little bit so Im going to try and do that, says Liam. Researching and contacting different Ukrainian volunteer groups, Liam will be working alongside multiple organisations, including the charity, Everything Will Be Fine. He is currently raising funds for a passenger van to transport humanitarian aid supplies and evacuate Ukrainian civilians out of danger. Liam says the Ukraine desperately needs drivers and vehicles for this. I was initially saving just to travel overseas but I thought this was a better use of money, says Liam, who has travelled to Argentina and Australia but has never been to Europe. He has been learning Ukrainian language basics for the past two and a half months to prepare and has left his volunteer trip open ended. Im looking at staying about three months but I havent got a return ticket Ill just see how it goes and it could be a bit shorter or it could be longer depending on the situation. As far as safety is concerned, at the moment Im not too worried about that obviously theres a risk but I think theres a risk with anything you know. On what his family and friends think of him heading to the country amidst war, Liam says there has been a mixed reaction of good on you and thats quite crazy. So mums not too happy and my dads kind of on the fence you know, hes not too pleased but also knows Im trying to do something good, says Liam. Flying out on Thursday, July 21, Liam says: This is kind of a big step I guess from no volunteering maybe it will be the start of more in the future hopefully I can actually help. Liam is yet to reach his fundraising goal to buy a passenger van to support the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. To donate visit: givealittle.co.nz and search for Liam Arnold. A young Kiwi filmmaker has conquered the Everest of the silent filmmaking world by winning first place at the International Youth Silent Film Festival (IYSFF) Global Awards 2022. Napier filmmaker Dylan Pritchards animated short film The Climb won first place at this years Global Awards held recently. Traditionally, finalists from across the world attend the awards held at The Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon, US, but due to the Covid pandemic, this years ceremony were streamed online via YouTube. The IYSFF challenges young filmmakers, aged 20 years and under, from across the United States, Europe, Australia, The United Arab Emirates and Aotearoa New Zealand to create a three-minute silent film, set to one of 10 musical scores composed specifically for the festival by award-winning organist Nathan Avakian. Dylan, 19, secured his spot at the Global Awards after his film, about a young mountaineer that sets off to conquer her dream but comes across some personal struggles along the way, won second place in the IYSFF New Zealand National Awards Final 2021 held last November. Taking part in the IYSFF was a lot of fun, the whole process from the idea to the storyboarding, animating, editing and finally to the finished product was a blast! Animating a full video like this can be painstaking and tedious, but I knew the idea had to come to life and that thought fuelled me through the many hours working on The Climb. I would also like to thank my dad, Lee, for always pushing me to finish this project when sometimes I would get a little bit lazy in the process. He has a little cameo at the 40 second mark in the taxi. Judging this years Global Awards were celebrity jurors, X Men and Transformers producer Tom Desanto, Star Trek Deep Space 9, For All Mankind, and Grimm producer Steve Oster, and IYSFF Global Awards 2021 winner and Ohio University film student Sam Brandes. The jurors praised Dylan for his animation skills, the visual aesthetic he achieved in The Climb which gave it an epic feel, and his ability to produce an animated film that was highly technical but still maintained the emotional beats crucial to the films story. The Climb is an amazing piece of work and the fact that one person did all of it, that kind of blows my mind. I know how hard animation can be when youre trying to get emotion, but Dylan accomplished so much heart and so much technical finesse in that film. Im really looking forward to what he does next, says celebrity juror Tom Desanto. The IYSFF was founded in 2009 by American philanthropist Jon JP Palanuk, who said he was extremely impressed hearing the critiques of Dylans film from this years celebrity jurors. These industry professionals understand better than I what it took to create his film. The beauty and craftsmanship, the emotion and execution are truly stunning. Dylan and New Zealand can be very proud. Tauranga filmmaker Asher Wadsworth, age 18. Photo: Supplied. Also representing New Zealand at this years Global Awards was Tauranga filmmaker and IYSFF NZ National Awards 2021 first place winner Asher Wadsworth and their film Insomnia. Asher, 18, says they enjoyed their IYSFF experience, and while they didnt win higher honours at the Global Awards, they included her film Insomnia in her successful application to the Media Design School in Auckland where Asher is now studying 3D animation as part of a Bachelor of Art and Design. Although it was very challenging, having my work shown in this way made competing worthwhile. The music is very creatively inspiring and seeing everyones finished films is always amazing! Silent films arent really appreciated much in the film industry now, so creating a film that blends the modern and traditional is an awesome challenge for any filmmaker. The IYSFF music is just the right length to create a story without it seeming like an impossible task and creating a film with friends is the best! A scene from IYSFF NZ National 2021 winning film Insomnia by Tauranga filmmaker Asher Wadsworth. Photo: Supplied. Dylan also loved his IYSFF journey and believes all young Kiwi filmmakers with a passion for filmmaking and storytelling should seriously consider entering the IYSFF competition. I would highly recommend getting together with your mates and coming up with something to enter into this competition. Some really amazing stuff can come from some creative minds cooperating on projects like these. The IYSFF made its Aotearoa New Zealand debut at Baycourt Community & Arts Centre in Tauranga back in 2016. Since then, two Kiwi films have won first place at the Global Awards, which includes Overexposed by former Lynfield College students Harry Ashley Raymond Feng and Shamir Sarif in 2019. Joining Overexposed on the podium in 2019 was fellow Kiwi film Random Act of Kindness by Otago filmmaker Benaiah Dunn and Conner Lindsay, Mitchell Hay, Callum Scott, Thomas Dunn, Ben Amende, Jonah Smith, Nathan Pedigal, and Michael Wade, which won third place. It was also the second time Benaiah had won higher international honours in the IYSFF, with his film The Chase, created with his brother Thomas, winning second place at the 2018 awards. Baycourt manager Reena Snook says Kiwi filmmakers have a strong reputation in the IYSFF, and she not only applauded Dylan for his win, but also welcomed him into the New Zealand pantheon of IYSFF international winners. Congratulations Dylan, were over the moon with your win on the international stage. The Climb is an amazing piece of filmmaking and storytelling, and all of your hard work, effort and creativity has truly paid off, said Snook. This latest win at the Global Awards just confirms that the future of filmmaking in Aotearoa New Zealand is brighter and stronger than ever. I definitely recommend keeping an eye on Dylan because this is a potential Oscar winner of the future. The search is on once again for the best young Kiwi filmmakers in Aotearoa with submissions now open for the International Youth Silent Film Festival (IYSFF) New Zealand Nationals 2022. Submissions for the this years competition close at 11.59pm on Thursday 1 September. For more information about the Aotearoa New Zealand competition or to enter, visit Baycourt Community & Arts Centres website at www.baycourt.co.nz/iysffnz The IYSFF NZ Nationals 2022 is proudly delivered with support from major media partner The Breeze Tauranga 95.8FM. Links: THE CLIMB: https://youtu.be/G7Wef7-Tcb0 INSOMNIA: https://youtu.be/IBzDoTt2cbk IYSFF GLOBAL AWARDS 2022: https://youtu.be/GCe68jkpVmQ IYSFF NZ NATIONAL AWARDS 2021: https://youtu.be/lt42saCuIUQ The Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust has entered into a multi-year agreement to manage efforts to restore the mauri - spirit - of the Kaimai Mamaku Ranges through iwi, hapu, whanau and community-led conservation action. The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project was announced in September 2020, with $19.4 million in funding through the Mahi o te Taiao/Jobs for Nature programme. It was initially led by the Department of Conservation/Te Papa Atawhai until the Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust established organisational infrastructure to deliver the project. The transition to the trust was marked with a formal handover ceremony at Wairere Falls on June 22. The formal handover ceremony at Wairere Falls. Photo: Supplied. The Trust will handle the administration of iwi and hapu led conservation projects across the Kaimai Mamaku, ranging from pest animal and plant control to kauri protection. Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust CEO Louise Saunders says mana whenua and community have been at the heart of this kaupapa since 2009. The trust is proudly co-governed by Maori and community trustees. We are committed to using the incredible platform offered by Jobs for Nature to drive effective restoration action across the Kaimai Mamaku. Achieving the vision of a thriving forest will take shared knowledge and collective action, and thats what this agreement will deliver. Department of Conservation Deputy Director General, Kahui Kaupapa Atawhai Michelle Hippolite says handing this project over to the Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust is a significant milestone in the trusts journey. This is a great example of Te Papa Atawhai enabling mana whenua and community to undertake conservation mahi. We collectively look forward to seeing the mauri of the Kaimai Mamaku being restored. The formal handover ceremony at Wairere Falls. Photo: Supplied. Nine iwi-hapu are now engaged in active restoration projects across the Kaimai Mamaku, with 61 employment starts across all projects. The Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust will develop further conservation projects and work to ensure a long-standing conservation legacy in the Kaimai Mamaku. Staff at the formal handover ceremony at Wairere Falls. Photo: Supplied. The Kaimai Mamaku Forum was established in 2009 as an initial relationship between Te Papa Atawhai, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Waikato Regional Council and the New Zealand Landcare Trust. The Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust was established in 2019 with a new board of trustees and executive appointed in 2021. One of the purposes of the Trust is to convene and facilitate the Kaimai Mamaku Forum. The Trust is committed to co-governance and partnerships with iwi and hapu, central government, local government, and community groups. For more information, please see www.mkm.org.nz Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. Before the May 14 massacre at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue, the accused 18-year-old gunman turned to an Iowa man named Cory Clark for advice on purchasing body armor. According to his online diary, Payton Gendron and Clark a customer service specialist for the Iowa-based body armor manufacturer RMA Armament interacted over a period of months on both the public social media site Reddit and in a private chatroom for weapons enthusiasts. A Buffalo News review of nearly 3,200 posts Clark made on Reddit, as well as related marketing activity on platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Discord, show that RMA has for years marketed military-grade body armor to civilian buyers ranging from firearms hobbyists to doomsday preppers. Under the username shorta07, Clark promoted RMA as one of very few manufacturers to sell directly to the public. He has suggested buyers circumvent civilian body armor restrictions in one state and advised Reddit users on the types of body armor that protect against military bullets. The company also works with an online influencer who has posted video "satires" about killing federal agents. In August 2020, Clark encouraged Redditors to stock up on body armor before the presidential election. When Gendron finally placed a $607 order for the bulletproof RMA armor he wore during his attack, he left a single note on the order form: Its recommended to give Corey (sic) a bonus. Selling body armor to civilians is legal in most cases, and there is no indication that Clark knew about either Gendrons plans or his violent, racist ideology. Representatives for RMA opened, but did not respond to, emails seeking interviews for this article, and Clark hung up on a Buffalo News reporter after he was asked about his contact with Gendron. In a May statement to The News, RMA Armament said it was saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred in Buffalo and that its products are intended for the protection of law-abiding private citizens, police departments and government partners. But the companys sales and marketing practices could expose it to lawsuits, three legal experts said, particularly given the role that body armor played in the Tops massacre. Police have said that Gendrons RMA-made body armor stopped a bullet fired by security guard Aaron Salter Jr., allowing Gendron to return fire and kill seven additional people, including Salter, inside the supermarket. Attorney Terrence Connors, who represents the families of several victims as well as individuals injured in the attack, said his firm is actively investigating RMAs marketing practices. Any company in the business of body armor or high-capacity weapons is operating with the knowledge of American history over the past several decades, where all of these products have been used repeatedly for mass slaughters, said Jonathan Lowy, the chief counsel for the national Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which has pursued dozens of civil actions against gunmakers and dealers. Theyre not operating on a clean slate they know for a fact how these products have been used. They have every reason to believe it will happen again and again. Lawmakers and policy experts are directing new scrutiny at civilian body armor sales, which have grown steadily in the past 20 years and steeply since the start of the pandemic motivated by social unrest and growing anti-government sentiment, said Aaron Westrick, a professor at Lake State University who has worked with body armor companies and law enforcement. According to the Violence Project, a nonpartisan research center, body armor has featured in 17 mass shootings since 2009, including the attack in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that killed 26 people in 2017, and the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed 14 people in 2015. In June, New York barred civilians from purchasing many types of armor, while New Jersey and Pennsylvania considered similar legislation. New York Reps. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and Chris Jacobs, R-Orchard Park, have also signed onto a federal proposal restricting civilian access. In proposing all four measures, lawmakers pointed to the ease with which Gendron obtained his body armor and the degree to which it made his attack more deadly. Body armor has been an increasingly common part of mass shootings, especially of mass shootings where the goal seems to be to kill the maximum number of people, state Sen. Brian Kavanaugh, D-Manhattan, said during a June 2 floor vote for the New York ban. ... It is often marketed as tactical gear you need along with your tactical weapons. Advice and 'appreciation' Its not clear where Gendron first encountered Clark, who has posted online as a representative of RMA since 2019. The Centerville, Iowa-based company, founded in 2013, manufactures and sells hardened ceramic body armor through its website and third-party dealers. RMAs chief executive, Blake Waldrop, is a Marine veteran and former police officer who has said he founded the company after a comrade died during an IED attack in Iraq while wearing standard-issue armor. In 2017, RMA represented Iowa in a White House showcase of American-made products. Clark started on the companys factory floor in 2018 but was promoted to a social media and customer service role, he wrote, after his managers noticed an influx of sales based on his personal Reddit posts. In that role, Clark identified himself as a representative of RMA and promoted RMA products, sales and discounts in a range of Reddit groups beginning with communities for military and law enforcement members, who sometimes buy their own body armor. RMA sold 80% of its products to law enforcement and defense agencies before the pandemic, Waldrop told a local news station. But hundreds of thousands of civilians entered the market in 2020, shattering sales records and rapidly shifting RMAs main clientele, Waldrop said. In one five-day period that October, RMA sold more than 1,200 sets of one specific armor plate direct to consumers, Clark wrote on Reddit. Under the username shorta07, Clark also began posting more frequently and in Reddit communities with far broader audiences, including r/TacticalGear and r/QualityTacticalGear, where he promoted RMA plates as an accessible option for civilian consumers. Posts from the account identify Clark by his name and corporate email address, and biographical details shared by shorta07 in the years prior to Clark's work with RMA also match the work history listed on his public LinkedIn profile. Clark wrote that he told his boss early on that he did not want to post under a separate RMA username in order to make the account more personal. The forums he frequented attract a wide range of members, from hobbyists, collectors and airsoft enthusiasts to regular citizens fearful of crime and survivalists prepping for social collapse. In 2020, a member of r/TacticalGear posted photos of his uniform for the Ohio Gadsden Militia, which describes itself as an armed citizen group. Why do you want plates? Clark wrote in a 2021 post to r/TacticalGear. Because this is America, and people have a RIGHT to own plates. Thats the only answer you need. Clark interacted with the accused Buffalo gunman on at least four occasions, according to Gendrons online diary and deleted Reddit posts. Transcripts of the diary, which Gendron wrote in a private Discord server, spread online in the hours after the attack. In August 2021, Gendron posted in the subreddit r/TacticalGear that RMA was his go to for armor plates. Clark replied that he appreciated Gendron, according to a message deleted after the Buffalo shooting. Months later, in December 2021, Gendron began shopping for body armor for his attack, his diary suggests. The 18-year-old wrote that he wanted armor that could withstand fire from at least a handgun in case he encountered a police officer or a customer with a concealed weapon. On Jan. 8, Gendron wrote that he talked with shorta with RMA armament and concluded that the company sells cheap plates that are actually usable. He purchased a set of hardened armor plates through RMAs website two days later, posting screenshots of the order form and his note about Clarks bonus to his journal. Gendron later wrote that Clark responded to a post he made on Plateland, a private chat room for gun enthusiasts linked to the anonymous message board 4chan, which is well-known for its violent and white supremacist content. On April 4, Gendron wrote that Clark gave him confirmation I can advertise RMA plates, though its not clear what he meant by that. In a 180-page document published after his attack, Gendron spent 34 typed pages laying out his recommended body armor for future shooters, including 11 RMA products. Clark has since continued to post to Reddit as an RMA representative. A presence on several platforms Since he began posting on RMAs behalf, many of Clarks messages have concerned traits that distinguish the manufacturer. RMA, he wrote in one 2020 post, has passed numerous ballistic tests, makes its product in the United States, and obviously we have a Reddit guy also. Unlike some other manufacturers, RMA did not limit its sales to military or law enforcement. To place an order, buyers provided basic shipping and contact information, similar to Amazon. Many companies will not sell to civilians without some kind of paperwork, Westrick said, such as a letter of recommendation or support from local law enforcement. Text at the bottom of RMA's product pages does inform customers that, by placing an order, they "are acknowledging that you do not intend to use the body armor for any criminal purpose." Through Clark, RMA also engaged in other, potentially controversial marketing practices, such as advising customers on how to subvert state body armor restrictions. In Connecticut, which requires that civilian customers buy body armor in face-to-face transactions, Clark suggested that customers ship to the state next to them ;) in posts to TikTok and Reddit. Clark exhorted customers to buy body armor in August 2020, writing that my gut feeling tells me in November during the election, it's going to be BAD no matter which way the election goes. A year later, in September 2021, an anonymous member of a chatroom affiliated with the community r/TacticalGear asked Clark which plates would defeat an enhanced M855A1 bullet, "setting aside" any restrictions that would limit such gear to soldiers or law enforcement. Clark recommended an RMA product. The M855A1 bullet is manufactured for military use and not available on the civilian market, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said. RMA has also partnered with online influencers who review its products in exchange for a small cut of sales generated by their posts. One of those affiliates a veteran and TikTok influencer who posts under the username NV_actual has published multiple videos that joke about killing stacks of fed boys, terms commonly used to describe federal agents working for agencies such as the ATF and the FBI. In one video, he dances to Katy Perrys California Gurls in full tactical gear, under the caption POV: You eliminated the entire stack outside your front door. In another post from April, NV_actual nods his head while the song Boogaloo whose lyrics describe a violent murder spree plays in the background. Boogaloo is also the name of an anti-government extremist movement. A caption encourages viewers to use a discount code to buy RMA armor, while also calling the video satirical. He did not respond to a Reddit message requesting an interview. On a corporate Twitter account, RMA has also shared messages containing the hashtags #boogalo and #prepper. Does villainous look good on us? the account posted on May 6, just days before the Tops massacre. Legal obstacles Victims and their families will face obstacles in any civil suit against body armor manufacturers, legal experts acknowledged. Plaintiffs would have to prove both that manufacturers could have predicted their product would be misused in an offensive attack and that their failure to intervene caused greater damage. Is it shocking to a reasonable member of the jury, so to speak, that some portion of the people for whom those products are marketed use them in the way that they're depicted? asked Adam Skaggs, the chief counsel and policy director at the Giffords Law Center, which advocates for gun safety legislation. At the same time, courts have signaled a new willingness to hold a wide circle of third parties accountable as mass shootings have grown more frequent, said Michael Steinlage, who chaired a recent committee on mass shooting liability for the American Bar Association. Judges have ruled that such shootings have become so routine that, under some circumstances, entities including schools, law enforcement, social media platforms and attackers families could have anticipated them. Even gunmakers, who enjoy broad federal immunity in most civil suits, have recently faced new consequences: In a landmark 2019 case, the Connecticut Supreme Court greenlighted a suit against Remington Arms, the maker of the assault rifle used in the Sandy Hook massacre, after victims families argued that Remingtons advertising appealed to troubled young men. Remington settled in February for $73 million. If successful, a civil suit against RMA would also set new precedent. We are looking very closely at the marketing tactics deployed by RMA Defense and questioning why an 18-year-old civilian would need body armor of this type, Connors, the victims attorney, said. News data intern Corey Dockser contributed to this report. The wife of a former Lockport man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday in Alabama for murdering him in 2018. Marjorie "Nikki" Cappello, a former nurse, was found guilty in May of poisoning her husband, Lockport native Jim Cappello, with insulin she stole from the hospital where she worked. A friend of Nikki Cappello called the police after Cappello called her stating she had killed her husband using insulin and needed help disposing of the body. Police found his corpse in their garage. Jim Cappello's sister, Jamie Weast, took custody of his daughter, who was four years old at the time of the murder. A wrongful death suit over the case is ongoing. "I feel that the punishment was fair and just and I think we feel more at peace with the fact that she is now behind bars for life," Weast said. "It's a real tragedy for our family and the community he was a well-known private investigator and we feel better knowing that she's behind bars, for sure. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. Forward-looking: Intel has announced a partnership with Green Revolution Cooling (GRC) to develop sustainable immersion cooling for data centers. The first fruits of their partnership are findings on the usefulness of immersion cooling, described within a newly published whitepaper. According to two estimates from 2020, data centers consume anywhere from 1.5% to 2% of the world's energy and could be consuming as much as 13% within ten years. Around half of that energy is used by the computers themselves and 25% to 40% is used by air conditioning, says the US Department of Energy. Some data centers have made strides to improve their cooling efficiency lately but they've been negated by the rising power consumption of new hardware. According to Statista, the average power usage effectiveness, i.e. efficiency, of all large data centers has held at about 1.6 for about a decade. In their white paper, Intel and GRC say that immersion cooling cuts out the need for server fans, which make up 10-15% of a server's power consumption. Immersion cooling can also cycle heat away faster than air cooling resulting in more efficiency gains, but the paper didn't put a number to them. Intel and GRC express the most interest in single-phase immersion cooling, as opposed to two-phase cooling. The former uses a pump to circulate a non-conductive liquid around a tank containing multiple servers and relies on a heat interchanger to cool the liquid. It's simpler than two-phase cooling, which involves the liquid boiling into a gas before being cooled back into a liquid. "Intel is designing silicon with immersion cooling in mind, rethinking elements like the heat sink." Immersion cooling also has other benefits over air cooling, according to the white paper. Data centers collectively use billions of gallons of water each year for their cooling and power generation, which immersion cooling would significantly reduce. Immersion-cooled centers can also be built smaller than air-cooled centers, reducing land waste and building costs. It does have its flaws, though. Having all your systems be submerged would be a maintenance nightmare, and also make errors more severe. However, Intel seems pretty willing to bet on it. In May, the company announced that it was building a $700 million research lab in Oregon with a focus on sustainability initiatives, including immersion cooling, heat recapture, and water usage effectiveness. It's being joined by other companies, including Microsoft, in experimenting with immersion cooling and other strange approaches to cooling as data centers become larger and the need for sustainable solutions grows more urgent. (Photo : NASA) According to a deal announced on Friday, July 15, NASA astronauts will once again travel to space on Russian rockets, and Russian cosmonauts will ride SpaceX rockets to the International Space Station starting this fall. US-Russia Agreement According to NASA and Russian officials, the agreement guarantees that there will always be at least one American and one Russian on board the orbiting outpost to maintain both sides of the outpost operating well. The trade, which had been in the works for a while and was finally completed despite concerns over Moscow's conflict with Ukraine, is a sign of ongoing Russia-U.S. relations in space collaboration. Although the International Space Station (ISS), which is jointly run by NASA, Roscosmos, and several other space agencies, has become the target of Russian politicians, NASA has repeatedly stated that tensions on Earth have no impact on the nations' ongoing collaboration in space. Dmitry Rogozin, who was ousted as Roscosmos' director on Friday, once said that he wanted to halt all Russian support for the ISS. In September, two Russians and American astronaut Frank Rubio will fly from Kazakhstan towards the space station. On a SpaceX rocket departing from Florida in the same month, Anna Kikina, a Russian cosmonaut, will go alongside two Americans and one Japanese. Next spring, there will be another personnel swap. The Astronauts and Cosmonauts According to NASA, no money will be exchanged as part of the deal. Up until SpaceX began transporting station crews from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 2020, NASA astronauts frequently embarked on Russian Soyuz rockets for tens of millions of dollars each, as noted by Phys. In September, NASA appointed astronaut Frank Rubio to the Soyuz mission, and Loral O'Hara will go on a subsequent Soyuz trip. According to NASA, Andrei Fedyaev will ride on another SpaceX mission in the spring of 2023, and Roscosmos is sending cosmonaut Anna Kikina on SpaceX's September mission. Read also: NASA James Webb Space Telescope Snaps 'Great Red Spot' of Jupiter With New Breathtaking Photos! Russia-NASA History In the early 2000s, Russian cosmonauts traveled to the space station on NASA's shuttles. Before that, in the 1990s, astronauts and cosmonauts alternated trips to and from Russia's Mir space station on each other's spacecraft. Before 2020, when SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule restored NASA's human spaceflight capacity and started regular ISS flights from Florida, the US relied on Russia's Soyuz to transport American astronauts to the space station after the shuttle's retirement in 2011. Engineer Kikina will be the first Russian to fly SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule; she is also the only female cosmonaut currently serving Russia. While the arrangement was being negotiated, she was preparing for the trip at NASA's astronaut center in Houston. Related Article: 'New Era in Astronomy': NASA James Webb Space Telescope's New Stunning Images and The Stories Behind Them This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TikTok has become a go-to app for some young users on the internet, especially if they want to search for interesting videos and updated trends. However, the video-sharing platform is more than that-- it's slowly competing with Google in terms of search results, and it's alarming news for social media companies. TikTok is Becoming a Threat to Google (Photo : Solen Feyissa from Unsplash) Should Google be alarmed about TikTok? Here's why the tech giant is worried about it. When we are curious about something, the tendency is to surf the browser and use Google Search. However, time has changed, and that's not the case anymore, especially for young users. TechCrunch says that the internal data of Google revealed that about 40% of Gen Z users have a new preference when searching for stuff online. It's not an official search engine but a popular app in the form of TikTok. As of now, it's no wonder why TikTok is outpacing other apps when it comes to popularity and usage. It's easy to use and accessible to everyone. While it's good to know that it has reached more audiences, it's bad news for Google. For discovery purposes, teens are gradually shifting their preferences to a more convenient app like TikTok, even if it's not made to generate search results. Indeed, this huge change in users' preference poses an alarming trend to Google and other companies. For Prabhakar Raghavan, the Senior VP of Google's Knowledge and Information, the queries that the new internet users ask have become "completely different" from the usual things. Instead of typing a keyword on the search bar, the young users will only scroll until they stumble upon an interesting video on the platform. Related Article: Tiktok Dominates in Tech Earnings, Digital Ad Giants Struggle to Compete TikTok is Hurting Google's Search Engine This trend is not only affecting the minds of young users; it's also hurting Google's search engine. This might indicate that many people are now dependent on TikTok as a mode of online discovery. This also means that all the things that Google did over the past years--from creating search options to organizing results will only be put in vain. As of writing, the company is now evaluating to see how they will remedy this problem. To boost its search engine, Google is planning to combine both texts and images into one through AR glasses. This could be the beginning of a huge change that they are hoping for. Perhaps, the only thing that Google can do right now is to continue competing with other social media companies. Previously, it said that it was seeking search deals for TikTok and Instagram clips. For instance, if you type any keyword with "TikTok on it, you will notice that your search results won't direct you to the webpage. Instead, you will first see the results arranged in rows. Google will treat TikTok as a threat as long as many new users stick to the platform regarding search purposes. As part of another strategy to ease this up, the tech titan wants to use AI to understand the posted videos better. This means that supporting documents might follow for the viewers to see. In the next two years, if the trend continues to favor TikTok, there's a possibility that it will also surpass YouTube in terms of advertising revenue, Business Insider reports. Read Also: Viral TikTok Trend: How 'Random Acts of Kindness' Clips Evolve into 'Humanitarian Dramas' This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joseph Henry 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Cheektowaga Town Board will look into a complaint that a town highway crew assigned to a bucket truck restrung rope on a flagpole on private property, a councilman said. What happened at the property in May doesn't appear to be an isolated occurrence. "Too much of this stuff has been buried, and I commend the people that finally came forward," Councilman Jerry Kaminski said at Tuesday's Town Board meeting. "This is taxpayers' money that has been wasted for years." Highway Superintendent Mark Wegner said there was nothing wrong with what the town crew did. The owner of the property on Borden Road called and asked if the town could restring his flag pole because the rope had broken over the winter. "All they did was they reached over and put the rope on so the guy can fly the American flag. This is just ridiculous," Wegner said. "We've helped out a lot of people, if we can reach it." Wegner, who has been highway superintendent for 14 years, said he does not say yes to every request. "A lady wanted us to put a flag pole up for her. We dont put flagpoles up, but if you need the rope put in and we can reach it, well help you," Wegner said. Attorney Paul D. Weiss, who represents the highway workers' union, raised the Borden Road work at the Town Board meeting. In May, a member of the public took video of the flagpole assistance, Weiss said. The practice of town workers doing work on private property has been going on for several years, Weiss said. There are similar photographs at the same location in 2020, and town crews also installed a light on the pole, he said. Employees did not say anything because they feared retribution, according to Weiss. "Our members are afraid to come forward, so they didn't," he said. Kaminski said he was shocked that Wegner acknowledged doing work for private citizens with town crews and trucks. "It's taxpayer money," he said. Weiss said the state constitution prohibits the practice, and the state Comptroller's Office has issued an opinion stating that a town is not authorized to use its highway department employees to perform non-municipal work on private property. Wegner denied his department retaliates against workers. "No, that's not true," he said. "Anything that we do and they don't like it, they go right to the press." Wegner said there is nothing wrong with what the town did on Borden Road, and he accused the union of trying to make an issue of it to influence contract negotiations. "This is what they do to get a contract, and it's not going to help them get a contract," Wegner said. Greg Magnuszewski, president of the Town of Cheektowaga Employees Association, said some highway employees have bid on jobs in other town departments because they don't like the dynamics in the Highway Department. "Three to four people in the last four months left because they couldnt work in that environment any more," Magnuszewski said. Magnuszewski and Weiss said the issue of town employees working on private property has nothing to do with negotiations. The union's contract expired Dec. 31, 2019, and the two sides are at an impasse. A session with a mediator with the Public Employment Relations Board is scheduled later this month. For the past few days, the weird Alibaba EVs we featured on TechTimes are commonly utility cars. There are also some very unique electric vehicles, such as an EV boat with a submarine capsule. Will this EV be enough to capture criminals? (Photo : Screenshot from Alibaba's official website ) Weird Alibaba EV 2022: This Tiny Electric Police Car is More Than Enough To Catch Criminals! Now, the latest weird Alibaba EV 2022 that you will see is a police car. However, this is smaller than the usual police vehicle shown in action movies or you see roaming around across your streets. Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week: Worlds Tiniest Electric Police Car: In todays age of police militarization, perhaps its time to take a step back and see how we could downsize some of the police gear used on our streets. Who needs https://t.co/7LhrgtayjS pic.twitter.com/GI1ysXNeSE Daniel Aharonoff (@broadscaler) July 16, 2022 Despite its tiny size, this electric police car is more than enough to catch bad guys lurking around the neighborhood. If you are interested, here's what you need to know about it. Weird Alibaba EV 2022 is a Very Small Electric Police Car! According to Electrek's latest report, the tiny police EV (dubbing it the world's tiniest electric police car), features a 2.8 kW electric motor. (Photo : Screenshot from Alibaba's official website ) Weird Alibaba EV 2022: This Tiny Electric Police Car is More Than Enough To Catch Criminals! Also Read: Weird Alibaba EV 2022: This Electric Van Has an Airport-Style Truck Design! Will You Buy It? On the other hand, it also has a 60V 120Ah battery that offers 7.2 kWh of capacity, which is already comparable to the level Zero electric motorcycles offered in the auto market. Thanks to this feature, you can run up to 140 km, which is more than enough for your daily police observation activities around the streets. Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week: $4,150 electric police car(t): Times are tight all over the place as state budgets are being slashed. So if any police departments need an affordable alternative to a souped-up Dodge Charger or Ford https://t.co/8nvjsOx8S1 pic.twitter.com/EeiPAG5PrO Daniel Aharonoff (@broadscaler) August 2, 2021 When it comes to speed, the electric police car is around 45 km/h. This means that it is fast enough to chase down the quickest legal electric bikes. On the other hand, its seat capacity can load up to two individuals. However, the passenger will be sitting next to you. So, if you are a police officer and decide to try this, make sure that you will arrest a law-breaking citizen nicely, especially since you need to put them beside you as you deliver them to the nearest police station. Price and Other Features Alibaba's official website offers this tiny electric police car for between $3,450 to $5,000. Of course, the cost will depend on the number of units you plan to purchase. The more EVs you buy, the better the price per unit. Aside from the mentioned features above, this weird zero-emission vehicle also has sliding windows, a built-in stereo system, as well an adjustable sunroof. If you want to have better ventilation, all you need to do is open the sunroof. This comes in handy when you have already caught a criminal. You can visit this link to see more details about this tiny electric police car. Previously, a $600 Chinese electric motorcycle was featured by Alibaba on its platform. On the other hand, another weird Alibaba EV with a built-in BBQ pit was spotted. For more news updates about the weird Alibaba EVs this 2022, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Weird Alibaba EV 2022: Check This Toy-Looking Chinese Electric Cargo Truck! This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Pexels/Worldspectrum) crypto On Saturday, July 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a national ban on using digital assets for payments. The action comes after the Russian government and central bank have debated on what they should do about cryptocurrency. Russia Bans Crypto In January, the Bank of Russia proposed a ban on cryptocurrency for payments or investments, according to Engadget. In February, Russia's Finance Ministry submitted a draft of crypto regulations to the government, which allows for investing in digital assets like Ethereum or Bitcoin, but not using them to purchase things. The law was published on the Russian parliament website. It states that the government has "prohibited to transfer or accept digital financial assets as a consideration for transferred goods, rendered services, performed works," and other ways that allow one to assume payment for goods by a digital financial asset, except as otherwise provided by federal laws. Also Read: Russia's Energy Suppliers Share How At-Home Crypto Mining Can Be Prevented! Here are Their Plans Russia has been in the crypto debate since the country invaded Ukraine in early 2022. As a result, massive crypto companies like Binance and Coinbase said they would comply with US or EU laws on limiting Russians using crypto exchanges. Crypto legislation in Russia is very complicated since the country's central bank previously called for a ban on Bitcoin mining and crypto transactions, but in early 2022, Russia's Finance Ministry said that it would be necessary to allow cryptocurrency technology to develop. President Putin had positive comments about Bitcoin mining back in January when he said that the country had "competitive advantages," including a "surplus electricity and well-trained personnel available in Russia" to mine the currency. According to the data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin closed the week down about 5% to $20,790.64, Ethereum holding at $1,231.54, down less than a percent over a week. Russia's Competitive Advantages in Bitcoin Mining Decrypt reported that Putin believes that Russia has competitive advantages when it comes to mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Putin's comments came after the government's Finance Ministry said it would be "necessary to allow" these types of technologies to develop, and that the ban on crypto is not needed. In a video call with government members, Putin talked about the Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency transactions ban and said that the "central bank has its own position, and the expansion of this type of activity carries certain risks." Putin added that Russia has "certain competitive advantages," especially in mining, due to the surplus of electricity and well-trained personnel that they have. Cryptocurrency mining is the process of verifying transactions on the blockchain and minting new coins or tokens using computers. Mining Bitcoin is a process that uses a lot of energy and requires powerful and expensive machines. Russian Bitcoin miners provide 10% of the computing power to the Bitcoin network, but the country's authorities have talked about the restrictions on the industry several times. China, which at one point was where most of the Bitcoin mining activities happened, recently banned the practice due to environmental concerns. The China ban on Bitcoin mining has since caused a migration of miners to other countries. Related Article: Putin Makes Cryptocurrency Legal in Russia: Top 5 Points This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sophie Webster 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Twitter's lawsuit is now being pushed. Since Elon Musk still refused to keep his promised billion-dollar acquisition, the social media giant decided to file a lawsuit against the billionaire. (Photo : Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference. Instead of filing the lawsuit in California (where Twitter is headquartered), the tech firm decided to ask the Delaware Court to handle its lawsuit. For those unfamiliar with the connection between Delaware and Twitter, this U.S. state is where the social media firm was incorporated. Although it is hard to conclude that this is a major advantage for Twitter, Elon Musk and his lawyers said that the Delaware Court should reject Twitter's request since the lawsuit is a rushed one. Twitter Lawsuit is Rushed, Says Elon Musk According to Business Insider's latest report, Elon Musk claims that the rushed lawsuit is actually part of Twitter's tactic to hide the actual amount of fake accounts spreading on the social media platform. (Photo : Photo by PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images) SpaceX founder Elon Musk addresses the media during a press conference announcing new developments of the Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft, at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California on October 10, 2019. (Photo by Philip Pacheco / AFP) Also Read: Elon Musk Vs. Twitter: Experts Say Billionaire's Deal Cancellation May Not Go Well as Planned; Here's Why "Twitter's sudden request for warp speed after two months of foot-dragging and obfuscation is its latest tactic to shroud the truth about spam accounts long enough to railroad Defendants into closing," said Elon Musk in its document sent to the Delaware Court. He added that Twitter's value depends on how it efficiently handles the rise of spam and fake accounts. Aside from this, the filing made by the billionaire also claimed that the delay bot account disclosure was a strategized one. This means that Twitter allegedly resisted the information disclosures made by the tech CEO. Now, Elon's lawyers defend their side, saying that Twitter is making "baseless new claims to challenge the billionaire from walking away from his acquisition deal. What Elon Musk Wants? As of writing, Elon Musk and his lawyers are asking the Delaware Court to reject the rushed lawsuit of Twitter. Based on the document, the billionaire said that two months is very quick for filing a case. However, it is still unclear whether the tech CEO wants the court to disregard the social media platform's lawsuit completely or if he wants more time to prepare for the case. If you want to see further details about the latest issue of Elon Musk and Twitter, you can visit this link. Previously, Twitter hired a legal team to sue Elon Musk. On the other hand, Elon Musk posted a meme as a response to his canceled Twitter deal. For more news updates about Elon Musk's Twitter deal issue and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Elon Musk is Cancelling the Twitter Deal, As Confirmed by a Twitter Chairman This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Unsplash/Rowan Freeman) Food delivery Douyin, China's version of TikTok and owned by ByteDance, is dipping its toes in the food delivery market. The app has tested a new feature that would compete with food delivery market leaders Alibaba Group Holding and Meituan. Douyin to Get Into Food Delivery According to SCMP, the social media app's delivery options of group-purchased goods are intended for businesses with urgent needs, and the feature is still under development. Some restaurants in particular cities in China, including those whose businesses were affected by the COVID-19 cases in 2022 like Shanghai, now include an option on their Douyin accounts for users to order food with delivery. But restaurants must first provide their own delivery staff or use delivery drivers from another service, according to PanDaily. A Douyin representative said that the app's life service team is carrying out activities to help businesses recover in some cities. Also Read: ByteDance Changes Names of Subsidiaries to Douyin, Speculated to be Mulling an IPO Without having its own delivery personnel, ByteDance could be in for an uphill battle as it launches a soft exploration of the market. Meanwhile, Douyin's competitors, Meituan and Alibaba's Ele.me own their army of delivery drivers, and they are dominating the Chinese city streets. China's Food Delivery Market Douyin's latest move marks the app's second foray into food delivery. In 2021, it tested Xindong Waimai, a food delivery service launched as a part of a mini program that opens within the app. The company eventually opted not to go with a nationwide rollout. Some fast food chains, like KFC and HeyTea, have offered deliveries through Douyin since 2021 using their own personnel. However, the companies offered the service through their own initiative, and the platform did not officially support it. The potential to crack the delivery food market has even enticed JD.com, an e-commerce giant. In June, JD Retail chief executive Xin Lijun told Bloomberg in an interview that the company was working on getting into the market because Dada Nexus, JD's logistics affiliate, is said to have strong capabilities in food delivery. A Dada representative revealed that its food delivery service is still in the planning stage. A Million Dollar Market Social media and logistics companies are seeking to grab a slice of the food delivery market and its huge rewards. In 2021, food delivery users in China increased by 30%, or 554 million of the population. The food delivery market had been growing quickly even before the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and the demand increased so much more while people were forced to stay at home during multiple periods of lockdowns across different cities. However, getting a spot in the market means changing user preferences for apps that have become staples of a lot of people's digital lives in China. Meituan and Alibaba made up 69% and 26% of the market in 2020. Baidu, China's internet search company, also entered the market back in 2014, only to sell Baidu Waimai in 2017 to Ele.me, which rebranded the service to Star.Ele.me. That service made up 4% of the market in 2020. Related Article: TikTok Owner ByteDance is Limiting Screen Time For Douyin Users Under 14; Restriction Unavailable in the US at the Moment This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sophie Webster 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. China's new asteroid radar system is now under development. This new space tech is called China Fuyan, which means "compound eye." (Photo : MasterTux from Pixabay) China's Asteroid Radar SystemWorld's LargestNow Being Developed; How Can It Protect Earth From Space Threats? From its title's definition, you will already have a hint about how it actually works. This new space tech works just like how eyes function. It is specifically designed to detect asteroids. After that, it will send the data to China, allowing the country to know if the planet is at risk of collision. For the past few years, Earth has already experienced various asteroid crashes. However, their sizes are not comparable to Earth or its moon. Although this is the case, it is still essential to have an asteroid detector outside the planet. China's Asteroid Radar System-World's Largest-Now Being Developed According to Space.Com's latest report, the Beijing Institute of Technology is behind the new China Fuyan project. (Photo : Screenshot From Commons.Wikipedia.org) China's Asteroid Radar SystemWorld's LargestNow Being Developed; How Can It Protect Earth From Space Threats? Also Read: China Chang'e 5 New Moon Water Discovery Can Help Create Permanent Human Presence The agency's main goal is to form an asteroid system that combines around 20 large radar antennas, allowing them to track asteroids approaching the direction of Earth efficiently. Each of these antennas will be around 25 to 30 meters in diameter. Because of this, experts claim that the upcoming China Fuyan will be the world's largest asteroid detector system in outer space. "This deep-space radar system would certainly cover the full range in the Earth-Moon system, as the Moon is only some 400,000 kilometers away," said Wang Ya'nan, Being-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine's chief editor via Global Times. He added that it could also monitor the Asian country's own spacecraft that is launched for lunar missions. China Fuyan's Progress As of press time, two asteroid antennas are already being constructed at the Chongqing, Southern China site. This means that there are still 18 asteroid radar antennas needed to be built. Involved experts said that they were already preparing the first two antennas so that they could be tested around September. But, the exact date for the tests is not yet confirmed. You can click this link to see more details about China Fuyan's progress. Recently, experts explained why amateur asteroid hunters are essential for NASA and other space agencies. On the other hand, the asteroid location of NASA's Psyche mission is now being mapped by some MIT researchers. For more news updates about the China Fuyan and other orbital asteroid detectors, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: China's Sky Eye Telescope Could Have Potentially Detected Suspicious Signals This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Unsplash/Saj Shafique) UAE The United Arab Emirates has been reported setting up an $820 million fund to manufacture space satellites and support the country's space program. It has already put a probe into Martian orbit and includes plans to explore space and the planet Venus. UAE to Fund Satellites and Space Program According to Bloomberg, UAE's space program will include establishing a national fund with capital of $820 million and launching a national program to develop modern radar satellites. UAE Ruler Mohammed bin Zayed said the satellites would give 24-hour all-weather earth imaging. The country's media office said the project would contribute to the UAE's efforts to develop solutions to climate change and improve disaster management and environmental sustainability. The applications will include detecting oil spills, monitoring ships, and search and rescue. Also Read: Look: Here's How SpaceX Deploys 60 New Starlink Satellites Into Space According to The Boston Globe, the Gulf nation's move to fund its space program and satellites will make them the first Arab country to develop a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellites. With plans to go to space and explore the planet Venus in 2029 and land on an asteroid and launch a spacecraft into Martian orbit, the UAE already has the Middle East's most ambitious space program. UAE established its space agency in 2014 and the country has sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station in 2019 and plans to send an unmanned spaceship to the moon in 2024. UAE Space Program First Satellite In 2018, UAE launched the KhalifaSat from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center. It is the first satellite from UAE that was designed, built, and tested in the country entirely by Emirati scientists and engineers, according to Smithsonian Mag. The said satellite was assembled for five years at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center or MBRSC, and has garnered five patents and developed a digital camera that rivals some of the most advanced remote-sensing observation satellites that are used today. The satellite's camera will capture detailed imagery of the Earth to monitor environmental changes. UAE's Inaugural Astronaut Corps In 2017, the UAE Space Agency announced the formation of its inaugural astronaut corps. The group were chosen from a pool of more than 4,000 applicants who ranged in age from 17 to 67 and over one third of whom were women. After the astronauts passed extensive personal and cognitive tests, two were chosen and underwent intensive training in several countries. The astronauts chosen were 34-year-old military pilot Hazza Al Mansouri and 37-year-old doctor of information technology Sultan Saif Al Neyadi. The two are set to embark on an eight-day mission to the International Space Station or ISS. They will be the first Arab to venture into space since Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from Saudi Arabia flew on the American STS-5-G Space Shuttle Mission in 1985. UAE is also working on going to Mars, and the space station created a team to focus on its Hope probe. The group comprises professionals under 35 years old, including Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri, who is currently in her early 30s. Related Article: UAE May Soon Join Other Spacefaring Nations After Signing Collaboration With French Space Agency This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sophie Webster 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Town of Hamburg has secured funding for the creation of a new 10,000-square-foot skate park on Electric Avenue. With the assistance of Erie County Legislator John Gilmour, whose District 9 includes Hamburg, the town will be contributing the final $50,000 needed to qualify for a $250,000 matching grant from the Built to Play Skatepark Program, a partnership between the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and the Skatepark Project (formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation). The rest of the $250,000 comes from a $50,000 grant from New York's State and Municipal Facilities Program, $125,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds and private donations. "I am happy to bring resources to this community-driven effort. The Carrig Family and the Skate Park Project are great examples of citizen-led collaboration with local government and philanthropy, Gilmour said in a news release. The project was spearheaded by Hamburg residents Timothy and Charity Carrig, who found the local parks lacking after getting their then-5-year-old son a skateboard. "I'd like to thank John Gilmour, Jon Rivera, the Town of Hamburg and all of our supporters in the Buffalo area for helping us reach our goal," Timothy Carrig said. The Hamburg Town Board will announce the new grant on Monday and vote on a resolution to begin soliciting requests for proposals for the design phase of the project. The town anticipates breaking ground in spring 2023. "It's been great to work with the Carrig family and we're excited, not just with this investment to Hamburg's parks, but what we can bring to this piece of park land in Hamburg in addition to the skate park," said Hamburg Town Supervisor Randy Hoak. "We have a lot of land to work with on Electric Avenue and we're hopeful that we'll be able to provide some amenities that will be well-used by Hamburg residents." Reality is with the opposite sign: how the West and Kyiv are trying to shift the blame for the situation with the ZNPP to Russia Factories and offices around New York State are thinning out these lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Vacationers prefer beaches and mountains to televisions blaring the latest political ad. But thats not stopping the Republican candidates for the 23rd Congressional District, already introducing their televised pitches for the big primary on Aug. 23. Carl Paladino and Nick Langworthy have launched their initial pitches to voters in a sprawling district stretching from southern Erie County across the Southern Tier to Chemung County. That means mega-dollars are destined for television advertising at stations in Buffalo and Elmira, and maybe Rochester in between. Digital ads and social media figure heavily in politicking these days, but TV remains king. Paladino led the parade with his spots labeling the 23rd District as Carl Country, along with a bumper crop of Carl Country signs next to those yellowing Repeal the Safe Act placards. Hes one of us is how Paladino pitches his candidacy, without a whole lot of need for introduction. Indeed, the least of Paladinos challenges lies in name recognition. Voters in the districts western end know the candidate from his constant presence in headlines (for better or worse), while most throughout the state recall his unsuccessful Republican candidacy for governor in 2010. In the new ad, Paladino recalls his military service, his business success, and resurrects one of his favorite words to remind Republicans he has never accepted liberal nonsense. Enter Langworthy, who debuted a few days ago on cable and broadcast stations. Langworthy may hold the lofty post of state Republican chairman, but outside of a few insiders, that job doesnt dominate lunch counter chatter at the Texas Hot in Wellsville. So last week Langworthy popped up on TV too, labeling himself the conservative who wins by noting the GOPs successful lawsuits against Democratic efforts to introduce non-citizen voting and gerrymander congressional and state elections. Langworthy also features his close political association with former President Donald Trump (as does Paladino). He couldnt care less about Washingtons Jan. 6 Committee hearings that some say damages Trump. Instead, Langworthy notes that the former president drafted him to lead state Republicans and shows the two shaking hands at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Its no accident that Langworthy comes across as strident, feisty, maybe even angry. I think feisty is working right now, said one observer close to the process. All of this ranks as fairly routine during the intro phase of any campaign, but questions remain about what lies ahead. Will it get nasty? Paladino and Langworthy are old friends. Langworthy, as brash young chairman of the Erie County GOP, twisted parliamentary procedure back at the 2010 Republican State Convention to gain a Paladino advantage despite Old Guard support for gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio. Paladino went on to demolish their guy in the fall primary. But at some point, its possible both may ditch the warm and fuzzy approach for attack ads. Watch to see if Washington advocacy groups, many swimming in conservative money, take on the role of heavy. If they dont, it could reflect that Langworthy and Paladino are both big-time conservatives, both are genuine FOTs (Friend of Trump), and either will serve those ends as a member of Congress. In the meantime, on a daily basis, the Langworthy campaign rolls out new support from town committees, such as last weeks significant nods from Hamburg Repubs and Allegany County Chairman Mike Healy. Those announcements demonstrate the state chairmans strong connections with county organizations across the state, and hint at those committees toiling on his behalf. Paladinos team will report few of those, but there is no question that real, live voters lurk behind all those Carl Country signs. Might be worth a Texas Hot visit to find out whats really going on. A silver lining from the last two years of lockdowns is that flexible working has become much more acceptable. In fact, Im writing this from home right now, something that as a daily news reporter wasnt normal as recently as early 2020. People in all sorts of jobs that largely require sitting in front of a computer have been able to embrace flexible forms of work. And its particularly benefited women. The pandemic shift to flexible work arrangements has benefited women. Credit:Shutterstock Since the start of the pandemic, women have entered the workforce in droves. Womens participation rate is at a high of 62.5 per cent, and the move of women into jobs has helped drive the countrys unemployment rate down to 3.5 per cent, its lowest level in nearly 50 years. ANZ senior economist Catherine Birch recently highlighted the fact it was particularly women with children under the age of 15 who were entering the workforce. Freshwater aquatic species are in sharp decline around the world and the South West global biodiversity hotspot in Australia is no exception. Only seven years ago Murdoch University researchers found distribution had reduced 49 per cent in the region for the states only freshwater mussel, which spreads when larvae latch on to passing fishs gills or fins, grow in a little cyst then drop to the riverbed. Carters mussels, dried out after being stranded by drought. Credit:Alan Lymbery The report compared historical museum records for where the mussel was found with a South West-wide survey to see where they still existed. It resulted in the species being listed as vulnerable on the federal list of threatened fauna. A follow-up study on Carters freshwater mussel, which can live to be as old as 70, published last month in Hydrobiologia detailed how none of the bivalves could be found at six out of 32 sites examined for the paper. Former Northern Territory senator Sam McMahon, rolled by the Country Liberals to make way for Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, made the most of her final months in office, billing taxpayers $74,635 for 186 nights away from home between April 2021 and January 2022. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has big shoes to fill replacing Sam McMahon. Credit:Joe Benke According to data from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, McMahons travel allowance claims between January and March dwarfed those of her former colleagues, which the ex-senator puts down to the size of the NT. I havent seen the data myself, but it wouldnt surprise me given the fact that I actually live 330 kilometres away from my office, she said. A resident of Katherine, McMahon lived it up when travelling to her Darwin office, spending $457 a night on hotel accommodation on each of her 100-plus nights in town a rate she described as probably standard for the town. Hes been watching TV soap Neighbours for most of his adult life, so Iain Batty was fascinated once he finally set foot in Ramsay Street, Erinsborough. Its surreal. Its bizarre. Its incredible, said the 56-year-old Baptist minister, who flew from London to go on one of the last Neighbours bus tours on Sunday. Im finally here: Reverend Iain Batty flew from London to do a Neighbours bus tour. Credit:Chris Hopkins Slowly, here in what is actually Pin Oak Court, Vermont South, he matched his TV memories with which house was home to characters Karl and Susan Kennedy, and which to Terese Willis and to Jarrod Toadie Rebecchi. Then he took a selfie next to the Neighbours street sign. Edmondson can tell you why she did it, and she cant. Part of it is still difficult to explain, even to myself. But, when she left NXIVM, she used that brand as crucial proof to bring Raniere down. Edmondson let herself be branded with the other women that day in 2017. Later, they learned the symbol burnt into their flesh didnt represent their secret womens group at all but rather the initials of NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, who has since been sentenced to 120 years in prison for sex trafficking and other abuses in the cult. People join communities, not cults, says expert Dr Steve Hassan, who has worked with Edmondson and other cult survivors around the world. People think only the stupid or naive are recruited. But Hassan says hes found the opposite is often true: Cults target the best and the brightest actors like Edmondson, wealthy and connected movers and shakers such as the doctors and government officials who joined Australias most infamous cult, The Family. Of course, when Sarah was on the inside, mixing with other celebrity members, following teachings she believed could change peoples lives, no one used the word cult. No one ever does. Sarah Edmondson has been asked why she joined NXIVM more times than she can count. But it wasnt until 2017, standing naked in the home of a friend as the women around her were branded with a cauterising iron, that Sarah really started asking herself that question too. How did she get here? Why did she join the North American self-help cult? Destructive cults tend to have three main aspects : a charismatic leader, a process where members are indoctrinated into the fold, and exploitation, be it economic, sexual or in some other form. More than 900 people, including children, died when they were brainwashed or otherwise forced into drinking grape cordial laced with cyanide. Before 9/11, it was Americas single biggest loss of civilian life in a deliberate act. And Jonestowns grisly legacy has come to represent not just cults but cult-like thinking more broadly: They drank the Kool-Aid, the expression goes. By the late 70s, scandal and Jones own paranoia saw him move his followers deep into a South American jungle to a supposed utopian commune known as Jonestown. In 1978, when a US congressman and others came to investigate what had increasingly become a prison camp, Jones ordered their murders and made his most infamous directive: his followers were to join him in a mass suicide. Thousands of groups such as The Family and NXIVM (pronounced nex-ee-um) have risen throughout history, but perhaps the one that has come to best define cults emerged in the US in the 1950s. Reverend Jim Jones originally built his Peoples Temple in Indiana, combining elements of Christianity, spirituality and progressive socialism. Lex de Man, the detective who helped uncover The Family and bring founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne to some measure of justice , thinks there are two main motives for any cult: money and control. Particularly, control of people with money, he says. Hassan adds a third: Sex. Hassan ranks cults on his own continuum of undue influence , which is now used by some sex-trafficking experts internationally. We are all subject to some influence, he says, from the social media algorithms that help steer how we scroll and click to the politicians who play to our fears for votes. The key question is free will, he says. Informed consent. Freedom of religion shouldnt just mean the freedom to believe but the freedom to leave. Sarah Edmondson wrote about her time with NXIVM, after breaking her silence on the front page of The New York Times. Often the abuse is psychological and financial. Hamilton-Byrne managed to talk followers into signing over millions of dollars in property and assets. She ordered members to divorce and remarry at her pleasure even to give her their children to raise as her own. But even in cults that do not commit crimes against outsiders, abuse and punishment are often normalised within. There are allegations of child abuse in the Children of God cult founded in the US, for example , and, in The Family, the children stolen by the cult say they were routinely beaten and starved for acting out. Many of the best-known cults have had a doomsday or violent undercurrent, as Jonestown did, where followers are coerced into performing horrific acts. Think of the Manson Familys attempts to start a race war in 1969 by murdering wealthy, white actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends; or the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out the sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, killing 13 people and injuring more than a thousand (the cult first tested out the gas on unfortunate sheep in remote Western Australia). Not all religions are cults and not all cults are religious. Cults expand like pyramid schemes, with members often recruiting their own family and friends. Some literally operate as pyramid schemes, including NXIVM, which sold expensive self-improvement courses but under a system that ensured only a few senior trainers could ever make any money. (The fraudulent cryptocurrency OneCoin and the multi-level marketing scheme Amway have also been called cult-like.) There were red flags right away. Everyone had to wear sashes around their necks, graded like karate belts, and they called NXIVM leader Raniere Vanguard and senior teacher Nancy Salzman Proctor. Edmondson was a struggling actress in Canada looking for more meaning in her life when she opted for an unusual travel adventure. I literally went on a spiritual film cruise. There, she sat down next to acclaimed filmmaker Mark Vicente. He had just joined a group called NXIVM, and he thought it was unlocking his creativity. I trusted Mark, says Edmondson. Someone like the Jehovahs Witnesses coming up to you on the street is one thing. But when you meet someone you really respect, and they say, Hey, you might like this thing. Thats different. When de Man was first investigating The Family, he recalls a sense of disbelief among the people he spoke to. No one really believed this could happen in Australia, he says. Well, people need to understand what can go on in their own backyard. While the US is often seen as the heartland of cults, many of the worlds major sects have deep roots in Australia too . Even the secretive cult at the heart of South Koreas first major COVID outbreak, Shincheonji, has been recruiting students on the streets of Sydney and Melbourne. Other times, things are just a little bit culty. I mean, do you have CrossFit in Australia? quips Edmondson. But [the dangerous] cults are not just white robes and Kool-Aid and drinking goats blood either. Its really abuses of power in all dynamics. Its everywhere. Edmondson, who also became a star recruiter for her cult before getting out, says the tactics are similar to the love bombing experienced by domestic violence victims. It always starts with the flowers and the chocolates and the romance, she says. And then theres one moment, one underhanded comment or something that makes you go: did they really say that? But you dont want to see it.[With NXIVM] I wanted the community. I wanted to feel like I was part of this special group who were changing the world. People like Keith [Raniere] use people like me who want to help others. He says cult recruiters home in on peoples vulnerabilities. Like any good salesman, they find out what you want and tailor their message to it. After joining, you learn the tricks as well. Perhaps someone senior will take a special interest in you. Or youll score an invite to what cult experts call high excitement activities such as the week-long festivities NXIVM put on each year called V Week . Tore Klevjer (third from left) at 22 with the other new recruits of the Children of God cult on a ranch in Breda, the Netherlands in 1975. Tore Klevjer was 22 and backpacking through Europe when he was drawn into the Children of God. I was very much at that crossroads, wondering what to do with my life, he says. He left 11 years later with his young family and is now a counsellor in NSW helping other survivors, while running Australias main support group, Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS) . Hassan says hypnosis can muddy the waters even further between someone deciding to join a cult and being actively coerced. But often plain old deception will work just as well. No one ever tells you upfront what youre getting into, he says, recalling his own recruitment to the Unification Church, sometimes called the Moonies, as a 19-year-old in the 1970s. These two pretty women were flirting with me and inviting me to dinner. Before long, he was fasting on the steps of the Capitol in Washington to protest the impeachment of Richard Nixon, who, as a friend of the groups leader, Sun Myung Moon, was to be protected as an archangel . It was only when Hassan crashed a fundraising van, after two days of working without sleep for the Moonies, that he reconnected with his family and saw the kind of life he had been living all for a man who wasnt the messiah he claimed to be. But, as Hassan explains, the cult was already challenging prospective members to ignore their instincts, to get out of their comfort zone and push aside their hang-ups. You feel like youre growing but it becomes a trap, he says. At the end of the NXIVM three-day intensive, for example, there was a manufactured breakthrough waiting a mix of the dubious hypnotherapy Salzman specialised in and the practice of auditing in Scientology, where members are encouraged to share their secrets and traumas. (Scientology has been branded a cult in countries such as France and Germany but is recognised as a religion in Australia, the US and Italy.) Klevjer agrees that cults look for people who can sell the image of the sect, not just those who will buy it. But theres a cult for everyone, he warns. So maybe you wont get drawn into a religious cult but what about meditation or self-development or even something that promises money? Everyone has a trigger. In the internet age, cults can wield power beyond a secluded commune. Many experts, including Hassan, consider QAnon a cult, for example, though it has no clear leader, save the anonymous Q, who first ignited the viral conspiracy theory on a message board in 2017. All people are hungry for community, to belong, says Klevjer. And especially in these unstable times, the world has become real shades of grey. People gravitate towards black and white just to try and keep their sanity, I think. The Family founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne during the height of the cult in the 1970s. Who are cult leaders? The pull of a particular leader is often why people fall into a groups orbit too. De Man didnt meet Hamilton-Byrne until she landed on the tarmac of JFK airport in handcuffs in 1993. After a police raid had rescued stolen children from the cults secluded Lake Eildon property in 1987, de Man had spent years piecing together a case against Hamilton-Byrne for abuse, fraud and more, even teaming up with the FBI to hunt her when she fled overseas. Now here she was, the most evil person I had ever known. I opened the door of that police van, he says. And inside was just this little old woman in shackles, without her makeup or her wigs. Yet three decades earlier, when the then-renowned physicist Raynor Johnson met Hamilton-Byrne in Melbourne, he thought the glamorous blonde at his door was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Hamilton-Byrne was actually the daughter of a woman who claimed to speak to the dead and had spent much of her life in asylums sad beginnings that she spun into a tale of spiritual pedigree. In the 1960s, she began teaching yoga to wealthy middle-class women just as eastern spiritualism was sweeping west. Johnson was her first big recruit. His name opened doors, says de Man. She also preyed on the mentally unwell. At a private psychiatric hospital owned by a cult member, visions were manufactured by dosing patients with LSD, one of the most powerful hallucinogens and then legal for psychiatric care. Shed appear in the doorway in a flowing white gown literally with a bucket of dry ice behind her and people thought they were seeing Jesus Christ, de Man says. She amassed a loyal army well-placed people who could help her steal children with phony adoption paperwork because they believed she was raising them for a divine life. A cult doctor would hand a child to a cult nurse, to a cult social worker, to Anne, de Man says. And, yes, in her heyday, she was very appealing to men. She was well-spoken, clever. Anne had presence. Hamilton-Byrne was convicted of only fraud in the end, paying $5000 in fines. She died in 2019, aged 98, with dementia (and three days later, she didnt rise again, de Man adds.) But she remains infamous as one of the few female cult leaders to have emerged globally. Ninety per cent are men, says Hassan. Still, they seem to all share common traits, chief among them a malignant narcissism and a lack of empathy for their victims. Loading Most leaders were in a cult themselves, Hassan says, whether thats an authoritarian family or something or an actual cult cult. And cult leaders study other cults. We know Jim Jones read [George Orwells] 1984 and it was like a bible for him on how to run a cult. Keith Raniere, who told NXIVM members he was the smartest man in the world, stitched together the multi-level marketing tactics of Amway with Scientology and covert hypnosis. L. Ron Hubbard, the sci-fi author who founded Scientology, is said to have studied religions and sects extensively. While most cult leaders seem to be liars preying on the faith of their followers, psychologists say some have appeared to buy their own delusions, as in the case of Heavens Gate in San Diego, the first big cult of the internet era that ended in the mass suicide of 39 members in 1997. Leader Marshall Applewhite claimed to have had a near-death experience that convinced him UFOs would soon arrive to liberate humans from their bodies to a higher existence. Cult leader Marshall Applewhites claim that UFOs would soon free his followers from their human bodies led some of them to end their lives with him in 1997. Credit:Getty Images Whats it like in a cult? Why do people stay? A cult is like a black hole the closer you get to the centre, the greater the pressure. What may seem benign on the outer rings can disguise darkness within. Most people are fringe members, says Hassan. They have no idea whats going on at the top. And if they look at the group from there, they think, nobodys controlling me, Im just meditating twice a day. Meanwhile, for those close to the centre, abuse is often secret. In NXIVM, for example, no one but those handpicked by Raniere and his right hand, Smallville actress Allison Mack, knew about DOS, the elite womens group where senior members recruited others (including Edmondson) as their slaves and branded them. We had to send collateral nude photos, damaging secrets to be let into this mystery program, Edmondson says. Some of it was ridiculous, like the deed to my house that was never going to happen but I played along to bide my time. Even when Edmondson began to see that DOS was not the life-changing self-development course it had been sold as, she still had no idea other women were being ordered to have sex with Raniere until her friend, Mark Vicente, rang to warn her. NXIVM founder Keith Raniere. Credit:YouTube Hassan says being in a cult can often give someone a kind of dissociative disorder, where they can think one thing, rebelling internally as Edmondson often did, and yet behave in line with the cult. There was the old Steve Hassan who wrote poetry and liked girls and was going to teach English, he says. And then I got recruited into the Moonies and now Moon [the leader] and his wife are my true parents, and I had put on a three-piece suit and tie and cut my ponytail off. This cult self-oppresses your true self. The term brainwashing first emerged in the 1950s to describe the thought-reform techniques that Chinas Maoist government used to combat dissent. But the extent to which cult control renders someone incapable of making their own decisions is a vexed question in academia. For those who have committed crimes while under the influence of a cult leader such as the Manson Family murderers and senior NXIVM figure Allison Mack brainwashing has not succeeded as a defence in court. Still, in the case of the Manson Family, Charles Mansons powerful control over his sect saw him serve life in prison for first-degree murder despite not physically taking part in the killings himself. Certainly, cults coerce their victims, isolating them from family and friends and keeping them too busy and stressed to examine things closely. In the Children of God, Klevjer describes days spent memorising scriptures, hitting the street to recruit and doing menial, often pointless, chores before it all began again before dawn. Living overseas in the commune in the days before the internet, he was already struggling to stay in contact with his family but was further pressured to renounce his father (a Christian). In NXIVM, Edmondson was also living on a hamster wheel, with budgets constantly tight and pressure to ignore friends on the outside. We were told, if you feel upset, thats on you. So if the leader has upset you, why not choose to feel joy? Youre a Buddha under the tree, basically. Its so unhealthy. I still find it hard to relax sometimes. How do people get out of cults? Most people leave cults on their own within a few years, Klevjer says. Edmondson had been in NXIVM for more than a decade when long-nagging questions became a flood. All of a sudden, everything made sense, she says. I was like, Oh my God, its not only what people have said in the past. Its worse. She and her husband, Nippy, left quickly then with Vicente, and they werent the only ones. Their connections in the acting world had drawn many of the Hollywood names, such as Mack, to NXIVM in the first place (I still carry that guilt, says Edmondson) and now their influence was seeing people desert the cult in droves. We started calling people, telling them what was happening, Edmondson says, drawing on the same skills that had made them such good recruiters and forming a kind of community of survivors every bit as strong as the bonds that had drawn them to NXIVM. You have to move slowly, you have to ask questions like Mark did to me, she says. Hed ask, How do we know that Keith is who he says he is? Re-engaging someones critical thinking, helping them realise the truth of a cult on their own, is a key way to help them out, says Hassan, whose first book on cults helped many other renowned experts escape their own sects. Of course, in the old days it wasnt so gentle. Smallville star Allison Mack is serving a three-year sentence in prison after being convicted of sex trafficking while she was a member of the NXIVM cult. Credit:Getty Images After Jonestown exposed the danger of cults to the world, concerned families in the US sought court orders to hold a person for a few days to deprogram them, introduce them to ex-members, and talk through the concerns of their loved ones. It worked, says Hassan, who was deprogrammed shortly after his car accident briefly knocked him out of Moonie life. He has spoken of the terror of having his worldview shattered by the polite team of deprogrammers who arrived at the door that day but also of having space to rest and see his family, to think again. He went on to study psychology and lead interventions himself. Most people left once they were exposed to the real world again, he says. But the cults got other religious groups on board to call it a violation of peoples rights so I started to try voluntary interventions instead, like we do for alcoholics, luring someone home for Grandmas birthday and then surprising them. These days though, he says, cults are wise to this approach too. Theyll ban visits home to family or send a cult buddy along. Both Hassan and Klevjer, who also helps the families of cult members, advise people not to take a confrontational approach but rather to arm themselves with knowledge of the cult and mind-control tactics. Its really hard not to charge in and save someone, but often thats the worst thing you can do, Klevjer says. Police, too, find it difficult to get involved when someone is of age and capable of making their own decisions, he says. Theres religious freedom laws that shroud them. And, of course, some cults love to take people to court or [use their people power] to harass or blackmail. (The collateral of nude photos Edmondson was ordered to give over were later leaked online by NXIVM when she went public with abuse allegations and revealed her brand on the front page of The New York Times.) The main thing is to keep the relationship with your loved one intact, Klevjer says. It might become their lifeline. You really need the support of our family and friends when you leave. You dont want to think, Ill be on my own, theyll say, I told you so. When Klevjer and his wife left the Children of God, they had five kids, another on the way and just $500 dollars. We had nothing. We ended up back in [Sydney] in a broken-down old place that used to be a bikie hangout, holes in the walls but, of course, to us, after never having anything of our own in the cult, we felt like millionaires. Joining a cult is like falling in love, he says. We dont want to listen to what our friends say because we know how we feel. And cults play on this, telling members they dont have to listen to their families anymore. They say the devil or the forces of evil, or whatever they call it, are working against you because youre doing the right thing here, Klevjer says. So they prepare people for attack. When a family falls into that trap, its a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if youve got people who care about you, who dont want anything from you, saying, I dont know about this, then its probably a good warning sign that you should take a step back, Google this group or this person and see if theres any fire where the smoke is. For those born or drawn into cults young by their parents, getting out can mean leaving behind the only family theyve ever known. Suddenly, theyve got to find their way in society by themselves, says Klevjer. Not knowing whats true: is it what the cult says or the world? De Man, who remains close to many of the children who escaped The Family, says acknowledgment of what happened to them is crucial. They didnt sign up for any of it, how they were raised. They need help. Jim Joness coffin is stacked among those of his hundreds of followers, awaiting transport out of Jonestown. Credit:Getty Images Meanwhile, walking those who were recruited through the process of how it was done, how the cult operated, can help free them from the shame they carry. But, without some form of exit counselling or education on cults, experts warn people will often fall in with another. If Edmondson hadnt escaped a cult herself (one labelled by the media as the sex cult no less), she admits that she wouldnt understand how someone could be sucked in either. But that knowledge is a powerful protection. People who walk around thinking itll never happen to them are more vulnerable, she says, whether to a cult or a shady business deal or a gaslighting boss. Loading Anyone can be fooled, agrees de Man. To spread awareness, Edmondson and her husband have started a podcast featuring experts and fellow cult whistleblowers. Thats been really healing, connecting with other survivors, she says. I feel less alone. And I get to help people, which is what I actually love to do the most. Although Edmondson had her brand surgically removed two years ago, the moral scar of what happened in NXIVM remains. I want people to know that they have a way out, she says. Theres a community out here too. If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 131 114 or the National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 In 2012, the then-prime minister of Vanuatu Sato Kilman, was passing through Sydney Airport. Without warning, the Australian Federal Police swooped and arrested his Australian secretary on charges of tax evasion. Kilman was furious a staffer had been kidnapped and, back in Port Vila, threatened to tear up the agreement under which Australia trained his police, and invite China to take over. Australian and Chinese ministers are talking again. Credit:Johannes P. Christo As foreign minister, I was relieved when our intelligence reported the Chinese had considered this offer but declined. They had calculated Vanuatu (population 250,000) could offer China little compared with the trade and diplomatic opportunities with rich Australia, population 25 million. Chinese wariness about offending us was vindicated in 2015 when then-prime minister Tony Abbott presided over the apogee of Australia-China relations by ratifying a free trade agreement, joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and praising Xi Jinping for his reference to democracy in a speech to the Australian parliament. Since then, China became the worlds biggest economy. It has become more authoritarian and assertive. All Western nations had to reassess their relations with Beijing. But from 2017, Australia deliberately swung behind hardening US attitudes hostile to Chinas rise. Peter Dutton, defence minister in the Morrison government, even implied war was coming. A scheme that encourages unsolicited private sector bids to the government has piqued the interest of Western Australias independent spending watchdog. Since its introduction in April 2019 the market-led proposals scheme has provided a steady stream of contention for the McGowan government and after the latest, where questions were raised around the sale of the Landgate building, the Office of the Auditor General has taken an interest. The Landgate building in Midland. Credit:Hamish Hastie The MLP scheme has been identified by Auditor General Caroline Spencer as an area of examination, said a spokeswoman from her office. The market-led proposals process is within the scope of what the Auditor General can examine and is a public policy area of interest for the Auditor General that has been identified as a potential topic in our future years program, she said. Bahrain and US are strategic partners for regional and global peace and security, said His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today (July 16) as he met US President Joe Biden, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit. His Majesty hailed the long standing Bahrain-US relations, which yielded solid cooperation and joint coordination in support of regional and global security and stability, describing the Kingdom of Bahrain and the US as strategic partners for regional and global peace and security, reported BNA. HM the King commended the US president's participation in the Jeddah Security and Development Summit, in continuation of the US pivotal role in strengthening GCC-American cooperation and confronting issues and challenges. He praised President Bidens interest in supporting bilateral relations binding the two friendly countries and peoples. The two leaders later discussed key bilateral issues and ways of supporting joint cooperation to contribute to regional security and stability, in addition to issues on the agenda of the Summit. They affirmed commitment to continue consolidating between the two friendly countries and peoples in the defence, security, economic and trade fields. President Biden stressed his countrys appreciation of the solid strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the USA, noting the presence of the 5th US Fleet in the Kingdom, said the BNA report. The King affirmed Bahrains support for Iraqs efforts to safeguard its security and stability to achieve its aspirations for more progress and prosperity. Climate change is here. The effects are already apparent in the form of melting glaciers, diminishing snow cover, shrinking sea ice, rising sea levels, ocean acidification and other drastic changes to the planets ecosystem. And the planet is reacting, in the form of heat waves, wildfires, flooding and extreme weather events; these, in turn, cause widespread property damage, illness and very often loss of life. Theres a way to mitigate this gathering avalanche before it transforms life as we know it into a series of billion-dollar disasters. Its simple, if not easy: Greenhouse gas emissions must be drastically reduced and ultimately eliminated in order to stop the global temperature from increasing ideally by more than one and a half degrees. This severe reduction must happen by 2050. Its hard to believe that this information, which has been widely reported and is buttressed by thousands of scientific studies, could be news to anyone. Yet, continued knee-jerk opposition to emission-free energy technologies and a corresponding stubborn and self-destructive embrace of fossil fuels seems to indicate that America must be a land mostly inhabited by ostriches. Thankfully, New York State has taken in the facts of climate change, enacted a Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and made a commitment to generate 60 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030 and all its electricity from emission-free sources by 2050, among other goals. How we reach those goals is legitimately up for debate; that we need to reach them is not. One of the ways to get there is to increase the use of green energy technologies like wind and solar power. Wind turbines have been increasingly evident throughout Western New York for the past two decades; they can be seen along rural byways and by the shores of Lake Erie. There will need to be many more wind farms, however, before wind energy can power the millions of homes it needs to power by 2030. To that end, a Lake Erie offshore wind farm project is currently under study; both land-based and offshore wind are components in the states proposed zero emissions grid. Energy has to come from somewhere and we know or should know by now that we need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. A well conceived, emission-free energy sector in New York will ultimately be less costly than what we have now, when increased efficiency and health benefits are taken into account. A recent public meeting in Hamburg, organized by Citizens Against Wind Turbines in Lake Erie, was dominated by the type of naysaying to be expected, given the name of the organization. But the hysteria is likely premature and certainly exaggerated. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is still determining whether Lake Erie offshore wind power is feasible there are no plans to place turbines in the lake at this time. And some of the statements made at the meeting are simply untrue. Contrary to assertions made at the meeting, for example, wind turbines have been placed in freshwater lakes elsewhere in the world: An 89-turbine farm now sits in Netherlands Lake IJssel. We take no position on a specific wind farm in the lake and await the results of the NYSERDA study to learn more. But we do accept that everything needs to be on the table for New York states ambitious emissions reduction plan. The efforts of any one municipality, region, state or country cannot by themselves get the world to its greenhouse gas reduction goal. Many critics of New Yorks plan use this as justification for a wholesale rejection of the Climate Act, citing that other states and countries will not join in the effort. Such attitudes ignore the facts of climate change. They also ignore the history of American ingenuity and ability to adapt to change. Kicking and screaming will always be part of that process. But kicking and screaming wont solve a global problem thats long overdue for decisive action. Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing. A previous version of this editorial misnamed a group opposing the placement of wind turbines in Lake Erie. Its name is Citizens Against Wind Turbines in Lake Erie. I came to Ireland four years ago to cover the searing story of the Scarlet Letter in the Emerald Isle. Back then, Ireland had a harsh abortion law, shaped by the views of the Catholic Church. The 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution, added in 1983, gave fetuses rights equal to the mothers, ensuring abortion would be illegal, even in cases of rape or incest. Anyone getting the procedure or buying abortion pills online faced up to 14 years in prison. Women were forced to sneak out of the country and go to London if they wanted abortions. Some women went to loan sharks to get the money to travel. A pro-choice demonstration in Austin, Texas last month after the US Supreme Court ended the nations constitutional protections for abortion. Credit:AP In 2018, a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment roiled Ireland with turbulent arguments on a subject that had been subterranean for eons. Edna OBrien captured the tortured drama in her novel Down by the River, based on the sensational 1992 case of a 14-year-old who was raped by a friends father and became suicidal when she was barred from leaving the country to get an abortion. She later miscarried. There was also the heart-wrenching 2012 story of Savita Halappanavar, who rushed to a Galway hospital in distress the day after her baby shower. She was told that her 17-week-old fetus was going to die. As she went into septic shock, she begged the medical team to remove the fetus and save her life. One midwife coldly reminded her that she was in a Catholic country. She died after her stillborn infant. The horror of that case galvanised the nation. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size In a four-part investigation, we go inside Ukraine to reveal how prosecutors will build their case for a prosecution against Russia. See all 10 stories. In an apartment in the relative safety of Kyiv, now a world away from the Ukrainian city she escaped from after her husband was beaten to death, Alyona Lapchuk is preparing for an international mission to seek justice. I am going to The Hague to find justice, she says. I want those bastards found and punished according to the law. Alyona Lapchuk at a relatives home in Kyiv before travelling to give evidence at The Hague about her husband Vitaliy Lapchuks torture and murder by Russian soldiers in Kherson. Credit:Kate Geraghty We meet Alyona on her way out of the country, where she will be part of a Ukrainian delegation meeting war crimes investigators in Vienna and then The Hague. She is prepared to testify at the International Criminal Court. When it was clear the city of Kherson would become the first major settlement to be captured by the Russians in late February, Alyonas husband, Vitaliy, knew he needed to do something. The 48-year-old had left the military years ago but wanted to defend his city, on the south coast of Ukraine. Along with another former soldier, Denys Myronov, he tried to join the citys civil defence unit, but it disbanded after the Russians started taking over large parts of the city. Advertisement Clandestine meetings in dark rooms were a regular occurrence for Vitaliy Lapchuk and his two comrades. Instead, the two men secretly created their own resistance movement, with 59 people under their command. Vitaliy was the commander and Denys the deputy commander of the hastily formed guerilla unit. Another man, Anton Hladkiy, was appointed third in command. They started collecting abandoned weapons from all around the town and stored them at the house of Alyonas mother. Loading With a sign saying bread on their car, the men delivered bread to volunteers around the city, which was officially taken over by the Russians on March 2. This allowed them to get through checkpoints so they could collect weapons. They also observed Russian positions and reported them back to the Ukrainian military. On the night of March 27, they agreed to meet at a garage owned by one of the platoon commanders within their unit. A month into the Russian occupation of the city, clandestine meetings in dark rooms were a regular occurrence for Vitaliy Lapchuk and his two comrades. Someone betrayed them on that day, Alyona says, tears running down her face. Advertisement When Alyona couldnt get in touch with Vitaliy for hours, she knew he had been captured. Then at around 1am, three cars marked with the letter Z - the Russian militarys call sign in Ukraine - pulled up outside her house. Her husband rang the doorbell and asked her to open the gates. When I opened the gates, I could not recognise my husband, Alyona recalls. He was severely beaten. His jaw was broken. He had a split eyebrow. Blood was all over his face. Nine armed soldiers entered the house with Vitaliy. He could barely talk, but he kept saying to the Russian soldiers you promised not to touch my family. Alyona admonished the soldiers for invading Ukraine. Then a soldier named Andrey, who had a badge representing the Moscow-backed separatist state, the Donetsk Peoples Republic, said one more word and your teeth will be broken. I immediately stopped talking as I saw they meant it, Alyona says. Advertisement They took the familys hunting weapons, mobile phones, computers, gold and cash, and Vitaliy took another beating in the basement of the house. A Ukrainian armed forces soldier at a position on the frontline near Krasnohorivka. Credit:Kate Geraghty In front of her 73-year-old mother, the soldiers then put bags over the heads of Vitaliy and Alyona, as well as her 34-year-old son, and brought them to the citys main police station. They were then put in different rooms and the soldiers started interrogating them. But Vitaliy refused to give them anything. Alyona says she could hear her husband being beaten with sticks, electrocuted and choked. She thinks she heard the exact moment Vitaliy died. She could no longer hear his moans. They then released Alyona and her son. When they returned home, they found their house had been destroyed by a missile. They went to her mothers house, only to find it had been hit by a cluster bomb. After bunkering down for a week, Alyona and her family decided to escape the city on April 7 to the relative safety of Ukrainian-controlled territory. Advertisement Loading On May 22, a boy who had been swimming in the Dnipro River near Khersons port, found a body with a kettle bell tied to the feet. Ukrainian authorities contacted Alyona and informed her the body was that of her husband. In a four-part series, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are revealing new details of war crimes committed in Ukraine including unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and indiscriminate bombings based on first-hand accounts of victims, witnesses and forensic investigators. Two Ukrainian soldiers inspect a destroyed tank on a road near Siversk in the Bakhmut Raion of the Donetsk Oblast. Credit:Kate Geraghty While the actions of Vitaliy and his friends made them genuine enemy combatants under international law, it did not give Russian soldiers the right to beat, torture and kill them. Matilda Bogner, head of the United Nations human rights mission in Ukraine, says her organisation was investigating hundreds of unlawful killings by Russian soldiers. However, with areas such as Kherson still under Russian occupation, the true extent of Russias summary executions could be much higher. Advertisement Local authorities have long been discussing plans for a so-called tourist tax that would help city authorities keep up with the average 20 million tourists arriving annually pre-pandemic. When the idea was first canvassed in 2019, the citys mayor Luigi Brugnaro, a centre-right wing independent businessman, said he expected protests, lawsuits, everything. But I have a duty to make this city liveable for those who inhabit it and also for those who want to visit, he said. The plans were approved by the Italian Parliament in December that year but have continually been kicked down the road. On average, only about 30 per cent of tourists who flooded the city annually before the pandemic stayed for one night or more. But those visitors account for around 70 per cent of tourism revenue, and for 100 per cent of tourist tax payments which amount to some 30 million per year. The remaining 70 per cent of tourists are regarded as hit-and-run day-trippers, who pile in on trains and buses and alight from huge cruise ships. They often bring pre-packed lunches, but might buy a bottle of water, or pick up a cheap souvenir, which has been increasingly imported from China or Taiwan. They clog the narrow streets and take selfies on bridges, generate rubbish and add to the wear and tear of a delicate urban fabric at the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has made life almost unbearable for locals who live or work there. Visitors to Venice have also recently received fines for swimming in the canals, which is prohibited, and sunbathing topless on a historic landmark. Venice back to its busy old self in August 2021. Credit:Bloomberg Four German tourists chose to use an 18th-century wellhead in Campo Zaccaria as their picnic spot last month and were fined more than 1000 each. They had spread a tablecloth over the stone structure in the centre of the square and set out chairs around to enjoy their lunch. But Ernesto Pancin, head of the local association representing bar and restaurant owners, does not agree with the idea of the tax. He says authorities should instead encourage day-trippers to explore lesser-known areas at peak time, away from St Marks Square. Districts like Castello and Santa Croce are beautiful, but they stay empty most of the day and would finally come back to life, he says. Venice is a city of the world. Every person coming from the other side of the planet has the right to see it, booking or no booking. Loading Earlier this year, the city announced it would attempt to stem the tide of tourist shops selling tacky Chinese-made souvenirs and to boost local craftsmanship. The new rules to spruce up the historic centre prevent the introduction of new businesses selling plastic gondolas, 2 carnival masks and Venice-themed gadgets imported from Asia. In 2017, the city banned new kebab shops and other fast-food restaurants from opening. Mass tourism began in the mid-1960s and, while visitor numbers kept climbing, the number of Venetians living in the city dwindled after they were overwhelmed by congestion, and the high cost of delivering food and other goods in car-less Venice, as well as frequent flooding that damages homes and businesses. Authorities hope the fee reduces frictions between day visitors and residents. In peak times, tourists can outnumber residents 2-to-1 in an area that measures only five square kilometres. It is now home to about 50,000 permanent residents 100,000 fewer than in the 1950s. Loading More a museum than a modern city, it has become addicted to the cash the tourist hordes bring in. But the damage caused by unregulated tourism has been acute, placing a huge strain on its ancient infrastructure. Flooding, known as acqua alta, has become more frequent, with the worst surge in more than 50 years causing an estimated 1 billion euros in damage in 2019. To protect the city, Italys government approved measures last year to ban large cruise ships in the Venetian lagoon. Dina Ravera, head of tour operator Italia SpA, says you simply cant allow a city like Venice to be devastated by hordes of tourists. Early and absentee voting for the August Primary election started on 1 July, with a record 161 voters turning out to cast their ballots on the first day. After 10 days of early voting in the atrium of the Laramie County Governmental Complex, more than 1400 voters had cast their ballots as of July 15. Nearly 460 voters have returned their absentee mail ballots to the Clerks office where they will be secured until Primary Election Day (Aug. 16). The Clerks office has mailed out just over 2500 absentee ballots to voters requesting them. Early voting continues in the Atrium through Aug. 15, Mon. through Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is no early voting on county holidays, including Cheyenne Day (Weds., July 27). Voter ID Required: Voters are reminded to bring their drivers license, Wyoming ID, Wyoming student ID, military card, or other accepted government-issued identification in order to vote. New residents of Laramie County who are not yet registered to vote may do so in the atrium of the Laramie County Governmental Complex. Wyoming has same day registration for those who want to register and vote at the same time. Laramie County has a total of 45,639 registered voters as of July 15. For more information on Laramie County elections, visit https://elections.laramiecountyclerk.com/ . remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. I had always thought the basis of the original Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision was weak. The recent Court ruling gives states power to determine whether women have access to abortion. The decision overturning Roe v. Wade does not ban abortions. Eventually there will be abortion related lawsuits which reach the Supreme Court. Some will cite an individuals constitutional right of equal protection; the 14th Amendment Section 1, adopted in 1868. The Court should consider women living in states that ban abortions often face undue hardships traveling to states allowing the procedure. Therefore, equal protection is lacking. High on a list of constitutional concerns should be the United States Constitutions First Amendment, adopted in 1791, which includes freedom of religion. Note the Court has decided cases providing individuals protection from various religions dogmas. Some may remember former President Richard Nixon warned Republicans the religious right was trying to take over the Republican Party. To some extent the efforts to use the Republican Party to serve religious ends have been successful. It seems to me various religions in the United States have tipped the scales of justice towards laws that uphold religious beliefs. The American people should not be held hostage by religious dogmas. That appears to be a Constitutional issue a strong argument against states abortion bans. The way forward should include clarification of what protections the U.S. Constitution guarantees individuals, by specific language in the Constitution and by judicial precedents. Lynda Stephens Buffalo James Irons (C) holds his grand nephew Michael, 5, as he leaves Brooklyn Supreme Court following his exoneration in New York on July 15, 2022. (Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo) 3 Men Cleared in 1995 Killing of NYC Subway Token Clerk NEW YORKAfter decades in prison, three men were cleared Friday in one of the most horrifying crimes of New Yorks violent 1990sthe killing of a clerk who was set on fire in a subway toll booth. A judge dismissed the murder convictions of Vincent Ellerbe, James Irons, and Thomas Malik after prosecutors said the case was built on falsehood-filled confessions, shaky witness identifications, and other flawed evidence. The three confessed to and were convicted of murdering token seller Harry Kaufman in 1995. The case resounded from New York to Washington to Hollywood, after parallels were drawn between the deadly arson and a scene in the movie Money Train, which had been released four days earlier. Malik and Irons, both 45, left court free for the first time in over a quarter-century. Ellerbe, 44, was paroled in 2020. What happened to us can never be fixed, Ellerbe told the court as he quietly described the ordeal of prison. They break you, or they turn you into a monster. Irons, leaving court, said only that he felt great. Malik said the dismissal was definitely too little, too late, but everything takes time. I just was happy that I was able to stand strong to endure this journey, Malik continued. But it was a rough journey. The men have long said they were coerced into falsely confessing in the case, which involved detectives who later were repeatedly accused of forcing confessions and framing suspects. Vincent Ellerbe (L) and Thomas Malik (R) talk with press following their exoneration hearing at Brooklyn Supreme Court in New York on July 15, 2022. (Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo) In fact, Irons was home with his mother, around the corner from the subway station, when he heard the explosion and called 911a call that was never played for jurors, said his lawyer, David Shanies. While there were other potential suspects early in the investigation, its unclear whether police or prosecutors plan toor canpursue any further investigation decades later. Kaufman was attacked Nov. 26, 1995, while working an overnight shift on overtime to put away extra money for his sons future college tuition. The attackers first tried to rob him, then squirted gasoline through the tollbooth coin slot and ignited the fuel with matches, authorities said at the time. The booth exploded, and the 50-year-old Kaufman ran from it in flames. The married father died two weeks later. The attack bore some resemblance to a scene in Money Train, a comparison that prompted then-Senate Majority Leader and Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole to call for a boycott of the movie. Authorities gave mixed signals over the years about whether they believed the film had inspired the killing. Police eventually came to question Irons, getting a confession that he acted as a lookout. He implicated Malik and Ellerbe as the ones who had torched the tollbooth. The men maintained that they had been coerced into false confessions, with Malik saying Detective Louis Scarcella screamed at him and slammed his head into a locker. Scarcella testified that he cursed, pounded a table, and was trying to scare the then-18-year-old Malik, but didnt beat him. Prosecutors said their review found that Scarcella and his partner fed crime scene details to Irons and Malik while shrugging off inconsistencies in their confessions. For instance, Irons said he had been able to see his supposed accomplices jump into a getaway car, although it was parked a block away and around a corner. Ellerbe described four attackers and said he had sprayed gasoline on the tollbooth exterior, when in fact it was poured in the coin slot. Malik described the car differently from how a witness did. The same witness identification of Malik was also problematic, partly because she had earlier pointed to someone elsea man an informant had named separately, prosecutors said. More than 25 years later, we do not have any confidence in the integrity of those convictions, assistant District Attorney Lori Glachman told the court. At the time, Scarcella was a star Brooklyn homicide detective in a city reeling from crime. Citywide, killings topped more than 2,200 at their 1990 peak; that compares to 488 last year and a low of 295 in 2018. But after questions accumulated about Scarcellas tactics, the Brooklyn district attorneys office began in 2013 to review scores of cases that he had worked. Scarcella, who retired in 2000, has denied any wrongdoing. While more than a dozen convictions in his cases have been overturned, prosecutors have stood by scores of others. A message seeking comment was sent Friday to an attorney who has represented him. Ellerbe, now a chef, is the father of a 26-year-old daughter whom he didnt get to see grow up. Malik, still stunned that the case was finally over, said he was heading to see his mother, who recently had surgery. How to move forward? One day at a time, he said. Just keep it moving, Ellerbe added. You cant look back. 9 Shot Dead in Indonesias Restive Papua, Say Police Nine people were shot dead in Indonesias easternmost region of Papua in an attack believed to be perpetrated by armed separatists, police said on Saturday. Police in the provincial capital of Jayapura told local media the incident, the deadliest in recent years, occurred on Saturday morning in the remote highland area of Nduga. Its true there was an attack on civilians that resulted in 10 (people sustaining) gunshot wounds, nine of whom died, Faizal Rahmadani, director of criminal investigation at the Papua regional police, told state news agency Antara. Authorities were investigating the incident but had prioritized evacuating civilians, he said. Reuters could not immediately reach the Papua police spokesperson for comment. Saturdays attack comes days after protests about a new law that will see the region divided from two into five provinces, with the addition of South Papua, Central Papua, and Highland Papua Provinces. The government says the new administrative regions will accelerate development, improve the delivery of public services, and create more opportunities for Papuans to join the civil service. But critics say the move will give Jakarta more power over the far-flung, resource-rich region, where a low-level battle for independence has been waged since the area became part of Indonesia after a controversial United Nations-supervised vote in 1969. The West Papua Liberation Army, which the government has designated as a terrorist organization, this month rejected the administrative carve-up, threatening to shoot dead any officials involved. A report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict this week said the West Papua Liberation Army had unleashed an unprecedented level of violence in Papua since its Declaration of War in 2018, primarily driven by the groups ability to acquire more weapons. Pump jacks and a gas flare are seen near Williston, North Dakota, on Sept. 6, 2016. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) US Oil Producers Issue New Message to Biden During Saudi Trip After President Joe Biden met with Saudi leaders abroad, U.S. oil producers said that the federal government should stop targeting the industry. In spite of attempts to limit supply, were doing everything we can to increase our production, Tall City Exploration President and CEO Mike Oestmann told Fox Business. Were spending all the money that we make. Were putting it right back in the ground with the addition of the bank borrowing that were doing. Gas prices actually have dropped by more than 45 cents per gallon in the past month; on July 17, AAA data show the national average price currently stands at $4.53. Diesel, which is used by many trucks and most trains, has dropped about 26 cents over the past month, but prices remain elevated at $5.54 per gallon. Biden went to Saudi Arabia last week to meet with top kingdom officials, including the crown prince, in a bid to expand oil production in the Middle Eastern country. But some oil producers in the United States said that Biden should instead tap into U.S. resources. I think the president could have saved a lot of time and taxpayer dollars and come out here to Midland, Texas, to talk to us instead of going to Saudi Arabia, Latshaw Drilling President Trent Latshaw told Fox Business. Mr. President, if you want to talk about increasing oil production, come out here and talk to us because were just the industry that can help you out, Latshaw said. Meanwhile, there is little-to-no indication that the Biden administration will relax some of its policies that are discouraging the oil and gas industry. Republicans have criticized the president for signing numerous executive orders, including killing off the Keystone XL pipeline, ending new federal drilling leases, and ending some fossil fuel subsidies. At the same time, Biden last month frequently criticized oil corporations and alleged, while providing little evidence, that they are price-gouging consumers at the pump. Some White House officials have suggested that Americans purchase electric vehicles to escape high gas prices. In a letter to oil companies in mid-June, Biden asserted that oil companies need to produce more, which drew rebuke from the CEOs of ExxonMobil and Chevron. During a news conference last month, Biden dismissed suggestions from Mike Wirth, the head of Chevron, while calling him mildly sensitive. I didnt know theyd get their feelings hurt that quickly, Biden said. Look, we need more refining capacity. This idea that they dont have oil to drill and to bring up is simply not true. Pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised Australians are being warned to avoid a range of smoked fish products over listeria concerns. A national recall is being made on five Harris Smokehouse products over fears of contamination. South Australian health authorities reported on Sunday night they had detected listeria in smoked fish products produced in Harris Mount Barker smokehouse. The products are Everyday Smashed Smoked Salmon, Premium Smoked Salmon, Hot Smoked Ocean Trout, Hot Smoked Barramundi and Smoked Salmon Trimmings. No cases of listeriosis, the disease caused by listeria, have been detected. Infection can result in a mild illness in most people but can be dangerous for the elderly, immunocompromised and pregnant women and their unborn babies. Symptoms include fever, chills, vomiting, neck stiffness and slow onset of confusion. They can take up to six weeks to appear after being exposed. The recall affects all states and territories except Tasmania, with the Harris Smokehouse products sold in IGA and Foodland stores. The products have been removed but some people may have already purchased them. Then-Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers speaks to media during a doorstop in the Press Gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 13, 2021. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) Australian Treasurer Defends Delayed Extention of COVID-19 Payment Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has brushed off criticism the government was too slow to act in reinstating the pandemic leave payments in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases. The $750 pandemic isolation payment, which ended on June 30, was extended to the end of September following a national cabinet meeting on Saturday. The government had previously ruled out bringing back the payments due to budget pressures. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had told reporters on July 12 when announcing the end to COVID-19 payments: Were making an announcement today which will add to the governments bottom line federally, and there are a range of things we would like to do, but we intend to be fiscally responsible in how we deal with issues. With the change in position, the acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the government had been dragged kicking and screaming to reinstate the payments. Chalmers dismissed the comment, saying that it was her government a little over eight weeks ago that designed this program to end at the end of June, he told Sky News on Sunday. We will get on with our work, working with the states and territories, led by premiers and chief ministers of both persuasion. The treasurer said there would be an increase in COVID-19 cases across the country in coming weeks. Chalmers said the change in the health advice in relation to the new wave of COVID-19 cases was the reason why the payments were brought back. Read More Economist Who Correctly Predicted Inflation Predicts More Interest Rate Rises Drive Australian Consumer Confidence Down to Recession Levels Clearly for us, were about to have another spike in cases, he said. Were very cognisant of the health advice and thats why weve taken the step. Ley said the government had been too late to react to the fresh wave of cases. We welcome the reinstatement of the payments, but this is two weeks after they stopped, she said. Anthony Albanese needs to apologise to every casual worker who suffered stress as a result of this flip-flopping. The Commonwealth will split the $780 million bill with the states and territories but the prime minister could not say whether the payments would later be extended past Sept. 30. A new telehealth program will start next week, allowing GPs to spend longer with patients to assess their suitability for COVID-19 antiviral treatments. This follows the federal government ending dozens of telehealth items, including longer consults. A national crisis payment for anyone with COVID-19 and in severe financial hardship will also be reinstated. Chalmers hit out at the opposition criticism, saying they were just whinging and complaining. Theres appetite in the community to come together around these problems, and not to constantly carp and whinge about them. By Andrew Brown and Finbar OMallon. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) greets President Joe Biden with a fist bump after his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022. (Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP) Biden Hits Back After Saudi Official Makes Claim on Meeting With Crown Prince President Joe Biden early Sunday disputed a claim that he didnt accuse Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of orchestrating the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in private meetings. After arriving home in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Biden was asked by a reporter about a comment from the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir. The Saudi foreign minister said he didnt hear you accuse the crown prince of Khashoggis murder. Is he telling the truth? the reporter asked the president. No, Biden said quickly. Why dont you talk about something that matters? the president then told journalists, as another one asked him about bumping fists with the Saudi crown prince, the de facto leader of the Muslim kingdom, who is sometimes referred to as MBS. Biden added, Im happy to talk about something that matters. Days before that, at a news conference, Biden claimed that he spoke about the death of Khashoggi several years ago. After his death in 2018, a number of mainstream media outlets often featured the death as front-page news, and those outlets also attempted to tie his killing to the Trump administration. Federal agencies have suspected the Saudi government was involved in his death. With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think about it now, Biden said during a press conference on July 15. He [Crown Prince Salman] basically said that he was not personally responsible for it. I indicated that he was, and he said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible, Biden also said. What the Minister Said But al-Jubeir, the foreign minister, told Fox News that Biden and MBS never addressed Khashoggis death. President Joe Biden (center L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) arrive for the family photo during the GCC+3 (Gulf Cooperation Council) meeting at a hotel in Saudi Arabias Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP) I didnt hear that particular phrase, al-Jubeir remarked. The president mentioned that the U.S. is committed to human rights because since the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and he also made the point that American presidentsthis is part of the agenda of every American president. Bidens apparent lack of public criticism about the Saudi government and the fist bump was panned by legacy media, including The Washington Post, which issued a rare critical statement about the president. Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan alleged that the BidenMSB fist bump projected a level of intimacy far worse than a handshake. The first bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshakeit was shameful, Ryan continued. The White House signaled that Biden was in Saudi Arabia in a bid to push the Saudi government into producing more oil in order to offset exceptionally high gas prices. According to data from AAA, although the price for a gallon has dropped in recent weeks, it currently stands at $4.53 on average as of Sunday. A year ago, the price was $3.16 per gallon, the data show. A screen shows visitors being filmed by AI security cameras with facial recognition technology at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2018. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Massive Leak Shows Big Data Is Central to CCPs Ambitions, but It Does Not Protect Chinese Citizens News Analysis The leak of a Shanghai police database containing personal details of a billion people has again highlighted the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) reckless attitude toward its citizens privacy. The CCP has frequently introduced data security-related laws in recent years, but instead of focusing on protecting the personal information of Chinese citizens, it has used them as a tool to suppress Chinese companies and advance its international ambitions. In early July, an anonymous hacker or group under the name of ChinaDan listed for sale a database of personal information of 1 billion Chinese national residents on Breach Forums, a popular hacker community. The database originated from the Shanghai police. The dashboard used to manage the data had been set up on the public web and kept open without a password, according to cyber security experts. After being open for more than a year, the database was suddenly wiped clean by the hacker or group in mid-June and replaced with a ransom note, demanding that Shanghai police redeem the database for 10 bitcoins, or roughly $200,000. The Shanghai police did not hand over the money. One month later, the hacker listed the database for sale for $200,000. The hacker or group also posted a sample of the more than 23-terabyte database, which they claimed contains records of 250,000 Chinese residents in three separate assets. The first data set is personal information, including name, age, sex, year of birth, place of birth, and ID card number. Some were even labeled with detailed designations, such as key members of the Ministry of Public Security, have not served in the military, and primary school education level. The second set is address and mobile phone combined data, which contains names, addresses, and mobile phone numbers. The third data set contains case records that appear to have been reported to the police, with information such as the name and phone number of the person who reported the crime, when and why the report was filed, and how it was handled. The Epoch Times made more than a dozen phone calls using the information in the document. Of the four calls that were successful, three confirmed the authenticity of the information in the files, while the fourth person did not deny when asked to confirm their name. Shortly after the Shanghai police database was put up for sale, another anonymous user sold a police database in Chinas Henan Province on an online forum, claiming to have information on 90 million citizens. A map of China is seen through a magnifying glass on a computer screen showing binary digits on Jan. 2, 2014. (Edgar Su/Reuters) Leaks of Citizen Data by CCP This is not the first time the CCP has lost sensitive data. On July 21, 2020, a list of all CCP members in Shanghai was published online, containing the names, phone numbers, provinces, current employers, party branches, ethnic groups, and education levels of 1.95 million party members. The list was obtained by Chinese dissidents from a server in Shanghai and handed over to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. There have also been leaks from companies with close ties to the authorities. In 2019, Victor Gevers, a Dutch security researcher, revealed on Twitter that SenseNet, a Chinese facial recognition company, had a data breach involving 2.56 million people and 6.8 million records, including personal ID card information, facial recognition images, and where they were captured. SenseNet real-time facial recognition allows anyone to view these records and track individuals. SenseNets partners include Lianyungang Municipal Public Security Bureau, Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau, Hanyang Public Security Bureau in Wuhan city, and Duyun Public Security Bureau in Guizhou Province. The company emphasizes that its facial recognition technology can help local police analyze, issue warnings, and maintain public order. According to Geverss analysis, the CCP uses SenseNets facial recognition and big data analysis technology to closely monitor the movements of nearly 2.6 million residents in Xinjiang Province. CCPs New Laws on Data Security In the past few years, the CCP has frequently introduced laws related to data security, including the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law, and the Personal Information Protection Law. In November 2016, the CCP introduced the Cyber Security Law, which it said would establish and improve the cybersecurity guarantee system and improve cybersecurity protection capacity. On Aug. 20, 2021, the CCP introduced the Personal Information Protection Law, which states that personal information handlers should develop internal management systems and operating procedures, implement classified management of personal information, and take corresponding security technical measures such as encryption, de-labeling, and operation rights control. On Sept. 1, 2021, the CCP launched the Data Security Law, which states that data processing activities should comply with laws and regulations, respect social morality, abide by business and professional ethics, be honest and trustworthy, and fulfill data security protection obligations. Prince, a member of the hacking group Red Hacker Alliance who refused to give his real name, uses his computer at their office in Dongguan, Chinas southern Guangdong province on Aug. 4, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Yet for over a year, from April 2021 until June 2022, the Shanghai polices database of a billion people remained open without passwords, allowing anyone to access the information. So far, the CCP authorities have made no comment on the matter and have not dealt with any of the people involved. Instead, they have blocked reports and discussions on the matter. Ironically, the personal data of Chinese citizens is not protected, yet Chinese companies are hampered in their overseas development. CCP Control Over Chinese Companies In June 2021, weeks before Didi, the Chinese ride-hailing company, went public in the United States, the Chinese cybersecurity watchdog said it wanted the company to delay its initial public offering. Without an explicit order to halt its IPO, Didi went public as planned on June 30. A few days later, the CCP regulator issued a notice saying it would conduct a cybersecurity review of Didi, require mobile app stores to remove the app, and ban new users from registering to prevent national data security risks, safeguard national security, and protect the public interest. Didis share price plummeted after that. In December 2021, Didi announced plans to delist from the United States. On June 10, Didis last trading day on the New York Stock Exchange, its shares fell 84 percent from their IPO price. Three months later, the CCP formally implemented the Data Security Law, requiring organizations and individuals in China to not provide any data stored in China to any foreign judicial or law enforcement authorities. Huang Yongzhen, CEO of Watrix, demonstrates the use of his firms gait recognition software at his companys offices in Beijing on Oct. 31, 2018. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) In January 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued Cybersecurity Review Measures, requiring operators of online platforms with more than 1 million users personal information to report for security review before foreign listings. Relevant government departments will assess the risk that critical information infrastructure, core data, important data, or large amounts of personal information could be influenced, controlled, or maliciously used by foreign governments. While data is strictly prohibited from leaving China, the CCP authorities have tried to gain access to foreign data in a variety of ways, including hacking into multinational corporate databases, running talent plans at foreign universities and companies, and buying foreign companies. On June 29, Brendan Carr of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said that TikTok posed an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijings apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data. TikTok is not just another video app, Thats the sheeps clothing, Carr wrote in a Twitter post. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, whose Chief Executive, Shouzi Chew, acknowledged recently that its employees outside the United States, including in China, have access to TikToks U.S. user data. A recording of TikToks internal meeting was leaked in June, showing that employees at Bytedance were continuously accessing non-public, private data of American users. Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, said in 2021 that Beijing sees big data as a strategic asset. Matt Pottinger, the former U.S. deputy national security adviser, has also written that big data is central to Beijings ambitions. In June 2021, Ning Xuanfeng, senior partner of King & Wood Mallesons, a law firm in China, coauthored an article saying that countries around the world are experiencing a new round of digital ownership around data control and jurisdiction, and that confrontation and defense are becoming increasingly fierce in the field of data competition. The real intention of the Data Security Law is to enhance the competitive advantage of data sovereignty, to change and reshape the international rules of data, he wrote. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the BBC in central London, after appearing on the BBC political programme "The Andrew Marr Show," on June 6, 2021. (Tolga Akmen /AFP via Getty Images) Biggest Geopolitical Change Comes From China Not Russia, Blair Warns The biggest geopolitical change is coming from China rather than Russia, as the Chinese regime seeks to compete against the Western political system and way of life, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned. Delivering the annual lecture of the Ditchley Foundation, which primarily focuses on BritishAmerican relations, on July 16, Blair issued a rallying call to Western nations to come together to develop a coherent strategy to counter the rise of China as the worlds second superpower. Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, the biggest geopolitical change of this century will come from China not Russia. Wholly Different Level Despite Russias significant military might, Blair said, the countrys economy is 70 percent the size of Italys. In comparison, he said, the power of China is on a wholly different level, with 1.3 billion people and an economy that is close to parity with that of the USA. He added, Over the past two decades, it has pursued an active and successful engagement with the world, building connections in respect of which, as I can witness, there is deep reluctance, even on the part of traditional American allies, to yield up. In addition, he said, China has now caught up America in many fields of technology and could surpass it in others. Competing for Influence The former prime minister warned that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping has made no secret of his ambition to invade Taiwan. He said Russian President Vladimir Putins brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine showed the West can no longer automatically expect major world powers to abide by accepted international norms. As a result of the actions of Putin, we cannot rely on the Chinese leadership to behave in the way we would consider rational, said Blair. And even leaving to the side Taiwan, the reality is China under Xis leadership is competing for influence and doing so aggressively, he said, adding that Beijing would compete not just for power but against our system, our way of governing and living. Soft Power Blair said the West needs to be strong enough to defend its systems and values. He said Western powers needed to increase their defence spending in order to maintain their military superiority while extending their soft power by building ties with developing nations. With Chinaas well as countries such as Russia, Turkey, and Iranpouring resources into the developing world while building strong defence and political links, Blair said it is essential the West did not forget the importance of soft power. We have a great opportunity. Developing countries prefer Western business. Theyre much more sceptical now of Chinese contracting than a decade ago. They admire the Western system more than we realise, he said. PA Media contributed to this report. Dave Myers and Si King at Blackpool Tower for their show The Hairy Bikers Go North. (South Shore Productions) Hairy Bikers Dave Myers and Si King have been reminiscing their early shows recalling they did not actually set out to make a food programme. The friends, who met over the sale of a dodgy motorbike, also said they used to 'do everything' on early shows, from researching to scheduling and setting up shots. They told Kate Thornton on White Wine Question Time that their background as TV crew put them in a good position. Myers explained: "We never set out to do a food program. We loved food, we'd cooked since we were kids, but we never set out to be TV chefs, as they call it. "Food was the currency that drove the program." WATCH: The Hairy Bikers on their most intimate moments, favourite meals and dangerous adventures From their first pilot show, filmed in Portugal in 2004, they had two series commissioned, something they all agreed 'wouldn't happen now'. "We were both in our day jobs," Myers went on, "and we just got our guide books out and thought of thousand-mile motorbike trips that we wanted to do. "I'd filmed in South Africa [and heard] Namibia was brilliant. So we went to Namibia, and Vietnam, Transylvania, Morocco, India, and it literally was as random as that." He went on to say that they wanted to write their own call sheets on the job, to be ones that they would want to get. Listen to the full episode to hear about some of the Hairy Bikers' closest scrapes and the duo's favourite meals "Don't get up too early," Myers explained. "Go and eat something somewhere and, you know, go listen to music." Their first series, in which they visited Ireland, Namibia and the Isle of Man, took 42 weeks to shoot, Myers said, with the pair doing the research, scheduling, camera positions and locations. "The director just came, turned up and shot it," he said. Read more: Hairy Biker Dave Myers posts video saying he's 'baldy biker' after cancer diagnosis King called it 'an amazing experience' but said the important thing was that it was their programme. Story continues "We were very keen on that right from the very beginning," he said. "Because there was a language and content and character and personality that we brought to it. "We weren't really that analytical about it. It was simply we knew that there was this mad energy and it's a bit zany and a bit off the wall and a bit nuts. That was just going to make good telly because Dave and I watched the telly, and you know what you want to see. The Hairy Bikers at the BBC Good Food Show in 2019 (MelMedia/GI Images) "There was a deep integrity and honesty to it all, and it was a lovely way to do it. I wouldn't do it now mind you. It was good while it lasted." The pair talked about their working relationship and their friendship, and the difficult times they have been through, including King's brain aneurysm in 2014, and Myers's current chemotherapy. Myers explained that the pair were in business together, and had to keep that going. "There's been rough times for both of us, and when one of us has been unable to work, the other one stepped in and filled the breach. "We've always covered for each other. We fulfil different parts. We're very, very close, but we're quite different. But when the two comes together we're quite a formidable team. It just works really" King added: "The reality is that we're family. We've known each other for such a long time and we're like too old slippers. We're there to lean on, for each other." WATCH: The Hairy Bikers' intimate moment in a skip after a drunken night out Associate Justice Clarence Thomas sits during a group photograph of the justices at the Supreme Court in Washington on April 23, 2021. (Erin Schaff/AFP via Getty Images) Black Academics Denounce Racist Attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas A group of black academics has denounced the racist, vicious, and ugly personal attacks against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas since he sided with the majority in overturning Roe v. Wade. In a letter published last week, the academics wrote that whether it is calling him a racist slur, an Uncle Tom or questioning his blackness over his jurisprudence, the disparagement of this man, of his faith and of his character, is abominable. White progressives do not have the moral authority to excommunicate a black man from his race because they disagree with him, the letter continued to say. Those who signed the measure include Woodson Center founder Robert Woodson Sr., Brown University professor Glenn Loury, Hoover Institute research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Seeking Educational Excellence head Charles Love, and Havre de Graces W. Barclay Allen. Regardless of where one stands on Justice Thomas personal or legal opinions, he is among the pantheon of black trailblazers throughout American history and is a model of integrity, scholarship, steadfastness, resilience, and commitment to the Constitution of the United States of America, the letter, published by RealClearPolitics, added. For three decades Justice Thomas has served as a model for our children. He has long been honored and celebrated by black people in this country and his attackers do not speak for the majority of blacks. The academics asserted that their letter isnt about the content of the courts decisions or Justice Thomas personal views, adding that they are speaking out to condemn these attacks and support Justice Thomas, because to remain silent would be to implicitly endorse these poisonous schemes as well as his destruction. Threats It comes as a California man accused of planning to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is asking the court to suppress his confessions and any other statements he made to law enforcement after being arrested outside Kavanaughs home last month. Nicholas John Roske, of Simi Valley, allegedly confessed to two law enforcement officersa Montgomery County, Maryland police detective and an FBI agentin addition to sharing his intent to harm the justice with a 911 dispatcher. Roskes attempt comes as left-wing groups have continually called for the harassment of Thomas, Kavanaugh, and other Republican-appointed justices, including Justices Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. Left-wing group ShutDownDC wrote in a recent Twitter post that Washington, D.C.-area service workers should DM us with the details if they see the justices dining anywhere. Well venmo you $50 for a confirmed sighting and $200 if theyre still there 30 mins after your message, it wrote. CA School Board Asks State to End Weekly COVID Testing of Unvaccinated Employees The second-largest school district in Orange County, California is calling on the state to end the weekly COVID-19 testing required for unvaccinated school employees following nearly identical case rates between unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals in the county. In a 4-2 vote on July 13, the Capistrano Unified school board passed a resolution to ask the state California Department of Public Health to set an expiration date for the August 2021 order mandating weekly COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated workers and those who are not fully vaccinated. Trustee Judy Bullockus, who introduced the resolution, said ahead of the vote that this resolution was brought forward so all people, vaccinated and unvaccinated, are treated fairly in terms of any mitigation of COVID-19 in the future. Bullockus cited a June 5 Orange County Healthcare Agency report that indicated 35.7 per 100,000 persons who were fully vaccinated and boosted tested positive, while 32 per 100,000 persons who were not fully vaccinated tested positive. The Capistrano Unified School District in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2021. (Brandon Drey/The Epoch Times) In addition, Bullockus said the OC Healthcare Agencys COVID-19 dashboard on July 10 showed slightly higher test positivity rates for fully vaccinated individuals than unvaccinated. Board operations manager Colleen Hayes called the state public health order discriminatory and unnecessary. At some point, people are going to say why are we doing this? Hayes said ahead of the vote. I think this is our opportunity to register with [California Department of Public Health] that this is something we would like to bring [to an end]. The boards vice president, Krista Castellanos, and Trustee Amy Hanacek were the dissenting votes, though they did not explain why they voted against the ordinance during the meeting. Neither Castellanos nor Hanacek were immediately available for comment. The CUSD has more than 3,900 total employees, according to a 2017-18 report by the California Department of Education. Its unclear how many are affected by the weekly COVID-19 testing requirement. A spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health told the Epoch Times that the health order remains in place as of July 15, and that the public will be promptly updated of any changes. This comes as the OC Healthcare Authority announced in a press release July 15 that the county has entered the high category of transmission rate of 33.1 per 100,000 people, with the average number of daily COVID-19 cases at 1,068 and the positivity rate increased to 17.4 percent. A spokesperson for CUSD was also not immediately available for comment. California Biker Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash With Pickup Truck MISSION HILLS, Calif.A 30-year-old man riding a motorcycle was struck and killed by a hit-and-run vehicle in Mission Hills, authorities said on July 17. The vehicle was described as a dark-colored, possibly black, long-bed pickup truck, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. The motorcyclist was identified as Freddy Perez of Granada Hills, according to the Los Angeles County coroners office. The truck was going westbound on Rinaldi Street at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday when it collided with the biker in the westbound lanes of traffic, west of Sepulveda Boulevard, police said. The truck continued westbound on Rinaldi onto the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway without stopping. Paramedics pronounced Perez dead at the scene. LAPD Valley Traffic Division detectives urged anyone with information regarding the crash to call them at 818-644-8115 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Immigration inspection officers check an oil tanker carrying imported crude oil at Qingdao port in China's eastern Shandong province, China on May 9, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese Regime Eases Pandemic Restrictions on Imported Non-Cold Chain Goods Amid Sharp Economic Downturn The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has recently relaxed its pandemic control measures imposed on non-cold chain imports. On July 12, Chinas top health body announced that nucleic acid swabs and disinfection would no longer be imposed on low-risk non-cold chain imported goods, but goods deemed high risk of transmission will still be disinfected. The announcement came as the regime reported a sharp decrease in its second quarter economic data, underscoring the price of the regimes zero-COVID policy and challenging Beijings whole-year target. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.4 percent from a year earlier, the worst performance since the country began recording data in 1992. The lifting of the measures aims to firmly implement a dynamic zero-COVID policy while simultaneously guaranteeing a stable economy, production chain, and supply chain, according to the health bodys notice. China has been blaming other countries for pandemic outbreaks in the country, and its state media has been reporting the regimes rhetoric that COVID-19 has been detected on imported frozen food, international parcels, and even apparel from South Korea. Cargo awaits unloading from ships off the Port of Long Beach, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Strict disinfection requirements and PCR tests were imposed on imported frozen food after a cluster of infections among workers at a wholesale food market in Beijing in June 2020. Six months later, Beijing also advised testing on ambient products too, with online videos showing disinfectants being sprayed on parcels on a conveyor belt in a Chinese post office. However, scientists said the risk of CCP virus infection through contact with contaminated surfaces was low. Emanuel Goldman, professor of microbiology at Rutgers University, wrote in an article for the medical journal The Lancet in July, 2020 that the chance of transmission through inanimate surfaces is very small and that the risk of transmission is exaggerated, adding that such transmission occurs only in instances where an infected person coughs or sneezes on the surface, and someone else touches that surface soon after the cough or sneeze (within 12 h). Chinas stifling lockdowns and testing requirements have inflicted much pain on the global supply chain, with American carmakers and phones experiencing shortages of components sourced in China, and backlogs that Los Angeles and Long Beach ports experienced last year. Chinas recent announcement also claimed that the CCP virus only survives for a short period of time on the surface of most objects at normal temperatures according to the latest research. It did not provide details or the source of the research. Low-risk categories that are waived disinfection and swab tests include bulk cargoes of coal, ore, chemical raw materials, grain, feed, forage, and logs as well as those transported for more than 24 hours since departure or not coming into contact with loaders, according to the official website of Chinas National Health Commission. Chinese netizens expressed anger over the move and its apparent contradictions. Workers in protective suits stand on a street as they disinfect during lockdown in Shanghai on May 18, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters) Since the virus survives for a short time on the surface of an object, then do you intend to continue with your disinfection in our homes? one netizen asked in a post. Shanghai, one of Chinas most important economic and financial hubs, imposed draconian lockdowns and pandemic control measures for over two months since the end of March this year. Residents complained of local authorities entering households and squirting clouds of disinfectants everywhere and over furniture and other objects inside apartments, including couches, beds, wardrobes, books, and even electronic devices. The Chinese Government has vigourously defended its dynamic zero COVID-19 strategy, a report published last month by The Lancet states. But Chinas lockdowns have had a huge human cost. This cost will continue to be paid in the future, with the shadow of mental ill-health adversely affecting Chinas culture and economy for years to come. The publication called on the Chinese regime to act immediately if it is to heal the wound its extreme policies have inflicted on the Chinese people. Li Jing contributed to the article. CSU and UC Students Will Soon Have Access to Abortion Pills A California law requires all schools within the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems to offer abortion pills beginning Jan 1, 2023. Senate Bill 24, also known as College Student Right to Access Act, was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019. The bill requires all student health centers within the CSU and UC systems to stock up on drugs prescribed for medication abortion and have trained medical professionals ready to administer them. SB 24 reaffirms the right of every college student to access abortion, Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino), who introduced the bill, said in a statement at the time. By ensuring that abortion care is available on campus, college students will not have to choose between delaying important medical care or having to travel long distances or miss classes or work. Medication abortion, also called the abortion pill, typically requires patients to take two different pills. The first blocks a hormone needed for pregnancy, and the second causes muscle contractions and bleeding to empty the uterus. The medication can be used up to the 10th week of pregnancy. Research shows that medication abortion is safe and effective and has a success rate of over 95 percent and serious adverse events occur in only 0.3 percent of instances, according to a press release by Leyvas office. The law makes California the first state in the nation to provide access to abortion pills on public university campuses. As other states and the federal government go backward, restricting reproductive freedom, in California we are moving forward, expanding access and reaffirming a womans right [to] choose, Newsom said in a 2019 statement. The law was supported by many student organizations and womens rights groups, including the Cal State Student Association, University of California Student Association, ACLU of California, ACT for Women and Girls, and more. The bill followed a resolution passed by the student government at UC Berkeley in 2016 urging its health center to include medication abortion in its services. The student government argued that students without reliable transportation could face both financial and academic barriers when traveling to nearby health clinics for abortion services. Previously, a similar bill was vetoed by former governor Jerry Brown in 2018. He said the bill was not necessary since students could have access to medication abortion at off-campus clinics within an average distance of five to seven miles, according to Browns veto statement. During a 2018 Senate education committee hearing, Anna Arend, the Northern California regional coordinator for Students for Life of America, expressed safety concerns about having abortion pills on campus, on behalf of students who opposed the bill. She said that the FDAs list of side effects of abortion by medication includes bleeding, vomiting, headache, fever, chills, nausea, and dizziness, and sometimes emergency surgical procedures are needed to stop the bleeding. The procedure itself can also have lingering physical and mental effects, she said. The trauma is unmatchable. This is not healthy for students, she said. A previous version of this article misstated the bill number signed into law by the governor. The Epoch Times regrets this error. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland speaks to reporters before heading to Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 23, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang) Decision to Exempt Gas Turbines From Sanctions Right Thing to Do: Freeland Canadas decision last week to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany was difficult but necessary, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Saturday. The Liberals are facing heavy criticism from Ukraine for exempting six Siemens Energy turbines, which were serviced in Montreal and help deliver gas to parts of Germany, from sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Speaking to reporters in a teleconference after a meeting of G-20 finance ministers in Bali, Indonesia, Freeland said she understood Ukraines response but defended the governments move as the right one to make under the circumstances. That was a very difficult decision for Canada and I understand the concern that Ukraine has about it, but it was the right thing to do, Freeland said. Canada is united and determined in our support of the people of Ukraine, weve contributed $3.4 billion in total financial and military support and Im proud that Canada has led the way in many aspects to support Ukraine and oppose (Russian President) Vladimir Putin. But Canada alone cannot provide Ukraine with the support it needs, Freeland said, adding a united effort on the part of Canadas fellow G-7 members and the transatlantic alliance is necessary to ensure that support. Freeland said Germany was clear the pipeline, operated by Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, could be an issue for its leaders. Russia reduced gas deliveries by 60 percent last month from its Nord Stream 1 pipeline which runs to northeastern Germany, citing turbine-related technical problems. Canada heard very clearly from our German allies that Germanys ability to sustain its support for Ukraine could be at risk, Freeland said. The United States has publicly backed Canadas decision to return the turbines, a position Freeland described as very significant. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other hand, condemned the decision as absolutely unacceptable earlier this week. The decision on the exception to sanctions will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness. This is their logic, he said, adding Russia will now try to limit or shut down gas supplies to Europe at the most critical moment. In Ottawa, opposition MPs demanded Friday that senior Liberal ministers explain the controversial decision during a special meeting of the foreign affairs committee sometime next week. The Liberals agreed to have Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson take questions. Conservatives had called on Freeland to appear, alleging that she had disagreed with the decision that Liberals were trying to shield her testimony before her comments on Saturday. The committee will also invite the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the ambassadors of Ukraine, Germany and the European Union to Canada to provide testimony. By Sidhartha Banerjee Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke takes the stage for the start of the 2020 Democratic presidential debate in Houston, Texas on Sept. 12, 2019. (Jonathan Bachman/Reuters_ Democrat Beto ORourke Pushes Progressive Platform O'Rourke blasts incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott on border policies, tightening election laws, and outlawing abortions Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke told fellow party members on Friday that his coffers are full, giving his campaign a much-needed boost against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. ORourke, the keynote speaker at the Texas Democratic Convention in Dallas, said he raised $27.6 million from late February to June 30, much to the delight of delegates. Greg Abbott is chaos; he is corruption; he is cruelty, and he is incompetence, ORourke said during the convention. The convention, which began July 14 in Dallas, will allow delegates across Texas to vote on the partys platform and elect party leadership. Democratic leaders at the convention focused on their plans of winning more state and national seats by running on progressive ideas. Democrats are also working to keep Latinos in South Texas voting blue. While ORourkes fund-raising efforts broke a record, Abbott has nearly matched him by hauling in $24.9 million over the same period, according to his campaign. Abbot had $45.7 million cash on hand as of June 30, while the ORourke campaign did not disclose their figure. ORourke opposed what he called voter suppression legislation supported by his opponent. He endorsed a policy platform for open borders, pushed expansion of government health care, and championed gun control, abortion rights, and transgender rights for children. His position on gun control made him the darling of liberals in 2019 during his presidential bid. At the time, ORourke said: Hell yes, were going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. Gun safety advocates rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court before oral arguments in the Second Amendment case NY State Rifle & Pistol v. City of New York, NY in Washington on Dec. 2, 2019. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) In his speech to delegates, he accused Abbott of turning his back on police officers by allowing Texans to carry guns in the open under Constitutional carry. More cops have been gunned down in this state than in any other, he said. ORourke has also made it clear in the past that he favored defunding police and once praised Black Lives Matter for their efforts to do so. ORourke is now also making the Texas electricity grid a campaign issue. He wants green energy to replace oil and gas in Texas. During his speech, he blasted Abbot for the Texas electrical grids failure during Winter Storm Uri last February. His solution is to connect Texas independent grid to the national grid. He wants to transition to high-paying union jobs in green energy and eliminate Texas oil and gas jobs. However, during the storm, part of the problem was caused by frozen wind turbines, which stopped producing power. Texas gets more than 20 percent of its energy from wind power. ORourke also attacked Abbott on border stunts, such as using the states national guard to help secure the Texas border. He added that Texas is a state of immigrants who make the state a better place. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, flanked by state and local law enforcement officials, speaks to media in Eagle Pass, Texas, on June 29, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants have overrun Texas and other border states after Biden eliminated former president Trumps stay-in-Mexico policy. Abbotts campaign literature says his opponent wants to all but eliminate the detention of illegal immigrants and grant citizenship to those illegal immigrants who are already in the country. Republicans speculate that Bidens open border policy is designed to capture for the Democratic party more immigrant votes, mainly from Hispanics, as the partys policies more easily award migrants, including those who enter illegally, citizenship. ORourke will be heading out on the campaign trail ahead of the November election. Abbott plans on hounding his opponent with the Beto Truth Response Unit, which was in Dallas during the Democratic Convention. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during a hearing with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, on the COVID-19 response, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool/Getty Images) Fauci Issues Warning on Monkeypox in US Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the White House, signaled that more resources will be dedicated to monkeypox and said that the federal government needs to take it seriously, as cases have risen across the world. The latest U.S. data show the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tracked at least 1,814 probable or confirmed cases across the country as of July 15. This is something we definitely need to take seriously. We dont know the scope and the potential of it yet, but we have to act like it will have the capability of spreading much more widely than its spreading right now, Fauci told CNN. He didnt elaborate. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it will hold a meeting this week to address a recent increase in monkeypox cases around the world and signaled it may declare a global health emergency over the virus. Whenever you have the emergence of something like this, you are always probably looking at what might bemight be, we dont knowthe tip of the iceberg, so thats the reason why weve got to get the testing out there in a much, much more vigorous way, Fauci said on July 16. Cases Rise The U.N. health agency last week said it was aware of 9,200 cases in 63 countries. On July 15, the WHO announced it will reconvene its expert committee on July 21. This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a patient who was displaying the appearance of the characteristic rash during its recuperative stage. (CDC via AP, File) The emergency committee will provide its views to the WHO director-general on whether the event constitutes a [Public Health Emergency of International Concern], the U.N. agency said in a statement. The alert is the highest alarm the agency can sound, which it also did in early 2020 for COVID-19. If so, it will propose temporary recommendations on how to better prevent and reduce the spread of the disease and manage the global public health response, the WHO said. Similar to smallpox and cowpox, monkeypox can cause pox-like lesions and flu-like symptoms including fever and aching, according to health agencies. Before this year, the virus was mainly relegated to western and central African nations. Several months ago, the U.N. agency said most monkeypox infections so far have been reported among homosexual males who live in urban areas and are of a young age. Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine posted a chart over the weekend showing a significant increase in monkeypox cases in New York. Between July 1 and 13, officials reported more than 170 cases of the virus. A chart breaking down the demographics showed that men account for 321 of the 336 reported cases in the city. They also attributed about 60 percent of the cases to homosexual males and LGBT people. Florida Officials Arrest 41 Cubans; Illegal Immigrants Sailed in Makeshift Boats U.S. Border Patrol officials have taken into custody 41 people from Cuba who arrived on U.S. shores after traversing the Straits of Florida on makeshift rafts and rowboats. Nine illegal immigrants were taken into custody on July 16 after arriving on Jupiter Island, north of Palm Beach County in Florida. They were caught after Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement responded to a maritime smuggling event that made landfall in Jupiter Island, Walter N. Slosar, the chief patrol agent of the Miami Sector, said in a July 16 post on Twitter. The nine individuals came in a rowboat that appeared to have some weights covered in trash bags on the exterior. Later that day, 32 additional illegal immigrants who arrived in the Florida Keys in what seemed to be a makeshift boat also were taken into custody. The latest arrests follow the deportation of 77 Cuban immigrants on July 13, who were earlier arrested in the Keys in eight separate incidents. Coast Guard crews maintain an active presence with air and sea assets every day through the Florida Straits to help save lives by removing people from unsafe environments, Lt. Travis Poulos of Coast Guard District 7 said in a statement on July 13, according to the Miami Herald. Our crews help prevent people from losing their lives in these dangerous attempts. Until January 2017, Cuban citizens who came to U.S. shores were allowed to stay in the country. After a year, they could apply for permanent residency. The policy was stopped in January 2017 by President Barack Obama at the end of his term as part of an effort to improve diplomatic relations with the communist country. At present, most Cuban illegal immigrants caught at sea or on land are deported back to their country. Cuban Immigration After Joe Biden became president in 2021, he undid many of President Donald Trumps border policies, triggering a flood of illegal migration from Cuba and other countries including El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. In the fiscal year 2022 between October and June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 578,662 encounters with illegal immigrants from these four nations, up from 88,796 in fiscal year 2020 and 481,403 in fiscal year 2021. As for Cuban immigrants, there have been 157,339 encounters in fiscal year 2022 compared to just 7,813 in fiscal year 2020 and 26,195 in fiscal year 2021, according to CBP data. Just from Cuba alone, we already have more people in the last nine months than the entire Mariel boatlift. Thats just from one countryjust from one country, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a speech on July 13. The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans to the United States in 1980, between April 15 and Oct. 31. Pointing out that countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala dont tolerate open borders, Rubio insisted that the United States should follow a strict policy. Former Gubernatorial Candidate and Critic of Georgia Guidestones Swatted Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor recalls a horrifying night when her home in Baxley was surrounded by law enforcement responding to a call claiming that she had shot her husband five times and was preparing to shoot herself. It was late on Monday night, June 11, Taylor told The Epoch Times, when her son was awakened by red and blue lights flashing outside his window and saw a swarm of police with rifles pointed at my house. Instead of the reported murder-suicide that brought them to the location, law enforcement found that the Taylor family were victims of a prank called swatting, which involves someone maliciously calling in an emergency 911 to another persons home. The swatter masks the call, sometimes making it appear as if its coming from the victims house while pretending to be the victim. Most recently, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was swatted on July 8, after police received a false report claiming that there was a shooting at his residence. The term swatting was coined in 2008 by the FBI to describe an incident when someone calls a crisis hotline as a prank to have SWAT, or police, respond. Swatting has become deadly. In 2017, police shot and killed 28-year-old Andrew Finch in Kansas when he answered the door after officers surrounded his house responding to a call that Finch had shot and killed his father while holding his family hostage. It is also costly. The FBI reported that the prank can cost thousands of dollars every time SWAT is activated. The incident at her house left Taylor with the conclusion that whoever did this was trying to get me killed. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) told The Epoch Times that its Georgia Cyber Crime Center is actively investigating the case. After the scene in Baxley was cleared by law enforcement, Taylor released a video statement. Trauma doesnt even begin to explain what just happened at my house, she said. Taylor, who received 3.4 percent of the vote in the states Republican primary in May, said she had filed three lawsuits challenging the primary and the electoral process hours earlier. Georgia Guidestones A clue to the swatting at Taylors house may lie with the Georgia Guidestones, a set of six tall granite slabs erected in rural Elbert County in 1980. Of mysterious origins, the monument was never approved by the local government, and last year Taylor campaigned on having it demolished. The message inscribed on the slabs articulates the doctrine of what some have interpreted as population control because of its call to maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature and to guide reproduction wiselyimproving fitness with diversity. They told us what they wanted to do, said Taylor in her campaign video. Some might even say, they had to get our permission to at least tell us ahead of time, even if we didnt believe them. Taylor named the New World Order (NWO) as the group behind the Georgia Guidestones. New World Order is a phrase that has been uttered by politicians from former President George Bush to President Joe Biden. Taylor suggests that abortion and the COVID-19 vaccines are methods of population control that are on the agenda of the NWO. The monument was destroyed on July 6. The GBI released footage of the explosion at night with a car driving away, and declared the cause to be a bomb. Taylor contends that it was lightning that destroyed the monument, but because officials dont want to give God credit, they are claiming it was a bomb. Since then, some media outlets like BuzzFeed News have implied that the candidate may have had a connection to the alleged bombing. GBI did not respond to questions about whether they believe Taylor had any connection to the explosion, and Taylor did not respond to BuzzFeed News request for comment, BuzzFeed News said. To this, Taylor said, Thats absolutely ridiculous. If it was a bomb, that person needs to be arrested because we are a nation of law and order, but based on what people in Elbert County saw, it was lightning, she said. With a doctorate in counseling, Taylor has been an educator for 19 years and says she is able to recognize the signs of anxiety and stress lingering from the incident in her and her family. After a few days, well be fine, she said. Its just sick to know that someone wants me murdered, she said. They knew I ran on Jesus, Guns, and Babies, so they expected me to answer the door with my gun and get shot. Thats what they wanted. Dr. Genevieve Aube and Dr. Justin Boissonnault, chose Edmundston as their place of practice because they like the community. (Patrick Photography Service - image credit) After their three-month rotation in Edmundston, Dr. Genevieve Aube and Dr. Justin Boissonnault decided the northwestern New Brunswick city was the place they wanted to practise. Their short-term stay in Edmundston was part of their residency after medical school at the Universite de Moncton. A residency in family medicine is two years long. Even though the couple are not from Edmundston, and they don't have family in that area, the sense of community and the francophone environment made them want to stay. "We liked that it was a smaller community, that there was a great community spirit, a francophone environment," Aube told Radio-Canada. "There were lots of outdoor activities. In the background, there are mountains in the middle of the city. It's a quieter town." Memorable placements could help persuade other students to stay and practise in New Brunswick after graduation, the two doctors say. Mont Farlagne Outdoor Centre/Facebook The love for their colleagues During their placement, the couple got the chance to meet and shadow colleagues. Several doctors in the region invited the couple to dinners to discuss medicine, as well as the attractions in the area. "It helped us a lot to see what it would be like to practise within this team in Edmundston," said Aube. Dennis Post/Vitalite Health Network The are different ways medical students and grads can get some experience in clinical settings in New Brunswick before they decide where to practise. At Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, the medical school program based in Saint John, students in their third and fourth years rotate through specialties. They can rotate through different communities as well, according to Dr. Robert Boulay, assistant dean for clinical education at the school. These clinical placements, which used to be called internships, last for 48 weeks and can be done anywhere in the province. There is no shortage of such placements, Boulay said. "If our communities put energy into selling themselves to these young physicians that goes a long way to having students feel welcome in those communities," Boulay said. "And having them feel that, 'Hey, this is a place where I can live, I can develop relationships, and I can perhaps have a family in these communities.'" Story continues At the Universite de Moncton's medical school, students who are specializing in family medicine, complete a core of their training at the school in Moncton and Dieppe. While the students do rotations in a variety of places in the province, in their second year, they have the option of doing a three-month rotation in either Edmundston or Bathurst. Dr. Jenny-Lee Albert is one of 19 graduates from the Moncton school this year. She grew up in Saint-Simon in the Acadian Peninsula and will return to practise there in the hospitals at Tracadie and Caraquet. Submitted by Dr. Robert Boulay Practising on the peninsula was always her plan, even before she began her medical studies. But the clinical experience she completed in the region confirmed her choice. "I adored my colleagues whether it was the nurses, the doctors or everyone who worked in the hospital," Albert said in French to Radio-Canada. "I thought it was like a good relationship because whether you like it or not, small circles are a little bit more personal. "We're closer, so that's what I liked about that environment." Following graduation, students apply to their specialty and site of choice. From there, the students get matched up with a residency, which could be anywhere in Canada, said Boulay. The only residencies students can fully complete in New Brunswick are family medicine and more recently, psychiatry. "Other than that, those students then have to leave the province to do other residency training elsewhere, if they want to be any other specialty but those," said Boulay. Medical residency training can take two to five years to complete, depending on the specialty. The Saint John school graduated 31 medical students this year, but it is unclear how many of these grads are staying in the province. According to Allie Fournier, a spokesperson for the medical school, of the 43 per cent of graduates from 2019 who have completed residency training, 57 per cent are practising in New Brunswick. Using placements to recruit Dr. Michel Landry, the director of the Universite de Moncton's medical school, agrees that good clinical placements can influence whether doctors trained in New Brunswick choose to stay in the province, and in more rural areas. "When you are going to do training in an environment and you have good experiences, that is one of the most important factors of where you are going to settle later in practice," said Landry, who is also the co-ordinator of the French training program in medicine in the province. Radio-Canada Sixteen of the 19 graduates of the medical school in Moncton this year will take residencies in New Brunswick, the school said. "If they go five, six years to Quebec or Ontario or somewhere to do their training, if they like the environment, they find a life partner who settles, it has always been a challenge to bring them back," said Landry. Dr. Boulay, from the Dalhousie school, said multiple factors influence doctors' decisions on where to practise after they do their residencies. One is that they get "highly specialized" in their training, and there might not be demand for that specialty in New Brunswick. "For instance, if someone trains extensively and becomes a very highly trained interventional cardiologist, of which we already have a certain number in New Brunswick of interventional cardiologists, well, there just may not be opportunities for them to return to New Brunswick," he said. Hoping to add 8 seats for students The Universite de Moncton's medical school welcomes an average of 24 people to the program a year, but Landry would like to see this increase to 32 by September 2023. As health-care workers are already overstretched, it would be harder to train more students, but Landry said he's confident about getting those additional seats. According to Landry, most of the New Brunswick students that train in the province have a 90 per cent chance of staying. Whereas, students coming from other provinces have a 50 per cent chance of staying. "Trying to recruit people from outside is not as successful or harder than to train them locally," said Landry. The U.S. Department of Justice seal on the stage at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, on Dec. 5, 2019. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Former University of Arkansas Professor Jailed for Lying to Federal Agents About Patents in China A former professor at the University of Arkansas was sentenced on June 16 to a year and a day in prison followed by one year of supervised release on one count of providing a false statement to the FBI regarding the existence of patents for his inventions in China, according to the Department of Justice. Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 64, of Fayetteville, filed 24 patents that bear Angs name or Chinese birth name in the country, according to court documents. However, he did not disclose his Chinese patents to the university, where he worked as a professor. University authorities required individuals like Ang to promptly furnish full and complete disclosures of inventions. According to an internal policy, the school, not individual inventors, would own all inventions created by those subject to the policy. This policy was established in furtherance of the commitment of the university to the widest possible distribution of the benefits of university research, the protection of inventions resulting from such research, and the development of inventions for the public good. More than that, Ang lied about his involvement in the inventions when an FBI agent interviewed him surrounding the subject, the DOJ said. He denied being listed as the inventor of patents in China, though he knew he was, according to the DOJ. Additionally, Ang received numerous talent awards from the Chinese regime, which he did not list on the universitys annual conflict of interest disclosure forms. Beijing has launched a massive recruitment program of global experts, also known as the Thousand Talents Program, a controversial state-backed hiring scheme since 2008 to transfer Western research and technology to the communist regime. Public data show the sweeping, ambitious plans have siphoned off prominent scholars and experts with hefty compensation globally, especially from the United States, the worlds largest economy. Their fields of study include biomedical engineering, advanced manufacturing, aerospace engineering, and new materials. In one case, chemist You Xiaorong, also known as Shannon You, on May 9 received a sentence of 14 years in prison for a scheme to steal trade secrets, engage in economic espionage, and commit fraud. The 59-year-old of Chinese descent was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $200,000 fine. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the DOJs National Security Division described the sentence as signaling the seriousness of Yous offense, as well as the DOJs commitment to protect U.S. security by investigating and prosecuting those who steal U.S. companies intellectual property. In another case, senior NASA scientist Meyya Meyyappan was sentenced to 30 days in prison as well as a fine of $100,000 in June 2021 for making false statements to the NASA Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, according to the DOJ. The expert, who held a trusted position and had access to sensitive and confidential U.S. government technologies and intellectual property at NASA, concealed his participation in a Chinese recruitment plan. At FreedomFest in Las Vegas, I sat down with Sam Sorbo, who as an education freedom advocate, was cautiously excited to speak with highly educated patriots who desire freedom for our nation. We discussed school system training to conformity and obedience, critical race theory, and her opinion on the U.S. Supreme Courts decision on overturning Roe v. Wade. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Parler, Gab, and Twitter * Click the Save button below the video to access it later on My List. Follow EpochTV on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@EpochTV Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, pose outside the Federal Courthouse after she was sworn in as a United States citizen, May 1988. (AP Photo) Friends Say Ivana Trumps Home Had a Hidden Danger After the New York City Medical Examiners Office found that former President Donald Trumps first wife, Ivana, died from blunt impact injuries and was ruled an accident, friends said that her staircase posed a danger to the 73-year-old. That has always been my fear, Trump friend Nikki Haskell told Extra TV regarding the staircase. She had one of those really beautiful staircases that was impossible to walk down. Narrow in the inside and wider as it got out. I was always afraid that she would fall. Police officials told local New York City media that Ivana Trump was found unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs with a coffee cup. I dont know what happened, but its not hard for me to believe that thats what happened. They were treacherous stairs, Haskell added. The Trump family has not issued any statement about the medical examiners report. Haskell said that Ivanathe mother to Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trumprarely ventured outside during the COVID-19 epidemic. She became very reclusive, she said. She was really afraid of getting the virus, much more so than anybody that I know. She didnt want to go anywhere, she didnt want to travel. She took it very, very seriously. She was afraid of getting sick. She stayed in New York during that whole time. She never left at all, and she was by herself so Im sure it was much more trying than I can even imagine. More Details Paolo Alavian, the owner of a restaurant near her home, told the New York Post that he saw Ivana on the evening she died. A personal aide accompanied her on a walk. Ivana Trump attends the 2011 Angel Ball To Benefit Gabrielles Angel Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on Oct. 17, 2011. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) I bumped into her outside, Alavian said. I said, Senora, how are you? Good? She said, I just went for my walk, and we chat [a] couple of minutes. He added, You could feel a little bit of tiredness but she never complained about anything, never mentioned anything. Another friend, Zach Erdem, said Ivana suffered from a hip problem and had trouble walking. There was something going on with her hip, she couldnt walk, Erdem, who owns the restaurant 75 Main on Long Island. She was going to come two weeks ago, but she was feeling bad. She said she wasnt feeling well, he continued to say. She said she was having pain in her leg. She couldnt get out of her house. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told multiple news outlets Saturday that Ivana died as a result of a fall. Authorities previously said there is no foul play suspected in her death. Ivana and Donald Trump were married from 1977 until 1992. The former commander-in-chief last week praised her as a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaks during a hearing to examine U.S.-Russia policy at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 7, 2021. (Alex Brandon/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Gay Marriage SCOTUS Ruling Is Clearly Wrong: Cruz Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has said that the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage was clearly wrong. Obergefell, like Roe versus Wade, ignored two centuries of our nations history, Cruz told podcast Verdict+. In Obergefell, the court said, no, we know better than you guys do, and now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage. I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching, Cruz was referring to Obergefell v. Hodges (pdf), the 2015 Supreme Court decision in which the 54 majority ruled that the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee the fundamental right to marry to same-sex couples. The Texas senator takes the position that policies on issues such as gay marriage and abortion should be left to state legislatures to shape. Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states. We saw states before Obergefell that were movingsome states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships. There were different standards that the states were adopting, Cruz said. And had the court not rolled Obergefell, the democratic process would continue to operate: that if you believe that gay marriage was a good idea, the way the Constitution is set up for you to advance that position is to convince your fellow citizens. And if you succeeded in convincing your fellow citizens, then your state would change the laws to reflect those views, the senator continued. The lawmakers comments come weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling from the highest court that legalized abortion across the nation, in its June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization (pdf). Cruz, in reference to the concern of court overreach with the Obergefell and Roe decisions, shadowed Justice Clarence Thomass opinion in Dobbs that the highest court should reconsider cases such as Obergefell that are associated with the doctrine of substantive due process. In his concurring opinion to the majority ruling, Thomas said that substantive due process is an oxymoron that lack[s] any basis in the Constitution and that the Due Process Clause does not secure any substantive rights. For this reason, Thomas said that in future cases, [the justices] should reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell, and that because any substantive due process decision is demonstrably erroneous, we have a duty to correct the error established in those precedents. Cruzs comments are not the first time the senator has expressed opposition to the highests courts ruling on same-sex marriage. In 2015, the then-candidate in the Republican primaries said his opposition to the decision would be front and center in his presidential campaign. That is very much front and center something I intend to campaign on, he told NPR in 2015. And marriage and religious liberty are going to be integral, I believe, to motivating the American people to come out and vote for whats, ultimately, restoring our constitutional system, Cruz said. An Israeli air strike in Gaza City in a file photo taken in 2022. (Reuters TV via Reuters) Gaza Rockets, Israeli Air Strikes Accompany Bidens Middle East Visit The Israeli military attacked what it said was a Hamas military site in the Gaza Strip early Saturday in response to a pair of rocket attacks overnight, hours after U.S. President Joe Biden flew from Israel to Saudi Arabia on a Middle East trip. The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck hit two facilities belonging to Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group that governs the blockaded strip. One of the targets was an underground rocket-manufacturing plant, the military said. Gaza witnesses described the two sites struck as Hamas training camps. No injuries were reported. No group claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. But Israel blames Hamas for any violence emanating from the Palestinian enclave. Hamas has condemned Bidens visit and U.S. support for Israel. Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said gunmen had fired at the Israeli planes. Sirens sounded in southern Israel on two occasions early on Saturday, warning of incoming rocket fire. One rocket was intercepted and three projectiles landed in open spaces, the military said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Franco A. walks to a court for the start of a trial on charges of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 20, 2021. (Michael Probst/AP Photo) German Soldier Who Posed as Refugee Convicted of Attack Plot BERLINA German court on Friday convicted a military officer who posed as a Syrian asylum-seeker of plotting to attack prominent politicians, sentencing him to 5.5 years in prison. The Frankfurt state court convicted the defendant of preparing a serious crime meant to endanger the state, violations of weapons laws, and fraud, German news agency dpa reported. It also found that he has extremist views. He has been identified only as 1st Lt. Franco A. in line with German privacy rules. The 33-year-old German came to the attention of authorities after he was arrested in February 2017 while going to retrieve a pistol he had stashed in a Vienna airport bathroom. He was freed, but Austrian authorities informed Germany. When the soldiers fingerprint matched the one he had given to register as an asylum-seeker, it triggered the investigation. The defendant was accused of plotting to kill prominent politicians and blame the attack on refugees. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants targets included then-Justice Minister Heiko Maas and the Jewish head of an anti-racism organization. He had stockpiled four firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 50 explosive devices, some stolen from military stores, they said. The court found that the defendant had decided to carry out the attacks, but was unable to establish whether he planned to do so while posing as a Syrian refugee, dpa reported. It also was unable to clear up where he procured weapons and where they are now. The soldier denied having planned attacks at his trial, which opened in May last year, but said that he had hoarded weapons and ammunition in case public order collapsed in Germany. He has asserted that, by posing as an asylum-seeker, he wanted to uncover faults in asylum proceedings. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of six years and three months. The defense had sought his acquittal on the main charge of preparing a serious crime meant to endanger the state, and fines or suspended sentences on other charges. Defense lawyers say they plan to appeal the verdict. French academic art encompasses numerous traditional genres, from portraiture to still-life, but histories of grand events may be among the most noteworthy of the period. These paintings take inspiration from the past, as the name implies, but artists elaborated on source materials to create nobler, more compelling narratives. Ancient, legendary queens, along with the captivating stories surrounding them, became especially alluring to French artists. By the 19th century, academies of art were well-established throughout Europe, and the Academie des Beaux-Arts in France was a particular leader in training emerging artists in traditional techniques and subjects. Young apprentices studied under the tutelage of master artists, who in turn ensured that their pupils had opportunities to find patronage. Likewise, the academy sponsored exhibitions, connected artists and patrons, and influenced public taste. During the first half of the 19th century, artists and patrons alike favored ancient history. This was due to decades of conflict in France. The French Revolution (17891799) and Napoleonic Wars (18031815) left the French people searching for inspiration further in the past as they rebuilt their new nation. Among the triumphant ancients is Zenobia of Armenia. William-Adolphe Bouguereaus 1850 painting, Zenobia Found by Shepherds on the Banks of the Araxes exemplifies the emotion and drama of surviving trauma against the oddsa sentiment that resonated with war-weary French citizens. Bouguereau (18251905) is among the most well-known artists of the period. His oeuvre has rightfully become synonymous with French academicism. Bouguereau exquisitely created dynamic compositions and utilized both form and color to achieve an emotional and intellectual reaction from viewers. This effortless marriage of form and colorrather than prioritizing one over the otheris a key tenet of French academic art. Zenobia Found by Shepherds on the Banks of the Araxes, circa 1850, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Oil on canvas. Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris. (Public Domain) The Story of Zenobia Rhadamistus was the eldest son of King Pharasmanes I of Iberia during the Pharnavazid dynasty (third century B.C. to the second century A.D.). Fearing his own usurpation by his ambitious and impatient son, King Pharasmanes persuaded Rhadamistus to declare war on his uncle, King Mithridates of Armenia. Rather than declaring war, Rhadamistus deceived his uncle by feigning an escape from a feud between him and his father, Pharasmanes. Rhadamistus did so in order to strategize an invasion of Armenia. Prince Rhadamistusknown for his ambition, strength, good looks, and valorcharmed his way into the Armenian royal family and married Princess Zenobia, daughter of King Mithridates. Rhadamistus then massacred Zenobias monarchical family to usurp the throne for himself and ruled over Armenia alongside her in the early 50s B.C. Their reign was brief; the Armenian people revolted and drove Rhadamistus into exile, forcing both him and Queen Zenobia to flee. Instead of escaping with Rhadamistus and risking a shameful captivity by his enemies, Zenobia begged him to mercifully kill her with an honorable death. Rhadamistus refused at first but then relented. After his ghastly task was complete, he threw her into the river. Miraculously, Zenobia survived and compassionate shepherds healed her with their rustic remedies. They took her to the city of Artaxata where she lived a royal and peaceful life. Bouguereau captures the most dramaticand upliftingmoment of Zenobias saga: the peasants saving the queens life. There is subtle irony at play as Frances own queen Marie Antoinette did not meet the same merciful fate 60 years earlier, but Bouguereau chose to portray and embrace the notions of redemption and unification. His sculptural figures and composition are rendered in a timeless manner, suggesting the universality of this ancient tale of salvation. Pierre-Narcisse Guerins Queen Dido Famed academician Pierre-Narcisse Guerin (17741833) also chose a queenly subject for his 1815 masterpiece, Aeneas Tells Dido About the Fall of Troy, which became a tremendous success at the Paris Salon of 1817. The salon was the official art exhibition of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, and this was possibly the most significant art event of the Western hemisphere during the 19th century. Guerin, renowned for his artistic range, became director of the French Academy in Rome in 1822. In addition to his own contributions to the French Academy, his students included Eugene Delacroix and Theodore Gericaulttwo of the most influential painters that France has ever produced. Aeneas Tells Dido About The Fall of Troy, circa 1815, by Pierre-Narcisse Guerin. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. (Public Domain) Guerin, like many of his contemporaries, borrowed from ancient historical-mythological sources. His 1815 artwork portrays events from Book IV of Virgils Aeneid (written between 29 and 19 B.C.). Virgil, one of ancient Romes most esteemed poets, synthesized history, mythology, and literary tradition. The Aeneid follows the Trojan hero Aeneas, who has fled the fallen city of Troy in order to fulfill his destiny of founding the city of Rome. During his voyage across the Mediterranean, en route to Italy, Aeneas finds himself in the North African kingdom of Carthage. There, he meets the powerful Queen Dido. In exchange for her hospitality, she asks the young traveler to regale her with tales of the Trojan Wars and his maritime adventures. Aeneas obliges, and with the help of Cupids arrow, the two soon fall in love. Guerin captures Dido staring adoringly at her guest, while Aeneas energetically relays his stories. While the portrait of the lovers evokes sentimentality, the artist also depicts an appealing Carthaginian landscape in the background. The artists palette is sun-drenched, warm, and welcoming. This is noteworthy, as academic artists typically chose colors that would best communicate emotion and atmosphere to their viewers. The gods commanded Aeneas to leave Carthage, however, as it was both his duty and his fate to establish Rome, and with it, the empire that would change the world forever. Grief stricken, Dido takes her own life once her suitor abandons her. Although at first glance, the saga seems to have a tragic end, Guerin implies a more poignant, even optimistic, lesson: The founding of a great empire requires equally great sacrifices, but the faithful are rewarded for staying true to their course. After decades of upheaval in Franceand sacrificeGuerins viewers could appreciate the promise of glorious times ahead. Guerin, like Bouguereau, adapted stories of ancient queens for 19th-century audiences in order to celebrate the ascendance of the new French nation. Their academic style embraced a universality that would resonate with generations of viewers. Remarkably, they also developed a unique style that synthesized color and form, the emotional and the intellectual, and perhaps most importantly, beauty and purpose. Soldiers of the Mexican Army work at the site of a Navy helicopter crash near the airport of Los Mochis, Sinaloa State, Mexico, on July 15, 2022. (Jose Mendoza/AFP via Getty Images) Helicopter Crashes During Mexico Drug Lord Capture, Killing 14 Fourteen Mexican marines died, and another was injured when a navy Blackhawk helicopter crashed during the operation to capture drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero on Friday. The navy said it appeared to have been an accident, with the cause remaining under investigation. Mexicos Attorney Generals Office said in a statement late Friday that Caro Quintero was arrested for extradition to the United States and would be held at the maximum security Altiplano prison about 50 miles west of Mexico City. The FBIs ten most wanted fugitive poster for Rafael Caro-Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. (FBI via The Epoch Times) Mexicos navy and Attorney Generals Office led the operation deep in the mountains that straddle the border between Sinaloa and Chihuahua states, many miles from any paved road. They found Caro Quintero, with help of a six-year-old bloodhound Max, hiding in brush in a place in Sinaloa called San Simon. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said via Twitter that the helicopter that crashed in the coastal city of Los Mochis had been supporting the operation against Caro Quintero. He expressed condolences to the families of the victims and said the crash would be investigated. Caro Quintero was the most wanted target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)the man allegedly responsible for the murder of a DEA agent more than three decades ago. Caro Quintero had walked free in 2013 after 28 years in prison when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of DEA agent Enrique Kiki Camarena. The brutal murder marked a low point in U.S.Mexico relations. Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, had since returned to drug trafficking and unleashed bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora. He was on the FBIs most wanted list, with a $20 million reward for his capture through the State Departments Narcotics Rewards Program. He was added to the FBIs top 10 most wanted list in 2018. Caro Quintero was one of the primary suppliers of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the United States in the late 1970s. He blamed Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984. In 1985, Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, allegedly on orders from Caro Quintero. His tortured body was found a month later. Late Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed the U.S. governments gratitude to Mexican authorities for Caro Quinteros arrest and offered condolences for the Mexican military personnel who died in the helicopter crash. There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures, and murders American law enforcement, he said in a statement. Todays arrest is the culmination of tireless work by DEA and their Mexican partners to bring Caro-Quintero to justice for his alleged crimes, including the torture and execution of DEA Special Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena. We will be seeking his immediate extradition to the United States so he can be tried for these crimes in the very justice system Special Agent Camarena died defending. Hunter Biden walks to Marine One on the Ellipse outside the White House in Washington on May 22, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Hunter and Joe Biden Often Met After Son Traveled Abroad: Report Hunter Biden held dozens of talks with his father from 2008 to 2016, often shortly after returning home from trips abroad on business, according to data from the younger Bidens abandoned laptop. At least 30 such talks took place, The New York Post reported on July 16, based on a personal calendar on the laptop. The meetings took place at either the White House or the vice presidents residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. The latest revelation comes amid President Joe Bidens continued claim that the two have never spoken about Hunter Bidens business dealings, which included transactions with entities and individuals in countries such as Russia and China. One of the talks occurred in February 2012, when the young Biden met with his father at the Naval Observatory. The meeting came four days after Hunter Biden was wined and dined by billionaire oligarchs in Moscow. In November 2015, Hunter Biden met with his father again at the Naval Observatory, two days after returning home from a trip to Romania. On April 15, 2016, Hunter Biden met with Daniel Kablan Duncan, who was at the time the prime minister of Cote dIvoire. Less than an hour after the meeting, the young Biden met with his father at the Naval Observatory. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) awaits the arrival of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 17, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y) told the NY Post that the latest discovery is more evidence of corruption. Hardly a day goes by without another revelation about how intimately involved Joe Biden was with his son Hunter Bidens corrupt foreign business dealings, Stefanik said. The fact that Joe was in meetings with senior foreign leaders on behalf of Hunter and his business associates while vice president further proves that Joe has been lying to the American people. Cory Mills, whos seeking the Republican nomination to represent Floridas 7th Congressional District in the midterm elections, said the Posts findings warrant legal action against the Bidens. Hunter Biden should be arrested and Joe Biden impeached, Mills wrote on Twitter. The laptops calendar also showed that Eric Schwerin, the former president of Hunter Bidens now-dissolved investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, was an invite recipient on 21 of the 30 meetings between Hunter Biden and his father. In April, The Epoch Times reported that Schwerin visited the White House at least 19 times from 2009 to 2015, after reviewing White House visitor log records. One of the meetings took place in the West Wing on Nov. 17, 2010. The Post also revealed that Hunter Biden had set up a meeting between his father and Andres Pastrana Arango, the former president of Colombia, on March 2, 2012. Before the March 2012 meeting, Hunter Biden and his partners at Rosemont Seneca Partners were allegedly seeking business with Brazilian construction company OAS, according to emails from the laptop, the Post reported. The Brazilian firm was interested in several projects in Columbia at the time, including a hydroelectric power plant worth $1.8 billion and a renovation project to a subway system in Bogota worth $3 billion. If it works, well all be rich, Schwerin wrote to Hunter Biden in an email in August 2011, according to the Post. Emails showed Hunter Biden traveling to Bogota in November 2011. Its unclear if OAS won any of the projects the company was interested in. Eventually, OAS was involved in a Brazilian government corruption scandal and agreed to pay a total of 1.92 billion Brazilian reais ($461 million) by 2047 as part of a leniency deal the company signed with Brazils federal government in 2019, according to Reuters. White House officials didnt respond to a request for comment by press time. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on July 22, 2021. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo) Recently, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote an op-ed published by the Post declaring that they aim to investigate the Bidens business dealings if Republicans take back the House after the 2022 midterm elections. Contrary to Joe Bidens statement that he never spoke to Hunter about his foreign business dealings, associates state that he was fully aware of his familys business dealings and influence peddling, the three lawmakers wrote. There is evidence of a direct sum of money set aside for the Big Guywho witnesses have identified as Joe Bidenfrom foreign nationals. A Republican majority will be committed to uncovering the facts the Democrats, Big Tech, and the legacy media have suppressed. Increased Menstrual Bleeding Linked to COVID-19 Vaccines in New Study Increased menstrual bleeding was linked to COVID-19 vaccines in a new study. Approximately 42 percent of respondents in a survey about post-vaccination menstruation with a regular period reported bleeding more heavily than usual after getting a vaccine, according to the study, published in Science Advances after peer review on July 15. A majority of respondents who were not menstruating, meanwhile, reported breakthrough bleeding after getting one of the vaccines, including 66 percent of post-menopausal women who were not taking a hormonal treatment and 65.7 percent of those who were using one or more treatments. The survey was launched in April 2021 and data from it was downloaded on June 29, 2021. Over 128,000 responses came in, but many were excluded for reasons such as being diagnosed with COVID-19, not fully completing the survey, or not reporting at least 14 days after their final dose of a primary series. Additionally, women aged 45 to 55 were excluded in order to avoid including women going through perimenopause. We focused our analysis on those who regularly menstruate and those who do not currently menstruate but have in the past. The latter group included postmenopausal individuals and those on hormonal therapies that suppress menstruation, for whom bleeding is especially surprising, Kathryn Clancy, a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said in a statement. She led the research with Katharine Lee, an anthropology professor at Tulane University. About 39,000 responses ended up being used. We Dont Tend to Talk About It Publicly The researchers said that women began sharing instances of unexpected bleeding after getting COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021, but that doctors who responded often quickly dismissed the experiences. Limitations of the study include that women self-reported through the survey, but Clancy and others involved said the trends uncovered by the results can help trigger further research and spur discussion on the matter. Menstruation is a regular process that responds to all kinds of immune and energetic stressors, and people notice changes to their bleeding patterns, yet we dont tend to talk about it publicly, Lee said in a statement. Most respondents received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, but others received the other shots, such as those from AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Johnson & Johnson. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that women who menstruate may experience small, temporary changes in menstruation after COVID-19 vaccination, pointing to a January U.S. study that concluded the vaccines were associated with a change in cycle length and research from Norway published the same month that found a significant increase in menstrual irregularities following vaccination, particularly after a second dose. U.S. researchers said the vaccinated cohort they studied was back in line with an unvaccinated comparison group by six cycles, but the Norwegian researchers said that it was unclear how long the irregularities lasted. Nearly 300 women participating in another observational study, published in May, reported menstrual irregularities. The European Medicines Agency earlier this year launched an investigation into reports of the COVID-19 vaccines being linked to menstrual changes. The agency concluded the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both built on messenger RNA technology, do not cause an absence of menstruation. The committee is still probing possible links to heavier periods. SINSINAWA Father Samuel Mazzuchelli and Sister Quincy Howard are bounded by faith, separated by generations, but with similar callings. It was Mazzuchelli who came to this region of southwestern Wisconsin to minister to the lead miners and their families, fur traders and Native Americans. He established nearly three dozen parish communities, erected more than 20 churches in the Tri-State area, and in 1847 formed a community of Dominican Sisters on one of the highest points in Grant County to help him carry on his mission of preaching and teaching. Sister Howard, 47, had been a non-practicing Catholic for nearly 25 years but has returned to the faith not as a nurse or teacher but as an urban planner with a masters degree from the University of Texas in Austin. Now, five years after taking her vows, her skill set is in high demand in this rural enclave. The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, their numbers in decline for decades, are selling three massive buildings totaling more than 300,000 square feet of chapel, auditorium, office, dining and dormitory space. They hope to find a buyer aligned with the mission of the Dominican Sisters, since about 30 Sisters will continue to live and work here. If no buyer is found, the buildings, two from 1964 and the other built in 1899, will be removed at considerable cost, something the Sisters are trying hard to avoid. Spiritual search Sister Howard who on this day wore blue jeans, a sleeveless shirt, sunglasses and a silver cross around her neck is part of a new generation of Sisters and among those helping to find alternate uses for part of this historic 450-acre property that has its own post office and ZIP code, wastewater treatment plant and a stone fort built in 1832 during the Black Hawk War. I had been in a career search and a spiritual search, and the whole social justice aspect of Catholicism had not been on my radar, Sister Howard said as we toured the grounds last week. But I guess this is why Im here after all. Her resume includes water resources conservation with the National Wildlife Federation, community development in Honduras with the Peace Corps and disaster relief and recovery in New Orleans, Galveston, Texas, and New York. And now she can add an entry about helping plan the future for one of Wisconsins most historic religious sites. It is beginning with the sale of the 94,600-square-foot Rotunda that has served as a landmark since 1964 and holds the Queen of the Rosary Chapel with dialogic seating for 500. A Casavant pipe organ consumes the balcony. The round, three-story building constructed into the side of the hill also holds two museums and a modern auditorium that can seat 500 people and a stage that would make any thespian drool. Also being sold is the 162,000-square-foot Siena Gallery building, which holds a commercial kitchen, bakery, gift shop, art gallery and 102 dorm rooms. Next door is the St. Clara Convent building constructed in 1899, which has 86 rooms, 15 kitchenettes, a large screened porch and common areas. A wellness center with a therapy pool is on the market. Just cant sustain it We understand how beautiful it all is. We understand how significant it is. We just cant afford to keep it anymore, said Sister Toni Harris, Sinsinawas prioress since 2016, who also held the leadership position from 2000 to 2006. We just cant sustain it anymore. The property is being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield Boerke, a real estate firm with offices in Madison and Milwaukee. Kevin Riordan, a real estate agent trying to find a suitable buyer, said the location, 8 miles from Dubuque, Iowa, and 10 miles from Galena, Illinois, combined with the views and buildings, has sparked interest. The land is not for sale, but possible uses for the buildings could include a health care or rehab facility, conference facility or retreat center. The Rotunda building with its chapel and auditorium could cater to musical events, while some land could be used by area growers for regenerative farming practices. The isolation is somewhat of an advantage if youre looking to get away, Riordan said. I think the people that have reached out so far to us and the people we have reached out to are mission-aligned. Father Mazzuchelli migrated from Italy in 1828, was ordained a priest in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1830, and was assigned as a missionary at Mackinac Island. He later served in Green Bay and southern Canada before finding his way to what is now southwestern Wisconsin. This is where, beginning in 1838, he built churches in Prairie du Chien, Potosi, Shullsburg, Hazel Green and other communities. He purchased 800 acres in 1847 that included the mound and founded Sinsinawa Mound College, which operated until 1854. He started St. Clara Female Academy at Benton in 1852, which relocated to Sinsinawa in 1867. The mound also was home to St. Clara College beginning in 1901, before it moved in 1922 to River Forest, Illinois, where it is now Dominican University. The presence in Madison received a considerable boost in 1881 when Gov. Cadwallader Washburn gave his Edgewood Villa and 55-acre wooded estate on the shore of Lake Wingra to the Dominican Sisters, who then moved St. Regina Academy in the citys Downtown to the new site. Two years later, after a tragic fire, the school was rebuilt and named Sacred Heart Academy, which was later separated into Edgewood High School and Edgewood Campus School. In 1927, the Sisters opened Edgewood College for women with a two-year liberal arts curriculum, housed in the same building as the high school. A four-year degree program was added in 1940, and a year later the college moved into its own building. They also own Whitefish Bay Dominican High School near Milwaukee. Chickens and cows Back on the mound (the locals pronounce Sinsinawa sin-sin-ah-way but most pronounce it sin-sih-now-ah), the Sisters had a working farm that in the 1900s had 2,000 chickens, a dairy herd and growing congregation. At its peak in the 1950s, there were 1,900 Sisters. Not all lived on the mound campus, but the large numbers led to aggressive expansion in the early 1960s with the expectation that up to 100 women would join the congregation each year. But thats when numbers started to crash. Today, there are 295 Sisters, 110 of whom live on site. Only one or two Sisters enter the congregation each year. The average age of a Sister in the congregation is 84. The Sisters have an annual budget of about $22 million, but conservative planning needs to continue to keep the operation viable, Harris said. There has been talk for 20 years of downsizing the campus, a process similar to trying to convince an elderly parent to move out of a house that is too big and difficult to maintain. Its going to be very difficult for us. Obviously, well continue here but on a smaller scale, said Sister Harris, as she lunched on a small pile of spaghetti, a bowl of mixed beans and a glass of watermelon-flavored water in Sinsinawas main dining hall. Its like losing a big section of what has come to feel like home. The Sisters plan to maintain a community presence at Sinsinawa into the foreseeable future, but most will move next year to an assisted-living center in Muskego. Workshops, retreats, conferences and other programs will continue, and the congregation is exploring options for maintaining the bakery, which makes loaves of bread and cinnamon rolls sold in the gift shop and at select locations in the area. The Academy Apartments will continue to serve as housing for senior citizens, and those needing skilled care will continue to reside at St. Dominic Villa, which the Sisters transferred to Marquardt Management Services and Southwest Health in 2020. There are cemeteries here to maintain, where Sisters will continue to be buried for years to come. The property is home to prairie, restored oak savanna and 120 acres of farmland, most being rented by a local farmer, while smaller plots are being used by vegetable farmers. Theres a dairy barn and, from 4 to 7 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month through September, a farmers market. The sweeping views that led Father Mazzuchelli to put roots down here remain. Its heart-wrenching for me. I fell in love with the mound the first time I saw it, said Sister Priscilla Wood, director of the Office of Arts and Cultural Heritage at Sinsinawa. What we have to do changes. Father Samuels life changed. He thought he was going to be a priest forever in Milan and never leave Italy and here he is. We need to free ourselves to let the new happen. This breakthrough treatment costs a fraction of more expensive, less effective drugs Dr. Walter Brown begins his 2020 book Lithium, a Doctor, a Drug and a Breakthrough, by asking, What do Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Ernest Hemingway have in common? The answer is bipolar disorder, previously known as manic-depressive illness. Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness characterized by extreme mood swings, including extreme excitement (mania) phases and extreme depressive feelings. Bipolar is one of the more common mental illnesses in the United States., affecting more than 3 million people. However, the number is likely higher due to underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis (i.e. major depression). Lithium has been found to result in a 10-fold decrease in the rate of suicide, an amazing discovery. Interestingly, communities with higher levels of lithium in the drinking water are associated with a low rate of suicide. Using data for 27 Texas counties from 1978-1987, it is shown that the incidence rates of suicide, homicide, and rape are significantly higher in counties whose drinking water supplies contain little or no lithium than in counties with water lithium levels ranging from 70-170 micrograms/L, notes one study published in Biological Trace Element Research in 1990. There was little effective treatment for bipolar disorder until Dr. John Cade began using lithium in 1948. His discovery is perhaps one of the most important, yet largely unsung, medical innovations of the modern era. It would come to save an untold number of lives and launch a pharmacological revolutionall based on a miraculous metal rescued from decades of stigmatization. Cades discovery was responsible for ending insulin comas, lobotomy, and incarceration, and exile in those suffering from bipolar disorder. The New York Times recently described lithium as the Cinderella of psychiatric drugs. Beyond lives, lithium has also saved billions of dollars in health care costs. And to think it was almost lost to mankind. The story behind this breakthrough treatment is both unlikely and remarkable. Chemists tell us that lithium has an atomic number of 3 and exists as a soft white metal in its natural forms of lithium carbonate and lithium chloride. Lithium is a highly reactive element, serving as an essential ingredient in hydrogen bombs and nuclear reactors. Its better known as a component of batteries. In the 19th century, lithium was unsuccessfully tried as a treatment for illnesses caused by elevated uric acid in the body. Lithium had a brief resurgence in the late 1940s as a salt substitute for patients with cardiovascular disease who needed to restrict their sodium intake. Unfortunately, the amount of salt substitute recommended to take was not specified, so patients taking in an excessive amount of lithium became toxic, and some died. The FDA pulled the lithium salt substitute off the market. However, the damage was done, as lithium now had a reputation for toxicity. The medical uses of lithium fell out of favor until the mid-20th century when Cade began his investigations. Shortly after Cade completed his psychiatry training, World War II broke out and he was shipped out to Malaysia as a general medical officer. The Australian and British troops were forced to surrender to the Japanese and were subsequently incarcerated at the infamous Changi Prison in Singapore. While in prison, Cade thought a good deal about the cause of manic-depressive illness (now called bipolar disorder), which he observed in some of his fellow war prisoners. After the war, Cade returned to his home in Australia, weighing only 90 lbs due to severe malnutrition. After recuperating, he took a position at a small 200-bed mental hospital. Cade began experimenting on guinea pigs in a primitive laboratory he created in an unused kitchen he commandeered on the grounds of his mental hospital. It was equipped with a bench and some jars of chemicals. Cade quickly discovered that lithium tranquilized the guinea pigs. He then moved on to human trials, experimenting on himself then with 10 manic patients and had remarkably good results. Thus the first effective treatment for manic depressive illness was born. Danish psychiatrist Dr. Mogens Schou became an enthusiastic advocate of Cades work. In the words of Dr. Walter Brown: Cades research in 1948 and 1949 revolutionized the treatment of manic-depressive illness and the outlook for its victims. Cade is rightly credited for launching the psychopharmaceutical revolution for showing a drug can relieve mental symptoms. Brown further describes why there was a 20-year delay before psychiatrists accepted and routinely prescribed lithium. As Brown states: Why the slow acceptance of lithium? First, since lithium is a natural substance, drug companies could not patent it, so it was of no commercial interest and no drug company promoted it. Second, drug companies vigorously marketed the antipsychotic drugs that came on the scene soon after lithium, and the psychiatric community seized on these new agents. These new agents became all the rage. The FDA finally granted authorization for lithium use in 1970, followed by approval as a prophylactic for mania, a major step toward full acceptance. In 1995, Valproic acid (Depakote) was approved by the FDA to treat mania. Even though it was shown to have no advantage over lithium and was even found to be less effective, Abbott Labs marketed Depakote heavily to both physicians and consumers. Needless to say, the marketing was very effective and lithium use subsequently declined. That shift isnt without consequence. Lithium isnt without its own complications, but its a fraction of the cost and generally favored by patients. Meanwhile, a 2007 study published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology linked Depakote with autism, finding an 8.9 percent rate of developing autism among children exposed to the drug before birth, compared to a 1 percent rate among the general population. And while drugs like Depakote take teams of researchers and millions of dollars to create, Cades discovery was made by an unknown psychiatrist, working alone in a small chronic hospital, with no research training, primitive techniques and negligible equipment. [This] was hardly likely to be compellingly persuasive, especially in the U.S., notes Brown. Today, largely due to the effective marketing campaigns of drug companies, lithium prescribing has been far surpassed by newer and more profitable agents. A recent study estimated that lithium has fallen to approximately 23 percent usage compared to a previous level of 60 percent. Lithium isnt only far less expensive than newer drugs, ($0.15 per pill compared to $3.77 for Depakote) but it has also been shown to be just as effective therapeutically if not more so compared to the newer agents. As far as safety, monitoring periodic lithium blood levels has demonstrated that lithium toxicity is easily avoided. Thus, an obscure psychiatrist in Australia, Dr. John Cade, was responsible for discovering one of the most important treatments in psychiatry. Content with his lithium findings, Cade produced no further research. However, with his lithium discovery, Cade revolutionized the treatment of bipolar disorder. Falun Gong practitioners march to highlight the 23rd year of persecution in China against the spiritual discipline, in London on July 16, 2022. (Yanning Qi/The Epoch Times) London Event Marks 23 Years of Chinese Oppression Against Spiritual Discipline Falun Gong More than 100 Falun Gong adherents in the UK marched on Saturday to highlight the ongoing clampdown against the group in China that has lasted for 23 years. Fourteen lawmakers wrote to condemn the persecution, saying the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party is completely unacceptable. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual practice with a set of physical exercises and the doctrine of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Since it was made public in China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi, the practice has attracted millions of adherents whose testimonials pointed to the beneficial effects on their physical and mental health and their character. But in 1999, the Chinese communist regime launched a campaign to eradicate the practice, with an official ban issued on July 20. The adherents have since been subject to harassment, extrajudicial imprisonment and killing, rape, torture, narcotisation, and live organ harvesting. Imprisoned and Tortured for Her Belief Yong Li was incarcerated in a number of prisons and detention centers before leaving China for the UK, including the infamous Masanjia Labour Camp, from which a letter highlighting the plight of Falun Gong practitioners was snuck into a box of Halloween decorations and found by a shopper in the United States. Falun Gong practitioner Yong Li at a rally highlighting the 23rd year of persecution in China against the spiritual discipline, in London on July 16, 2022. (Jack Sun/The Epoch Times) Li, a 66-year-old retired steel worker, told The Epoch Times that she was dealing with marital problems in 1995 when a colleague recommended the practice, which she found helpful both to her health and to her relationships. But on July 19, 1999, police started arresting people for doing the exercises. Lis husband, also a practitioner, was detained for a night. In December, Li decided to protest in Beijings Tiananmen Square, a last-ditch effort many practitioners resorted to as there was no official route to have their voices heard by the communist regime. She was immediately arrested after getting to the square, which she said was swamped by plain-clothed police. Many practitioners, including Li, refused to disclose their identities for fear of bringing trouble to their families and workplaces. They were transported out of Beijing by armed guards to different detention centres, Li said. She was sent to Shenyang, a city in Northeast China, and was passed around a number of facilities. Police tried to identify Li and get her to renounce the practice, Li said. She was whipped on the mouth with chopsticks, stepped on, stabbed in the ribs with coathangers, and forbidden to sleep for eight days straight. A policeman also dipped a sweeping broom in phlegm and then tried to force the broom into her mouth. At one facility, an officer threatened to feed her narcotic drugs in order to extract information from her. After the intimidation proved in vain, Li was told she was sentenced to three years in a labour camp, without any legal process. Li started a hunger strike before being sent to the Masanjia Labour Camp and had to be let go from the camp soon after because a month of hunger strike and force-feeding left her on the brink of death. After she returned home, her sister-in-law was told her social welfare payment would be cut off unless she could get her brother to divorce Li, prompting Lis family to sell their apartment and hide elsewhere. Before Li went on hunger strike in prison, Li was also subject to weekly blood tests and physical examinations. Li didnt object at the time, thinking it was a good testimonial to Falun Gongs health benefits, only to find out years later that practitioners are killed and their organs sold to transplant patients for profit. Asked what her wishes are, Li said she hopes to end the persecution against Falun Gong in China so all practitioners can regain their freedom. Forced Organ Harvesting In 2019, an independent peoples tribunal unanimously concluded that prisoners of conscience had beenand continued to bekilled in China for their organs on a significant scale. It noted that adherents of Falun Gong had been one of the main sources of organ supply. The tribunal published a 160-page report on March 1, 2020, reaffirming its previous conclusion, stating that there was no evidence of the practice having been stopped and the Tribunal is satisfied that it is continuing. Adam Sharif, a lawyer who passed by the event on Saturday, said he was really shocked to find out how lucrative the trade is. Your eyes can sell for 20,000 pounds, your kidney 40,000 pounds. Its crazy, its unbelievable, Sharif told The Epoch Times. Victoria White, UK communications coordinator at The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China, speaks at a rally highlighting the 23rd year of persecution in China against the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, in London on July 16, 2022. (Yanning Qi/The Epoch Times) Victoria White, UK communications coordinator at The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), said shes happy that there have been some legislative changes in the UK aimed at ending the barbaric practice, including a provision in the Health and Care Act that meant UK citizens can no longer travel abroad for commercial organs. It was already illegal to buy or sell organs within the UK, but now theyve added extraterritorial provisions, so this means it safeguards UK citizens from being complicit in these crimes by going to China to buy organs, when those organs may be coming from prisoners of conscience who are being killed, White told NTD, an affiliate of The Epoch Times. White said ETAC is now working with Global Rights Compliance, an international legal firm based in Hague, the Netherlands, which drafted a worlds first legal advisory report on mitigating human rights risks when interacting with international medical institutions and professionals in transplantation medicine. Now in the UK, we are trying to do what we can to use this new business and human rights advisory, and to speak to stakeholders: to hospitals, to medical institutions, to legal firms, to universities and try and engage with them so that they understand the implications of collaborating in the transplant industry with China and what that means, and hopefully, try and cut some of those ties with that transplant industry so that we arent complicit in this crime. Falun Gong practitioners marching to highlight the 23rd year of persecution in China against the spiritual discipline, in London on July 16, 2022. (Yanning Qi/The Epoch Times) Fourteen cross-party lawmakers from both houses of Parliament wrote to voice their support for Falun Gong practitioners, including Philip Hunt, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, whos leading the legislative effort to end forced organ harvesting. Sending his best wishes to the UK Falun Dafa Association, Hunt thanked the members for bring[ing] the disgraceful treatment of Falun Gong to global attention. I am part of a campaign in the UK to highlight and seek to outlaw the appalling practise of forced organ donation in China, Hunt said in the statement. After hearing the evidence at the China Tribunal, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC stated that Falun Gong practitioners were probably the principal source of organ harvesting which has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale. We must do everything we can to help stop this vile practise. Jack Sun, Zoe Wang, and NTD reporter Malcolm Hudson contributed to this report. Over 1,300 Falun Dafa Adherents Attend Annual Conference in Toronto Falun Dafa adherents from across Canada attended a conference in Toronto on July 16 to hear speakers talking about their spiritual journeys, with some sharing about having to flee their homeland of China to avoid persecution for their beliefs. Over 1,300 practitioners of Falun Dafa, a Chinese spiritual self-improvement practice that involves five meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the annual all-day conference. The gathering was the first large-scale in-person conference since 2019 due to the pandemic. Called a Fahui in Chinese, the conference provided an opportunity for adherents to share how they have applied the practices teachings to their daily lives and reach higher moral standards through a process of self-cultivation and reflection. One practitioner, Mr. Bui, shared how he no longer suffered from a herniated disc in his lower back after he took up the practice. He said Falun Dafa also helped him let go of pursuing fame and personal gain, and filled him with joy knowing he is on a path of self-improvement. Thanks to the practice, he said he is able to take conflicts lightly, act selflessly, and put others well-being before his own. Another practitioner, Mr. Li, shared how while he was doing volunteer coordination work, he ran into different difficulties, and realized that he had to look internally to rectify his own shortcomings rather than blaming superficial reasons. Through cultivation, he said he worked on letting go of his notions such as showing off or wanting to prove himself, helping him better advance forward in his work and cultivation. Persecution Campaign in China Made public in China in 1992, Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, quickly gained widespread popularity across the country as word spread about its benefits to peoples physical, mental, and spiritual health. By 1999, it had attracted between 70 million to 100 million adherent in China alone, according to official estimates. However, Jiang Zemin, then-leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived Falun Dafas popularity as a threat to the regimes authoritarian rule and on July 20, 1999, launched a persecution campaign aimed at eradicating it. The campaign has resulted in countless adherents being illegally imprisoned and subjected to forced labour, torture, and death. They are also targeted for organ harvesting, where their vital organs are forcibly removed to supply Chinas lucrative organ transplant industry. One notable aspect of the CCPs persecution campaign has been the use of propaganda tools to spread disinformation about the spiritual discipline and its adherents in order to demonize them. Outside China, Falun Dafa practitioners all over the world have worked to raise awareness of this human rights crime since July 1999. Fleeing China The CCPs persecution not only targets Falun Gong adherents, but also their loved ones. Film director Mr. Fang shared how before he started practising, he had to escape from Shanghai in early January 2019 after Chinas National Security Bureau tried to arrest him for visiting his then-girlfriend, an adherent of the practice, in Toronto. Fang said while he managed to get out of the country, he was shaken after having to run from the police. He also noted that he dared not contact his family members back in China so as not to jeopardize their safety. My journey to Canada clearly showed me the brutal nature of the CCP and its persecution of Falun Gong, he said. Pakistani Army Officer Kidnapped and Killed: Officials Terrorists shot dead a kidnapped Pakistani army officer as his comrades were closing in to try to rescue him in the restive southwest province of Baluchistan, the military said on Thursday. Baluchistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by the outlawed Baluchistan Liberation Army, or BLA, and other separatist groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although the government says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted. The BLA, which was designated a terrorist group by the United States in 2019, had claimed responsibility earlier this week for abducting an officer and his relatives on Tuesday while they were traveling on a remote highway near the town of Ziarat, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Quetta, the provincial capital. The family was headed to a tourist resort in the area. The attackers later that night freed all the hostages except Col. Laeeq Mirza and his cousin. The colonels body was found on Thursday during a search operation by security forces. Pakistans military said its troops and helicopters started a search and rescue operation and spotted up to eight terrorists in a storm drain in nearby mountains late on Wednesday. On sensing their possible encirclement, militants shot the Colonel, the militarys communications arm said in a statement. Two of the terrorists died in a gunfight but the rest escaped, it added. The body of the cousin, Umar Javed, was found on Saturday, dumped in a drain in the area, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Baluchistan provincial home minister Mir Zia Lango condemned Javeds killing and expressed the authorities determination to eliminate terrorism from the province. The military said in an earlier statement that efforts were underway to find and rescue Javed. During the search operations, security forces killed nine terrorists, the statement added. Jaend Baluch, a purported spokesman for BLA, denied any casualties among the separatists. Today, Rose Wilder Lane (18861968) is best remembered, if she is remembered at all, as the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the beloved Little House books, childrens stories that Rose helped shape and edit before they appeared in public. Rose Wilder Lane, circa 19051910. National Archives. (Public Domain) Yet Rose was a woman of accomplishment in her own right. Despite her rough childhood on the prairie and a hit-and-miss early education, she became a well-known and respected journalist, a world traveler, a novelist whose books made the bestseller lists, a political theorist, and a founder of the American Libertarian Party. Among friends and acquaintances, she was also known for her wit, intelligence, and eloquence. As William Holtz writes in The Ghost in the Little House, his biography of Rose: Everyone I have interviewed who knew her testifies that she was a brilliant conversationalist and a compelling raconteur, her fine blue eyes flashing as she pursued an idea or a story to its furthest reaches and beyond. Holtz also finds this style and spark in her letters, which he judges as among the best written in our century. For much of her life, having turned her back on communism and fascism, and waging war through her writing with the Franklin Roosevelt administration, which she considered an incubator of dictatorship, Rose promoted quintessential American ideals: liberty, self-reliance, and the burdens and glories of individualism. Two of her books, The Discovery of Freedom: Mans Struggle Against Authority and Give Me Liberty, still inspire todays libertarians, and her beliefs are reflected in the Little House books. If we wish to find an excellent blend of her storytelling talents along with her political philosophy, we might take up her 1933 novel Let the Hurricane Roar, now published under the title Young Pioneers. Cover of Let the Hurricane Roar by Rose Wilder Lane. (Abe Books) Let the Hurricane Roar Within the first five pages of Let the Hurricane Roar, a title derived from an old hymn, newlyweds 16-year-old Caroline and her husband, Charles, who is only two years her senior, load their belongings onto a wagon, bid farewell to their families, and head west to seek their fortune by homesteading. Eventually, they stake their claim. They turn the dugout abandoned by a previous tenant into a home and ride out the winter storms. For a while, all is bliss in this primitive household. In the evenings, Caroline reads aloud from the Bible and from a volume of Tennysons poems given to them by her mother. She bears a son on her 17th birthday, and the wheat that Charles plants in the spring ripens and grows tall. Anticipating the cash he will earn from this crop, Charles goes to the nearby town and purchases on credit items like lumber, window panes, and treats for his wife. Disaster strikes when an enormous swarm of grasshoppers darkens the sky, descends on the wheat field, and ravages their crop. To earn money to pay off his debts, Charles heads east to find work, promising to return in October. But, in an accident, he breaks his leg and finds his absence extended well into the winter. Meanwhile, after failing to find work in town, Caroline finds herself forced to live alone in the dugout, facing blizzards, wolves, and a dwindling food supply. Rose based the plot of her novel on the real-life adventures of her maternal grandparents. (In Young Pioneers she changed their names, Caroline and Charles, to Molly and David.) Its difficult today to imagine a couple so young marrying, much less enduring such arduous trials largely by themselves. Yet both Caroline and Charles were born to parents and into a culture that stressed, as did Rose, the importance of self-reliance. On Her Own Throughout that bitter winter of snowstorms, wild animals, and possible claim jumpers, Caroline cares for her infant son, keeps a gun close at hand, and heats the dugout as best she can by twisting hay into bundles to fuel the fire. Eventually, she breaks up and burns some of the furniture so that she and little Charles John have some semblance of warmth. Rose Wilder Lane, circa 19171921. National Archives. (Public Domain) Meanwhile, she spends much of her time worried sick by her desperate circumstances, daily fearing some new calamity or even death. But in these tribulations comes a moment of transformation, of revelation. In this land of snow, a world neither alive nor dead, and terrible because it was alien to life and death, Caroline suddenly perceives the spark of warmth in a living heart and its indomitable existence among vast, incalculable, lifeless forces. It was invincible. She becomes aware of human dignity. She felt that she was alive, and that God was with life. She thought: The gates of hell shall not prevail against me. She could feel what Charles felt, singing: Let the hurricane roar! Well weather the blast. The Value of Adversity For Rose, such challenges as those faced by Caroline act on us like rotary tumblers, those machines that polish gemstones through constant friction. As William Holtz tells us of Rose, a copybook maxim from school days became the determining condition of her life. Sweet are the uses of adversity. Years later, she wrote to a friend, I am amaybe fanaticbeliever in the uses of adversity. In her arguments for the older ideas and ways of liberty, before the advent of government social programs, Rose recognized that true freedom brings risks and hardships. It means standing on our own two feet and sometimes facing terrible odds, but the payoff for her and her characters in Let the Hurricane Roar is the pride and dignity that accompany both defeat and victory. When Charles returns to the dugout after failing to find work on his first attempt, he is bitter and short with Caroline, angry about his debts and his lack of money. As she listens to him, Caroline gains new insight into her young husband. Suddenly she was almost happy, because she understood why he hadnt come to her for comfort. It was his pridehis pride in taking care of her and the baby She wouldnt love him at all without that pride; he wouldnt be Charles without it. That was why he fought to save it; that was why he fought for it even against her. He must not lose his pride; it was their most precious possession. Optimism Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were the guiding stars in Rose Wilder Lanes philosophy. In her own day, her beliefs in individualism and freedom were considered radical, and even more so now, when our lives are encumbered by a thicket of laws and regulations. She always remained well aware of the burdens and responsibilities that this freedom imposed on men and women, yet she also believed that one of the great rewards of true liberty was hope for the future. In the depths of her dark winter, Caroline composes a letter to Charles in which she writes: We are having hard times now, but we should not dwell upon them but think of the future I trust that, like our own parents, we may live to see times more prosperous than they have been in the past, and we will then reflect with satisfaction that these hard times were not in vain. In another scene, their closest neighborsa Swedish immigrant and his wife who live a mile awaydecide to abandon their claim and return east to Minnesota. When the man complains bitterly Ta dam country. No tam goot, Rose has Caroline offer this response: The countrys all right, Mr. Svenson, Caroline said. Suddenly she felt that he was a foreigner; no American would talk like that. She said sharply, No countrys going to feed you with a spoon. Caroline and Charles Ingalls (Public Domain) A moment later, she tells him, Its men that make a country. The Legacy In 1965, at the age of 78, Rose flew to Vietnam to report on the war there. On her return, as William Holtz reports, she spoke to a local reporter not only about her impressions of that country, which were favorable, but also about the United States. Over 50 years ago, she identified problems that today have become acute, including our ruinous debt and the loss of state prerogatives to the federal government. Yet in this interview, Rose also said of the future: The country will pull through. I may not be here to see it but well come through. Were that kind of people. A woman walks in a subway station with two children in Beijing on July 5, 2022. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images) Returning Beijing Residents Asked to Wear COVID-19 Monitoring Bracelets, Triggering Public Outrage Beijing residents returning from domestic trips have been asked by authorities in some communities to wear COVID-19 monitoring bracelets. The orders prompted wide criticism from the public over escalated government surveillance. According to mainland Chinese media outlet Caixin, a female Beijing resident who returned from Guangdong on July 13 was told by the community office that she must quarantine at home for seven days. At 1 a.m., a community staffer came to give her an electronic monitoring bracelet and asked her to download the Wei Health app to upload the data collected by the bracelet. She was told that she had to wear it throughout the quarantine period so that it could monitor her body temperature. The product manual describes the bracelet as a multi-signal sensing device, with functions including body temperature measurement, heart rate monitoring, and exercise monitoring. It also states that the device needs to be worn 24 hours per day. A staff member of a community office in the Chaoyang district of Beijing told Caixin that the COVID-19 monitoring bracelet is a new control measure ordered by authorities a few days ago, and its most useful function is to pinpoint the wearers precise location. Public Outrage Some Beijing residents shared on social media that they had also been asked to wear the COVID-19 monitoring bracelets. They complained that they were already reporting their body temperatures regularly to authorities and had taken various tests during quarantine. The new order from the authorities requiring them to wear monitoring bracelets was excessive, they said. They also criticized some people and officials for using COVID-19 prevention measures as opportunities to make money. Residents of the Tiantongyuan community said they hadnt seen any official policy or regulations about wearing monitoring bracelets and questioned whether it violates personal privacy. After many complaints, community staffers eventually took the bracelets back. The staff of the Wangquan Sub-District Office in Shunyi district told the Beijing Radio Station that the city has selected three districts to trial the monitoring bracelet measures. On July 14, staff at Beijing Municipal Health Commission stated that they never issued any policies to require wearing monitoring bracelets. It might be local communities epidemic prevention measures, they said. Mass Surveillance A sign noting that the area is under video surveillance is pictured on a pole while people walk on a street in Beijing on Nov. 25, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters) Current affairs commentator Wang He told The Epoch Times on July 15 that such orders must be the policy of Beijing authorities and that the way he saw it, the health commission isnt telling the truth. Beijing is conducting an unannounced pilot program with the monitoring bracelets, he said. But because the matter is too sensitive and facing a lot of public backlash, the commission is denying that it has such a policy. Lai Jianping, an international law scholar, agreed that the new order was most likely planned and pushed by higher-level authorities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He noted that the company producing the monitoring bracelets, Beijing Microchip Perception Technology Co., belongs to the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and the Haidian district government. Besides expanding government surveillance of citizens, there is another purpose, which is to take this opportunity to obtain government funds through government procurement of the device. Wang said that this shows that the CCPs COVID-19 prevention industry has grown, and also that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the CCP with an unprecedented opportunity to make its digital totalitarian surveillance system reach a historic level. It has gone from vaccination and nucleic acid testing to the monitoring bracelet to completely control people. It can control whoever it wants to. This is a very scary sign. Fang Xiao and Yi Ru contributed to the report. Police patrol Union Square in San Francisco on Nov. 30, 2021. Stores have increased security in response to a spike in thefts. (Ethan Swope/Getty Images) San Franciscos New DA Goes on Firing Spree After Voters Recall Predecessor The new district attorney (DA) in San Francisco fired at least 15 employees from the prosecutors office after her left-wing predecessor, Chesa Boudin, was recalled last month. Today, I made difficult, but important changes to my management team and staff that will help advance my vision to restore a sense of safety in San Francisco by holding serious and repeat offenders accountable and implementing smart criminal justice reforms, San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins said in a statement about the firings. I promised the public that I would restore accountability and consequences to the criminal justice system while advancing smart reforms responsibly. My new management team with decades of prosecutorial experience at the highest levels, will help our office deliver on that promise. I have full faith and confidence that these women will promote and protect public safety while delivering justice in all of its various forms. Among those who were fired was former San Francisco Managing Attorney Arcelia Hurtado, who headed the citys Innocence Commission. Hurtado expressed her disappointment on Twitter, invoking her ethnicity and sexual orientation. After over 2 years of tireless and devoted service to the City and [County] of SF, I was unceremoniously fired without cause via phone by the Mayors appointed DA, she wrote. I am the highest-ranking Latina/LGBTQ member of the management team at that office. I will continue the fight 4justice. Other staffers to lose their jobs at the district attorneys office included Rachel Marshall and Simin Shamji, KRON-4 reported. Recall Boudin was recalled on June 7 amid criticism of a citywide surge in crime, homelessness, and drug usage in public. Jenkins quit Boudins office in 2021 after joining the DAs office in 2014. Last month, Boudin told the San Francisco Chronicle that he became a scapegoat for the spike in crime. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin looks on during an election-night event in San Francisco on June 7, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A lot of my supporters and endorsements and donors and Democratic clubs that were behind me are urging me to run now or in 2023, Boudin said. Im committed, as I always have been my entire life, to doing the work to support our communities, to fight for a fairer system of justice. Controversial billionaire investor George Soross network of left-wing organizations provided Boudin with $600,000 for his 2019 election, according to The Washington Times. However, after he was recalled, a spokesperson for Soros said he never contributed to Boudin. We disagree with any analysis that labels any prosecutor as a Soros prosecutoreach candidate stands on their own, a spokesperson told The Washington Free Beacon. Justice & Public Safety PAC, the political action committee through which Mr. Soros supports prosecutor candidates, has not supportedin the past or in the present, directly or indirectlyBoudin. But according to the Free Beacon report, Smart Justice California Action Fund donated about $180,000 to oppose Boudins recall. That group received funding from the California wing of the Justice & Public Safety PAC. Krista (R) and Kristianna Day at the Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center Opera House on July 16, 2022. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times) WASHINGTON, D.C.For emergency medicine physician Krista Day, Shen Yun presented a wonderful expression of something beyond us, greater than us. I thought it was beautiful, she said after seeing Shen Yun at the Kennedy Center Opera House on the afternoon of July 16. I love the message of us being divine beings. I also believe that we were divine beings who came from heaven. Based in New York, Shen Yun is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance and music company. It was formed in 2006 by leading Chinese artists with a mission to revive Chinas divinely inspired culture. Shen Yun presents a series of story-based dances as well as ethnic and folk dances from different parts of China, along with musical presentations. The opening scene of the performance tells the journey of divine beings who follow the mighty Creator to Earth, reincarnating in Chinas imperial court, according to the performances program book. Krista Day said she appreciated how Shen Yun interweaves important themes into the performance as part of its artistic presentation. I love how theyre incorporating trues messages into the beauty of art, Krista Day said. She also commended the pieces that depict the brutality of the Chinese communist regime in todays China. Krista Days daughter, Kristianna Day, said the piece showing the Chinese regime suppressing spiritual believers in China made her cry. It really shows that they [the Chinese regime] prioritize a few and then persecute the rest, said Kristianna Day, a college student. Kristianna Day said she also enjoyed the lyrics of the songs performed by Shen Yun vocalists who use the bel canto style to sing Chinese text. The lyrics are rich with spiritual themes, and some lines highlight the modern worlds ills. Kristianna Day said she is studying to be a scientist herself but realizes that divinity has an important role in all aspects of life. I think when you try to explain things without God, thats where you start to run into problems, she said. People believed in a deity for ages. Makes You Feel Better Betty at the Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center Opera House on July 16, 2022. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times) Betty, a retired probation officer, said she flew from Puerto Rico just to see Shen Yun. Its something that you come to see because it makes you feel better. There are so many things that are so natural that [arent] about money, or sex, or violence. This is just to see the beautiful things that the show has, said Betty. She said she has to use an alias as she cant give her full name due to professional obligations. Betty said todays world is pessimistic and materialistic, so its a positive when Shen Yun can give people hope. [People can] start looking for happiness in places other than the mall, or the bar, that you have to put something in your body to have fun, she said. Shen Yun, she added, offers both beauty and a chance to learn about Chinese culture. It was very colorful, so colorful that it was almost mesmerizing to your eyes, she said. Its something that is very beautiful because it [is] spiritual. Reporting by Frank Liang and Terri Wu. The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006. Yuhua Zhang speaks about her experience being tortured while detained in China because of her faith in Falun Gong, at a rally in Goshen, N.Y., on July 17, 2022. Falun Gong adherents have been persecuted in China for nearly 23 years. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times) Survivors Share Stories of Torture in Chinese Prisons on 23-Year Mark of Persecution of Falun Gong GOSHEN, N.Y.Under the blazing, late-morning sun, a petite woman walked onto a small stage. She picked up the microphone and started to talk. Her voice was clear, sometimes agitated and almost reaching a cry, then calm again. The images evoked by her words were so ghastly that they jerked the listener out of the bright, small-town park and into a dark world some 6,000 miles away. My name is Yuhua Zhang, she began. I used to be a professor and chair of the Russian Languages Department at Nanjing Normal University in China. Because of my faith in Falun Gong, I was fired by my university. From October 2000 to November 2012, I was incarcerated in several locations, including [the] Womens Labor Camp of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Detention Center, and Nanjing Womens Prison. I suffered many kinds of torture for several years. Here, I would like to tell you some of what I experienced. Campaign of Misery Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline and meditation practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The practice found itself the target of Beijings wrath 23 years ago after the discipline gained significant traction in China, with up to 100 million people practicing in 1999. On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a whole-of-government campaign against Falun Gong. The plan was to eradicate the popular meditation practice in three monthsin time for the party chair at the time, Jiang Zemin, to claim a victory before the Partys National Congress in the fall. A tried and proven machinery of the repressive state was set into motion: All the media in the country were commanded to print and broadcast a nonstop barrage of propaganda blaming adherents of Falun Gong for every possible societal ill. Overnight, the practice was declared illegal. Teaching the practice, sharing its literature, or even speaking positively about it became punishable by prison or worse. Two decades later, reports of people tortured to death in Chinese prisons for the crime of practicing Falun Gong keep coming. Zhang, 62, spoke of her last arrest, in November 2011. The police took me to a hospital, where they injected me two times by force with an unknown drug. They also tied my hands and legs to a bed, firmly pinched my cheek to force my mouth open, and force-fed me some drugs. These drugs caused me to have a numb tongue, stiff limbs, convulsions, and extreme pain. I lost consciousness, she said, speaking at a rally to commemorate the 23 years since the persecution began. The next morning, they forced a tube up my nose and into my stomach, and poured a few vials of unknown drugs into my stomach. I started to feel dizzy, had heart palpitations, nausea, twitching, and muscle pain. The twitching was accompanied by bouts of throat spasms, and my facial muscles tightened. I couldnt open my mouth and had difficulty breathing. My heartbeat was racing as though I was about to die. My fingers were stretching uncontrollably. I experienced excruciating pain and lost consciousness. Methods of Torture There are thousands of stories like Zhangs. Xia Haizhen, 46, originally from Shanghai, spent a total of seven years in the Shanghai Womens Prison. Her first arrest was in 2003, simply for visiting somebody who practiced Falun Gong, she said during the rally, held in the town of Goshen, New York, on July 17. Xia Haizhen speaks about her experience being tortured in a Chinese prison because of her faith in Falun Gong, at a rally in Goshen, N.Y., on July 17, 2022. Falun Gong adherents have been persecuted in China for nearly 23 years. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times) More than 20 police officers took turns interrogating me day and night. They handcuffed my hands, forcibly locked me to an iron chair for six days and six nights, and lit a very bright light bulb in [front of] my eyes, preventing me from sleeping, Haizhen said. I went on a hunger strike to protest. A policeman forced me to walk around the concrete floor barefoot, pulling me by the handcuffs on my wrists. When I didnt cooperate, he kicked my head with his leather shoes. After six days, she was taken to the prison hospital. I was forcibly held down by four policemen and handcuffed to an iron chair, she said. One policeman grabbed my hair and prevented me from moving. Another policeman roughly inserted a thick hard plastic tube up my nose and into my stomach. My nose started bleeding immediately. Then they put me on the death bed, stretched out my arms and legs, and tied me down with a few ropes so that my body could not move. The ropes were so tight that they dug into my flesh. The pain was unbearable. In order to increase my pain, one police officer pulled the plastic tube back and forth every few minutes, causing a lot of blood to flow from my nasal cavity. I stayed on the hunger strike for 13 days, and all I vomited was black liquid. Haizhen was eventually released after three years, but then arrested again in 2012. She was kept in a cell smaller than 10-by-10 feet in size, with six other inmates to watch over her. The prison guards electrocuted me with electric batons, forced me to wear a straitjacket, and handcuffed my hands behind my back for 15 days. Prison guards used loudspeakers to force me to listen to songs praising the CCP repeatedly. At the same time, the guards and the inmates who were watching me came every hour to pull the handcuffs and torture me, she said. Some of the torture methods were simple. In the winter, the guards would tie her to a chair by an open window for two days straight until her hands and feet would become numb from frostbite. Once, she was forced to sit on a hard, tiny bench with an irregular surface. After being forced to sit on the bench for a long time, my rear end was bleeding and sticking to my pants. Every moment was painful, she said. One time, she was forced to hold a glass of scalding-hot water between her thighs. Other times, the guards would send other inmates to beat and abuse her. One prisoner pulled out her hair, one handful after another, she said. Another prisoner scratched her back with her fingernails until it was covered in blood. But some of the most intense torture, in her description, was the brainwashing. They forced me to watch videos made with lies that reversed black and white. I closed my eyes and refused to watch, and the prisoner pinched my eyelids and forbade me to close my eyes. She also put headphones on me, turned the volume to the maximum, and forced me to listen to the shameless slander of Falun Gong, she said. I felt like my spirit was being stabbed with one stroke after another endlessly. It was the proper description of hell, she said. I couldnt survive, I couldnt die, and my spirit was almost collapsed. Only the three words of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance [Falun Gongs tenets] were in my mind and supported me through this very dark experience. When I came out of the prison, my entire body was blue and purple, scarred, and skinny. Upon her release in 2016, Haizhen managed to escape to the United States. Today, I can stand on the free land of the United States and have the freedom to believe in truthfulness, compassion, forbearance. I feel extremely lucky, she said. However, in todays China, thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners are still suffering the brutal persecution that I once suffered. Falun Gong adherents meditate in a park in Goshen., N.Y., on July 17, 2022. A few hundred adherents of the spiritual practice gathered in the park to commemorate the 23 years since the Chinese Communist Party launched a persecution of their fellows in faith in China. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times) She called on kind-hearted people to lend a helping hand to jointly stop and end this inhumane persecution as soon as possible. Worlds Response The persecution of Falun Gong has been denounced by governments all over the world, including in a number of U.S. Congress resolutions and U.N. reports. In 2020, an independent tribunal in the UK determined that the CCP has been killing imprisoned Falun Gong adherents and other dissidents for their organs, which are then used for transplants, often for high-paying foreign patients. Falun Gong adherents hold banners along a road in Goshen., N.Y., on July 17, 2022. A few hundred adherents of the spiritual practice gathered in the town to commemorate 23 years since the Chinese Communist Party launched a persecution of their fellows in faith in China. (Petr Svab/The Epoch Times) Still, the topic draws relatively little attention in government and media, leaving it largely to adherents of Falun Gong themselves to spread the word, several attendants of the rally said. Its important because somebody has to do it. Nobody does, said Julia Baniasadi, 44, who attended the rally with her family. In China, the CCP keeps a tight grip on information about the persecution, especially about the torture and abuse in prisons. A lot of Chinese people in China, they dont even know about the persecution, Baniasadi said. Julia Baniasadi (R) with her daughter Nikou (C) and other family members and relatives at a rally against the persecution of Falun Gong in China, in Goshen, N.Y., on July 17, 2022. (Petr Svab/The Epoch Times) Even in the United States, the media have seldom touched the topic. The media cover a lot of it up, Baniasadis daughter Nikou, 18, said. Just mainstream media, they dont report on it, they dont present it, nothing. For some reason, its always hushed up. So I guess we just have to take our own initiative to go out and tell people. Falun Gong adherents practice meditative exercises in a park in Goshen., N.Y., on July 17, 2022. A few hundred adherents of the spiritual practice gathered in the park to commemorate the 23 years since the Chinese Communist Party launched a persecution of their fellows in faith in China. (Petr Svab/The Epoch Times) In this special episode, we sat down with Frank Gaffney, executive chairman at the Center for Security Policy. Hes one of the authors who released the report, titled The CCP is at War with America. It touches on the pandemic and beyond. Gaffney said, We are aimed at focusing Americans attentionand for that matter otherson a reality that an awful lot of folks still dont understand. And that is that the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] has, basically, since it came to power, had its sights set on destroying America in the interest of achieving its objectives, which are global domination. As for how to do that, Gaffney noted that what we need to do is go back to that speech by then-Defense Minister Chi Haotian, in which he very explicitly said, theres a lot of talk about Taiwan, but the real target of our operations and warfighting strategy is the United States. And what I think we have been confronting is certainly evidence that the Chinese are deadly serious about having their way with Taiwan. But whats less obvious, but no less important, is to understand that they realize that, whatever theyre going to do vis-a-vis Taiwan, or, for that matter, anything else in the western Pacific, theyre going to have to neutralize the United States. We also sat down with Rafael Fontana, Brazilian journalist and author of Chernobyl, a Journey through the Guts of Communist Dictatorship. He shares what it was like working for the media in China and breaks down what makes Brazil strategically important to the United Stattes, why Washington doesnt seem to care, and how Beijing is using that against the West. Fontana said, Just a few months after my return from China, I was hired by Huawei in 2019 as public relations director in Brazil, in the capital of Brazil. When I was interviewed by the vice president of communications in Brazil, I realized that that he was a member of the CCP. A few days later, I attended a meeting in Sao Paulo, and all the top executives in the office were members of the Party. He added that at the start of the pandemic, we heard from the mouth of the VPwho was a member of the CCPthat we need to find ways to retaliate Brazil. Listen, a company doesnt retaliates a country; only a nation retaliates another nation, so it became clear that Huawei in Brazil was following the CCP commands. He added, Chinas influence in Brazil is growing fast, and this influence should worry the United States. First, Brazil will hold an election this October, and China is compromised to interfere in the election results in order to elect someone [who] calls to the Beijing agenda. Secondly, Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America. Brazil has a loan more than half of South America combined in GDP. Its the greatest USA ally in the hemisphere. So Brazil is important for both trade and business. Now, the third point; there is a military situation also. In Latin America, Brazil possesses the largest coastline in the Atlantic Ocean. It is strategic for military reasons. Another point is drug cartels, as I told you before, are growing again. And this is bringing more risk to U.S. citizens. Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, and now Colombia are taken by the CCP. Brazil is the last in the region to help the U.S. to keep both the communism and drug cartels out of America. Have other topics you want us to cover? Drop us a line: chinainfocus@ntdtv.org And if youd like to buy us a coffee: https://donorbox.org/china-in-focus Subscribe to our newsletter for more first-hand news from China. Follow China in Focus on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChinaInFocusNTD Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@chinainfocus Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/chinainfocus Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NTDChinainFocus Gab: https://gab.com/ChinaInFocus Telegram: https://t.me/ChinainFocusNTD Click the Save button below the video to access it later on My List Follow EpochTV on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@EpochTV Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV US citizen Asim Ghafoor, the former lawyer of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was sentenced by a court in the United Arab Emirates to three years in prison, state news WAM reported Saturday. The Abu Dhabi Money Laundering Court convicted Ghafoor of committing two crimes of tax evasion and money laundering related to a tax evasion operation in his country and sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of three million dirhams [$US 816,748], with deportation from the UAE, according to WAM. Ghafoor, who is also a co-founder and board member of their organization, was detained by UAE security agents at Dubai International Airport, human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) had said in a Friday news release. According to WAM, the case came up when American authorities asked for judicial assistance from the UAE regarding their investigations of Ghafoor for alleged tax evasion and making suspicious money transfers to the UAE, which prompted Abu Dhabis inquiry into his bank accounts. The UAE Public Prosecution (PP) in Abu Dhabi started to implement and study the judicial assistance request and verify the nature of the financial transactions related to the accounts and bank transfer, WAM reported. The PP reportedly found suspicion of a money laundering crime that occurred in the country. The PP praised the mutual coordination to combat transnational crimes with the United States, which led to the arrest of the accused, and his presentation to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court in accordance with the legal procedures established in this regard, WAM reported. The US State Department responded to Ghafoors sentencing Saturday. We are aware of the arrest of U.S. citizen Asim Ghafoor in the UAE. We have raised his detention at senior levels with Emirati authorities and requested additional information. We are watching his case closely and providing appropriate consular support; consular officers from the U.S. Embassy visited him today, a State Department spokesperson said. We have conveyed our expectation that Mr. Ghafoors rights to a fair and public hearing and to fair trial guarantees be fully respected and that he be treated humanely, as well as that U.S. rights to consular access be fully respected. Story continues DAWN had said they informed the US State Department of his detention on Thursday, when he arrived from the US to Dubai in transit to Istanbul. DAWN said US consular officials met with Ghafoor Friday and said he was being held in Abu Dhabi on charges related to an in absentia money laundering conviction, but Ghafoor had no knowledge of any legal matter against him and no reason to believe he was involved in any legal dispute in the UAE, according to a Friday news release issued by DAWN. Ghafoor transited through the Dubai International Airport without incident less than a year ago, according to DAWN. CNN has reached out to the UAE government for further comment. We are outraged at the unjustified detention of our board member and extremely concerned for his health and physical security given the well-documented record of abuse in the UAE, including torture and inhuman treatment, Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, said Friday. We urge the Biden administration to secure the release of an arbitrarily detained American lawyer before agreeing to meet with the UAEs leader [Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan] in Jeddah tomorrow. US officials had said earlier Saturday they were aware of reports Ghafoor had been detained in the UAE but declined to offer any other details on his arrest. I will say theres no indication that it has anything to do with Khashoggi, or anything else. But we are aware of it, a senior US administration official said. When President Joe Biden met with UAEs President Sheikh Mohammed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, both leaders ignored shouted questions about Khashoggis former lawyer. Biden publicly invited the UAE leader to Washington before the end of the year. Another administration official said the US raised Ghafoors detention at senior levels with Emirati authorities and requested additional information on his situation. Consular officers from the US Embassy visited with Ghafoor Saturday, the senior US administration official said. Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and a columnist for the Washington Post who was critical of Saudi rulers, was killed at a consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018. The US declassified an intelligence report last year which concluded Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi. Despite once promising to make Saudi Arabia a pariah on the world stage, Biden fist bumped the Crown Prince upon meeting him in Jeddah on Friday a greeting critics argued validated bin Salman on the world stage and Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan called shameful. Biden told reporters later he raised Khashoggis killing directly with Prince bin Salman and said he believed the Crown Prince was responsible. Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan told reporters Saturday The Crown Prince responded to President Bidens remarks on the Khashoggi affair quite clearly, that this crime while very unfortunate and abhorrent is something that the Kingdom took very seriously, acted upon in a way commensurate with its position as a responsible country. These are issues, mistakes that happen in any country, including the US. DAWN is an organization describing itself on its website as a dedicated group of analysts, researchers, lawyers and activists who aim to fulfill Khashoggis vision of helping to promote democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Dr. Brian Babin (D.D.S), a congressman serving the 36th district of Texas, with his wife, Roxanne, at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2022. (Weiyong Zhu/The Epoch Times) WASHINGTON, D.C.Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) and his wife Roxanne saw Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the Kennedy Center Opera House on July 15. Wonderful, it is absolutely wonderful, said Dr. Babin (D.D.S.). The talent of the dancers, the background, the graphics fantastic. Shen Yun was formed in 2006 by a group of leading Chinese artists in New York, where they enjoy artistic freedom. The mission of the artists was to revive Chinas divinely inspired culture, which had been all but destroyed under the rule of the communist regime. According to the companys website, Shen Yun presents China before communism. The performance features story-based dances, showing uplifting stories and legends from ancient China and scenes from todays China, where the communist regime restricts basic freedoms. Its wonderful, the tales, the historythe 5,000 years of history in China. And then we started seeing some of the terrible things that are happening in China under the Communist Party; I think the American people need to see this, the world needs to see this, Dr. Babin said. He added that Shen Yuns mission to revive Chinas culture is very worthwhile. This type of spirituality going on in China itself, we would love to see that happening. Unfortunately, the Communist Party doesnt allow it, and theres persecution of it. Its just terrible. Ms. Babin said she enjoyed the beauty and the culture in Shen Yun, saying that the grace and the beauty of the Chinese history stood out for her. Dr. Babin said all aspects of Shen Yun were memorable for him. Very Moving Timothy Sharpe, chief of operations & logistics at the Joint Staff, with his wife, Dr. Brigitte Sharpe, at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2022. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times) Timothy Sharpe, chief of operations and logistics at the Joint Staff, also attended the Shen Yun performance with his wife Brigitte, an emergency medicine doctor, at the Kennedy Center Opera House on July 15. We really enjoy the aspect of learning about the traditional Chinese culture, Mr. Sharpe said. The spirit and the culture of the Chinese people, its very moving and inspirational. You dont usually see that in your day-to-day life. Since Shen Yuns inception in 2006, the company has grown from one to seven equally large companies that tour the world simultaneously. However, Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China, where the Chinese Communist Party is in power. Mr. Sharpe said given the restriction imposed by the communist regime, its important to get the story out. Reporting by Weiyong Zhu, Frank Liang, and Jennifer Schneider. The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006. Pipes of the gas storage plant Reckrod are pictured near Eiterfeld, central Germany, July 14, 2022, after the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was shut down due to maintenance. (The Canadian Press/AP/Michael Probst) Trudeau, Zelenskyy Talk Turbines as Ukrainian Supporters Ready to Protest Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Sunday that his stance on sanctions against Russia must be principled at a time when relations between Canada and the embattled country are somewhat strained. Zelenskyy shared his comments on Twitter after the leaders held a phone call to discuss Canadas controversial decision to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany. In a short statement, Zelenskyy said he thanked Trudeau for the continued powerful defense support, but also spoke about the importance of upholding the sanctions. After the terrorist attacks in Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Chasiv Yar, etc. the pressure must be increased, not decreased, he said. An official account of the discussion has not yet been released by the prime ministers office. Canada agreed earlier this month to grant an exemption to the economic sanctions issued against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The two-year waiver would allow six Siemens Energy turbines, which were in Montreal for repairs, to be returned to Germany for use in the Russian state-owned Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Trudeau has previously defended the decision and said Canadas German ally relies on the natural gas supply from the pipeline. In a written and video address last week, however, Zelenskyy called the move absolutely unacceptable. Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom reduced gas deliveries from its Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs to northeastern Germany, by 60 percent last month, citing turbine-related technical problems. The Ottawa chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has planned a protest on Parliament Hill on Sunday afternoon to urge the government to revoke the waiver. Both Canada and Germany, we feel, have been manipulated here by the Russians, said Ukrainian Congress national executive director Ihor Michalchyshyn ahead of the planned protest. The group contends Canada bowed to Russian blackmail and set a dangerous precedent that will lead to the weakening of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia. This is a decision that has angered Canadians and the Ukrainian government as well, Michalchyshyn said. He said Ukrainian-Canadians involved in his group initially expressed surprise and disappointment when they learned that Canada would allow the turbines to be returned. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is expected to appear at a foreign affairs committee meeting to discuss the decision, along with the ambassadors of Ukraine, Germany and the European Union to Canada. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson have also been summoned to the committee to answer questions about the exception. By Laura Osman Russian space agency Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina trains during preparation for space mission at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in the Star City, outside Moscow, Russia, on July 8, 2022. (Irina Spektor, Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC), Roscosmos space agency, via AP) US, Russian Astronauts Will Swap Seats on Rockets Again CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.NASA astronauts will go back to riding Russian rockets under an agreement announced Friday, and Russian cosmonauts will catch lifts to the International Space Station with SpaceX beginning this fall. The agreement ensures that the space station will always have at least one American and Russian on board to keep both sides of the orbiting outpost running smoothly, according to NASA and Russian officials. The swap had long been in the works and was finalized despite tensions over Moscows war in Ukraine, a sign of continuing RussiaU.S. cooperation in space. U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio will launch to the space station from Kazakhstan with two Russians in September. That same month, Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, will join two Americans and one Japanese aboard a SpaceX rocket flying from Florida. Another crew swap will occur next spring. No money will exchange hands under the agreement, according to NASA. Backdropped against clouds over Earth, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two orbital spacecraft accomplish their relative separation on March 7, 2011. (NASA via AP) NASA astronauts routinely launched on Russian Soyuz rocketsfor tens of millions of dollars apieceuntil SpaceX started flying station crews from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in 2020. Russian cosmonauts rode to the space station on NASAs shuttles back in the early 2000s. Before that, during the 1990s, astronauts and cosmonauts took turns flying on each others spacecraft to and from Russias Mir station. Fridays news came just hours after the blustery chief of the Russian space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, was replaced by President Vladimir Putin, although the move did not appear to have any connection to the crew swap. Rogozin was expected to be given a new post. NASA said the agreement will ensure continued safe operations of the space station and protect those living on board. Seven people are up there right now: three Americans and one Italian who flew up with SpaceX and three Russians who arrived in a Soyuz. By Marcia Dunn Wildfire Rages in Bordeaux; Fire Pilot Killed in Portugal PARISStrong winds and hot, dry weather frustrated French firefighters efforts Saturday to contain a huge wildfire that raced across pine forests in the Bordeaux region for a fifth straight day, one of several wildfires scorching Europe this week. Among the worst fires have been in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighting plane died Friday when his plane crashed while on an operation in the northeast. It was the first fire fatality in Portugal this year but the blazes have injured more than 160 people this week and forced hundreds to be evacuated. Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after an unusually dry, hot spring that left the soil parched. As the worst French fire moved closer to inhabited towns, some of the 11,000 people who evacuated in the region described fear and uncertainty about what theyd find when they get back home. Images shared by firefighters showed flames shooting across a mass of pine trees and black smoke stretching across the horizon. Firefighters focused efforts Saturday on using fire trucks to surround villages at risk and save as many homes as possible, Charles Lafourcade, overseeing the French firefighting operation, told reporters. Some 3,000 firefighters backed by water-dumping planes are battling the blazes in southern France, the president said, and Greece sent firefighting equipment to help. French firefighters managed to contain one of the worst fires overnight, near the Atlantic coast resort of Arcachon that is popular with tourists, the regional emergency service said Saturday. But it said tough meteorological conditions thwarted efforts to contain the biggest fire in the region, which started in the town of Landiras, south of a valley of Bordeaux vineyards. Regional prosecutors suspect arson. The two fires have burned at least 9,650 hectares (23,800 acres) in recent days. Firefighters using hose to fight a wildfire near Landiras, southwestern France, on July 14, 2022. (SDIS 33 via AP) In Portugal, more than 1,000 firefighters worked Saturday alongside ordinary citizens desperate to save their homes after a long week of battling multiple blazes around the country. Portuguese state television RTP reported Friday that the area burned this yearmore than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres)has already exceeded the total for 2021. Most of it burned in the past week. National Republican Guard firefighters put out a forest fire in the village of Rebolo near Ansiao central Portugal on, July 14, 2022. (Armando Franca/AP Photo) Across the border, Spain was struggling to contain several fires, including two that have burned about 7,400 hectares (18,200 acres). In southern Andalusia, 3,000 people were evacuated from villages in danger from a blaze that started near the village of Mijas in the province of Malaga. Around 200 firefighters supported by 18 aircraft tried to contain the fire. Authorities were investigating its cause. For a sixth day, firefighters were also trying to bring under control a fire started by a lightning strike in the west-central Las Hurdes area. Some 400 people from eight villages were evacuated Friday as the flames approached their houses and threatened to spread into the nearby Monfrague National Park. Croatia and Hungary have also fought wildfires this week, as have California and Morocco. Temperature-related deaths have surged in Spain this week amid a heat wave that has kept highs above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many areas. According to Spains Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily, 237 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 1014. That was compared to 25 temperature-related deaths the previous week. Portuguese authorities said a July national record high of 47 C (117 F) hit the northern town of Pinhao on Wednesday. Britains Met Office weather agency has issued its first-ever red warning of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England may reach 40 C (104 F) for the first time. The British government was holding an emergency response meeting Saturday to plan for the high temperatures. People in the UK have already been warned not to travel unless absolutely necessary and schools and nursing homes have been told to take extra precautions. In Turkeythe scene of devastating wildfires last summerlocal media reported fires in the western province of Izmir and in Hatay between the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian border. Helicopters, planes and hundreds of firefighters tackled the blazes. Fires fed by strong winds and scorching temperatures last year tore through Turkeys Mediterranean and Aegean regions, killing at least eight people and leading to fierce criticism of the government for its inadequate preparation and response. By Rita Giordano From The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday was a great day for the Shore, but Erica Lapid, a resident of Somers Point, did the reverse pleasure commute. She came to Philly with one purpose in mind: to feed the giraffes at the Philadelphia Zoos newest exhibit, Giraffe Encounter. Shes so cute! Lapid cooed, as Stella, the zoos giraffe matriarch, lowered her long neck to nibble on an outstretched branch of acacia leaves. Good job! To Lapid, it was definitely worth the trip. Theyre so sweet, she said. Theyre so docile and calm. These times, she acknowledged, have been anything but gentle or calm. Im a psychotherapist. Our job has been particularly stressful, trying to support our people, said Lapid, 35. There is an innocence and playfulness about animals. This gives you a reprieve from the problems of the world. From the looks of things Sunday, an extra $6 ($5 for members) was a small price to pay for a bit of giraffe feeding therapy, and the zoos resident trioStella, Abigail, and Beaseemed quite happy to oblige. A steady stream of zoo visitors queued up for a chance to interact with the gentle giants. Our new Giraffe Encounter is an incredible way for guests to get up close and personal with our tallest residents, said Dani Hogan, the zoos director of mission integration. Hogan said the exhibit also helped the zoo enhance the lives of our giraffes. The new exhibit allows the giraffes more interaction with the public and gives them more space, Hogan said. In the experience-oriented exhibit, guests are given a branch of browsethe name for the leafy treat people get to offer the giraffes. Although the exhibit officially opened Thursday, Hogan said zoo staff have been getting the giraffes used to feeding from various folks for weeks. Being such large animals that eat a lot of leaves and grasses65 to 75 pounds a daythe giraffes, which seem to take turns feeding and pace themselves, have yet to show signs of getting full. But Hogan said zoo staff are keeping data. Were being very scientific about this whole thing, and we are looking for what we call the saturation point, she said. Giraffe Encounter may also give people a greater appreciation of these creatures, which are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to zoo staff, there are believed to be fewer than 100,000 giraffes surviving the wild, with their populations decreasing by more than 40 percent over the last three decades due to poaching and habitat destruction. Zoo visitors seemed glad to get better acquainted with the three local giraffes. It was really cool, said Ellie Roller, 6, of Bensalem, who fed Bea, the youngest, with her twin brother Lukas. The giraffe came right to me! Rachel and Bill Heinlein of South Philadelphia brought their two children, Gabriel, 5, and Santina, 8 months. It was nice because its interactive, said Rachel Heinlein, 29. The family had just become zoo members, she added, so theyll have ample chances to repeat the experience. Quite a few visitors said the Giraffe Encounter, given recent events, comes at a good time. Mariah Wetherby, 4, and Tyler Wetherby, of Pitman, New Jersey, feed a giraffe at the new giraffe feeding encounter at the Philadelphia Zoo. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS) It kind of shuts off the outside world a little bit, said Lauren Crammer, 34, of West Philadelphia, visiting the zoo with family members. Its nice to get your mind off things a little, said Ashley Abusaad, 31, of Warminster, visiting the zoo with her husband, Mohammed, 36, and their 23-month-old daughter, Layali. Abusaad, a special education teacher with the Philadelphia School District, said she hopes to bring her students to the giraffe exhibit when classes resume. Ama Armoo, 29, flashed a delighted smile as Stella munched at the acacia branch Armoo was offering her, and her boyfriend Allan Edzii, 29, took photographs. It was the Virginia couples last day of their first visit to Philadelphia, and feeding the giraffes was a great way to cap it off. At home, youre around everything, she said. When you go to a place like this, it takes you outside of everything going on with a clear head. Copyright 2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Renato Jurado has been going door-to-door in Edwardsville and Highland during June and July, working as a sales representative for Southwestern Advantage. You may have seen his photo posted on Facebook from the police departments in both cities, telling residents not to call the police on him because he acquired valid solicitor's permits to sell door-to-door. Jurado, 22, is from the Republic of Lithuania, a tiny nation of almost three million people on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares borders with Poland, Latvia and Belarus. "I am a college student doing my summer internship program here with Southwestern Advantage," he wrote in a July 11 posting. He doesn't represent any of the schools and he's not affiliated with them in any way. "It is my summer internship and this is the way that I get to pay my way through college. I sell study guides that help parents to help kids with new math and other subjects; study guides that save time doing homework and test preparation; a jump start program for the pre-k kids that give a head start for early development and to prepare for school; and ACT and SAT prep by Princeton Review." This is Jurado's third year in the program but his first time in the U.S. COVID-19 thwarted his previous two attempts to visit. He said a year ago, he was doing the same program but in the United Kingdom. "We got the chance and adapted to the UK system. It wasn't meant to be but we found a way to do it there," he said. Ultimately, Jurado said he wants to own his own business and do some investing, using the skills he has learned in this program - problem-solving, goal-setting, time management and more to help his own business in the future. "So I can have a [debt]-free future," he said. "What I get from here is all of the experience and the communications skills. I meet a lot of people every day and everybody's different, from different backgrounds. You learn to adapt to different situations. I got a lot of plans." He said the student representatives must be quick thinkers and able to solve hurdles on their own. They may get advice from a distance via a phone message or a text but no boss will show up in person to take over when a problem arises. He has not decided where he will go for his August sales but one possibility may be Mascoutah. He was staying in a hotel but now he has a host family with whom he resides. His last day of work is Aug. 27, then he and the other nine students on his team will drive to Miami, Florida for a mini-vacation before they head home. Overall, there are 1,500 students, 500 of which are from Europe. He bought a used Mercedes-Benz sedan to drive for the summer and he'll sell it before he leaves the country. When it comes to his favorite thing here, it's the people and the culture. "So far, they're different. They are way more expressive," he said. "Back home, we are more serious; people don't smile too much. Here, everyone is more fun, they are more chill and relaxed. Jurado said homesickness is not much of a factor for him because he said he is used to being away. "I think more at the end of the summer I will feel that but now, these three months that I have here are a new world for me. I forget everything that's going on back home." Something new he wasn't aware of is that not every church in the U.S. has the same traditional look and from his description, it sounds like he visited Vale United Methodist Church in Bloomington. "I was in a church in the beginning when I came and it was super new," he said. "It didn't even look like a church; it looked like a shopping center. Inside, instead of being all Catholic like we are used to, they sang songs, they were a lecture later on but it was so different from what we have." He mentioned it had a cafe and a children's nursery, too. He also experienced his first Fourth of July here even though he was working that day. He said Lithuania has an independence day, too, but it features ceremonies and soldiers, not fireworks and parties. His only free time is on Sundays so he has not had a lot of time to do anything tourist-like except to see the downtowns of Chicago, St. Louis and Springfield. He said the population of Chicago's metropolitan area is almost four times the population of Lithuania. Trey Campbell, director of communications for Southwest Advantage, talked about the program Renato is part of. The company is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. He said the company started in 1855 as a mail-order business selling mainly Bibles. By 1868, the company expanded in what has become its entrepreneurial program for college and university students, where they learn transferable business, sales, life and leadership skills. More than 200,000 students have participated in the program since Reconstruction and from more than 1,600 campuses. Today, the students carry their entire sales kit within them in branded backpacks and if they have a vehicle, they receive exterior door magnets with the company signage to use when out and about. He said the sales earn the students college credit and while selling items door-to-door might seem like something from 100 years ago, Campbell says there are benefits that don't happen during virtual transactions. "They set themselves apart, going door-to-door," he said. Also, getting out of the students' comfort zones and improving their communication skills would be much more difficult doing this virtually. In person, they can show the parents product examples in their kits that parents can touch, hold and examine versus just looking at it on a screen. "One thing this program also does is allow the students from overseas to practice their English skills, pick up slang and get immersed in the culture," Campbell said. "We love the international students who are part of the program. They put color into the program; they are hard-working, productive and they know English really well." "This opportunity overall is a once-in-a-lifetime and I'm super thankful to be here because I waited for three years to get here," Jurado said. "And I keep getting the best places to sell, like Edwardsville and Highland." For details on the products that Jurado sells, prospective customers can reach him through his Facebook page: fb.com/renatobookman.jurado.7 or they can call Southwestern Advantage at 1-888-551-5901 for more information. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ROME (AP) Pleas were piling up Sunday in Italy aimed at persuading Premier Mario Draghi to stay in office instead of resigning as he tried to do last week after being let down by a populist coalition partner. Hundreds of mayors have signed an open letter. Union leaders and industrialists, who often have opposing agendas, have been united in pressing Draghi to keep on governing. Italy and other European nations are facing soaring energy costs, steep inflation, surging COVID-19 cases and the war in Ukraine. In addition, a severe drought is parching Italy. By Sunday afternoon three days after populist 5-Star Movement senators boycotted a confidence vote tied to an government energy relief bill more than 80,000 citizens had signed a Draghi stay online petition, launched by former Premier Matteo Renzi, who heads a small centrist party in Draghi's 17-month-old government. Let's mobilize ourselves in every way to bring back Draghi to Chigi Palace (the premier's office),'' Renzi tweeted. The letter originally grouped 11 mayors, including from Rome and Milan, but soon gained support from several hundred mayors of cities and towns, state TV said Sunday. The mayors cited the problems of everyday citizens as some of the good reasons Draghi should stay put. Financial markets consider the former European Central Bank chief as a pillar of solid fiscal governance for Italy, which is receiving billions in European Union pandemic recovery funds. If Draghi has been moved by the entreaties, he wasn't saying. The premier has been holed up in a countryside home mulling over what he'll tell Parliament on Wednesday. President Sergio Mattarella, who last week rebuffed Draghi's resignation, told him to lay out the political situation before lawmakers. Clearly not budging was Giuseppe Conte, Draghi's predecessor, who triggered the crisis by having his 5-Star lawmakers walk out of the Senate vote because it contained a provision to build an incinerator in trash-choked Rome that the populists oppose. Depending on support from his coalition partners ranging from the left to the right, Draghi had been forging ahead with economic and other reforms that are a requirement for Italy to receive 200 billion euros ($200 billion) in EU pandemic recovery funds. His steadfast support for Ukraine, including sending military aid despite grumbling by the populists, has earned him statesman status in Europe. Conte, whose left-leaning ruling coalition crumbled in 2021 amid pandemic struggles, over the weekend refused to pledge unwavering support for Draghi's national unity government. After huddling for hours with his squabbling Movement, Conte demanded that Draghi give the 5-Stars guaranteed conditions of respect and said his lawmakers could vote from time to time in favor of government measures. Five-Star Sen. Gianmauro Dell'Olio insisted Sunday that if Draghi "wants to offer us peanuts, I don't believe that it's opportune for us to carry on with this government." Ultimately, Mattarella must decide what to do if Draghi on Wednesday insists on resigning. Mattarella could dissolve Parliament, triggering an early election as soon as late September. He could also see if there is political support for a limited-agenda government to stay in place until Italian lawmakers pass the national budget, necessary by year's end. For the first time in African history, a sitting Nigerian governor, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, asked the American government and allies to see President Muhammadu Buhari and his circle as a troubled administration where the well-being, freedom, safety, and justice for all Nigerians is not just a threat to Nigeria but to America itself as well as the advanced world. Last year at this time, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah, informed American lawmakers that under President Buhari, insecurity, nepotism, and persecution of Christians had worsened. The Buhari administration emotionally continuously accused the bishop of hatred of its regime and of using the pulpit to play politics. However, as a sitting Governor, Ortom is now directly informing Western governments, including the Biden administration and the United Kingdom, that religious freedom and persecution of Nigerian Christians are at an all-time high under Buhari, a Muslim Fulani President. The American government and the international community should decide to monitor Buhari and his circle as the expanding food crisis, increased deaths of innocent citizens, arbitrary terrorism, politization of religion, and mass fear of the government could expose America to migration problems from Nigeria. For far too long, Buhari continues to tell the western world that the herders/farmers crisis is more of a cultural and traditional land dispute than a religious issue, but Ortom pointedly informed the western world that under Buhari, who is ethnically linked to Fulani herdsmen, the situation now appears as a religious genocide. With America and Britain as historically Christian nations, Ortom, who speaks for the vulnerable Christian farming and other communities across the nation, tells the international community they cannot keep ignoring the systematic killing of Christians in Nigeria. And yet, Ortom appears to understand that under Buhari, a Fulani and a Muslim man, who still has a good number of months left in office, could not be ignored knowing that he is not reportedly openly against the importation of religious violence into Nigeria. As such, the western world could see more communities in disarray and Nigerians seeking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, and displaced persons fleeing, risking migration beyond Nigeria. The Buhari administration, known for its close ties to Turkey, Russia, and China, nations that promote poor accountability for human rights violations, should not be allowed to continue behaving indifferently as violent attacks on communities in Benue State continue, with alleged threats to Governor Ortom's life by Fulani herdsmen. Theres no need for Biden, or anyone else, to soft-pedal human rights and security concerns in Nigeria as Ortom is expressing, especially when religious-based violence remains widespread. While I would not directly say Ortom accuses Buhari of stirring turmoil in Nigeria, the daily killings and sufferings are becoming too much for a nation in distress. Buhari, a man who is always on the move, traveling outside the country during times of distress in the streets of Nigeria, is a testament to his apparent indifference to human suffering and his apparent endorsement of unhinged violence, insecurity, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses. Under Buhari, widespread human rights abuses by government security agents and armed groups of Islamic Fulani extraction are a daily occurrence in the north, and in the south, vulnerable Nigerians and state government sanctioned security networks are denied gun licenses to defend themselves against armed groups reportedly of Islamic Fulani background. The United States especially remains proud to be the largest single donor of humanitarian, democracy, and human rights assistance all over the world, so it cannot ignore Buhari and his circle, as reported by Ortom, with Nigeria getting more and possibly dangerous for its people, America, and the international community. The Buhari presidency Instead of thinking loudly that the governor harbors hatred towards Buhari and his administration, it should find objective ways to correct unjust social, economic, and religious fears across the country, before the American government and its closest allies start to take a firm and precision-guided look at Buhari as a leader and as a person. Internationally, to ignore Ortom regarding Buhari under the principle of noninterference is to allow Nigeria to keep tilting towards destructive and very dangerous times. John Egbeazien Oshodi, who was born in Uromi, Edo State in Nigeria to a father who served in the Nigeria police for 37 years, is an American based Police/Prison Scientist and Forensic/Clinical/Legal Psychologist. A government consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult and child psychological services in the USA; Chief Educator and Clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an Online Lifelong Center for Personal, Professional, and Career Development. He is a former Interim Associate Dean/Assistant Professor at Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African Settings In 2011, he introduced State-of-the-Art Forensic Psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C and Nasarawa State University, where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. He is currently a Virtual Behavioral Leadership Professor at ISCOM University, Republic of Benin. Founder of the proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien Open University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of Truth, Ethics, and Openness. Over forty academic publications and creations, at least 200 public opinion pieces on African issues, and various books have been written by him. He specializes in psycho-prescriptive writings regarding African institutional and governance issues. Prof. Oshodi wrote in via [email protected] Former Charlottesville School Board member Amy Laufer has formally launched her campaign to represent the states 55th district in the House of Delegates and already leads the two other Democrats in fundraising. Laufer, who ran for state senate in 2019 and lives in Albemarle County, is one of three people seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat, which likely wont be on the ballot until next year. Donna Price, the current chair of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, and emergency department nurse Kellen Squire also are running. Among the three, Laufer raised the most money since filing campaign paperwork with the state in early June. She received $61,731.52 in contributions while Squire got $41,531, according to campaign finance reports released over the weekend. Price received $11,798.75. Laufer said she didnt anticipate the initial financial haul. She said the fundraising numbers show real interest in the race. Many of her 120 donors were local to the district. Its a reflection of what Ive been trying to contribute, she said. The 55th district was created as part of a redistricting plan approved last year. The district now includes a large swath of Albemarle County, parts of Nelson and Louisa counties and a small portion of Fluvanna County near Scottsville. Much of the 55th includes what was the former 58th District, which has been represented by long-time incumbent Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle. Bell raised $5,345 in the first six months of the year and had $73,780.78 on hand as of June 30, according to campaign finance reports. Laufer said shes running to push back against the Youngkin administrations efforts to undo legislation passed by Democrats in the last several years. We need people that want to get results, she said. It cant be sound bites. It has to be actually sitting down and coming up with what can we do about some of this. Laufer said she would work to protect the right to an abortion, improve access to affordable healthcare, address the climate crisis, invest in public education and prevent gun violence. We need a champion who can beat back Glenn Younkin and Republicans seemingly relentless and extreme attacks on our way of life, Laufer said in her formal announcement. As your Delegate, I wont back down and instead deliver smart investments that uplift our families and carry our progressive values, she said. I cannot believe that my daughter has less rights than I did at her age. We have to protect affordable, safe, and unrestricted access to healthcare. Gun violence cannot be ignored either it is a public health crisis. We must enact comprehensive policies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyday Virginians. Besides serving on the school board, Laufer has been a teacher, served in the Peace Corps, led the county democratic party, and founded Virginias List, an organization supporting progressive women candidates for state office. In 2019, Laufer challenged Republican state Sen. Bryce Reeves for the 17th district. She won the Democratic primary by a large margin but lost to Reeves by about 2,300 votes. Theres no substitute for hard work, she said of the 2019 campagin. The thing that is most enjoyable is really knocking on doors and hearing from people. I know the biggest crime is just to throw up your hands and say "This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can." ~ Ani DiFranco. The world is adrift in the tides of hunger and desolation. It is difficult to think about education, or anything else, when your children are not able to eat. And yet, the sharp attack on education during this past decade forces us to consider the kind of future that young people will inherit. In 2018, before the pandemic, the United Nations calculated that 258 million, or one in six, school age children were out of school. By March 2020, the start of the pandemic, UNESCO estimated that 1.5 billion children and youth were affected by school closures; a staggering 91% of students worldwide had their education disrupted by the lockdowns. A new UN study released in June 2022 has found that the number of children experiencing distress in their education has nearly tripled since 2016, rising from 75 million to 222 million today. These 222 million children, the UNs Education Cannot Wait programme notes, are on a spectrum of educational needs: about 78.2 million (54% females, 17% with functional difficulties, 16% forcibly displaced) are out of school, while 119.6 million are not achieving minimum proficiency in reading or mathematics by the early grades, despite attending school. Far too little attention is being paid to the calamity that this will impose upon the generations to come. The World Bank, in collaboration with UNESCO, has pointed out that funding for education has dropped in low and lower-middle income countries, 41% of which reduced their spending on education with the onset of the pandemic in 2020, with an average decline in spending of 13.5%. Whereas richer countries have returned to pre-pandemic levels of funding, in the very poorest countries funding has been driven below pre-pandemic averages. The decline in funding for education will produce a loss of nearly $21 trillion in lifetime earnings, much higher than the $17 trillion estimated in 2021. As the economy sputters and as the owners of capital come to terms with the fact that they simply will not hire billions of people who become for them a surplus population, it is no wonder that the focus on education is so marginal. For us, as Nigerians, the state if anything like it does exist, has been governed, ruled and her affairs directed by the best of her worst, and the worst of her best; one week, one trouble, and one drama with very little to encourage, has left us almost permanently on the edge. A nation that produced Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category. He was 88 years old last week, and with him, other Mohicans are leaving the stage; a stage that is simply eroding us. I am a man of simple faith. I do not care so much about definitions. When I see that something works, I say so, when it does not work, I also say so. I stand on the side of truth. Although these days, the truth is equally part of the problem... Leadership has thrown its hands up and said "This has nothing to do with them, they just want to live as comfortably as they can. Followership is not doing any better. And together we are committing a big crime. Nigeria is in trouble, the picture is bleak, we are under-developing, we have lost our past glory, and the raison detre is education. We are not one, our youths whether lazy or hardworking are products of a land with no full meaning of their rights and their responsibilities. So, education is dying, and it is safe to ask, Will Our Children Be Literate? With the ASUU strike, with the picture painted in my opening paragraphs, what will change. The ASUU strike action will soon be over, the nation's tertiary institutions have been closed for months, and they will 'just' resume like nothing happened, students go back to lectures like a rainbow that appeared without rain. In some schools, exams would be conducted in the following weeks. All really like nothing happened! Our system has been abused, misused, disused and left in a state of disrepair. Show me a leader, a politician with so called popular mandate and I will show you an Oga at the tops wife with her own private Montessori and international schools with fees from the outrightly outrageous to the unbelievably murderous, and off course they patronize themselves. It seems but a fact that the act is intentional, because you educate the children of today and you guarantee a future for tomorrow. But the reverse is the case; they educate their kids, by all means necessary and guarantee a future, a continuous oligarchy of crooks. The technical and crafts schools have been bastardized, degraded and left in a coma, with little or no hope of regaining life. We are a nation of largely intelligent illiterates so we do not bother about statistics, we have scholars who have built reputation for 'xeroxing' texts of others word for word as handout on a buy and pass basis, that is when the teacher is not a Mr. Lecturer insisting that Bimbo must go the whole length of her skirt to pass. We smile at the number of school dropouts; we feign ignorance at the number of school age children that are not in school. We are ignorant of the rate at which some of our institutions produce pirated literate, unproductive literate and in many cases full illiterates. Government at the centre is confused, one minute it is a 6-3-3-4 system, now it's 9-3-4, and that last four could be five, six and more. In my daily routine with Newspapers, I am beseeched with adverts from schools offering 'better' education, from Uganda to Belize to Ukraine. I can say that our tomorrow, certainly, is bleak. A nation where anything will always gowill this be the last ASUU strike, only time will tell. I know the biggest crime is just to throw up your hands and say "This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can." ~ Ani DiFranco. The world is adrift in the tides of hunger and desolation. It is difficult to think about education, or anything else, when your children are not able to eat. And yet, the sharp attack on education during this past decade forces us to consider the kind of future that young people will inherit. In 2018, before the pandemic, the United Nations calculated that 258 million, or one in six, school age children were out of school. By March 2020, the start of the pandemic, UNESCO estimated that 1.5 billion children and youth were affected by school closures; a staggering 91% of students worldwide had their education disrupted by the lockdowns. A new UN study released in June 2022 has found that the number of children experiencing distress in their education has nearly tripled since 2016, rising from 75 million to 222 million today. These 222 million children, the UNs Education Cannot Wait programme notes, are on a spectrum of educational needs: about 78.2 million (54% females, 17% with functional difficulties, 16% forcibly displaced) are out of school, while 119.6 million are not achieving minimum proficiency in reading or mathematics by the early grades, despite attending school. Far too little attention is being paid to the calamity that this will impose upon the generations to come. The World Bank, in collaboration with UNESCO, has pointed out that funding for education has dropped in low and lower-middle income countries, 41% of which reduced their spending on education with the onset of the pandemic in 2020, with an average decline in spending of 13.5%. Whereas richer countries have returned to pre-pandemic levels of funding, in the very poorest countries funding has been driven below pre-pandemic averages. The decline in funding for education will produce a loss of nearly $21 trillion in lifetime earnings, much higher than the $17 trillion estimated in 2021. As the economy sputters and as the owners of capital come to terms with the fact that they simply will not hire billions of people who become for them a surplus population, it is no wonder that the focus on education is so marginal. For us, as Nigerians, the state if anything like it does exist, has been governed, ruled and her affairs directed by the best of her worst, and the worst of her best; one week, one trouble, and one drama with very little to encourage, has left us almost permanently on the edge. A nation that produced Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category. He was 88 years old last week, and with him, other Mohicans are leaving the stage; a stage that is simply eroding us. I am a man of simple faith. I do not care so much about definitions. When I see that something works, I say so, when it does not work, I also say so. I stand on the side of truth. Although these days, the truth is equally part of the problem... Leadership has thrown its hands up and said "This has nothing to do with them, they just want to live as comfortably as they can. Followership is not doing any better. And together we are committing a big crime. Nigeria is in trouble, the picture is bleak, we are under-developing, we have lost our past glory, and the raison detre is education. We are not one, our youths whether lazy or hardworking are products of a land with no full meaning of their rights and their responsibilities. So, education is dying, and it is safe to ask, Will Our Children Be Literate? With the ASUU strike, with the picture painted in my opening paragraphs, what will change. The ASUU strike action will soon be over, the nation's tertiary institutions have been closed for months, and they will 'just' resume like nothing happened, students go back to lectures like a rainbow that appeared without rain. In some schools, exams would be conducted in the following weeks. All really like nothing happened! Our system has been abused, misused, disused and left in a state of disrepair. Show me a leader, a politician with so called popular mandate and I will show you an Oga at the tops wife with her own private Montessori and international schools with fees from the outrightly outrageous to the unbelievably murderous, and off course they patronize themselves. It seems but a fact that the act is intentional, because you educate the children of today and you guarantee a future for tomorrow. But the reverse is the case; they educate their kids, by all means necessary and guarantee a future, a continuous oligarchy of crooks. The technical and crafts schools have been bastardized, degraded and left in a coma, with little or no hope of regaining life. We are a nation of largely intelligent illiterates so we do not bother about statistics, we have scholars who have built reputation for 'xeroxing' texts of others word for word as handout on a buy and pass basis, that is when the teacher is not a Mr. Lecturer insisting that Bimbo must go the whole length of her skirt to pass. We smile at the number of school dropouts; we feign ignorance at the number of school age children that are not in school. We are ignorant of the rate at which some of our institutions produce pirated literate, unproductive literate and in many cases full illiterates. Government at the centre is confused, one minute it is a 6-3-3-4 system, now it's 9-3-4, and that last four could be five, six and more. In my daily routine with Newspapers, I am beseeched with adverts from schools offering 'better' education, from Uganda to Belize to Ukraine. I can say that our tomorrow, certainly, is bleak. A nation where anything will always gowill this be the last ASUU strike, only time will tell. Quote, in its simplest term, is to repeat or copy out what someone else has said. The history of mankind is , no doubt, docked in quotes. In fact, the sages of every century and generation are first introduced to us through quotes. It is an easy way to compel others to share the same worldview as us. We have from time to time quote great politicians, scientists, writers, activists, teachers to mention but a few. The men and women behind these quotes, unarguably, have exercised control over our lives in many instances and directions. We have all been inspired by quotes, either by those of our parents, or grandparents. In all, quotes could influence positively or negatively. Being aware of its double - edged nature, government, especially, at the top, has learnt to ban some hit songs of maverick musicians to avoid the people from quoting the offensive lyrics. Falz, a lawyer turned rapper, had his "This is Nigeria" banned for churning out " This is Nigeria, look how we living now, everybody be criminal". A good move by the NBC as some have argued. If this had not happened, they contend further, many impressionable youth could view criminality as the means to the end. Olamide and the science student " thing" also collapsed under the whipping of the NBC. One thing is sure, since what we say can become a quote, we have got to check it and check it well. Essentially, not every quote is made popular by broadcast. In effect, proscribing them may be uneasy. To add to this, the actors of these quotes most times now share a different space with us. Still, it is essential to probe the circumstances and justifications for some of the quotes we have shared unquestioned. It is election time in Nigeria, we will not only witness, sadly, the rain of cash, we will equally be entertained by quotes from political national heroes. Baba Gana Kingibe is today quoted " saving Nigeria is our primary concern, the interest of the Muslims will be handled by the Sultan of Sokoto, while that of the Christians by the CAN president. Quotes are to be probed and subjected to the test of time and circumstances, and not to be gullibly believed or sheepishly concurred with since they can be used as a mind control technique. Time has changed, some have argued. Socio - economic atmosphere, they argue further, is no longer what it was in 1993. The threat of Islamization was not a front burner matter then. Their argument, simply put, quotes should reflect circumstances, times, and eras. Certainly, this position has not gone unscathed as the contrarians believe the quote is forever valid. The conclusion, therefore, is that, Nigerians must be mentally prepared for the politicians by thinking through the words, statements and promises of the politicians. After all, election will pass, but life may remain the same or go worse, or perhaps get better. May we stay on the alert in this season of quotes. Samuel Ogunnaike writes from Lagos. The former Secretary to Anambra State government and former Anambra State PDP governorship candidate, Oseloka Henry Obaze (OHO), has congratulated the incoming governor of Osun State, Sen. Ademola Adeleke for a brilliant outing in the concluded governorship election. He also congratulated the Labour Party candidate and his deputy, Rt. Hon Lasun Sulaimon Yusuff and Adeola Adekunle Atanda for their 'spirit of reslove and sportsmanship'. In a statement made available to The Nigerian Voice, the retired United Nations official also reached out to all ' the Obidient Movement Family and our supporters nationwide' disclosing that ".... In the fullness of time, our message of rescue and recovery will resonate through out the length and breath of the Nation and most Nigerian electorate will buy in into our mission to take back Nigeria..." Full text of his statement below: "I extend my warmest personal congratulations to Sen. Ademola Adeleke on winning the Osun State Gubernatorial elections. I also congratulate the candidate of our Labour Party Rt. Hon Lasun Sulaimon Yusuff and his running mate, Adeola Adekunle Atanda, for a hard fought battle and their spirit of reslove and sportsmanship, despite the outcome. To our the Obidient Movement Family and our supporters nationwide, the outcome of this particular election is not a verdict on our exponentially growing srtength nationwide especially when viewed against the fact that we are barely one month old in the party and we had to contend with forces that have been entrenched in the state for the last two decades. However, within this very short period of only a few weeks, the Labour Party has made its presence and political impact felt nationally. We must strengthen our collective resolve not relent in our noble march to take back our country. Much work remains to be done, hence we must focus the totality of our efforts now on the forthcoming 2023 General elections. In the fullness of time, our message of rescue and recovery will resonate through out the length and breath of the Nation and most Nigerian electorate will buy in into our mission to take back Nigeria, for the purpose of rescuing it from continued decline , shift the National psyche from consumption to production and from sharing dwindling resources to creating wealth and frontally combating poverty. - Peter Obi" Journalism as a profession, unlike law, engineering, medicine and other noble professions, is a line of duty that seems to be everybodys business. Not few people, particularly netizens think that what a Journalist can do, they also can do. There is no denying the fact that they erroneously think so because they can speak eloquently and write legibly, but journalism when put into practice goes beyond writing and speaking. It has its own peculiarities which outsiders dont know about. Given the foregoing, then one can say those who often exhibit the hutzpah to publicly tell a journalist how to cover news event, and how to sniff for news as they are trained to practice, should desist from such Pull-them-down behavior as it does not pay. More than ever before, not few non-journalists are rapidly becoming censorious and unjustifiably critical toward Journalists across Nigeria. Most of these critics practically seem to know better than Journalists that they will not dither to humiliate them in public places by openly telling them that their reportorial and editorial standards are declining. They will argue that media distortion has become a regular feature on Nigerias media landscape. I heard one of them the other day scream, while reading a newspaper, to the consternation of other passengers in a bus I boarded at Obalende in Lagos on my way back to Ogba in Ikeja, my place of work, after covering a news event at Sango-tedo at Lekki, also in Lagos. The Baba as I will chose to identify him in this context, putting on a thick reading glasses, obviously with a judgmental mindset intermittently glanced at the newspaper as he jiggled while flipping through the pages of the newspaper; almost covering his face with it, sighed and raised his voice, speaking in the mannerism of Old school Shege to no one in particular, We are living in a society that doesnt completely understand what proper journalism is. Many times we have to read the newspapers and see the inadequate reporting. That is a cheap way of disowning responsibility. It is far better that a story be deferred than an incorrect report published. Some newspapers go against the word of government and often criticize the way it is run. The private media houses are prime suspects of this, they deliberately do this to gain increased readership for its alternative viewpoints. Journalists can ethically publish a story based on what may turn out to be incorrect, provided it is not a complete fabrication, they are no longer a trusted name in news or its editorials which seem to have a slant towards melodrama or antagonistic hoopla, complete with talk down on the governments officials involvement in massive corruption. Journalists should have a sense of decency and self-respect. In a similar vein, I attended an event that dwelt corruption, with calls to the Federal Government to blacklist erring contractors and businessmen who hide information about their part ownership of companies. It was gathered at the event that some business owners fraudulently go as far as registering their children as shareholders of companies. While messages were being delivered at the event, whose name I cant disclose in this context, and who represented a federal government anti-corruption agency, was all over the place castigating and accusing Journalists of not knowing their onions, that if they know, the soaring rates of corruption would not have been as they were. She alleged that Journalists have not been able to do investigative journalism in such a way that most corrupt leaders would be fished out. When it was my turn during the question and answer segment of the event, I ask the lady in this context if she would one day welcome me in her office asking for any given document that concerns any corrupt government official who is facing investigation in her office. I believe she was flabbergasted with the question. Still in the same vein, I used the opportunity to elucidate that Investigative journalism is finding, reporting and presenting news which other people try to hide. It is very similar to standard news reporting, except that can assist Journalists with documented evidences, like herself will usually not help Journalists, and may even try to stop them from doing their jobs in that regard. At this juncture, it is expedient to urge the public and the governments to always support worthy news outlets as news consumers. To my view, help can be extended to the media sector of the economy through purchase of advertisement, online news subscriptions, even by acknowledging journalistic services rendered to whoever, and in any form. Also, on the part of the government, the media sector should be recognized as a critical sector of the economy, and supported through interventionist policy when in distress as been done to some sectors of the economy. In fact, there are varieties of ways to show support to the media. Be that as it may, permit to advise dyed-in-the-wool critics of Journalists that their criticism should always be constructive. To my view Nigerian Journalists are not doing badly in terms of professionalism. Again, it would be more decent and mature for anyone that wants to verify the veracity of stories in the newspaper to henceforth resort to the application of News Guard. What is News Guard? It is a journalism and technology tool that rates the credibility of news and information websites and tracks online misinformation. FDA warns against ordering Molnupiravir online BANGKOK: The Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning against people purchasing the drug Molnupiravir online and using it themselves. CoronavirusCOVID-19drugshealthSafety By The Phuket News Sunday 17 July 2022, 10:00AM The notice came on Friday (July 15) and urged people to only acquire and use the drug, which can be used to treat COVID-19 symptoms, after consultation with a medical professional who can then administer the drug via appropriate prescription. FDA Secretary-General Dr Paisan Dankhum confirmed the FDA was concerned when it learned that the drug was being sold online and that it has moved to investigate the various channels where it is being made available for sale. Dr Paisan stated that the FDA has carried out suspensions and prosecutions of drug sales advertisements through social media and online store marketplace platforms previously to deny the acquisition of illegal drugs to consumers and to prevent drugs not registered with the FDA from coming into the country. He added that the Ministry of Public Health has stocked up on molnupiravir in sufficient quantities for the treatment of COVID-19 in Thailand, but it is important to obtain the drug from the correct sources, namely public and private hospitals. Dr Paisan confirmed that once a doctor has assessed a patients symptoms a prescription will be made in accordance with the COVID-19 coronavirus treatment guidelines as per the Department of Medicine 2019 Ministry of Public Health. Additionally, Dr Paison issued a warning that the drug is not suitable for all people, especially pregnant women for whom the drug is forbidden. Likewise, adverse reactions to the drug must be closely monitored. Dr Paisan concluded by warning that items acquired online could be counterfeit and unregistered which could cause harm to those ingesting it. This sceanrio could also then render the drug Molnupiravir futile as means to treat COVID-19 symptoms. Full Moon Party draws 20,000 to Koh Phangan SURAT THANI: The popular Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan in this southern coastal province drew about 20,000 tourists on Friday night (July 15). Indiantourismculture By Bangkok Post Sunday 17 July 2022, 12:30PM Tourists pack the beach in front of local nightspots on Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party on Friday night (July 15). Photo: Supapong Chaolan Hotels on Koh Phangan, particularly along Haad Rin beach in tambon Ban Tai where the party is held each month, enjoyed full bookings. The beach was packed with Thai and foreign revellers, numbering about 20,000. About 98% of the visitors were foreigners, reports the Bangkok Post. Yesterday, many foreign tourists began leaving the island just north of Koh Samui for other tourist sites, while Thai tourists prepared to return to work after a long holiday weekend. The next Full Moon Party will be held on Aug 12. Tawich Somwang, chairman of a business group on Haad Rin beach, said most of the foreign visitors to Koh Phangan were from European countries. But he said he had noticed more tourists from the Middle East including Saudi Arabia and Oman, since Thailand and Saudi Arabia restored long-suspended diplomatic relations. Many years ago, he said, many Saudis were regular visitors to Koh Phangan. But that all changed in 1989 after the theft of gems from the home of a Saudi prince, and subsequent murders of Saudis in Thailand, led to a break in diplomatic and other ties that lasted until this year. The return of visitors from Saudi Arabia is helping to boost tourism on Koh Phangan, he said, adding that more Indian travellers are also coming to the island. New York to make Little Thailand official NEW YORK: A New York City neighbourhood long known informally as Little Thailand may soon get official name recognition under a bill passed by the city council. culture By Bangkok Post Sunday 17 July 2022, 09:30AM Dancers perform at an event held in Little Thailand in Queens, New York in April. Photo: Little Thailand NY Facebook page The official designation for a stretch of Woodside Avenue, between 76th and 79th streets in the Elmhurst neighbourhood in the borough of Queens, was one of a number of renaming proposals adopted by the council this week. The area is well known throughout the city for a large number of Thai restaurants and other businesses, reports the Bangkok Post. Other proposals approved by the council included the renaming of Macdonald and Church in Brooklyn as Little Bangladesh, and Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn as Ukrainian Way, the local news site Pix11 reported. In all, the bill covered 78 thoroughfares and public places throughout the city. It will be sent to Mayor Eric Adams for final approval. Shekar Krishnan, a council member who sponsored the bill, represents the part of Queens that would be renamed Little Thailand. The small businesses that are there and the events that are held there, really reflect the beauty and the energy of our Thai community not just of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, but across Queens and throughout our city, he said. Little Thailand Way is a very fitting name for this street. Another part of Queens was recently renamed to honour the Guyanese community. In Brooklyn, a subway stop was renamed to honour Haitian heritage. ORANGEGordonsville resident Brianna Knicely has been found not guilty of murdering her babysitter's husband, ending a four-day trial in Orange County Circuit Court. The jury deliberated for nearly seven hours Friday before finding Knicely not guilty of second-degree murder. Knicely, 28, stood trial in the June 16, 2021, fatal shooting of James Manning, 36, at his home in Barboursville. The Orange County native maintained her innocence in the case. She has been held in Central Virginia Regional Jail without bond eligibility since her arrest on June 17, 2021. Circuit Judge David Franzen will grant Knicely a bond hearing at 10:30 a.m. Monday, and Knicely will be released pending further unresolved charges that ended in mistrial Friday. Prosecutors and law-enforcement officials expressed shock Friday at the verdict, believing they had more than enough evidence for a conviction, including Knicely's videotaped confession that she shot Manning. The defendant and the deceased did not know each other than through Mannings wife, Jessica, being a friend of hers and the childcare provider for the defendants two small children for nearly three years. Over the course of evolving testimony, Knicely claimed James Manning knocked her out and tried to sexually assault her when she went to his house around 4:30 p.m. June 16 to get her childs bathing suit. Knicely shot him three times with a loaded .380-caliber Ruger automatic pistol she had in her purse, hitting Manning in the head, chest and groin area. Charges downgraded, manslaughter mistrial Originally, prosecutors charged Knicely with first-degree murder. On Friday, Judge Franzen downgraded the charge to second-degree, saying the commonwealth had not proven premeditation. The jury also found Knicely not guilty of using a firearm to commit murder and not guilty of maliciously shooting into an occupied dwelling, as court proceedings wrapped up after 10 p.m. Friday. The diverse panel of six men and six women, in their 20s to 60s, could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Knicely committed voluntary manslaughter when she shot Manning three times in his kitchen. Were not making progress, the jury wrote in a note to the court around 10 p.m. This was after judge had inquired of them by note if the jury wanted to continue deliberating into the night or break and continue Saturday morning. We dont anticipate any juror changing their mind, the jury wrote back of the voluntary manslaughter charge. Franzen declared a mistrial on the voluntary manslaughter charge, meaning the prosecution can reinstate it and attempt to again try a case against Knicely. A mistrial was also declared for a charge of unlawfully shooting into an occupied dwelling. After the verdict, Orange County Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Katie Fitzgerald said that she would consult with Commonwealths Attorney Diana OConnell to confirm they will retry the case on the lesser charges. Franzen thanked and commended the jury for its work during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the judge said many others are shirking their duty. He dismissed the panel from service, saying the jurors could feel proud of their work and hold their heads up high. Prosecution limitations The commonwealths case was crippled by numerous prohibitions on presentation of evidence to the jury to establish motive. Social worker Sheila Morrissey was not allowed to testify about multiple calls regarding the health and safety of Knicely's children or a home visit that went awry on the day of the shooting. The social worker testified she tried to call Knicely on June 16, 2021, and got no response. On her way to Knicely's house that day, Morrissey's vehicle was rear-ended and she had to cancel the visit, she testified. Defense attorney Richard Harry successfully argued that was irrelevant, calling it another attempt by the commonwealth to prompt a separate trial about whether his client is a good person or a good mother. In another limitation on evidence seen by the jury, the judge would not declare as experts members of the medical examiners office and state forensics office because prosecutors had not requested them in the required timeframe. When Harry objected to opinion testimony, the commonwealth was not permitted to present ballistics or forensic experts. The court, in addition, after meticulously going through 30 jury instructions, spent some time Friday night redacting Mannings autopsy report so the jury could not view his cause and manner of deathgunshot wounds and homicide, according to law enforcement. Harry also characterized this public information from the medical examiner as heresy evidence because it is a opinion. Since the medical examiner was not designated an expert, per the judge's order, the defense motion prevailed. Knicelys motive, according to testimony, was To get him the hell up off me, Harry repeated more than a dozen times during at trial. The jury believed she was attacked. Two weeks before Manning was shot, Knicely had a confrontation at the house with Jessica Manning about a Department of Social Services investigation involving neglect and improper supervision of her children. According to testimony, Knicelys mother, Jessica Atkins, made the report to the Orange County agency, but Jessica Manning somehow got assigned as being at fault. Knicely put up her fists during a June 1, 2021, exchange at the Manning home, Jessica Manning testified at trial. Mannings widow said she told Knicely never to come back, and Knicely agreed. Jessica Manning and her three children were not home when the former babysitter client returned. Reactions to trial, downtime The defendant showed joy, elation and relief Friday at being cleared of the murder charge, more than a year later. Her large family, which had been seated in the courtroom, gathered around her at the defense table soon after the verdicts were read. On the other side, the Manning family expressed devastation at what they said was a loss of justice for their deceased son, brother, father, friend and coworker. When asked what happened with the case, prosecutor Fitzgerald said she did not know. A local law-enforcement source said the case was lost due to Judge Franzens different world view about the administration of justice. Harry fiercely defended his client, who had no prior criminal history, was trained as a nurse and was unemployed when Manning was shot. During more than six hours of jury deliberations Friday night, the courthouse remained open and staffed with bailiffs. Outside the main entrance on Madison Road, Knicelys family set up chairs for the grandparents and got refreshments from their coolers amid a party-like atmosphere. People sat and lay on the concrete curb, some talking on their cell phones, which are not allowed inside the courthouse. A few females loudly cackled and shouted across the courthouse parking lot about the Culpeper Star-Exponent's coverage of the trial as a reporter worked inside her vehicle in view of the scene before going back into the courthouse. In a video confession to authorities the morning after the slaying, the defendant said she shot Manning after he pulled her hair and grabbed her. Testimony, rebuttal evidence On the stand Thursday, Knicely testified that Manning pulled her down on the ground, knocking her unconscious. She said when woke up on the kitchen floor, he was straddling her and trying to pull down her pants, so she shot him in self-defense. Harry continued his argument Friday that James Manning had a history of violence against women, including his wife, based on a criminal complaint from a decade ago, and a DUI. The defense attorney asserted that Manning was high on Kratom, a legal plant, when he attacked his client. Harry told the jury Kratom is used as a sexual stimulant, based on defense-expert testimony. Manning was an honorably discharged Army veteran of the Afghanistan War who worked as a United Parcel Service driver and loved spending time with his kids. In rebuttal evidence Friday, Jessica Manning said she never told Knicely that James abused her. The two women had discussed domestic violence by her first husband, Jessica Manning said. This caused Knicely to open up about her own domestic abuse, according to testimony. Landlord Jeff Buck, in rebuttal testimony Friday, said he knew the deceased for more than 10 years while they lived in his property. Buck said he did not know Manning to be a man of violence. He was a hard worker, kind soft-spoken, but a real good guy, Buck said. The prosecution called Trent Blankenbaker, the father of Knicelys children, as its final rebuttal witness Friday. He testified she left their home on the night of the shooting about 4:15 p.m. and got back about 4:45 p.m. Blankenbaker testified he was waiting outside for her when she pulled in; he was running late for work in Culpeper. She said she couldnt find the keys to her car, he testified. So they took his car, a white Acura. Knicely did not tell her childrens father what happened at the Manning household. Blankenbaker said they talked about normal stuff on the 40-minute drive to work. He said he started to get concerned when he couldnt reach her by phone. When he talked to her next, Knicely was in jail, he testified. Blankenbaker said Knicely carried a gun on her at times. Me, too, because we got kids, he said. He noted there was a gun in his Acura when Knicely was pulled over in Culpeper early the morning of June 17, 2021, after law enforcement issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for a homicide suspect. PTSD defense experts Dr. Peter Schmidt, a licensed professional counselor from Charlottesville, testified Thursday that he treated James Manning in 2010 for PTSD after a road-rage incident. The deceased spent more than a year on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan, the doctor noted about the cause for Manning's post-traumatic stress. Schimdt said Manning did well in therapy and was making a good recovery from the condition. Pressed by Harry, the doctor testified that using substances would not trigger someones PTSD. Dr. William McKenna, a psychologist and forensics evaluator, testified he visited Knicely twice in jail to conduct a psychological evaluation. The defense witness said he diagnosed Knicely with PTSD, saying she had classic symptoms. McKenna mentioned a term, "delayed reporting," that describes how people who experience a traumatic event, especially sexual assault, dont always report it right away. Finally, a medical toxicology expert, Dr. Sessions, testified about Kratom, an Asian tree in the coffee family long used for its medicinal purposes. The legal substance was found in Mannings blood during autopsy toxicology testing. In low doses, the leaves of the plant can be a stimulant or provide pain relief when chewed. Traditionally, someone who does a hard days labor might rely on it, Sessions said, but it is viewed today as an unsafe drug due to dosing dangers. On cross examination, Fitzgerald asked the doctor if he was aware Manning worked 16 to 18 hours a day driving a UPS truck. Perhaps he could have used that extra energy at a low dose, the prosecutor said. Closing statements, bail hearing In closing arguments Friday, Harry argued for more than an hour that his client was innocent. He pointed out the prosecution did not present Mannings cause and manner of death. Harry accused the prosecution of failing to retrieve or preserve Ring video from the front of the Manning house that would have captured the encounter between Knicely and Manning. Police testified at trial that for large periods of time on June 16, 2021, Ring movement-based alerts were issued, but no videos were recorded. Police were unsuccessful in retrieving footage from Ring, which said the videos did not exist, according to testimony. The commonwealth also did not have ready for trial the results of a rape test kit that Knicely had done at a local hospital within days of being in jail after claiming she was sexually assaulted. Harry ridiculed the prosecution for its theory that Knicely killed Mr. Manning because of the DSS investigation. Its not a trial about her being a good mom, the defense attorney said. Harry said his client did not disclose the reported sexual assault by Manning to Orange County Sheriff's Office Investigator Becky Jones in their morning-after interview because of previous interactions with Jones where she wasnt believed. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Crystal Hasting argued in closing that Knicely went to the Manning home with a loaded gun in her purse because she was angry at Jessica Manning for speaking with Knicelys mother, Jessica Atkins, about her children. Hasting said Knicely was angry because DSS was going to take away her children. It was the lighting of a fuse that simmered over the next two weeks, Hasting said, over Harry's objection, which was sustained. The night he died, Manning was home alone working on a boat motor while his wife and three kids were swimming at his mother-in-laws. He answered the door wearing black latex work gloves. No hairs were found on those gloves when analyzed in the lab, Hasting said. There was no sign of a struggle in the kitchen, multiple witnesses testified. This defendant, with malice and without justification, shot James Manning and left him to bleed out at the bottom of the basement stairs, the prosecutor said in her closing arguments. At the very end of the trial, with the jury dismissed, Harry requested a reasonable bail amount for his client. Fitzgerald asked that Knicely be held without bond on the pending charges, including voluntary manslaughter. Franzen replied that the defendant could request a reasonable bond, but not Friday. We will schedule that as soon as possible, the judge said. Harry said he would be in Circuit Court at 10:30 a.m. Monday. Fitzgerald said that was too soon for the commonwealth. The judge set the bond hearing for Monday morning. Knicely was remanded to the custody of the sheriff. A Keizer woman is lodged in the Linn County Jail on a second-degree manslaughter charge after an alleged fatal drunk-driving crash on Highway 226 Saturday night, July 16, according to authorities. Mikhail Ermolenko, 30, of Salem, was killed in the wreck. He was a passenger in an Infiniti vehicle driven by Oksana Yuriyena Titarenko, 24, of Keizer, who was being held without bail on Sunday, the Linn County Jail website indicates. Charges may change as individuals progress from jail through their initial court hearings and subsequent proceedings. This was the second fatal crash in less than 24 hours in the Lyons area in Linn County, and in both instances, alcohol appears to be a factor, according to authorities. Saturday night's crash occurred at about 6:20 p.m. on Highway 226 near milepost 21, which is about 3 miles southwest of Lyons, according to an Oregon State Police news release. Titarenkos automobile was traveling southbound and drove off the right shoulder of the road for unknown reasons. Titarenko overcorrected and went across the northbound lane and onto the northbound shoulder before the Infiniti rolled at least twice, the news release states. Ermolenko was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Titarenko was initially transported to a local hospital as a precaution and found to be under the influence of alcohol. She was subsequently arrested, according to the news release. Oregon State Police was assisted by the Lyons Rural Fire District and the Oregon Department of Transportation. On Saturday at 2:41 a.m. on Saturday, the Linn County Sheriffs Office responded to a single-vehicle crash that killed two people in the 4700 block of Lyons-Mill City Drive, east of Lyons. Preliminary investigation showed that a car driven by Stephanie Woolley, 27, of Lyons, left the roadway and struck a power pole and metal pillars filled with concrete around the pole. Woolley and her only passenger, Michael Carroll Jr., 43, of Idaho, were both killed. According to a news release in that crash, alcohol and high speeds appear to be leading factors in the wreck. Chad rebels said on Saturday they would suspend their participation in talks with the government, a move that raises doubt about their involvement in a national dialogue in August that is meant to be a precursor to long-awaited elections. The peace-building talks in Qatar with Chads transitional military authorities were meant to ease tensions after interim president Mahamat Idriss Deby seized power following his fathers death last year.Advertisement Scroll to continueReport an ad In a joint statement, the groups accused the representatives of the interim government of creating a bad atmosphere at talks and announcing the Aug. 20 national dialogue without any consultation. We note with regret that the negotiations are not making any headway, it said. The Chadian authorities on Thursday announced the date of the national dialogue, which Deby has presented as the first step towards planning a vote. It would in theory include the armed groups but the conditions for their participation have not yet been agreed on. read moreAdvertisement Scroll to continueReport an ad Deby declared himself head of a Transitional Military Council in April 2021 after his father, Chads longtime ruler Idriss Deby, was killed while visiting troops fighting the rebel insurgency in the north. Initially his council had said it would oversee an 18-month transition to democratic rule, but it has shown little sign of organising elections as that deadline nears. Pressure has started to grow from opposition groups within Chad and bilateral partners to advance the transition process. Chad is an ally of France and other Western countries in the fight against Islamist militants in Africas Sahel region. SOURCE: REUTERS ALBANY Albany Countys independent redistricting commission intends to create two new majority-minority legislative districts in the city, bringing the total to seven, the most in county history. The proposed changes upend at least one long-standing district in the city and will likely draw concerns from county legislators, residents and organizations in other neighborhoods as the commission attempts to finish its work and send the proposed district lines to the County Legislature for consideration. The commission and its subcommittee, which are focused on ensuring fair representation for minority residents, were created three years ago in an attempt to avoid a fourth round of litigation on the issue of minority representation under the federal Voting Rights Act. The two bodies decided to redraw the maps one last time in response to input at what was supposed to be a final public hearing last month. They initially presented a map that included six majority-minority districts in the city, an increase of one. Larry Volk, the commission's chair, said the decision to add a seventh "will alter almost every other line in the county." Marie Allen Campbell, chair of the majority-minority subcommittee, said everyone involved in the redistricting process knew any changes would lead to complaints. As we got into this process, none of us had any illusions that we were going to end up in a place that satisfied everybody, she said. We believe that where we're ending up is the best place that we can end up right now. The proposed maps do not shrink the legislature, which is the largest in the state with 39 members. Instead, they are meant to shift the districts ahead of the 2023 elections based on population changes recorded by the 2020 U.S. census while ensuring fair representation for minority residents Those seven proposed districts where the majority of residents are Black or Hispanic are all located in the city of Albany, although one district would include a large portion of the village of Menands. Redistricting has a fraught history in the county. The County Legislature created the independent redistricting process in 2019 after it was successfully sued for failing to properly account for the growth of minority residents in the city of Albany in its 1990, 2000 and 2010 redistricting processes. In the past few months since the commission began its work, county legislators have been reluctant to comment publicly on its work for fear of being seen as attempting to influence the proposed districts. However, several legislators, including some from the legislature's leadership ranks, sent in public testimony to the commission during last month's hearing expressing their concern over the proposed lines. Several legislators declined to comment after the most recent majority-minority district maps were posted on the county's website last week so it is unclear if their concerns were addressed. Some of the strongest language at the public hearing came from Deputy Chairwoman Wanda Willingham, who told the commission flat out she would not vote to support the maps as they stood. Willingham, who has served in the legislature for over two decades, was among the plaintiffs in the previous lawsuit and helped create the independent redistricting process. When reached last week after new majority-minority maps were posted online, including her district, Willingham referred a reporter to a Winston Churchill quote that warned against putting too much faith in experts, indicating her position hadn't changed. The concerns from legislators and residents generally fall into two categories. First, residents and neighborhood groups are worried the maps split up longtime communities of interestneighborhoods that share histories, identities and socioeconomic status. Second, in creating seven majority-minority districts, there are concerns that the commission may have weakened the voting power of minority voters in those districts. Campbell and Volk noted there have been population changes within the existing majority-minority districts and that the city as a whole has become more diverse since the previous census. You're trying to ensure that the districts are compact, that they're contiguous, Volk said You're trying to consider community of interests, you're trying to not divide areas. Often times all of that is not achievable. One district that will be disrupted if the new maps stand is the Fifth District, which represents the city's Center Square, Hudson/Park, and Park South neighborhoods and some of the Washington Park neighborhood. The area has traditionally had a large LGBTQ population. The new maps split that district into four separate county legislative districts, despite elected officials and neighborhood associations' requests to keep them together. Democrat Matthew Peter, who currently represents the district, declined to comment. In his written testimony to the commission, Peter argued that splitting up the district would harm a community that had worked together for generations. Patrick Noonan, who owns El Loco Mexican Cafe on Madison Avenue, echoed Peter's concerns. "By redrawing the district lines, you are hijacking the neighborhood and eliminating the natural cohesiveness and connectivity that has been a tremendous resource over the last 25-plus years," he wrote in his letter to the commission. The Third District, represented by Willingham, would also face changes. Currently, it includes parts of North Albany, Arbor Hill, West Hill and the West End. Under the new maps that district would cover portions of West Hill, North Albany and Menands. The more delicate issue is one of voting power in the majority-minority districts. The overall Black and Hispanic population in all seven new districts would be more than 50 percent and five of the seven would be at least 55 percent minority residents. But in two of the proposed seven districts, the percentage of voting-age Black and Hispanic residents does not reach 50 percent, making them pluralities, rather than majorities. Several legislators submitted testimony protesting what they viewed as the weakening of the minority voting power in those districts. Willingham argued to the commission that an increase to seven majority-minority districts could be harmful in part because Black and brown residents tend to vote at lower rates than white residents. "Majority-minority districts (MMDs) have a very low voter turnout," she said. "It's a dilution of the existing MMDs and that is a real concern of mine," she told the commission. There is some national data to back up that concern. For every presidential election going back to 1968, white voters voted at a higher rate than Black voters, with the exception of the 2008 and 2012 elections, according to census data. There is still time for all the lines to change. A joint public hearing on the proposed county lines is expected to be held in early August. The commission can also amend the seven districts proposed by the majority-minority subcommittee prior to any final proposal being passed on to the County Legislature. The 39 proposed districts will be available for review prior to the hearing, according to Volk. Once the commission agrees to the final maps, they will be sent to the clerk of the County Legislature as a local law. The legislature then has 60 days to approve them or send them back to the commission with an explanation of why the maps were rejected and requesting changes. If the legislature approves the maps, the law must be signed by the county executive, who can veto them if he chooses. The legislature can override that veto or allow the maps to be sent back to the commission for changes. Any substantial changes would require the commission to hold public hearings. It is unclear what would happen if the legislature and commission cant come to an agreement on the district maps. There is no language in the law that governs the commissions work on how many times it can send maps back to the legislature if they are repeatedly voted down. If history is any indicator, there is always a possibility that the proposed legislative lines will end up before a federal judge. ALBANY Monkeypox, the previously rare virus in humans that has been slowly spreading around the globe this year, doubled in confirmed case counts in New York over a five-day span - and the state now far leads the nation in cases. As of Friday, New York confirmed 490 cases of monkeypox in people - compared with 238 on Monday, July 11. Most of the cases have been in New York City's five boroughs. However, there were new cases identified upstate as of Friday - one each in Erie, Monroe and St. Lawrence counties. Other counties that have had confirmed cases are: Chemung, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan and Westchester. The virus, which causes sores on the body and flu-like symptoms, is spread from having skin-to-skin contact with someone that has sores; there is debate if respiratory droplets can also readily spread the virus. Anyone can contract it. However, the outbreak in the U.S. thus far has been mostly spread among men who are intimate with other men. State reporting to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can lag behind real-time data. But as of Friday, New York almost had twice as many cases as the state with the second most confirmed illnesses, California. Nassau, Suffolk, Saratoga and Westchester counties are the only counties outside New York City where the state is providing a vaccine. Last week, only about a third of available monkeypox vaccine in Saratoga County was given to people who had made appointments at two private clinic times. Saratoga County, which has had no confirmed cases, said in a release last week that it is being given monkeypox vaccine because of its status as a "tourist" destination. The information did not mention the Saratoga Race Course. However, the track's summer meet, as well as associated events and parties, started Thursday. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news briefing Friday, however, that demand for the vaccine is outstripping the nation's supply, according to a report in the New York Times. The federal government made another 131,000 doses available to states and jurisdictions Friday, including Saratoga County. Saratoga's health department webpage as of Sunday did not indicate when more vaccine clinics will be held. The county was initially slated to receive 300 doses to be used for the first of the two-shot regiment. On Tuesday, the state announced Saratoga will get another 620 doses, both to be used for the second shot of the regimen, and for providing vaccine to new patients. The U.S. has purchased a total of nearly 7 million doses of monkeypox vaccine, but has received 372,000, Dawn O'Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Friday. Last week, New York announced residents can sign up for text messageswhich will include alerts about cases, symptoms, spread, and resources for testing and vaccinationby texting "MONKEYPOX" to 81336 or "MONKEYPOXESP" for texts in Spanish. If a zip code is provided, New Yorkers can also opt-in for location-based messages. Qatar Airways has again taken the top prize at the AirlineRatings Awards by securing the prestigious Airline of the Year award in addition to being named Best Airline in the Middle East and also taking home the Best Business Class award. This is the second year running that Qatar Airways has scooped the top prize and the fourth year in a row to take home the Best Business Class award. The AirlineRatings Airline of the Year award acknowledges the best that aviation has to offer, with a focus on product innovation, a strong route network and overall safety. All AirlineRatings awards are given based on strict assessment criteria put together by industry professionals with extensive expertise and experience in the aviation field. The award-winning Qsuite, a patented Qatar Airways product, offers a First Class experience in the Business Class cabin. Qsuite features the industrys first-ever double bed in Business Class, as well as privacy panels that stow away, allowing passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room and maintain social distancing, a first of its kind in the industry. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, said: Winning these awards are another ringing endorsement of everything that we stand for as an airline, as Qatar Airways is fully committed to providing an unrivalled customer experience. Our goal is to deliver excellence and once again securing the Airline of the Year, Best Airline in the Middle East and Best Business Class demonstrates that we continue to lead the industry as passengers return to the skies. As we increase our global network to over 150 destinations, we also recently reported our most successful financial results ever with a profit of $1.54 billion, confirming the airline as an all-round strong performer that is hugely popular with our passengers. The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 150 destinations. Qatar Airways was announced as the Airline of the Year at the 2021 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax. It was also named Worlds Best Business Class, Worlds Best Business Class Airline Lounge, Worlds Best Business Class Airline Seat, Worlds Best Business Class Onboard Catering and Best Airline in the Middle East. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021). Qatar Airways currently flies to more than 150 destinations worldwide, connecting through its Doha hub, Hamad International Airport, voted by Skytrax as the Worlds Best Airport. TradeArabia News Service A partially built housing development in Philomath is stalled after the discovery of methane gas on the property; meanwhile, the state has warned the project's first residents to forgo power tools, fire pits and barbecues anything that could spark an explosion. Despite the inherent danger, however, many current residents say they are not alarmed, the city considers methane risk fifth on a list of items it wants to see the developer address before greenlighting more construction, and the developer has argued it needs to sell more homes to pay for the environmental cleanup. In recent months, the developer has requested and received permission to alter the project, increasing the total units to as many as 212, moving some homes and allowing some townhomes. Hes also sued his consultant who was originally hired to assess the environmental challenges the site posed. The project Millpond Crossing, as it's now known a nod to its past as a sawmill with two large log ponds and a refueling station sits at the corner of Chapel Drive and South 15th Street. Sixty modestly-priced, single-family homes were built before the city halted construction. Developer Levi Miller of Pierce County, Washington and his company MPC Builders LLC bought the property in February 2018 and finalized the sale in September that year, about four months after the Philomath City Council had signed off on the plans. Because Millers environmental consultant had identified some contamination methane gas not being one of them Miller volunteered in October 2018 to clean up the site under a program the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality offers to elicit cooperation with property owners. Everything changed when the DEQ, in overseeing those efforts, required Miller to look for methane gas specifically. June 2020 and April 2021 sampling at the property found methane in shallow soil in several places, according to the DEQ. A fact sheet distributed by the Department of Environmental Quality in 2021 alerted Millpond Crossing residents to the methane, warning them to forgo outdoor flames and anything that could generate sparks. The fact sheet also cautioned avoiding sparks around such enclosed spaces as electrical boxes, crawlspaces, sheds and utility corridors, and to ventilate before entering those spaces. DEQ also requested crawl space vents around foundations of homes be kept uncovered and unblocked. Methane is flammable and in confined spaces can cause explosions or displace oxygen. No methane has been found in or under any homes, according to the developer. The residents Contacted by Mid-Valley Media, many residents seemed unconcerned about the risk they face in their daily lives, saying Miller has taken steps to protect the homeowners and property. Theyve got a vapor barrier underneath the house, theyve got some fans and vents going, said Darian Pike, who lives on South 16th Street in the subdivision. It seems safe to me. When alerted to the danger, Pike said he researched methane, finding explosions linked to mining operations but nothing like his situation. He believes the gas will dissipate to safe levels in the open air. Other residents echoed Pike. Rather than focusing on the methane risk, their concerns run the gamut for residents to a new development, things like grading, the quality of the appliances, some unresolved lot lines and a planned neighborhood park not yet built. MPC Builders has been working with the DEQ since the presence of methane was confirmed, said Carson Bowler, a Portland-based attorney, throwing blame at the agency for not providing clear direction in a timely way. Among the actions taken by the developer: Venting systems and methane alarms were installed in each home, according to DEQ, which also urged the developer to seal underground electrical conduits leading to enclosed spaces to alleviate concerns about methane buildup within utility infrastructure. The history The former mill site operated under various names between 1955 and 1998, according to DEQ documents which state the log ponds were filled with wood waste, construction debris and other hazardous substances in the 80s. A court document adds old oil filters, batteries, waste oils and plastics to the ponds contents. Decaying wood debris can generate methane gas. But methane is not the only hazard on site. Millers own consultant, Washington-based Aerotech Environmental Consulting Inc., found in May 2018 contaminants in the area of the filled log ponds, including diesel and oil. It also found such metals as arsenic, barium, chromium, cadmium, lead, mercury, selenium and silver. The petroleum contamination was above DEQ limits for residential areas, a DEQ consent order with MPC Builders states. Petrol can harm the microbiological, chemical and physical properties of soil. Aware of only the metals and the petroleum contamination, Miller moved forward with his plans, entering the DEQs Voluntary Cleanup Program, the developer said in his $9.9 million lawsuit against Aerotech filed in Benton County Circuit Court in May, alleging negligence and breach of contract. In submitting to DEQ oversight, the developer acknowledged that he did his due diligence and was aware its housing complex would be built on a brownfield and abandoned former mill site, according to an email Miller's attorney Bowler sent to DEQ. In the email, Bowler alleges his client wasnt informed of the potential risk of methane and other biogases, despite Aerotechs awareness of the former log ponds. In a response filed with the court, Aerotech denies Millers allegations and has requested the case be dismissed. Specifically, Aerotech claims its contract with MPC Builders didnt require identifying landfill gas or recommendations for how to go about investigating methane and its remediation. Following a 2018 complaint from whom is unclear the DEQ requested in July 2019 methane gas testing at the site. Initial testing was done in June 2020. A court document states the gas was found in 12 of 13 boring samples. Methane was found at several locations in excess of the lower explosive limit of 5% by volume, according to a March DEQ email to Bowler. By the time the testing for methane was underway, some Millpond Crossing residents had moved in. Methane was found at or outside, according to Miller, of one occupied residence as much as 50.7% by volume, the DEQ email states. State fire officials put the explosive range for methane between 5% and 15% by volume, according to DEQ. In Bowlers email to DEQ, he notes that early on, the developer chose to remove organic material from beneath foundation footprints of homes for structural reasons, but that also helped mitigate vapor intrusion. Along with fans and alarms, he said moisture vapor barriers were installed in all the homes. Methane monitoring points were also installed around the property. In June 2021, the DEQ recommended that the city of Philomath pause new construction of homes and utilities until further methane investigation was completed, and if necessary, a methane mitigation plan was fully implemented, the DEQ fact sheet states. The city did so, a move Miller called abrupt during a February appearance before the city Planning Commission. By July 2021, the agency and the developer entered into a consent order to investigate hazardous substances on the property and determine removal and/or remediation measures. That included a methane work plan due in August 2021, which was approved and implemented, according to DEQ. Last-minute disclosures Sales continued during sampling. When it was clear methane was going to be a problem, Miller had to inform homebuyers. Some were just days away from escrow closing when they were hit with the news. The disclosures, a copy of which were obtained by Mid-Valley Media, acknowledge the developer found areas of decomposing organic fill where methane could be produced, adding that the gas is naturally occurring and not considered toxic. The form also assures the buyers their home was tested and found free of methane. However, the form acknowledges that the gas is mobile and can ignite, also noting high methane levels can diminish the amount of oxygen in the air, making it difficult to breathe. MPC Builders does not believe methane gas will be an issue in your house in the future, the form states, but it cannot guarantee future conditions. Citing the installation of fans and methane-detection alarms, the form grants MPC Builders access to the home to monitor and inspect fans and alarms as well as make repairs or improvements for a period of at least two years after purchase. The first disclosures that included methane gave the buyers five days to sign or terminate the purchase. Several Millpond Crossing owners said they felt trapped or ambushed by the late-in-the-process notice. Whats next The developer has spent more than $500,000 addressing biogas issues at Millpond Crossing, according to Bowlers email to DEQ. The costs werent anticipated in the initial budget and have largely been covered by sales of existing homes, Bowler said, adding that the developer needs to sell more homes to fund mitigation work. We are not confident DEQ understands this business reality, Bowler said in the email. He then asked DEQ to withdraw its opposition and allow more units to be sold while the methane investigation continues, adding that approving or denying private home sales is outside the agencys jurisdiction. We hope DEQ realizes that the success of the project, including any additional work DEQ might request on the existing homes, depends on Millpond being able to pay for that work, Bowler wrote. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times. In February, Miller came before the Philomath Planning Commission with an altered proposal that moved the planned park, relocated some units and a request to build 64 townhomes. He argued that to generate the income he needs, hed have to build single-family homes in the $500,000 rang if he cant amend his plans. With recent economic changes from COVID-19 and the discovery of methane gas in specific areas on the site, this plot amendment is required for Millpond Crossing to continue that mission of providing affordable housing for homeownership for the workers and citizens of the city of Philomath, Miller wrote to the city. The Planning Commission approved the changes on a 5-2 vote, with commissioners Hayley Green and Peggy Yoder voting no. As a condition of approval, the owner has to prove is compliant with all state laws relating to methane and that the site is safe for residential use prior to receiving certificates of occupancy. The subdivision was originally expected to take three to five years for construction, with an outside date of 2023 for completion. Bowler said the estimated finish date is now late 2023 or 2024. From the DEQs perspective, more monitoring and data collection is necessary before the agency signs off with the city for more construction, according to DEQ spokesperson Dylan Darling. The agency is currently considering a modification of the consent order, which must be finalized for work to resume. At this point, the agreement has been amended once. The second revision would readjust the schedule for monitoring and submitting mitigation plans, Bowler said by email. Bowler said Miller has applied for a brownfield loan to assist with mitigation measures for existing and new homes. He said those measures, if found to be necessary, will be approved by DEQ. Despite the Planning Commissions recent approval for tweaks in the plans, Philomath City Manager Chris Workman said the city needs to see the developer meet a number of conditions. He rattled off a list of priorities, with addressing the methane dilemma at No. 5, bested by fees the developer owes the city, stormwater drainage concerns and lot line adjustments needed. Currently in Phase 2 of development, Miller doesnt get the OK to start Phase 3 of a total five phases until he can complete the checklist, Workman said. The city shares in the frustration of a lot of the neighbors, and the developer as well, that the process takes a long time, Workman said. Theres a lot of different things the developer is waiting for that hes not necessarily in the drivers seat on. Asked about concerns among some residents that Millpond Crossing might not be fully completed because of mounting costs and red tape, Workman said the developer appears committed to seeing the project to fruition. While its been a bumpy road so far, hes optimistic. Everything hes been doing is geared towards trying to finish the project, not walk away from it, he said. Ive seen him dig his heels in, adjust and adapt, and try to find creative ways to make the development move forward. As the housing crisis in Oregon deepens, affordable starter homes like those in Millpond Crossing become more essential, Workman said. He said Philomath doesnt have enough housing to meet current demands, let alone future needs. For those looking to build equity or put down roots, the challenges keep growing. Frankly, we dont have a lot of other development going on, Workman said. Short of a couple small lots and the manufactured homes going into Forest Meadow, this is the only housing opportunity going in Philomath right now. Former Mid-Valley Media reporter Jim Day contributed to this article. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) Billionaire banker and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford plans to ask the South Dakota Supreme Court to bar the release of affidavits used to issue search warrants into a child pornography investigation, his lawyer said Friday. The notice came after Judge James Power refused to first release the affidavits to Sanfords legal team before they became public. Sanford attorney Stacy Hegge argued they couldn't evaluate whether to appeal unless they reviewed the documents, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. The framers of the Constitution decided to include language in the Constitution to prohibit the Judiciary from interpreting it in a manner that denies or disparages our personal though unenumerated rights. That language can be found in the Ninth Amendment which provides, The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. When it was ratified in 1791, the Ninth Amendment became the supreme law of the land, like the rest of the Constitution anything in state constitutions or state laws to the contrary notwithstanding. The framers of the U.S. Constitution appropriately sought to make the judiciary as independent as possible. "Independent," however, isn't the same as "unaccountable." Congress and the courts have wrestled with this since the ratification of the Constitution, finally developing a Code of Judicial Conduct in 1972, and passing the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act in 1980 to create an enforcement mechanism. Nearly all federal judges are subject to this system of accountability except the nine justices on the highest court in the land. The only mechanism for holding them accountable is impeachment, a option so drastic, so time-consuming and so politically sensitive that it's only been used once, and even in that 1804 case the Senate failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed to convict. The justices, then, have largely been left to police themselves. It hasn't worked out so well. A new report from the Alliance for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, outlines multiple instances of current justices who are part of the high court's conservative majority violating the Code of Judicial Conduct. Some examples: Justice Clarence Thomas failed to recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, even though his wife, Ginni Thomas, was involved in former President Donald Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election. Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh met with National Organization for Marriage, a group involved in opposition to same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues the court has addressed and likely will in the future, giving an appearance of special access. Justice Neil Gorsuch spoke to a conservative group, the Fund for American Studies, whose partner organization was involved in a case before the court involving public-sector unions. The event was at Trump International Hotel at a time when the court was hearing matters related to the Trump administration. Justice Amy Coney Barrett gave a speech at a center founded by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that included dinner with the senator and a dozen or so of his friends, at which she declared without apparent irony that her goal was to "convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks. Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter. A conservative watchdog group might well come up with its own list of offenses in the court's liberal wing. That would only strengthen the point: Self-enforcement isn't cutting it on this court. How is the public to believe these justices are fair arbiters of the law? Several bills have been introduced in Congress to address this lack of accountability, including the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act, which would make the Code of Conduct mandatory for Supreme Court justices and create an independent review committee to handle complaints of potential violations. It would require justices to detail their outside associations and potential conflicts. At a time when the court's loading by Mr. Trump and its shift in a radically conservative direction is raising calls for impeachments, enlarging the court, and ending lifetime appointments, it's critical that the court and Congress try to restore public faith in its integrity. Transparency and accountability could go a long way toward accomplishing that. The alternative is nothing less than a judicial system whose integrity, and even its legitimacy, are in doubt. WFO BUFFALO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 17, 2022 _____ SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Buffalo NY 529 PM EDT Sun Jul 17 2022 ...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of western Wyoming, northeastern Cattaraugus, southeastern Erie and northwestern Allegany Counties through 615 PM EDT... At 527 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near East Concord and moving northeast at 15 mph. This storm will be capable of producing torrential rainfall in a very short period of time. This storm has a history of producing 1.0 to 1.5 inches in less than an hour. HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Locations impacted include... Springville, Arcade, Rushford, Houghton, Chaffee, East Concord, Varysburg, Yorkshire, Holland, Sardinia, Caneadea, Sheldon, Eagle, Pike, Delevan, Hermitage, Fillmore, Bliss, Sandusky and North Java. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building. Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. 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. This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio stations and available television stations for additional information and possible warnings from the National Weather Service. LAT...LON 4236 7856 4260 7872 4285 7831 4239 7798 TIME...MOT...LOC 2127Z 233DEG 13KT 4257 7857 MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO SHREVEPORT Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, July 18, 2022 _____ HEAT ADVISORY URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Shreveport LA 146 PM CDT Sun Jul 17 2022 ...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Heat index values from 105 to 110 degrees are expected. * WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, south central and southwest Arkansas and northeast Texas. * WHEN...Until 7 PM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Heat index values from 105 to 110 degrees expected. * WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Louisiana and east and northeast Texas. * WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 7 PM CDT Monday. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Jackson County campaign season is heating up and a recent e-mail blast has sparked tempers amongst voters. Here's a quick breakdown, as as always, we welcome your comments . . . The 3rd District At-Large Democratic Party primary pits two term incumbent Tony Miller against Marine veteran Megan Marshall. Voters might not know much about this contest but here's a quick summary and GENERALLY what most voters perceive . . . 3rd District At-Large Incumbent Tony Miller is an insider, he works with one of the biggest law firms in the metro and is well-liked amongst the local civic social set. Megan Marshall is a Marine veteran who has garnered surprising support in Lee's Summit. Now . . . Our only opinion about the matter . . . Claiming that a Marine veteran is a choice for "chaos" is a bit of a stretch . . . If anything, this e-mail attack signals that Tony Miller knows this contest is going to be VERY close. We'll share Mr. Miller's latest e-mail blast where he takes aim at his opponent. However . . . Since it's such a long quote, we'll share some of the feedback first . . . "Apparently Tony Miller, after serving for almost 8 years in the county legislature, still doesn't understand the composition of the legislature after all these years. "There are 9 members and the County Executive is not one of them! The fact Miller doesn't understand the governing board he is serving on speaks volumes. He sent this attack email on Megan Marshall within the last 48 hours to thousands of residents across Jackson County." Now, for readers to judge for themselves, here's the quote from Mr. Miller's recent e-mail blast: Tony Miller: What This Race Is Really About I am being challenged in the upcoming August Primary election by two individuals. One of those individuals likes to promote division and chaos as a matter of course. You should check her record. She likes to say Im the bad guy because I hold the office she has identified for herself. She wants you to believe that I am at fault for all our countys problems and that if you vote for her all our challenges will go away. I wish that was the case. I really wish it was that easy. We got to this point in our national political discourse because it is a mirror of the local political discourse. When we run for office we have to draw a contrast between ourselves and the other candidate(s). In this case, the contrast that is being propagated is just plain wrong. My opponent is a nice and smart person. Shes served our country and is a patriot. I even helped and supported her a very few years ago when she was new to the community and wanted to run for school board. I gave her a chancebased on her ideas, her past service and the crucial need for diversity in our community. And I was happy to do it. Since the time I welcomed and supported her in 2019-2020 I learned more about her and what she really stands for, and I can tell you that it is not what I stand for. I appreciate that she may disagree with my last (and only) vote against the mask mandate (the very same vote that my colleague Ron Finley made), but he real reason she is running against me is because she wants to run for a higher office, and she wants to divide us. Shes done it on the Lees Summit School Board and she intends to do it on the Jackson County Legislature. Let me tell you whats at stake: The Jackson County Legislature is made up of eight legislators and the County Executive. Of the eight of us currently serving, only four are running for re-election. Those retiring legislators have decades of institutional knowledge between them. Of the four of us running for re-election I am the longest serving - I was elected in 2014 and started serving in 2015. The other three who are running for re-election were first elected in 2018 and started serving in 2019. So if you want to vote to really turn things upside down and invoke chaos and uncertainty like the four years of the Trump Administration.it's not a vote against me. This is what I can promise you. I listen. I listen to my colleagues, my constituents and pay attention to details and ask questions and vote according to what I have learned. I dont come to this elected office with a bent toward division or pre-conceived notions or assumptions based on the national political discourse. I come to this service with the energy and commitment to do that which is not glamorous.with an open mind, the willingness to learn, to be better and to genuinely make this community one that we can all be proud of. I hoped I wouldnt be challenged in this election, but here we are. And as a result, I really do need your help . This election will come down to whose message gets out and resonates with the voters. THATS WHY I NEED YOUR HELP TODAY . I promise I wouldnt ask for help if I didnt need it. It is difficult for voters to learn about local candidates, and the only way to do that is if we can effectively communicate with them. If you want steady, strong, fair, and common-sense leadership in the Jackson County Legislature please make a donation to my campaign , tell your friends and family, and vote for me on August 2. If you want chaos and division like my opponent has brought to the Lees Summit School District support and vote for her. Ask her colleagues on the school board, ask parents and teachers in the district. And if youre wondering about me please ask my colleagues about their relationship with me. Ask constituents whove reached out for help. Ask the labor organizations and social service organizations the county works with. Ask county employees. If you do, I feel confident that you will find I am a public servant here for the right reasons and one who should be re-elected. Whatever you do, please make an informed decision. This election is right around the corner, and your donation today of whatever you can afford will give us a chance to keep strong and steady leadership that is already proven. I will not let you down. If you have any questions, thoughts or need anything at all as always I hope you will reach out to me. All my very best, Tony www.thirdatlarge.com ############################## You decide . . . Right now we're rounding up deets regarding the latest south side slaying and local violence continues to move past last year's record setting pace The 2nd highest level of killing in KCMO history. Here's the 1st report . . . Homicide 8200 Blue Ridge This morning at about 10:30 AM, officers were dispatched to 8200 Blue Ridge in regard to an injury accident. As officers arrived they saw a vehicle that was off the side of the road and had struck a tree. As they approached they observed the driver, an adult male, slumped over, and he appeared to have been shot. EMS pronounced him deceased at the scene. Officers have located a potential Crime Scene just to the south. We do not have any suspect information at this time. Detectives and crime scene personnel have responded to the scene and are actively canvassing for witnesses and processing the scene for evidence. If you have any information please call the Homicide unit at 234-5043. If you wish to remain anonymous you can call the TIPS hotline at 474-TIPS, with up to a $25,000 reward for an arrest in this case. ############# Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Man dies after shooting on Blue Ridge Boulevard SOURCE: KMBC A man has died after a shooting just south of the 8200 block of Blue Ridge Boulevard.First-responders were dispatched to the location for an injury accident at 10:30 a.m. Police investigating fatal shooting on Blue Ridge Boulevard KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A man died in a shooting Saturday morning at 8200 Blue Ridge Boulevard in Raytown, Missouri, according to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department. At around 10:30 a.m., police responded to reports of an injury accident. KCPD located a vehicle off the side of the road that had struck a tree. KCPD investigating homicide near Blue Ridge KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Police Department is investigating a deadly shooting that left one dead Saturday morning near Blue Ridge. Officers were dispatched to 8200 Blue Ridge in regard to a single-vehicle crash around 10:30 a.m. Developing . . . Faith life and election politics unite this summer for a historic showdown at the ballot box and/or your lady friend's private parts. To wit . . . KANSAS CATHOLICS LAUNCH ROSARY 'CRUSADE' FOR AMENDMENT 2 AS ELECTION DAY NEARS!!! First impression . . . Church leaders prove themselves horrible at politics given that "crusade" is a loaded word that turns many people off from the outset. Then again . . . Catholic Church leaders typically don't function in an environment wherein their decisions are questioned . . . If they did . . . For starters, they wouldn't wear those stupid hats. But I digress . . . This kind of effort is typically downplayed by local mainstream media but earns our attention because of Catholic guilt AND given that we're always curious to witness if God can be called down from Heaven to rig a vote . . . And, if so . . . Would that be election fraud??? Again, Heaven please forgive my constant digressions, bad attitude, and snark . . . Sr. Marcella was, tragically, unable to beat the lust for life from me. Anyhoo . . . Here's the pitch for the faithful to pray away their political opposition . . . I urge every member of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas to join the Kansas Rosary Crusade by praying the rosary every Thursday for the passage of the state constitutional amendment, making it crystal clear there is no right to abortion in the Kansas Constitution, said Archbishop Naumann. This amendment will restore to all Kansans their right through their elected representatives to determine abortion public policy in our state, he added. The other bishops of Kansas, too, are asking Catholics in their dioceses to join the Kansas Rosary Crusade. More deets . . . "The plan is simple: On Thursdays, all across Kansas, parishes, families, individuals, or other groups will pray a Rosary for the passage of a State Constitutional amendment rejecting abortion as a Constitutional right. Time and place are up to those praying." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Archbishop asks for prayers for 'Value Them Both' - The Leaven Catholic Newspaper by Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann is asking you to join him in the Kansas Rosary Crusade to pray for the passage of the "Value Them Both" amendment on Aug. 2. The Crusade Plan The plan is simple: On Thursdays, all across Kansas, parishes, families, individuals, or other groups will pray a Rosary for the passage of a State Constitutional amendment rejecting abortion as a Constitutional right. Time and place are up to those praying. You decide . . . The prison industrial complex remains exceptionally dangerous for EVERYONE involved. Don't get our lead image twisted . . . It's not an editorial statement just a cool promo shot from a worthwhile documentary that preceded the U.S. dumping a great man cons out onto the street in the name of social justice. Now . . . Here's a quick recap of what went down . . . "According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, two inmates were fighting which resulted in a stabbing. He was later taken to a hospital for treatment. Four staff were injured and received first aid on site." The prison is secure for now and local news has quieted more reporting of the riot. For context . . . Let's not forget that riots have been commonplace at this facility since before a COVID outbreak in 2020. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . Inmate remains under observation after stabbing, 4 staff injured LANSING, Kan. - An inmate remains under observation Saturday morning after being stabbed by another inmate at the Lansing, Kansas Correctional Facility Friday night. According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, two inmates were fighting which resulted in a stabbing. He was later taken to a hospital for treatment. Inmate, staff members injured, as Lansing Correctional Facility placed on lockdown At least one inmate has been hospitalized after what the union representing state correctional officers called a riot Friday night at Lansing Correctional Facility. Randall Bowman, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Corrections, confirmed in a text message that an inmate was stabbed and has been hospitalized, with the Kansas Organization of State Employees saying in a news release that three employees were also injured. Inmate stabbed, workers injured at Lansing Correctional TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - An inmate was stabbed during what Corrections officials described as a "fight" Friday night at Lansing Correctional Facility. A union representing Corrections workers, however, sent a news release terming the incident a "riot." Randy Bowman, a spokesperson for the Kansas Dept. Developing . . . This political dust-up has sparked intense emotions and quick Google searches regarding medical definitions . . . What might be more telling is the complete lack of compassion that both sides have for one another: In the exchange, Hawley repeatedly tries to talk over Pressley, while playing word games about the definition of "abortion," she tries to argue that terminating an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion. At one point, Pressley says to Hawley, "It seems there is a deficit in your understanding of reproductive health," and cites ACOG (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), which states that the "treatment for ectopic pregnancy requires ending a non-viable pregnancy." Hawley pipes up again, arguing, "That's not an abortion because it does not have the intent to end the life of a child . . ." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . Watch Erin Morrow Hawley play stupid word games about the definition of "abortion" | Boing Boing On June 13, the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing titled, "The Impact of the Supreme Court's Dobbs Decision on Abortion Rights and Access Across the United States." Towards the end of this hearing, there was a rather infuriating exchange between US Congressperson from Massachusetts, Ayanna Pressley, and Erin Morrow... "A deficit in your understanding": Ayanna Pressley publicly schools Josh Hawley's wife on abortion Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., on Wednesday tore into anti-abortion activist Erin Hawley, the wife of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., for tiptoeing around the exact meaning of "abortion," telling her that there was "a deficit in [her] understanding" of reproductive care. Developing . . . 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). Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk on the eighth anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 said that all war crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine must be thoroughly investigated. According to Ukrinform, Stefanchuk said this in a Facebook post. "Eight years ago, the Russians shot down flight MH17 in the sky over Donbas. Even then, the world saw the true face of Russia and understood that human life is worth nothing for the Russian Federation," Stefanchuk said. According to Stefanchuk, the aggressor did not stop and decided that they could continue killing, stage missile terror, shell cities, deliberately target shopping centers and kill civilians. "The feeling of impunity creates new crimes," Stefanchuk said. "Therefore, every time at meetings with our international partners, I emphasize the need to create a special criminal tribunal," Stefanchuk said. He said that all the horrors that Ukraine is experiencing must be given a legal assessment. "Otherwise, the aggressor will not stop. He will decide that the dictatorship can set its own rules," Stefanchuk said. As reported, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over occupied area of Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The international Joint Investigation Team reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belonged to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk. The defendants are Igor Girkin (Strelkov), former Russia's FSB colonel and former so-called defense minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic"; Sergey Dubinskiy, general (at the time of downing colonel) of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko who fought on the side of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic. They are considered to be involved in the transportation and combat use of a Buk missile system. In March 2020, the District Court of The Hague began the consideration of the case over the downing of Flight MH17. A delegation of the Estonian Defense Forces, led by the commander, Lieutenant General Martin Herem, as part of an official visit to Ukraine, visited the sites of Russian war crimes in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said this in a Facebook post. Meeting his Estonian colleague, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valeriy Zaluzhny, said that Herem's arrival in Ukraine at this difficult time for the country is evidence of systemic support and solidarity in the war against Russia. "I appreciate the involvement and assistance of Estonia, the effective support of the military, the high level of our military cooperation, as well as the hospitality with which the Estonians accepted refugees from Ukraine," Zaluzhny said. During the visit, the delegation of the Estonian Defense Forces was familiarized with the security situation in Ukraine, the composition and number of Russian groups both in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in the territory of the Russian Federation along the state border of Ukraine and the territory of neighboring states, the nature of the enemy's actions and directions of concentration, its losses in personnel and equipment, revealed facts of the enemy's violation of the rules of warfare and war crimes against humanity. In addition, the parties discussed the assessment of the likely nature of the enemy's actions in the future, the security situation on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, the development trends of the military-strategic situation in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea-Azov region. The delegation visited the hero cities of Hostomel, Borodianka and the territory of fierce fighting near Moshchun, Kyiv region. Also, together with the officers of the Operational Command North, the Estonian military visited the sites where Russian forces committed war crimes in the Chernihiv region. In particular, they saw the destroyed stadium, library, the Bobrovytsia residential neighborhood, etc. In addition, the foreign colleagues got acquainted with the security situation in the region and with how Ukrainian forces are countering Russia's armed aggression. The commander of the Estonian Defense Forces emphasized that the example of Ukraine's struggle in the war with Russia is an invaluable experience for NATO countries, and Estonia is one of the states that has always supported Ukraine and its army, including by helping with the professional training of personnel. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces expressed gratitude to Estonia for its support and assistance. A British man, John Harding, who had been fighting Russia as part of the Azov Regiment was captured by Russian proxies and is being held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine. Thats according to the BBC referring to Hardings video interview with a Russian TV presenter. In the video, he says he could face the death penalty and turns to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to facilitate his release. The Foreign Office said it was concerned by his detention. It understood Mr Harding was captured in May when Ukrainian units he was fighting with at the Azovstal steelworks were forced to surrender. The units had been defending the south-eastern city of Mariupol at the time. The video says he was part of the Azov regiment. Mr Harding had told friends he was fighting as part of the Ukrainian National Guard, the report reads. Harding had been fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region since 2018. He previously told the BBC he had travelled there to use his skills as a combat medic, to help in the fight against Russian proxies. Two other British men, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were also captured in Mariupol, have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in the DPR. Both they and Mr Harding had moved to Ukraine around the same time and made the country their home. This week Paul Urey, a British aid worker, died while being held by Russian proxies in east Ukraine. Saudi Arabia's decision to increase daily oil production to 13 million barrels will help reduce Russia's profits off oil exports. Thats according to Andriy Yermak, chief of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, Ukrinform reports. "Saudi Arabia's decision to increase its daily oil production capacity... will help lower world prices somewhat, as well as reduce Russian profits," Yermak noted. However, according to Yermaks statement, it is now important that the world leaders, despite all difficulties, agree on capping Russian oil prices, an idea put forward by the McFaul-Yermak group as a temporary measure prior to imposing a total embargo, which is being promoted by the United States. "The world must understand that there is life without Russian energy resources. There is also life without the terrorist state of Russia," the head of the Presidents Office emphasized. Saudi Arabia has earlier agreed to increase oil production after President Joe Biden met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The output will go up to 13 million barrels a day from about 4 million barrels. The United States is making significant international efforts to ensure that Europe gets rid of any dependence on Russian gas, oil, and other energy supplies, according to Jake Sullivan, U.S. Presidents National Security Advisor. Saudi Arabia is one of the worlds largest oil importers. OPEC said that the country produced about 9 million barrels of oil per day in 2021. Along with other countries that are part of the oil cartel, Saudi Arabia cut production when the pandemic hit and demand fell, agreeing to gradually increase output to regulate prices. Ukraines Meridian airline confirmed the crash of its An-12 plane in Greece. All eight crew members, citizens of Ukraine, died in the crash, Meridian CEO Denys Bogdanovych confirmed to DW, according to Ukrinform. He provided no information about the plane's cargo, adding that "the details are being clarified." The carrier reports that the disaster was due to a technical malfunction. As reported, on the night of July 17, an An-12 military transport plane crashed west of the Kavala Airport in northeastern Greece. According to data from the Flightradar24 aircraft tracking service, on July 16, the plane was flying from Constantine the Great Airport near Nis in Serbia to Amman, the capital of Jordan. The crew warned ground services about a problem with one of the engines shortly before the crash, after which air traffic operators in Greece allowed the plane to land either at the airport of Thessaloniki or at the Kavala Airport. The pilot chose the latter, but was unable to make it to the runway. According to eyewitnesses, the plane caught fire mid-air, sharply descended, and crashed, exploding on the ground. Local residents were urged to shut their windows and stay inside because the plane could carry hazardous cargo. The Group of 20 major economies' finance chiefs had "strong consensus" on a number of issues, but failed to issue a joint communique due to divisions over Russia's war against Ukraine. That's according to Reuters, Ukrinform reports. "The Group of 20 major economies' finance chiefs on Saturday pledged to address global food insecurity and rising debt, but made few policy breakthroughs amid divisions over Russia's war in Ukraine at a two-day meeting in Indonesia," the report said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the differences had prevented the finance ministers and central bankers from issuing a formal communique but that the group had "strong consensus" on the need to address a worsening food security crisis. Western countries have enforced strict sanctions against Russia. Other G20 nations, including China, India and South Africa, have been more muted in their response. "This is a challenging time because Russia is part of the G20 and doesn't agree with the rest of us on how to characterize the war," Yellen said. Canadian Conservatives are deeply concerned by Justin Trudeau government's waning support for Ukraine. Thats according to James Bezan, member of Canadas Parliament, shadow defense minister, who spoke with Guildhall, according to Ukrinform. The return of turbine engines to Russia via Germany, contrary to the sanctions against Russia that Canada's Parliament supported, is a slap in the face to our Ukrainian allies, the politician said. Canada and the international community need to strengthen their resolve to oppose the illegal invasion of Ukraine, and that support must include additional financial aid, lethal military aid, and energy solutions for Europe that do not depend on Russian oil and gas, he noted. Read also: UWC files legal action to stop return of gas turbine for Nord Stream Bezan added that conservatives will continue to call for additional measures that will assist Ukraine to win this war against Putin's brutal regime. As Ukrinform reported earlier, Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Canada's decision to return to Germany a gas turbine for Russias Nord Stream 1 gas pipe was a mistake as the sanctions regime should not be adjusted to the whims of the Russian Federation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said on the eighth anniversary of the MH17 tragedy that every criminal will be brought to justice, adding that Russia continues to sow grief on Ukrainian soil. The head of state wrote this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports. "On the 8th anniversary of the 17 plane crash, our thoughts are with the relatives and friends of those innocently killed by Russia. Currently, Russia continues to sow grief and death on Ukrainian soil. But nothing will go unpunished! Every criminal will be brought to justice!" Zelensky wrote. As reported, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over an occupied area of the Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The international Joint Investigation Team reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belonged to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for defense support and called on Canada to increase the sanctions pressure on Russia after its missile attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Spoke to Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. Thanked for the continued powerful defense support. Reiterated that the international position on sanctions must be principled. After the terrorist attacks in Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Chasiv Yar, etc. the pressure must be increased, not decreased, Zelensky noted. A reminder that, at the request of Germany, Canada decided to return a gas turbine of Siemens Energy AG after technical maintenance for use in Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The decision was made despite the objections of the Ukrainian government. mk Poland has taken in 4.81 million refugees from Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Thats according to Radio Poland citing a report by the Polish Border Guard agency, as seen by Ukrinform. "Since February 24, a total of 4.81 million people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine," the agency said in a tweet. On Friday, around 25,100 refugees from Ukraine arrived in the country, compared with 24,800 a day earlier, according to the Polish Border Guard. Meanwhile, 2.88 million people have left Poland for Ukraine since February 24, the agency also reported. At the same time, on Friday, around 23,300 people crossed from Poland into Ukraine, the Polish Border Guard said. A deputy interior minister said last month that Poland was home to some 1.5 million Ukrainians after many refugees from Russia's invasion of Ukraine decided to return home. Poland in March enacted a measure to offer wide-ranging support to Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion. The measure grants them residence rights and ensures access to education, healthcare, and social benefits. Nine in 10 Poles are in favor of accepting refugees from war-torn Ukraine, according to a survey. In the center of Amsterdam, on Dam Square, the Ukrainians organized a peaceful rally to commemorate those killed in MH17 tragedy and to draw the attention of the international community to war crimes committed by Russia in the territory of Ukraine. As an Ukrinform correspondent reports, almost two hundred people took part in the rally. People were wrapped in Ukrainian flags, some wore national embroidered clothes, carried Ukrainian and Dutch symbols. The rally participants held posters, in particular, reading "War is not over", "Russia is terrorist state". They called to stand together to defeat Russian terrorism. Concerned Dutch people and citizens of other countries also joined the rally, bringing with them paper airplanes with words of support and solidarity written inside. Earlier, during a ceremony at the memorial to the victims of the MH17 tragedy near Schiphol Airport, the names of the victims were read by their relatives. Piet Ploeg, chairman of the MH17 Disaster Foundation, and a relative of the three victims of the tragedy, noted that this year was very busy, and the hearings at the Schiphol Judicial Complex had been difficult for relatives taking the floor. Ploeg noted that the court in the Netherlands was expected to deliver a judgment in the MH17 criminal case against the four defendants already this year. At the same time, he recalled that less than a month before Russias full-scale invasion, the Dutch and Ukrainians faced the Russian side at the European Court of Human Rights. "We were able to share with the court how great the impact of the attack on Flight MH17 was on us as relatives. It was a tense moment. We realized again and again that our loved ones were actually victims of a brutal war that had actually started eight years ago," Ploeg said. In the Netherlands, on June 10, the last court hearing was held in MH17 trial. The next hearing of MH17 trial will be technical and is scheduled for September 22, 2022, at which the court could name the date of judgment delivery. Tentative dates are November 17 and December 15, 2022. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over occupied area of Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The international Joint Investigation Team reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belonged to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk. The defendants are Igor Girkin (Strelkov), former Russia's FSB colonel and former so-called defense minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic"; Sergey Dubinskiy, general (at the time of downing colonel) of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko who fought on the side of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. They are considered to be involved in the transportation and combat use of a Buk missile system. In March 2020, the District Court of The Hague began the consideration of the case over the downing of Flight MH17. Photo credit: Iryna Drabok. Ukrinform ol ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jul, 2022 ) :Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had established a bright democratic tradition by ensuring free, fair and transparent election in a peaceful manner. "We accept opinion of the people who are real decision makers under the Constitution," she said in a series of tweets. The minister said it should be acknowledged that the PML-N was a "representative party" of the most of people of Punjab. She said the PML-N would continue the journey of representing and serving the people with renewed determination and passion. (@ChaudhryMAli88) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2022) US President Joe Biden did not tell Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud that he believed the Crown Prince was responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir told Fox news. "I didn't hear that particular phrase," Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News' Alex Hogan after Biden departed Saudi Arabia. The details of al-Jubeir's interview with Hogan were first revealed by White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich via social media late on Saturday night. "The President mentioned that the US is committed to human rights because since the founding fathers wrote the constitution and he also made the point that American presidents - this is part of the agenda of every American president," Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News. On Friday, Biden told reporters that he raised the issue of Khashoggi at the meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince in Jeddah that day, claiming that Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the murder. "With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think about it now," Biden said, adding "He basically said that he was not personally responsible for it. I indicated that he was, and he said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible." Biden told reporters that he did not regret calling Saudi Arabia a "pariah state" for its alleged role in the killing of columnist Khashoggi. During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden labeled Saudi Arabia a "pariah state" over what he said was the Crown Prince's purported role in the murder of Khashoggi. Khashoggi is believed to have been murdered and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad inside the the country's consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The Saudi Crown Prince has denied ordering the murder. A senior Saudi official told Al Arabiya after Biden's talks with the Crown Prince on Friday that Mohammed bin Salman mentioned US "mistakes" to Biden made at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and other incidents, such as the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Commenting on the murder of Khashoggi, the Crown Prince told Biden that it was "regrettable" but said that Saudi Arabia had undertaken all the legal procedures in the Khashoggi case. Prince Mohammed said that it is important that all countries deal with their mistakes and implement all the necessary procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future. BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2022) Croatian authorities consider the planned visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to the Jasenovac Second World War concentration camp site a political act, because the visit was not properly organized and did not receive authorization, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grli Radman stated on Sunday. "Of course, we perceive it (the visit) as ill-intended, given that we understood that the visit is not sincere, that it is not about paying homage to the victims, but is mostly motivated by satisfying the domestic political needs in Serbia, before the formation of the Serbian government," Radman said at a press briefing. On July 15, Croatian authorities sent a diplomatic note to Serbia, saying they they do not authorize Vucic's private visit to the camp site and memorial because it was not properly organized. The visit of a foreign leader is not "a holiday trip to the seaside," the minister said. "We consider this a political provocation precisely due to the fact that the victims here are a means, not an end. The goal is to show the Serbian public the efforts of President Vucic and get additional political points in the anticipation of the formation of the government," Radman added. Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin condemned Zagreb's comment and said that now Croatian officials will have to justify their visits to Serbia in details. He added that over the past year, more than 700 diplomats and officials traveled from Croatia to Serbia without any preliminary official applications. The Serbian Foreign Ministry sent an official letter of protest to Croatia, saying that it is shocked by Zagreb's uncivilized and anti-European reaction. The ministry added that Vucic will announce his response to the Croatian authorities on Monday evening. Jasenovac concentration camp complex functioned on the territory of the so-called Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1945. The camp's detention facilities were used to murder hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma and other political and religious opponents of the Independent State's regime. Jasenovac differed from many other death camps because it had a special children camp, in which about 20,000 children of predominantly Serbian nationality were brutally murdered. (@ChaudhryMAli88) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2022) The European Union froze 13.9 billion Euros ($14 billion) in Russian assets since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said, adding that only 6 countries account for almost all of this amount. "There are six member states that are doing the work," Reynders told Bloomberg on Saturday, adding that Germany, France, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg have frozen 12. 7 billion euros in assets, while other countries have signaled they seized small amounts or none at all. Reynders also noted that he asked the EU to consider a proposal according to which the violation of sanctions would be regarded as a crime. According to him, it will allow European countries not only to freeze but also to seize assets. The European Parliament supported the proposal, and it is expected that the member-states will follow suit in the autumn, Reynders added. Greece sent four Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft to France and Albania, two for each country, at the request of the respective authorities, Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2022) Greece sent four Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft to France and Albania, two for each country, at the request of the respective authorities, Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said. The requests were lodged through the so-called European Civil Protection Mechanism aimed at coordinating prevention, response and rescue activities in the event of disasters and emergency situations between the EU countries and 6 other participating states. A particularly large wildfire was ravaging near the Albanian village of Dhermi (Drymades) in the Himara municipality. This is the second time Greece assists its neighbor in putting out wildfires. Southern France has also been plagued by widespread wildfires this summer, with authorities struggling to contain the blazes and resorting to the European Civil Protection Mechanism for the first time. Greece was the first country to respond to their distress signal, practically proving the European solidarity, the Greek ministry noted. The ministry said on Twitter that the two Greek planes are already involved in extinguishing large forest fires in southwestern France. Paris was quick to thank Athens for the support, while French President Emmanuel Macron posted a tweet in the Greek language, extolling European solidarity. "A year ago, when Greece was facing terrible fires, we mobilized as Europeans. Yesterday, Greek firefighting aircraft arrived in the south of France to support the work of our firefighters," Macron said. Record-breaking temperatures of over 40 C (104 F) across the Mediterranean caused massive wildfires in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Morocco, Italy and southern France, and the heatwave does not appear to be easing. Over 12,000 people were reportedly evacuated due to the fires in France's Gironde region alone. Thousands of firefighters are struggling to extinguish the wildfires and most countries declared orange alert in the fire-prone regions. Jeddah (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jul, 2022) The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed the outcomes of the Jeddah Security and Development Summit hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Chair of the 14th Islamic Summit, on July 16, 2022, in Jeddah, with the participation of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and the United States of America. The General Secretariat commended the speeches delivered by the leaders of the participating countries during this Summit, which provided an accurate diagnosis of the regions crises and challenges. The General Secretariat affirmed its support for all Arab and international efforts to achieve regional security, development, and stability. (@ChaudhryMAli88) PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2022) KAMCHATSKIY, July 17 (Sputnik) - A Robinson helicopter that went missing in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Territory on Saturday was found burned-out, leaving no survivors, the regional office of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) said. "The missing aircraft was found by a passing helicopter on July 17 in the Semyachik mountain crossing 13 kilometers (8 miles) away from the Uzon volcano. Unfortunately, nobody survived the crash," EMERCOM said. The Robinson helicopter broke radio contact in the Kamchatka Territory on Saturday, the rescue services reported earlier. The regional Governor Vladimir Solodov confirmed the crash on Sunday. "The helicopter with two passengers and a pilot was operating a private flight, the group was not registered as tourists. Yesterday, low clouds and unfavorable weather conditions for flights were in the area of the helicopter crash site. The competent authorities are investigating the situation and will establish the reasons for the departure and the circumstances of the crash of the private helicopter," Solodov wrote on Telegram. According to some sources, three people were on board of the helicopter, including the pilot, who possibly was Igor Malinovsky, a Russian biathlete. According to EMERCOM, the missing helicopter was en route from the Uzon volcanic caldera to the village Milkovo, Kamchatka. A statement released by AMECEA the Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa wraps up the bodys 20th Plenary Assembly underway in Tanzania from July 9-18. The statement undersigned by members of the 11 African States that make up AMECEA highlights the effects of climate change and commits to work for integral ecology, according to the teachings of Laudato si' By Alessandro De Carolis Droughts, floods, cyclones and other disasters. Africa is no exception to the wave of consequences that climate change is now registering at all latitudes. Noticing and responding is what the bishops of AMECEA, the Association that brings together the episcopates of the eastern part of the continent (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan and South Sudan, Zambia, affiliate members Djibouti and Somalia) have decided to do. The commitment stemmed from the just-ended Plenary Assembly in Tanzania in which delegates from the member bishops' conferences participated. A meeting - which was also attended by the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini and sealed by a paper articulated in eight points. Cardinal Tagle: without integral development, fraternity suffers Opening the statement is a quote from Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, among those invited to speak, who reaffirmed that "lack of care for others coexists with behaviors and practices that damage creation" and that "when integral care for creation is lacking " and "when integral human development is lacking, fraternity suffers." This is basically the message at the heart of the encyclical Laudato si', which formed the backbone of the meeting. In the eight points, the AMECEA prelates say they recognize "the existence of an ecological crisis that, to a large extent, is the result of human behavior" and whose extreme phenomena of environmental destruction "pose a growing threat to the socio-economic development" of countries in the area and to the "subsistence of the peoples" who inhabit it. Best practices against neglect Forests that are depleted by deforestation and not re-equilibrated by adequate replanting, poor regulation of mining, and general degradation due to neglect and exploitation are highlighted as situations from which to work to restore "economic justice" and "equity," beginning by promoting alternative sources of energy: solar, wind and other. The AMECEA bishops reiterate their willingness to collaborate with all institutional bodies, NGOs, and communities of other faiths in all initiatives aimed at protecting the environment, and to implement an intensive "awareness campaign" at a grassroots community level to raise awareness and improve communication with people" on these issues. This is a topic addressed by the Prefect, Paolo Ruffini who stated that good communication can foster the consolidation of "ecological citizenship." This awareness, he said, must start from the basic grades of education that can then go on to train young "ambassadors of good ecological practices." Standing alongside those who are victims of environmental disasters The statement concludes with a message of solidarity with people in the area that are affected by the "negative effects of climate change, such as floods." You are not alone, the bishops assure them, "in prayer and in a spirit of solidarity we are at your side in your struggles." And another thought is for communities affected by "conflicts and civil wars" such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan, including wars "in other parts of Africa and the world," and for the vote scheduled to take place in Kenya on 9 August, that they may "free, fair, credible and peaceful elections." People hold a candlelight vigil for the victims and injured demonstrators during anti-government protests in Colombo on July 16, 2022 (AFP or licensors) Pope Francis reiterates his closeness to the people of Sri Lanka where a devastating economic crisis has engulfed the nation and led to the ousting of the President. By Linda Bordoni Pope Francis again expressed his closeness to the people of Sri Lanka, assuring that he joins them in prayer. Speaking during the Sunday Angelus he also issued an appeal to all parties who are engaged in finding a solution to the crisis, rooted in corruption and economic mismanagement, that has deprived the people of basic needs and livelihoods and led to a popular uprising. I urge all parties to seek a peaceful solution to the present crisis in favour, especially of the poorest while respecting the rights of all. The Pope also said he joins the religious leaders of the country in imploring everyone to refrain from any form of violence and to initiate a process of dialogue for the common good. Whats happening Sri Lankas ousted president meanwhile, fled overseas this week to escape the swelling popular uprising against his government. Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation was accepted by parliament on Friday after hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters came out onto the streets of Colombo a week ago and occupied his official residence and offices. Sri Lanka's parliament met on Saturday to begin the process of electing a new president, and a shipment of fuel arrived to provide some relief to the crisis-hit nation. Parliament will next meet on Tuesday to accept nominations for the post of the president. A vote to decide the country's leader is set to take place on Wednesday. Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, an ally of Rajapaksa who is the sole representative of his party in parliament, has been sworn in as acting president until then. Vigil for victims of protests Sri Lankas anti-government demonstrators held a vigil overnight in memory of those who lost their lives during the massive protests in the island nation, which completed 100 days on Sunday, and which achieved its main objective of getting President Rajapaksa to step down. Although the first protests began around the end of March, when the island experienced a daily power outage lasting more than 13 hours, it was not until 9 April that thousands of people began occupying the park in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, demanding Rajapaksas resignation. For the past two weeks, Hoang Viet, who lives in Hanoi's Ha Dong District, has been checking flight ticket prices constantly so he could fly to Ho Chi Minh City and visit his relatives. However, he hasn't been able to find fares that he can afford. "If my family flies this month, it would take at least VND10 million ($426.35) for three people," he said. A round trip between Hanoi and HCMC costs VND3.4-6.2 million for economy class, with the lowest price range offered by budget airlines like Vietjet. The low prices are usually for flights that leave or arrive very early in the morning or late at night. The base fares for Vietjet and Vietravel do not include check-in baggage. The higher fares on the route are charged by Vietnam Airlines. Current ticket prices are already higher than the VND2.5-4 million range during the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this year. Summertime travel demand has hiked fares to popular travel destinations including coastal towns. For example, a round trip between Hanoi and Nha Trang in the central coast costs VND3-6.7 million for the latter half of July. A round trip between Hanoi and Quy Nhon costs around VND2.7-5 million; while one between the capital city and Con Dao Island off the southern coast in the last week of July can cost as high as VND10 million. Ticket prices will tend to drop in August, industry insiders said. Tickets for international trips have also become expensive this summer. For the latter half of this month, a Hanoi-Bangkok round trip starts at VND5.5 million, and a Hanoi-Singapore round trip at VND5.3 million. Before the pandemic, passengers could easily purchase tickets for similar flights starting at VND3 million. Direct flights from Vietnam to Europe in September and October are also expensive, with a HCMC-Frankfurt trip starting at VND24 million, and a Hanoi-Paris trip starting at VND40 million. A representative for Vietravel Airlines said the high prices were necessary to cover costs. "Summertime is considered a time to make up for periods of low travel demand from August to November. It is simply a matter of revenue management and making sure our operations are stable," the rep said. Despite a quick recovery by domestic aviation and ongoing high prices, some carriers still want price ceilings expanded, saying the current ones are no longer appropriate. This is needed also because of rising world fuel prices, they argue. A Vietnam Airlines representative said current price ceilings were based on fuel costing around $80 a barrel, but actual prices are at around $140 a barrel. A Bamboo Airways rep said the aviation industry should not be held back by price ceilings and it was better to allow the market to decide prices. An 82-year-old resident of Chuguiv, east of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, reacts to the destruction caused by Russian shelling on July 16, 2022 (AFP or licensors) Pope Francis laments, yet again, the continuing war in Ukraine and the senselessness of conflict urging international actors to 'really' work for peace. By Linda Bordoni I am always close to the tormented Ukraine, which is struck by a rain of missiles every day, said Pope Francis during the Sunday Angelus. How can anyone not understand that war only creates destruction and death, driving people apart and killing truth and dialogue? Raising his voice, yet again, since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine that continues to wreak death, suffering, destruction and displacement, the Pope reiterated his appeal to the international community to seek a negotiated solution instead of fuelling violence. I pray and hope that all international actors will really work to resume negotiations, not to fuel the senselessness of war. The war continues Russian missiles hit industrial facilities at a strategic city in southern Ukraine Sunday as Moscow continued efforts to expand its gains in the country's east. The Mayor of Mykolaiv said that the Russian missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility in the city, a key shipbuilding center in the estuary of the Southern Bug river. There was no immediate information about casualties. Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. On Thursday, a Russian missile strike killed at least 24 people including three children and wounded more than 200 in Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, the capital, far from the front lines that had largely been spared from the Russian bombardment before. Ukraines President meanwhile claims that weapons supplied by the West are starting to have an impact on the war by affecting Moscows offensive potential. Sri Lanka's protest movement reached its 100th day Sunday having forced one president from office and now turning its sights on his successor as the country's economic crisis continues. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his palace shortly before demonstrators invaded it last weekend and on Thursday resigned from the presidency. His mismanagement is blamed for Sri Lanka's financial turmoil, which has forced its 22 million people to endure shortages of food, fuel and medicines since late last year. The campaign to oust Rajapaksa, organized mainly through posts on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, drew people from across Sri Lanka's often unbridgeable ethnic divides. United by economic hardships, minority Tamils and Muslims joined the majority Sinhalese to demand the ouster of the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan. It began as a two-day protest on April 9, when tens of thousands of people set up camp in front of Rajapaksa's office a crowd so much larger than the organizers' expectations that they decided to stay on. Under Sri Lanka's constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was automatically installed as acting president following Rajapaksa's resignation and is now the leading candidate to succeed him permanently in a parliamentary vote next week. But the veteran politician is despised by the protesters as an ally of the Rajapaksa clan, four brothers who have dominated the island's politics for years. Social media activist and protest campaign supporter Prasad Welikumbura said Wickremesinghe too should go. "Its been 100 days since it started," Welikumbura said on Twitter. "But, its still far from any concrete change in the system. #GoHomeRanil, #NotMyPresident." Rajapaksa's elder brother Mahinda resigned as premier in May, and he appointed Wickremesinghe to replace him his sixth term in the post despite his being an opposition MP representing a party with only one seat in parliament. The move did little to assuage the protesters' anger, and when they stormed Rajapaksa's tightly guarded 200-year-old Presidential Palace they also set Wickremesinghe's private home ablaze. Now the Rajapaksas' SLPP party which has more than 100 MPs in the 225-member parliament is backing Wickremesinghe in the vote due Wednesday. A spokesman for the protesters told AFP: "We are now discussing with groups involved in the 'Aragalaya' [struggle] on turning the campaign against Ranil Wickremesinghe." Numbers at the protest site have diminished since Rajapaksa's exit, and the demonstrators have vacated three key state buildings they occupied -- the 200-year-old presidential palace, the Prime Minister's official Temple Trees residence and his office. Wickremesinghe has ordered the military and the police to do whatever it takes to ensure order and defence officials said additional troops and police will be poured to the capital on Monday to bolster security around parliament ahead of the vote. President Joe Biden is promising "strong executive action" to combat climate change, despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy, such as wind and solar power. The Supreme Court last month limited how the nation's main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Then late Thursday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he wants to delay sweeping environmental legislation that Democrats have pushed as central to achieving Biden's ambitious climate goals. Biden, who has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, said Friday that "action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever." If the Senate will not act to address climate change and boost clean energy, "I will take strong executive action to meet this moment," Biden said in a statement from Saudi Arabia, where he met Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden did not specify what actions he will take on climate, but said they will create jobs, improve energy security, bolster domestic manufacturing and protect consumers from oil and gas price increases. "I will not back down," he promised. Some advocates urged Biden to use the moment to declare a national climate emergency and reinstate a ban on crude oil exports, among other steps. Declaring a climate emergency would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar and speed the nation's transition away from fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. Climate advocates, including some of Manchin's Democratic colleagues in the Senate, slammed his opposition, noting that it was the second time he has torpedoed climate change legislation. "It's infuriating and nothing short of tragic that Senator Manchin is walking away, again, from taking essential action on climate and clean energy," said Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota. "The world is literally burning up while he joins every single Republican to stop strong action to cut emissions and speed the transition to clean energy." Other Democrats said Manchin's announcement that he cannot back the climate provisions in the Senate bill at least for now frees Biden of the obligation to cater to a powerful, coal-state senator eager to protect his energy-producing home state. Manchin's vote is decisive in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans unanimously oppose climate action. "Free at last. Let's roll. Do it all and start it now," tweeted Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has long pushed stronger action on climate. "With legislative climate options now closed, it's now time for executive Beast Mode," Whitehouse wrote. Whitehouse suggested a series of actions Biden could take, including "a robust social cost of carbon rule" that would force energy producers to account for greenhouse gas emissions as a cost of doing business. The senator also urged Biden to require major polluters to use technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions and impose stronger pollution controls on cars, light trucks and heavy-duty vehicles. Advocates also urged Biden to reject all onshore and offshore drilling on federal lands and in federal waters a step he promised during the 2020 campaign but has not enacted and restrict approval of natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects. Manchin, in a radio interview Friday, said climate activists want an immediate end to U.S. use of oil, coal and gas. "That's crazy," he told West Virginia talk show host Hoppy Kercheval. "I'm not throwing caution to the wind. I think we need an energy policy that works for our country." Even before Manchin's apparent rejection of the climate measures, Democrats had slimmed their down their plan from about $555 billion in climate spending to just more than $300 billion in a bid to secure his support. Proposed tax credits for wind, solar and nuclear energy, along with still-unproven carbon-capture technology, could reduce emissions by up to 40% by 2030, advocates said. Manchin earlier had forced Democrats to drop two tax provisions he opposes: direct payments of clean energy credits and tax credits for drivers who purchase electric vehicles. Manchin forced other concessions last year, including killing a proposal that would have paid utilities that increase clean energy while penalizing those that do not. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he still hopes to salvage the clean energy tax provisions and said failure "really is not an option here." Manchin's request to postpone action on the climate measure follows a June 30 ruling by the Supreme Court, which said in a 6-3 vote that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The ruling by the court's conservative majority likely complicates the Biden administration's plan to manage power plant pollution but does not eliminate its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency is moving forward with proposed rules for power plants in the coming months. A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying 11 tons of munitions from Serbia to Bangladesh has crashed in northern Greece. The munitions had been bought by the Bangladeshi Defense Ministry. Officials say all eight Ukrainian crew members died when the aircraft crashed Saturday night near the city of Kavala. The pilot asked Greek aviation authorities for permission for an emergency landing, but Greece lost contact with the plane soon after the request. Initial reports of the crash said the planes destination was Jordan, but Reuters reports that the plane was headed to Jordans Queen Alia international airport only to refuel. Witnesses said the plane was engulfed in flames before it crashed. People who live near the crash site have been advised to stay home and to keep their doors and windows shut. An official said firefighters felt their lips burning. "We don't know what has been affecting us, a fire brigade official told Reuters. Beautiful and serene in a crown of white flowers, 4-year-old Liza Dmytrieva, who was killed by a Russian missile strike, was buried Sunday in central Ukraine as an Orthodox priest burst into tears and told weeping relatives that "evil cannot win." Liza, who had Down syndrome, was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when Russian missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, far from the front lines. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys ages 7 and 8, and more than 200 were wounded, including Liza's mother. "Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you," Liza's grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, said, caressing Liza as she lay in an open coffin with flowers and teddy bears in Vinnytsia's 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral. Liza's father, Artem Dmytriev, stood silent, tears flowing down his face. Liza's mother, 33-year-old Iryna Dmytrieva, remained in an intensive care unit in grave condition. The family didn't tell her that Liza was being buried Sunday, fearing it could affect her condition. "Your mommy didn't even see how beautiful you are today," Dmytryshyna said, weeping. Helena Sydorenko, a longtime family friend, said Liza's mother "invested a lot of effort in socializing Liza." "She wanted her kid to have a full life," Sydorenko added. When the war started, Dmytrieva and her family fled Kyiv, the capital, for Vinnytsia, a city 270 kilometers (167 miles) to the southwest, which until Thursday was considered relatively safe. Shortly before the explosion, Dmytrieva had posted a video on social media showing her daughter straining to reach the handlebars to push her own stroller, happily walking through Vinnytsia, wearing a denim jacket and white pants, her hair decorated with a barrette. After the Russian missile strike, Ukraine's emergency services shared photos showing her lifeless body on the ground next to her blood-stained stroller. Ukraine's first lady remembered how cheerful and happy the little girl was when she met her. The videos and photos have gone viral, the latest images from the brutal war in Ukraine to horrify the world. Liza's closest relatives sat on both sides of the coffin, and many more crowded Vinnytsia's Orthodox cathedral to pay their last tributes to the girl. "I didn't know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm," Orthodox priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, bursting into tears. ''Because every burial is grief for each of us. We are losing our brothers and sisters." He paused and continued in a trembling voice: ''We know that evil cannot win.'' Later, at a windswept cemetery, relatives and friends bid farewell to Liza under gray skies. "You loved this song very much, you danced every day. This song sounds for you now," Dmytrushyna, Liza's grandmother, said. The song was, "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow," which has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine after Russia's invasion. "It's suffering and despair. There is no forgiveness for them," said Ilona, another family friend. A 7-year-old boy killed in the same Russian airstrike was also buried Sunday along with his mother in a village near Vinnytsia. They were at a medical center when the missiles hit the building. Another young boy slain in the same airstrike is to be buried in Vinnytsia on Monday. Forest elephants are smaller than their cousins on the African savannah, but in Gabon their destructive raids of farmers' fields are having an outsized impact on support for the government and its conservation agenda. With over 10% of its land protected in national parks, Gabon has become the main stronghold in central Africa for critically endangered forest elephants, whose relative abundance and marauding habits are undermining efforts to protect them there, authorities and scientists warn. The long-standing conflict has become markedly more acute in the past few years - 2021 saw the most widespread anti-elephant protests so far by farmers across Gabon, according to the environment ministry. "Some people cannot farm anymore - the elephants are eating so much of their crops," Environment Minister Lee White told Reuters. "It has become a political issue and is eroding support for conservation and for the president (and) government." Just outside the capital Libreville, splintered tree-trunks, trampled undergrowth and churned-up earth mark where an elephant strolled through the forest. When they draw close to villages, these natural bulldozers can wipe out carefully tended crops in just a few hours. "You can see how people get mad and sometimes kill the elephants," said guide Djakel Matotsi as he followed the elephant tracks in Pongara National Park. Up to 50 elephants are killed per year in revenge or self-defense, while around 10 people have been killed by elephants in the past 2-1/2 years, according to the environment ministry, which says there is not enough data to quantify long-term trends. The raids are causing food prices to rise, spurring rural exodus and driving up perceptions that the authorities prioritize elephants' interests while doing little to support the around third of Gabonese who live in poverty, said Oliwina Boudes, head of a female farmers' association. "All rural communities harbor this feeling," she told Reuters. Need for detente The need for a detente is clear. Gabon is home to 95,000 or 60-70% of all African forest elephants, which are facing dramatic decline elsewhere, a study published in Global Ecology and Conservation in December showed. Managing these herds while promoting rural development in Gabon is of "critical importance to the species' persistence," it said. After nationwide consultations in 2021, authorities are rolling out new initiatives this year to try to strike this balance. To address the lack of data on elephant disturbances, the ministry has launched a database and app to track and verify complaints while for the first time, the government has set aside $4.5 million in this year's budget to compensate farmers for trashed crops. The government is also allowing charity Space for Giants (SfG) to trial elephant-repelling electric fences around fields, customized to simplify their installation and maintenance in tropical forest conditions. The 57 single-strand fences set up so far have repelled all interactions with elephants, SfG said in June. It plans to install 500 by year-end if it can get the funding. Even with the fences, the government will need to do more to help farmers cope with elephants as it pursues its 'Green Gabon' plan for sustainable development, said John Poulsen, elephant ecologist at Duke University, who is helping SfG assess the impact of the fence trial. He said that the government could potentially deploy agents in the field to help keep troublesome elephants away from villages and provide training so communities can deal with problem animals better themselves. "If they have that perception that elephants are that bad ... it absolutely affects their outlook and willingness to work with the government and with other conservation efforts," he said. "It's absolutely crazy to stick yourself to the road with superglue," admits Lina Schinkoethe. And yet, the 19-year-old recently landed in jail for doing just that, in protest at what she believes is the German government's failure to act against climate change. Schinkoethe is part of a group called Uprising of the Last Generation that claims the world has only a few years left to turn the wheel around and avoid catastrophic levels of global warming. Like-minded activists elsewhere in Europe have interrupted major sporting events such as the Tour de France and the Formula One Grand Prix in Silverstone in recent weeks, while others glued themselves to the frame of a painting at London's Royal Academy of Arts Tuesday. But Schinkoethe's group has mainly targeted ordinary commuters in cities such as Berlin who, on any given day this summer, might find themselves in an hours-long tailback caused by a handful of activists gluing themselves to the asphalt. Their actions have prompted outrage and threats from inconvenienced motorists. Tabloid media and some politicians have accused them of sowing chaos and harming ordinary folk just trying to go about their business. Some have branded them dangerous radicals. Schinkoethe says the escalation in tactics is justified. "If we wanted people to like us then we'd do something else but we've tried everything else," she told The Associated Press. "We've asked nicely. We've demonstrated calmly." She recalls joining the Fridays for Future protests led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg which saw hundreds of thousands of students worldwide skip school and rally for a better world. "I really hoped something would change, that politicians would react and finally take us and the science of climate change seriously," she said. "But we're still heading for a world that's 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 7.2 Fahrenheit) warmer." Such a rise in global temperatures is more than twice the 1.5-C (2.7-F) limit countries agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate accord. While progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, experts agree the goal is still far out of reach. Scientists agree that the world has no time to waste in cutting emissions, but have tried to counter 'doomism' by arguing that the world isn't heading for one single cliff edge so much as a long, steep slope with several precipitous drops. "Each tenth of a degree matters," said Ricarda Winkelmann, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research near Berlin. "If we really start acting now and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, chances are that we can limit some of the most severe climate impacts," she said. Such messages are lost on many of those caught up in the blockades. At two protests witnessed by The AP in June and July, several truckers got out of their cabs to berate the activists. One physically hauled two protesters off the road. Other drivers, some of whom weren't affected by the blockade, also hurled abuse at the activists. A few expressed support for the climate cause but questioned the way the protests were conducted. "They need to find a different way to do this than to block other people," said one driver on his way to work, who would only give his name as Stefan. Berlin's mayor has called the street blockades "crimes," while the city's top security official is demanding that prosecutors and courts mete out swift convictions. So far, no cases have gone to trial. Still, Schinkoethe believes she has no choice but to keep going. "We need to generate friction, peaceful friction, so that there's an honest debate and we can act accordingly," she said. That sentiment was echoed by Ernst Hoermann, a retired railway engineer and grandfather of eight who has been traveling to Berlin from Bavaria regularly to take part in the protests. "We basically have to cause a nuisance until it hurts," he said as a police officer tried to unstick him from the road with the help of cooking oil. Similar protests have resulted in weeks-long prison sentences in Britain, where the government has sought court injunctions to preemptively stop road blockades by the group Insulate Britain. Hoermann, 72, said he isn't afraid of fines or the prospect of prison. "Not compared to the fear I have for my children," he said. Last Generation has recently tried to focus attention on Germany's plans to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea. Despite having the most ambitious climate target of any major industrialized nation, Germany's center-left government is scrambling like other European countries to replace its Russian energy imports and avoid painful fuel shortages in the coming years. Schinkoethe says the number of people participating in the group's actions has grown from 30 to 200 in six months, and argues that the blockades follow the tradition of civil disobedience seen during the U.S. civil rights movement and the fight for women's suffrage. "What we're doing is illegal," she said. "At the same time it's legitimate." Manuel Ostermann, a senior member of one of Germany's police unions, accused the group of committing crimes while portraying themselves as victims. "Where the process of radicalization gets going, extremism isn't far off," he wrote on Twitter. Members of Last Generation have tried to counter that, citing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who earlier this year said that "the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels." "I'm going to keep going until the government locks me and the other activists up for their peaceful protests, or gives in to our demands," said Schinkoethe. For the past 40 years, Wong Hung-kuen and his two siblings have owned Chi Kee Sawmill & Timber. Known as the Last Sawmill in Hong Kong, it now faces imminent eviction by the Hong Kong government. The Wongs are the second generation to operate the business founded 75 years ago in Hong Kongs North Point district. The business moved several times before 1982 when it settled into its current location in Kwu Tung near the border with Chinas Shenzhen city. Its an area where Hong Kong authorities have been pushing development to address a chronic housing shortage. The sawmill received an eviction notice in January 2019, according to the South China Morning Post, which said the Wongs faced a June 30 deadline. They have not yet moved, and even though some local residents want to save the sawmill, the government is moving ahead with its plans. A spokesperson for the Lands Department told the South China Morning Post: The government had given more than a two years buffer to allow the sawmill to relocate itself and the development plan can no longer be delayed. He said that according to department records, the sawmill had not accepted the assistance the government offered for land planning consultation and mediation services. Wong Hung-kuen, 74, and his siblings want a two-year grace period to allow them to process about 1,000 tons of timber they have on hand into furniture or artworks rather than sending it to landfills. That timber includes precious woods like camphor, used to make fine furniture and cabinetry. Authorities can take all the timber in dozens of trucks to the landfill . This is the way they want to deal with the timber, Wong told VOA Cantonese. But we really hope to make good use of it and make the best use of it in nature. In addition to giving them more time to deal with their stock that includes wood recycled from local demolition sites, the family is also proposing to turn the sawmill into a museum to showcase traditional Hong Kong wood craftsmanship and the role it played Hong Kongs past. According to Wong, the philosophy behind the business includes prolonging the life of trees and turning them into useful wood. "Especially wood, we must cherish it, because without trees, we animals can't have living space, Wong said. Trees have helped us a lot. It is most important for us to have an attitude of gratitude. Wong said that he and his siblings want the sawmill preserved rather than receiving compensation from the government. According to the South China Morning Post the government is offering HK$1,500 (US$191) per square foot to reclaim the land. That, Wong told the South China Morning Post, is insufficient for a business so entwined with Hong Kongs post-World War II history. If its destroyed, it is such a pity. Why not preserve this? There are some (historical values) in here, Wong told VOA Cantonese. Wong hopes to stay in the wood factory as long as possible in part so he can continue teaching young people about uses for wood. According to Ng Cheuk-hang, a volunteer in the anti-eviction effort, Chi Kee has held a woodworking classes every month since 2016. Lessons include identifying tree species, instruction in creating furniture and art using wood, and, most importantly, why the students must cherish wood and nature. Ng said that he helps teach the classes. Despite being suspended during COVID-19 lockdowns, the class has been held at least 60 times so far and more than 1,000 people have participated, including those from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and Chinese University of Hong Kong. According to Ng, Chi Kee wrote the Lands Department in February asking for leniency but received no response. He added that the company has been trying to find a new site but the one possibility turned out to be too expensive. Ng said that for years, Chi Kee received wood from demolished sites from Hong Kong authorities and helped recycle it. "It is actually a very strange situation, Ng told VOA Cantonese. On the one hand, the government continues to bring some wood, or these public institutions continue to bring some wood, and want us to deal with it, but on the other hand, it (the government) continues to take back our factory. Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has removed its social media head in the northern state of Haryana for an allegedly anti-Islam tweet five years ago, but Indian Muslims are demanding that Arun Yadav be arrested. In the 2017 tweet, Yadav likened the Kaaba, the Muslim shrine in Meccas Great Mosque, to an ice cube in a glass of whiskey. In the first week of July, when some online activists and Muslim leaders called attention to the five-year-old tweet and demanded legal action against Yadav, the BJP removed him on July 7. Arun Yadavs abusive comment targeting the Kaaba hurt the religious sentiment of all Muslims. The community across the country demanded that he is arrested and tried in court for his dirty depiction of Islam's holiest place, Syed Azharuddin, a Muslim leader in the southern state of Telangana, told VOA. But to our disappointment, the government is showing no sign it will act against Yadav, he said. Before Narendra Modi became Indias prime minister in 2014, his party set up social media wings, known as information technology or IT cells, across the country, aiming to propagate its ideology and political messages, and to expand popular support. These cells have in recent years been blamed for spreading propaganda against opposition party leaders. Social media fact-checkers have frequently exposed fake news materials, allegedly spread by the BJPs IT cell network. Online activists and Muslim community leaders have long accused the cells of spreading Islamophobia on social media platforms. By posting aggressive anti-Islam or anti-Muslim content, many BJP IT cell workers, including top executives, aim to improve their political profiles within the party, Muslim community leaders said. Many from the BJP IT cell frequently post anti-Muslim content that is liked by the leaders and followers of the Hindu nationalist party. Such posts abuse the Prophet Muhammad, Kaaba Sharif [Holy Kaaba] etc., and insult the religious beliefs of Muslims. Yet, to gain popularity among a good number of Hindu community members, those like Arun Yadav post content abusing and attacking Muslims, the president of Tipu Sultan Party, a political party, Shaikh Sadeque, told VOA. Yadavs firing was just a BJP action, nothing was done by the government for the blasphemous post, Sadeque said. The Indian government also did not act against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for abuses she aimed at the Prophet Muhammad. The government does not want to take action against any BJP leader for any of their anti-Muslim statements or comments, so, they keep posting such abusive content fearlessly. BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma allegedly insulted Muhammad in a May television appearance, sparking international condemnation. She was suspended from the party. VOA sought a reaction from the BJP IT cell following the allegation against Yadav but emails sent to the cells national head, Amit Malviya, have remained unanswered. There are hundreds of past instances of social media users being arrested in India for hurting religious sentiments. Perhaps the most sensational among them is the recent arrest of journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair. Police accused him of insulting Hindu beliefs in a 2018 tweet. Zubair was arrested for a tweet carrying a screen grab of a movie scene which showed a hotel signboard repainted from Honeymoon Hotel to Hanuman Hotel. The tweet of Yadav was certainly more abusive. Yet he has not been arrested, Muslim leader Azharuddin said. Hanuman refers to a monkey god revered by Hindus. The BJP routinely uses anti-Muslim propaganda to polarize the Hindu society and to unite Hindus by identifying Muslims as the other, an outsider, an enemy, New Delhi-based Muslim leader Zafarul Islam Khan told VOA. They can go on doing this because, under the current dispensation, they enjoy full immunity. The victims [Muslims] have no recourse the government, bureaucracy and police do not listen to them, Khan said. Even courts are not keen to listen to the victims or are not taking the matters seriously. The victims find no one around to turn to for justice. Activists say the BJP and other Hindu right-wing organizations, including the RSS, or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, work in tandem, attacking the religious minorities and making them appear as threats to the majority community or the Hindus. The RSS is also known as the ruling partys ideological guide. Delhi University teacher Apoorvanand said the life breath of the RSS and BJP is anti-Muslim and anti-Christian prejudice and hatred. To keep it alive and make it part of the lives of Hindus they have to keep creating images of Muslims which look abhorrent to Hindus. They have to manufacture stories and events which paint Muslims as horrible creatures, their living practices as ugly, unclean, backward, conservative and Muslims as a collective always conspiring against Hindus, Apoorvanand told VOA. By keeping Hindus fed with this hatred the RSS and BJP want to turn them into their unquestioning followers as if it is only the RSS/BJP which can protect them from Muslims and keep Muslims in their place, he said. The Indian government's COVID-19 vaccinations hit 2 billion on Sunday, with booster doses underway for all adults, as daily infections hit four-month high, official data showed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the vaccination milestone, celebrating the world's largest and longest-running inoculation campaign, which began last year. "India creates history again!" Modi said in a tweet. The prime minister has faced allegations from the opposition of mishandling the pandemic that experts claim killed millions. The government rejects the claims. Health ministry data shows the COVID death toll at 525,709, with 49 deaths recorded overnight. New cases rose 20,528 over the past 24 hours, the highest since Feb. 20, according to data compiled by Reuters. The country of 1.35 billion people has lifted most COVID-related restrictions, and international travel has recovered robustly. Some 80% of the inoculations have been the AstraZeneca AZN.L vaccine made domestically, called Covishield. Others include domestically developed Covaxin and Corbevax, and Russia's Sputnik V. The federal government has been accelerating its booster campaign to avert the spread of infections, edging higher in the eastern states of Assam, West Bengal and Karnataka in the south. Few people are seen on the streets at noon in Quang Tri's Dong Ha Town, June 27, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao Three central provinces Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Tri have been experiencing record high temperatures of up to 43 degrees Celsius. Several factors have come together to make this happen. Nghe An's Tuong Duong, Ha Tinh's Huong Khue and Quang Tri's Dong Ha districts have been the hottest locations for the last few years. Towards the end of June and in early July, the mercury climbed to at least 35 degrees Celsius for weeks in these districts. These days, as early as 9 a.m., the asphalt in Dong Ha is a hot pan on which the proverbial egg can be fried. People are generally quickening their pace to get away from the streets to some form of shade. In Tuong Duong and Huong Khue, crops have withered in many fields and the districts are dotted with parched land patches and barren lakes. Nguyen Van Huong, head of the climate forecast department with the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said Tuong Duong, Huong Khe and Dong Ha are currently the three hottest locations in Vietnam, with temperatures 0.5-2 degrees higher than other localities. On April 20, 2019, Huong Khe had seen a record-breaking temperature of 43.3 degrees, the highest ever recorded in a Vietnam locality. The Washington Post said the temperature was "the latest in a mounting list of records to fall as the world continues to warm,", adding that it was hot enough to "soften your crayons, liquefy chocolate and raise the temperature inside a parked car past 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius)." Tuong Duong Time Huong Khe Time Dong Ha Time 41.2 (degrees Celsius) July 1998 40.9 August 1998 41.4 May 1992 42.2 April 2007 40.8 April 2001 41.7 April 2015 41 April 2014 40.2 July 2007 42 May 2015 41.7 April 2015 41 March 2014 41.5 April 2016 41.7 April 2019 43.4 April 2019 41 April 2019 Huong said the hottest locations were all located in the western mountainous region of central Vietnam, which are most affected by a hot, low-pressure area in the west, as well as the effects of Foehn winds. These two factors contributed to all the harsh heat waves in central Vietnam, he added. The Foehn winds originate from the Gulf of Thailand and move over Cambodia and Laos to the southwest-northeast. When it reaches the Annamite Range, it speeds up and rushes towards northern and central Vietnam regions. The winds typically show up between April and September, blowing from morning til dusk, and is at its strongest at noon and the afternoon. "The wind is dry and hot, making the climate harsh. Moisture drops to 30 percent and temperatures go up to 43 degrees," Huong said. Tang Van An, head of the forecasting department of the North Central Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center, said years with the El Nino phenomenon often see higher temperatures than years without. Geographical features may also play a role, he said. For example Tuong Duong has many limestone mountains, which reflect radiation and thus cause higher temperatures. The lack of trees in Huong Khe also drives the heat up, he added. Besides high temperatures, these locations also experience a high number of hot days. The North Central Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center said that a year in northern-central Vietnam sees around 50-100 hot days. Hot days would begin in April and peak in June or July. Among the three locations, Dong Ha has the highest number of hot days. There were around 112 hot days in 1992, and the average number per year was 71 since 1990. Long heat waves kill crops, dry out riverbeds and facilitate salt intrusion. But some experts say that hot climate can also be advantageous for certain crops, and that the extra sunlight received can be used for power generation and other purposes. Russian missiles hit the strategic southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, even as Moscows forces pounded Ukraines eastern region with new attacks. Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said that the Russian missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility in the city, a key shipbuilding center. There was no immediate information about casualties. The Russian military says it is trying to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. Early in the five-month war, Ukrainian forces fought off Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which sits near the Black Sea Coast between Russia-occupied Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odesa. Since then, Russia has bombarded both Mykolaiv and Odesa with regular missile strikes. The British Defense Ministry said Sunday that Russia is moving personnel and equipment among Kherson, Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia and increasing security measures around Melitopol. "Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south whilst the fight for the [eastern] Donbas [region] continues indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat, the British assessment said. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, during a visit to the front lines on Saturday, ordered troops "to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas." Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said Russia is preparing for the next stage of its offensive. As Western-supplied long-range arms have begun to help Ukraine on the battlefield, he said Russia has pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed at least 40 people in recent days. "It is not only missile strikes from the air and sea," Skibitskyi said. "We can see shelling along the entire line of contact, along the entire front line. There is an active use of tactical aviation and attack helicopters. "Clearly preparations are now under way for the next stage of the offensive, he said. Ukraine said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an attack on Sloviansk, a symbolically important, Ukrainian-held city in the eastern region of Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his daily address Saturday, urged Ukrainians to develop a kind of emotional sovereignty over the disinformation and propaganda that Russia and others have distributed in various media about Ukraine. Zelenskyy said, We do not depend on what the enemy constantly launches against you and me. He said the Ukrainian people must have the power to consciously perceive any information, any messages, no matter who they come from ... to see who needs them and for what. Sometimes media weapons can do more than conventional weapons, Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian unity cannot be broken by lies or intimidation, fake information or conspiracy theories. Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged artillery fire in Ukraines eastern Donbas region Saturday. Earlier, Russian cruise missiles exploded across several Ukrainian cities and towns, damaging residential buildings and other structures. Workers cleaned the area within the central city of Dnipro, where officials reported three people were killed and 15 others were wounded in a missile strike, said Governor Valentyn Reznychenko on Telegram. Ukraines air force said it intercepted four additional missiles fired at the city. In the northeast region around Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleg Synegubov said an overnight Russian missile attack killed three people in the town of Chuguiv. In the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, officials said the death toll rose to 24 from last weeks Russian strikes after a woman died of her injuries in a hospital Saturday. Ukraine said three children were among the dead. In other developments, Ukraine's atomic energy agency accused Russia of using Europes largest nuclear power plant to store weapons and shell the surrounding regions of Nikopol and Dnipro that were hit Saturday. Petro Kotin, president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom, called the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant extremely tense with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the facility. The plant in southeast Ukraine has been under Russian control since the early weeks of Moscow's invasion, although it is still operated by Ukrainian staff. Grain exports Despite the fighting, both sides have indicated signs of progress toward an agreement to end a blockade of Ukrainian grain. Turkey, which has been mediating the efforts, says a deal could be signed this week. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a final document had been prepared and was set to be completed in the nearest time, according to the Associated Press. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week there is broad agreement on a deal between Russia and Ukraine, with Turkey and the United Nations, to export millions of tons of Ukrainian grain stuck in silos since Russias invasion February 24. More than 20 million tons of grain are being stored in silos in Odesa, but dozens of ships have been stranded because of Russia's blockade. Turkey said it has 20 merchant ships waiting in the region that could be quickly loaded and dispatched to world markets. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Two landmark new studies in France are bursting myths about immigration at a time when xenophobic far-right discourse has gained ground. They show that the children of immigrants are increasingly melting into French society, but some with African and Asian backgrounds face persistent discrimination. Karima Simmou, a 20-year-old French Moroccan student at the prestigious Paris university Sciences Po, embodies the phenomenon. She comes from a working-class family of eight children, with a mother who raised the family and a father who worked as a miner in western France. Her family pushed her to go to the elite school. As a child of immigrants my parents, from their experience, told me that I needed to do more than others to succeed, Simmou told The Associated Press. Advocates who fight discrimination welcomed the new data published this month that gives a rare insight because France follows a universalist vision that doesnt differentiate citizens by ethnic groups. The surveys published by the state statistics agency and the French state Institute for Demographic Studies, Ined, provide national data and statistics about the path of immigrants to France, their children and for the first time their grandchildren. Its an updated and more extensive version of a similar survey conducted 10 years ago. It includes a representative sample of more than 27,000 people drawn from the national census who responded to extensive questions about topics such as family life, income and religion from July 2019 to November 2020. One of the reports found that a large swath of Frances population has an immigrant ancestor an estimated 32% of people under 60 and that children and grandchildren of immigrants are increasingly integrated into French society. Nonetheless, immigration isnt evenly spread across France. Patrick Simon, one of the Ined researchers, said that about 70% of Frances population younger than 60 has no immigrant heritage over the past three generations and that ethnic diversity depends heavily on where in France people live. The report brushed aside the great replacement, a false claim propagated by some extreme-right figures that the white populations of France and other Western countries are being overrun by non-white immigrants. Population with immigrant backgrounds share a profound bond with the population who have no direct immigrant parentage. In every family, people have a less or more direct link with immigration, Simon told AP. Over the generations, the immigrant heritage is diluted, the survey notes. It found that 66% of people with at least one immigrant parent are married to people without recent immigrant heritage, while nine out of 10 people of Frances third generation of immigrant families have only one or two immigrant grandparents. French immigration covers a wide range of origins, partly reflecting the countrys colonial history. Young generations with immigrant backgrounds tend to have North African or sub-Saharan roots while older ones tend to have European roots. The survey said 83% of people under 18 in France who have at least one immigrant parent trace their origins to countries outside Europe, especially Africa. In contrast, more than 90% of second-generation immigrants over age 60 have Italian, Spanish, Polish, Belgian, German or other European parents. The children and grandchildren of immigrants from Africa and Asia are well integrated in the French educational system compared with their elders, according to another report. Data show they have increasingly higher education levels than their parents, though many struggle to attain comparable educational levels to French people without immigrant heritage. And getting jobs is harder, too: 60% of those with non-European roots hold intermediate or high-level jobs, compared with 70% of French people without direct immigrant kinship. Ined researcher Mathieu Ichou noted two possible explanations for the hiring discrepancy. Several surveys, data and audit studies backed up that hiring is not favorable to minorities, and they experience discrimination. France is pretty bad regarding this issue, compared to other European countries, he said. Also, Ichou said, minorities tend to be underrepresented in the French elite schools. Simmou joined Sciences Po thanks to a special program for students from underprivileged areas. But she is well aware that her journey is exemplary and unusual. Goundo Diawara, an educational adviser and member of a union of parents in working-class neighborhood schools with large immigrant communities, is a firsthand witness of how Frances school system fails to eradicate inequality. In daily life, we report issues like the struggle with orientation in schools in underprivileged areas. Most of the time, these students dont know these elite schools. In addition, having a child who is doing long studies costs more for poor families, she told the AP. Still, she praised the two reports for providing useful resources. Even though Simmou has been studying at one of Frances most prestigious universities for three years, she still feels a gap between herself and her classmates. During my second year at Sciences Po, people reminded me that I have immigrant roots, trying to put me in a box, whereas I want to choose who I want to be, she said. But the 20-year-old hopes that her journey will inspire others. If we dont set examples to hold on to, it is difficult to widen our horizons and imagine another future, she said. A powerful suicide bomb blast rocked Somalias town of Jowhar, in Hirshabele state, killing at least three people and wounding seven others. Senior regional administration officials were among those hurt. Militant group Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack. Hirshabele state Humanitarian and Disaster Management Minister Abdifatah Qoorgaab told VOA attack targeted a popular hotel named Nur-doob that was frequented by state lawmakers, ministers and other officials. He said the wounded, including the state health minister, were transferred to an area hospital for treatment. Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu is a member of the Somali parliament elected from Hirshabele. He says what happened today in Jowhar the administrative capital, Hirshabele, is very shocking. To carry out an attack that targeted a private hotel is very shocking and its a cowardly and barbaric attack. I extended my condolences to victims families and asked Allah [God] for the wounded people to recover quickly. The attack also caused damage to nearby businesses and buildings and a lot of people lost their wealth. Jowhar, is also the provincial capital of Somalias Middle Shabelle region, located 90 kilometers north of the capital, Mogadishu. Ibrahim Ali, an eyewitness in Jowhar, told VOA that Sundays bombing was the biggest, loudest he had ever heard. Jihan Abdullahi Hassan, the advisor for the Hirshabele president described the attack as tragic and called for a collective effort to defeat al-Shabab. Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre condemned the attack. Thailands recent pledge to finish a long-delayed high-speed rail line linking it to China through Laos within six years is reigniting doubts about the countrys commitment and whether the $12 billion megaproject will pay off. Transport and Foreign Affairs ministries officials told reporters July 6 Thailand will complete the 609-kilometer line from the capital, Bangkok, to the Lao border at Nong Khai, now only 5% built, by 2028. Nong Khai is just across the Mekong River from the Lao capital of Vientiane, where a high-speed train to the Lao-China border started service in December. With trains running at a maximum speed of 250 km/h, the new line will collapse the time the Bangkok-Nong Khai journey takes now on existing standard-gauge tracks. The 2028 announcement came a day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha and Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai in Bangkok. A Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry statement on Wangs visit says the meeting included talks on a Thailand-Laos-China Connectivity Development Corridor. The project is part of Beijings long-term plans to link Chinas Yunnan province to the bustling ports of Singapore via high-speed trains cutting through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia in a key piece of its grand Belt and Road initiative. Cautious commitment When Thailand started planning its portion of the line with China over a decade ago, the goal was to have it done by about the same time as Laos finished its own 414-kilometer stretch, Ruth Banomyong, a professor of international trade, transport and logistics at Thailands Thammasat University, told VOA. But with that target long since abandoned, he said top government transport officials were still noncommittal on a new goal just last month at a seminar he attended, making the announcement on July 6 a bit confusing. Ruth said the new target was feasible but may be more of a political statement than a technical one, made with an eye on national elections due next year and Prayuts fractious coalition government looking increasingly unsteady. The prime minister is probably at his lowest in terms of various [opinion] polls that have been published, and he wants to stay in power, but he needs to have something to show for himself, said Ruth. So, they need to re-put this project in the public eye, saying that, oh yes, it is going to be done. He said growing frustration in Beijing with the pace of Thailands progress may have played a part in the announcement, too. The fact that its announced after a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, it does make it look like theyre feeling some pressure to be at least looking like theyre moving forward with this project, said Greg Raymond, a lecturer at Australian National University studying Chinas growing connections with mainland Southeast Asia. But when you look at the pattern of [Thailands] decision-making, the pattern of action ... the degree of commitment has to be questioned, he added. Analysts say the line, once complete, will help plug some of Southeast Asias largest and most dynamic economies into Chinas landlocked south, giving the underdeveloped region a much-needed boost. As with much of the Belt and Road Initiative, Raymond said, it also builds on Beijings broader goal of forging a regional economy centered on China, and of wielding that position to bend the foreign policies of other countries to its will. At the same time, he added, linking southern China to some of mainland Southeast Asias main ports would ease the pressure on Chinas vital sea trade routes in case of conflict. If theres a conflict between China and the United States, I think one of the things that Chinas vulnerable to is a blockade by the [U.S. Navys] 7th Fleet, particularly at the Malacca Strait, so I think there is that sort of strategic imperative, Raymond said. Cost and benefit For Thailand, the new line could mean more exports to, and investment from, China. Ruth, though, said it will take decades, not years, for the $12 billion project to pay for itself, and only if the government also invests in the additional freight and passenger services needed to bring out the lines full potential. Done right, he added, the line could also spur new growth and development along its route through Thailands rural northeast. But Ruth said the government has yet to share its forecasts for key factors such as passenger numbers or freight traffic, making a hard-nosed assessment of the project impossible. What we tend to see is that a lot of these forecasts are very, very optimistic, and thats why you sometimes end up with having white elephants ... nice infrastructure that is not utilized fully, so thats really the risk, he warned. Bryan Tse, Southeast Asia analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the high-speed train lines focus, for now, appears to be on passengers, not freight, dimming the odds that Thailand can make the $12 billion back in 10 or even 20 years. If the main goal were boosting freight traffic, he said China would probably have focused on upgrading the network of regular train tracks crisscrossing Southeast Asia already, which would be cheaper. But the project need not necessarily pay for itself directly to pay off for Thailand in other ways, Tse added. If getting this railway done means that you get the good will of the Chinese government ... then you may get a lot of things in return politically and economically, in terms of investment, for instance, he said. Still, the analysts say Thailand is likely to remain hesitant about the project; $12 billion is a lot, and the added strain the pandemic has put on the countrys economy will only make it harder to move forward on the line to Laos, not to mention any high-speed line that might eventually be built south of Bangkok to Malaysia. Raymond said Thailand is also wary of any moves, the high-speed rail line included, that might draw China too close for comfort. They dont want to be drawn in, really, to a Beijing-centered economy if they think its going to reduce their freedom of maneuver, he said. Theyre always seeking to balance their relationships; they dont want to become too dependent on any of them. This is the classic hedging behavior, but its very strong with Thailand. Now that Laos is done with its stretch of the line, the analysts agreed that China is likely to focus its attention on seeing that Thailand picks up the pace. Whatever their reservations, Raymond said, their Thai partners might eventually feel like they have to do it. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sidelined his childhood friend as head of Ukraine's security service, and another close ally as top prosecutor, in Kyiv's biggest internal purge of the war, citing their failure to root out Russian spies. The careers of SBU security service chief Ivan Bakanov and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova had personified Zelenskiy's policy of putting young loyalists in charge of fighting corruption since the former TV comic came to power in 2019. But nearly five months after Russia's invasion, the president acknowledged that his two allies had failed to root out traitors and collaborators in their organizations. Zelenskyy said late on Sunday the two had been removed from their posts. The deputy head of Zelenskiy's administration clarified early on Monday that they had been suspended pending further investigation, rather than fired. More than 60 officials from Bakanov's SBU security agency and the prosecutor's office were working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territory, and 651 treason and collaboration cases had been opened against law enforcement officials, Zelenskyy said in a video address. "Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state ... pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders," Zelenskyy said. Zelenskiy, now widely feted on the world stage as a decisive war-time leader, had been dogged before the invasion by accusations that he had named friends and other inexperienced outsiders to jobs in which they were out of their depth. Bakanov, a friend of Zelenskiy's since their childhood in southern Ukraine, had helped run Zelenskiy's media business during his television career. He then led the successful campaign that saw Zelenskyy shift from playing the president on a sitcom to being elected in a landslide in real life. Venediktova, a jurist who attended a meeting just last week in The Hague discussing the international effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine, had advised Zelenskyy on judicial reform since he entered politics. 3,000 cruise missiles After failing to capture Kyiv early in the invasion, Russian forces used a campaign of devastating bombing to cement and extend their control of the south and east. In recent weeks the Russians have stepped up long-distance strikes on targets far from the front, killing large numbers of civilians in what Ukraine calls terrorism. Moscow says it is firing at military targets. Zelenskyy said Russia had used more than 3,000 cruise missiles so far. Dozens of relatives and local residents on Sunday attended the funeral of 4-year-old Liza Dmytrieva, one of 24 people killed in a Russian missile strike in the city of Vinnytsia last week. The death of the girl, who had Down's Syndrome and was filmed cheerfully pushing a pram the morning she was killed next to it, has had particular resonance across Ukraine. Kyiv hopes the war is at a turning point, with Moscow having exhausted its offensive capabilities to seize a few small cities in the east, while Ukraine has now fielded long-range Western weapons that can strike behind Russian lines. Kyiv cites a string of successful strikes carried out on 30 Russian logistics and ammunition hubs, which it says are crippling Russia's artillery-dominated forces that need to transport thousands of shells to the front each day. Russia said on Monday Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had ordered the military to concentrate on destroying Ukraine's Western-supplied rockets and artillery. In the south, Ukraine is preparing a counterattack in coming weeks to recapture the biggest swath of territory taken since the February invasion and still in Russian hands. Ukraine reported destroying Russian missile systems, communications, radar, ammunition depots and armored vehicles in strikes in the southern Kherson region. In the east, Ukrainian forces withdrew at the start of July from Luhansk, one of two provinces Russia claims on behalf of its separatist proxies. Kyiv says Moscow is planning another assault to capture the last Ukrainian-held pocket of neighboring Donetsk province. Ukrainian emergency services said six civilians were killed on Monday when shells hit a two-story building in Toretsk, a Ukrainian-held Donetsk town close to the frontline. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on Feb. 24 calling it a "special military operation" to demilitarize its neighbor and root out nationalists. Kyiv and the West call it an attempt reconquer a country that broke free of Moscow's rule in 1991. Despite sanctions, European countries are still Russia's biggest buyers of oil and gas and worry about the economic impact if Moscow should shut off the energy flow. In recent weeks, Russia cut back gas flows through Nord Stream 1, its main pipeline to Germany, blaming sanctions that had held up the return of a turbine serviced by Germany's Siemens and sent to Canada for repairs. The pipeline is due to reopen this week after scheduled maintenance, and some Europeans worry Moscow might keep it shut. Kommersant newspaper reported that Canada had flown the turbine to Germany on Sunday, and it would be shipped onward to Russia around July 24. Zelenskyy has criticized Canada's decision to return it. A German economy ministry spokesperson said the turbine was not due to be used until September, so its absence could not be the real reason for the supply cuts. Russia is preparing for the next stage of its offensive in Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said, after Moscow said its forces would step up military operations in "all operational areas." The U.S. congressional panel probing the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of last year expects to be able to look at text messages sent by Secret Service agents from the day before the mayhem and as it unfolded, a member of the investigative committee said Sunday. "We expect to get them by this Tuesday, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren told ABCs This Week show. We need all of the texts from the fifth and sixth of January. The riot unfolded as about 2,000 supporters of then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, stormed into the Capitol to try to block Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had won the 2020 election. The certification of the Electoral College vote showing Biden had turned back Trumps reelection bid was delayed for hours as the rioters scuffled with police, vandalized the Capitol building and ransacked congressional offices. Lofgren said the investigative committee needs the Secret Service texts "to get the full picture" of what occurred before and during the Capitol insurrection. The Secret Service said last week that some phone data was lost during a routine reset of iPhones, but that all the requested texts had been saved. I was shocked to hear that they didn't back up their data before they reset their iPhones, Lofgren said. That's crazy, and I don't know why that would be, but we need to get this information. "We went into it trying to do our job. We were assigned the task as a committee of uncovering all of the facts about the sixth and all of the events leading up to the sixth so that we could report on that," Lofgren said. "We hope to do it in a way that is accessible to all Americans." The Secret Service said last week that any "insinuation" that it intentionally deleted texts was false and that the committee had its "full and unwavering cooperation." The texts could be relevant to understanding how Trump berated his security detail about its refusal to drive him to the Capitol after he finished speaking at a rally near the White House, and just ahead of the time in the early afternoon when the first of the rioters breached the Capitol as lawmakers were starting to certify Bidens victory. Witnesses testifying before the committee and police radio communications show that Trump demanded to join his supporters at the Capitol but that his Secret Service detail refused to take him there out of fear for his safety in a volatile situation. One witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, then a top assistant to Mark Meadows, Trumps last White House chief of staff, testified about a secondhand account she heard that Trump attempted to grab the wheel of his limo to head to the Capitol, although the Secret Service has disputed her account. In what could be its last public hearing, the committee is hearing testimony Thursday night about what Trump was doing for three hours and 17 minutes between the time he finished his rally speech contending, as he does to this day, that he was cheated out of another four-year term in the White House, and the time he issued a short video telling the rioters at the Capitol to leave the building. Witnesses have already said that Trump watched the insurrection unfold on television, while ignoring entreaties from his aides and his daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser, to publicly tell the rioters to disperse. At one point, according to insider accounts of his comments during the rioting, Trump voiced approval of the demonstrators who were chanting Hang Mike Pence! The then-vice president had refused to accede to demands by Trump to return the election results to legislatures in states that he narrowly lost so that pro-Trump electors could replace the official Biden electors. 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 votes in the Electoral College is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. Eventually, Trump told the rioters, I know your pain, I know youre hurt. But you have to go home now; we have to have peace. We have to have law and order; we have to respect our great people in law and order. In another tweet sent later, he said, These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever! After the rioters were cleared from the Capitol, lawmakers in the early hours of January 7, 2021, certified that Biden had won the election by a 306-232 margin in the Electoral College, and he was inaugurated as the countrys 46th president two weeks later. Authorities in Zambia have extradited a Chinese citizen who fled Malawi last month over accusations of selling exploitative videos to China of Malawian children. Police in Malawi told VOA Sunday that their counterparts in Zambia handed over Lu Ke to them Saturday night in the Mchinji district which borders Zambia. He is in police custody. He was handed over by our friends from Zambia. As of now he has been charged with trafficking in persons, but other charges may be added, said Harry Namwaza, the deputy spokesperson for Malawi Police Service. Lu Ke fled Malawi last month where police were searching for him after a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigation found he was recording young villagers in central Malawi and making them say racist things about themselves in Mandarin. In one video, children, some as young as nine years of age, are heard saying in Mandarin that they are a black monster and have a low IQ. The BBC reported he was selling the videos at up to $70 apiece to a Chinese website. The kids performing in the videos were paid about half-a-dollar each. The news sparked outrage in Malawi forcing various rights organizations to hold street protests and present a petition to the Chinese Embassy in the capital, Lilongwe. In the petition, the protesters asked the government of China to compensate the children in the videos for being fooled to say words in a foreign language they could not understand. Comfort Mankhwazi is the president of the University of Malawi Child Rights Legal Clinic, which led the protests. She told VOA Sunday that she is happy with the extradition. Because we feel like this is one of those things we had in our petition, what we wanted, and we got that. We truly hope that this extradition and the arrest will lead to something big like the prosecution in our courts and finally those victims will be able to get justice they deserve, she said. There were no official comments from Chinese authorities on the extradition of Lu Ke as of Sunday. However, police spokesperson Namwaza said Lu Ke is expected to appear in court soon. Russia launched a missile strike Sunday on the southern Ukranian city of Mykolaiv, which has been the target of several strikes in recent weeks. The Associated Press reports that an industrial and infrastructure facility was the target. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his daily address Saturday, urged Ukrainians to develop a kind of emotional sovereignty over the disinformation and propaganda that Russia and others have distributed in various media about Ukraine. Zelenskyy said, We do not depend on what the enemy constantly launches against you and me. He said the Ukrainian people must have the power to consciously perceive any information, any messages, no matter who they come from ... to see who needs them and for what. Sometimes media weapons can do more than conventional weapons, Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian unity cannot be broken by lies or intimidation, fake information or conspiracy theories. Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged artillery fire in Ukraines eastern Donbas region Saturday. Earlier, Russian cruise missiles exploded across several Ukrainian cities and towns damaging residential buildings among others. Workers cleaned the area within the central city of Dnipro, where officials reported three people were killed and 15 others were wounded in a missile strike, said Governor Valentyn Reznychenko on Telegram. Ukraines air force said it intercepted four additional missiles fired at the city. In the northeast region around Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleg Synegubov said an overnight Russian missile attack killed three people in the town of Chuguiv. In the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, officials said the death toll rose to 24 from Russian strikes after a woman died of her injuries in a hospital Saturday. Ukraine said three children were among the dead. The latest fighting comes as Russias defense minister directed his troops operating in Ukraine to further intensify their military operations. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the move was to prevent strikes on eastern Ukraine and other territories controlled by Russia in a statement posted on the ministry website. The statement said Shoigu gave the necessary instructions to further increase the actions of groups in all operational areas in order to exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime launching massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of settlements in Donbas and other regions. In other developments, Ukraine's atomic energy agency accused Russia of using Europes largest nuclear power plant to store weapons and shell the surrounding regions of Nikopol and Dnipro that were hit Saturday. Petro Kotin, president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom, called the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant extremely tense with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the plant. The plant in southeast Ukraine has been under Russian control since the early weeks of Moscow's invasion, though it is still operated by Ukrainian staff. The reports came after U.S. officials unveiled photographic intelligence claiming Iran may be preparing to provide Russia with several hundred weapons-capable unmanned drones. The unmanned aerial drones could be used in the war in Ukraine. U.S. and Ukrainian officials say U.S. rocket systems provided to Ukraine are having a large impact on the fight against Russia, helping Ukrainian forces hold off Russias military in the Donbas region. It comes as thousands of people have fled the area since the start of the war in late February, with civilian areas coming under attack. Russia has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden called Russia's war in Ukraine, an example of efforts to undermine the rules-based order. Bidens comments came during bilateral meetings with leaders in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Grain exports Despite the fighting, both sides have indicated signs of progress toward an agreement to end a blockade of Ukrainian grain. Turkey, which has been mediating the efforts, says a deal could be signed this week. Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a final document had been prepared and was set to be completed in the nearest time according to The Associated Press. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday there is broad agreement on a deal between Russia and Ukraine, with Turkey and the United Nations, to export millions of tons of Ukrainian grain stuck in silos since Russias invasion Feb. 24. More than 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain are being stored in silos at the Black Sea port of Odesa, and dozens of ships have been stranded because of Russia's blockade. Turkey said it has 20 merchant ships waiting in the region that could be quickly loaded and dispatched to world markets. VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this story. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. The ruling party has warned former Zanu PF Youth League members - Godfrey Tsenengamu and Jim Kunaka to stop telling the world that there is a serious rift between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy, saying they are playing with fire. The partys director of information and publicity, Tafadwa Mugwadi, told VOA Zimbabwe Service that the two will face dire consequences if they are toying with the idea of the removal of Mnangagwa. Kunaka recently claimed that Mnangagwa and Retired General Constantino Chiwenga agreed before the toppling of the late former president Robert Mugabe that the current leader would only stay in office for five years and then pave the way for his deputy. Reacting to these allegations and other issues raised by Kunaka and Tsenengamu, Mugwadi said, We have taken notice of threats issued by renegades and headless activists targeted at the presidency of the republic. The unsolicited false remarks by Tsenengamu and the Chipangano violent hooligan Jim Kunaka suggesting strife between the president of the republic ED Mnangagwa and vice president Chiwenga have no place in this republic. To even seek invite our esteemed defence forces into these baseless claim is most unfortunate. As director of information and publicity of the ruling party, I invite the public to ignore the two embattled reengages and those behind them. They are not members of Zanu PF anymore. For the record, Jim Kunaka was expelled from the party in 2014. He later on joined NPF (National Patriotic Front), he left it for MDC Alliance, joined CCC (Citizens Coalition for Change) and now he is partyless. The same goes for Tsenengamu. They are not members of Zanu PF at all. Mugwadi warned the two that they may face serious problems for raising such issues. He said, While it could be expectable that individuals could be excited, playing with fire is beyond ones limits. It is one thing to criticize Cde ED Mnangagwa as a Zanu PF president and first secretary and a different thing all together to seek the unconstitutional removal of His Excellency Cde ED Mnangagwa as president and commander-in-chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces of the Republic of Zimbabwe. To attempt the latter, expressly or impliedly, will be tantamount to asking for tragic consequences. This tomfoolery must therefore just stop forthwith. Abusing party registered memorabilia and trademarks by expelled elements organizing clandestine press conferences to undermine our party and leadership has indeed gone too, too far. It must just stop. Chiwenga last Thursday pledged allegiance to Mnangagwa saying he was chosen by the people to lead Zimbabwe. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. In an article commemorating the upcoming 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, he said September 5, 1962 marked the beginning of a new chapter for both countries. The two countries then signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 1977, an important legal and political basis to develop their relationship further, Son said. He noted that the countries' leaders have held constant exchanges and implemented several cooperation projects, including the construction of a parliament building in Vientiane as a gift from Vietnam to Laos. The parliament was opened in 2021. Placeholder while article actions load One of the most disturbing things about the death of Shinzo Abe is that there might not be much to learn from it at all. The media focus has zeroed in on the Unification Church, the organization better known as the Moonies, to which suspect Tetsuya Yamagamis mother belonged and reportedly donated hundreds of thousands of dollars. That bankrupted her family and left Yamagami with a grudge against Abe, who had given speeches to organizations related to the group. But understanding this background may turn out to be as useful as knowing about actress Jodie Foster in order to make sense of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981. Reagans would-be assassin, John Hinckley Jr., famously sought to kill the president in order to impress Foster, whom he was obsessed with. A few months earlier, John Lennon had been gunned down in an equally senseless attack by Mark David Chapman, who was said to have been inspired by the J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye. Advertisement The murder of Abe is starting to feel closer to these episodes than initial suspicions that it might be politically motivated. That could prove to be something of a relief, if such is possible; Japan does not need the entrenched bitter partisan division that increasingly marks other democracies, which a sharply political assassination might incite. This isnt to say we should ignore the Unification Church. One overdue thing to come out of this sordid affair might be to shine a spotlight on the Moonies and other fringe religious groups, an area of Japanese society that often flies below the radar. Religion in Japan is not the ideological battleground it can be in other countries, leading many to think of the country as non-religious. Religion often has a more decorative place in society, most prominently in ceremonies through the various stages of life a country where people are often said to be born Shinto, married Christian and die Buddhist. But its there nonetheless, and not just in quasi-Christian groups such as the Moonies. Many will know of an elderly relative fleeced by some Buddhist sect or other for items said to have healing powers. The Happy Science group attracted international headlines in 2020 with its claim that it could cure Covid-19, but otherwise is little talked about even in Japan, despite having extravagant facilities in many city centers. Advertisement Since Abes killing, some media (mostly tabloids) have declared open season on an area of a society that the mainstream news organizations often seems reluctant to touch. Other outlets, however, have been reluctant even to name the organization to which Yamagamis mother belonged, though the Unification Church held a press conference acknowledging the connection. The links from the Moonies to Abe, however, are much less clear. The former prime minister was not a member of the church, though he had spoken at online events linked to it alongside other prominent figures such as Donald Trump. Perhaps the ties were historic: Abes grandfather, the postwar prime minister Nobusuke Kishi, is said to have helped the group and its Korean founder Reverend Sun-Myung Moon, seen as an ally in fighting Communism, get a foothold in Japan. The killing has also put the spotlight on a fringe political grouping, the NHK Party so named because it opposes the national broadcaster. In a bizarre scene before last Sundays upper house elections, the partys secretary-general, Akihiko Kurokawa, said that Abe was to blame for funding religious groups and broke into a singsong rendition live on NHK, no less of a refrain, Its all Abes fault. Kurokawa has also referenced Soka Gakkai, the Buddhist organization that backs Komeito, the junior coalition partner to Abes Liberal Democratic Party. Advertisement All this makes for compelling viewing. But what it tells us about Abes death or the potential to stop such attacks in future seems limited. We dont know if Yamagami believes what hes telling police, or even if he is of sound mind. In looking to prevent a future attack, perhaps the focus should equally be on the socio-economic conditions that helped create Yamagami. His profile fits a pattern. In contrast to the typical image of such crimes being the work of angry young men, several shocking killings in Japan over the last few years have been committed by older men with broken homes, few economic prospects, and little to live for. The man who is suspected to have killed 36 people in the 2019 arson attack on Kyoto Animation was 41 at the time, the same age as Yamagami now; like Yamagami, his father died at a relatively young age. The 61-year-old arsonist who claimed 26 lives in an attack in Osaka last December was divorced and estranged from his family, and had nothing in his bank account at the time. Advertisement In each of these cases the target seems almost arbitrary whether its the Osaka mental health clinic in which one killer received treatment, the animation studio that another seems to have believed stole his ideas, or the countrys longest-serving prime minister. What the alleged perpetrators do have in common is a history of mental health issues, spotty employment, and a separation from society. How the Moonies might be involved with Yamagamis particular economic situation should certainly be examined closely. Tomihiro Tanaka, the head of the church in Japan, acknowledged it receives donations from members but declined to discuss specifics of Yamagamis mother, citing the ongoing investigation. Theres a natural urge to want to make sense of these events to explain the why. The unforgivable security lapses in guarding Abe, which Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday were problematic, are certainly another place to look, with police responsible for the scene reportedly distracted by bicycles and missing the suspect. An age seemed to pass between Yamagamis first and second shots, a moment during which Abe could have been protected. Soul-searching around security arrangements is certain to continue. But sometimes, there simply is no why. The most horrifying conclusion from his murder might be this: In a free society, even one with so few guns as Japan, a determined and deranged assailant with luck on his side cant always be stopped. Advertisement More From Bloomberg Opinion: What the World Got Wrong About Shinzo Abe: Gearoid Reidy After Killing, Japans Kishida Must Forge His Own Way: Editorial Abes Great Policy Legacy Starts to Look Careworn: Daniel Moss This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg News senior editor covering Japan. He previously led the breaking news team in North Asia and was the Tokyo deputy bureau chief. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load The world has moved on. Many have packed up and left. Those of us still living in Hong Kong seem to fall easily into a mental coma induced by years of Covid-19 restrictions. With its border to mainland China and everywhere else still partly shut, this island city can feel suffocating. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight But pessimism is not in our nature. Now that weve chosen to stay, it is time to ask more constructive questions. How can Hong Kong reverse this economic downturn? What is our path forward? The pandemics economic toll is most evident in the retail, restaurant and hotel industries. Three years ago, they employed more than 600,000 people, or about 15% of Hong Kongs labor force. Before Covid-19, mainland Chinese tourists accounted for about one-third of total retail sales, a testament to the open economy that Hong Kong once was. That tourist dollar evaporated when China closed its borders in March 2020. Employment in the sectors has fallen by more than 20% from the 2019 peak. Advertisement So it is encouraging that Hong Kong is easing travel restrictions, and visitors are starting to return to the city. All of the recent policy moves are incremental, but they add up. For inbound travelers, Hong Kong is ending a five-day flight ban for airlines that carried passengers infected with Covid-19. It convinced the Shenzhen government to raise its daily quota for quarantine hotel rooms from 1,300 to 2,000, to ease the busiest border crossing into mainland China. While the seven-day hotel quarantine remains in place for now, starting in August, Hong Kong will provide 23,000 quarantine rooms daily, up from 12,500 currently, to accommodate more travelers. Thats about one quarter of the citys hotel capacity. So consider the following policy proposition: With China sticking with Covid-zero and the border reopening nowhere in sight, can Hong Kong serve as the meeting point for China-related businesses, and a more gentle quarantine hub for those who want to go to the mainland? Advertisement In the last month and a half, I have been busy meeting visitors from Shanghai and New York. Mainland company executives have been coming on work trips since early June in fact, quite a few fled Shanghai as soon as Covid lockdowns eased. Some global asset managers bit the bullet as well. After all, Zoom meetings can only go so far. As for overseas Chinese who have not seen their folks back home for years, Hong Kong makes a logical transition, too. Flights to China are rare, expensive and can be cancelled at any minute. Once these travelers land in Hong Kong, they tend to stay here for a while. Entry into China is by no means guaranteed these days, you need to hire scalpers just to have a shot at locking in a quarantine room in Shenzhen. And after a draconian two-month lockdown in Shanghai, some mainland visitors are in no hurry to return. All of a sudden, the famously bustling entrepot and its gruff residents come across humane and gentle. Advertisement This should create some tourist dollars for Hong Kongs services sector. Hotel occupancy rose to 70% as of May, the latest data available show. This figure is probably higher now. Just like everywhere else, the pandemic closed many restaurants but new ones are popping up. Good luck getting a table at JIA Groups popular new venues such as Estro and Ando. As for those Shanghai outcasts who miss the flavors at home, Wanchais Yong Fu serves authentic drunken crab at twice the cost. For decades, Hong Kong prospered from clever arbitrage trades, offering access to the China market as well as things that China could not provide. Property rights were respected, and mainland companies tapped onto cheap dollar funding. As these trades dry up, new opportunities emerge. Covid-Zero lite and a gentle transition into the mainland could be another lucrative value proposition. During his recent trip to mark the 25th year since the return of the former British colony, President Xi Jinping extolled the merits of one country, two systems as the framework for Hong Kong. Everyone is reading the tea leaves, trying to figure out what he meant exactly. If the emphasis was on two systems, especially with regard to the citys Covid policies, Hong Kong still has a future. Advertisement More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion: Chinas Covid Paranoia Alienates Its Diaspora: Shuli Ren How Hong Kongs 1997 Dreams Sank Without Trace: Matthew Brooker Hong Kong Expats, Wheres Your Next Destination?: Anjani Trivedi This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barrons. She is a CFA charterholder. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article HEBER CITY, Utah A Heber City man accused of killing his significant other while her children were in the house, and then telling the children to close their eyes as he led them out, has been charged with murder. Michael Grant Asman, 35, was formally charged Thursday afternoon in 4th District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and a warrant issued for his arrest. He is wanted in connection with the death of a Heber City woman, Julie Ann Burns, described by police as Asmans girlfriend. As of Thursday evening, police were still looking for Asman. Law enforcers say he should be considered armed and dangerous. Heber City police were first called by Asmans sister on Wednesday to conduct a welfare check. She stated that her brother had called her and was acting weird and asked her to come get the kids, according to charging documents. Officers went to the home but were unable to contact anyone. Just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday, police were called back to the house, 318 S. 500 East, for a second welfare check. This time, a co-worker of Burns went to check on her after she did not show up for work, charging documents state. After no one answered the door, the woman said she opened the door and noticed what she believed to be blood on the kitchen floor, the charges state. With that information, officers made entry into the house where they found Burns body on the kitchen floor. It appeared the 36-year-old woman died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the charges. Asman was charged last month in a domestic violence case for allegedly assaulting Burns, according to court documents. Asman was charged June 13 in 4th District Court with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; assault, a class A misdemeanor; two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child and assault, class B misdemeanors. Burns also had an active protective order against Asman at the time of her death, court documents state. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Thursday by a judge for failing to comply with the conditions of his pretrial release in that case for no longer wearing a GPS ankle monitor, according to court documents. Investigators also noted in documents filed for the murder charge that the company that had placed the monitor on Asmans ankle believed it had been removed. In the June case, Asman punched Burns in the face and attempted to drive off in a car that still had her two children inside, as she held onto the door and was dragged, according to a police booking affidavit. At the time of Asmans arrest, Burns told police that she is afraid Michael will kill her by either beating her to death or shooting her. The victim claimed these are statements Michael has made in previous domestic violence incidents, the affidavit states. Burns told investigators that she was also punched a few days earlier by Asman and had to go to a local hospital for treatment, but then lied to staff members about what happened because she believed if she told it was domestic violence then Michael would kill her, according to the affidavit. According to the new charge, detectives interviewed one of Burns two children after their mothers body was found. The children were with their mother on Wednesday. While they were home, the child told police that Asman and their mom were arguing, charging documents state. The child disclosed that they had seen Michael with a handgun. The child stated they were upstairs when they heard what they believed to be a gunshot, the charges state. The child said Asman then told the children to come downstairs and told them to close their eyes as they walked out of the house. Thats when their aunt was called and came and picked them up. The murder investigation is being handled by the Wasatch Back Major Crimes Task Force, which includes the Heber City Police Department, Park City Police Department, Utah Attorney Generals Office and the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office. Asman is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs 195 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. He is believed to be driving a white 2005 Chevrolet pickup with Utah license plate T287M. Anyone with information on Asman is asked to call the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office at 435-654-1411 or dial 911. Placeholder while article actions load The delicate choreography of ships, trains and trucks at the worlds ports has been badly disrupted by the pandemic, and the turmoil is not likely to end soon. If a virus can have such an adverse impact on the journey of a plastic toy or automobile from Point A to Point B, consider the potential impact of something even more pervasive and powerful: water. In the years ahead, sea level rise, more intense storm surge and jacked-up tropical storms will be visiting many of the worlds roughly 3,800 ports. Most of those ports are coastal; roughly a third are located in a tropical band vulnerable to the most powerful effects of climate change. If sea levels rise and storms become stronger as expected in the future due to climate change, the magnitude and costs of these disruptions are expected to grow, states a report from the Environmental Defense Fund. Ports cannot easily escape the influence of water. When extreme rains led to flooding in Itajai, Brazil, in 2017, the floodwaters produced currents strong enough to prevent ships from berthing. The port was closed for three weeks. Just as too much water poses a threat, so too does not enough. Extended drought along Germanys River Rhine in 2018 lowered the water table and made it impossible for some ships to pass. Advertisement Ports, working waterfronts and coastal infrastructure more generally have a lot of pressures on them from a number of sides, said Austin Becker, chair of the department of marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island. Theyre located in highly sensitive environments that are often in estuaries where riverine systems meet the ocean. Theyre there because that was a nice way to get cargo from one country to another, and then get it inland through a riverine system. Because ports were early tenants of waterfront cities, there is no place to which they can easily retreat from rising seas. As Becker told me, cities grew up around the ports. And then the cities pushed the ports further toward the sea. As cities have enveloped ports, so have the transportation networks that enable goods to travel from the sea inland. They need all these other infrastructure connections that have grown around them over the years rail systems and highway systems and pipelines and that kind of thing, Becker said. In most prosperous, or even middling, cities, the land necessary for such systems is long spoken for. As a result, most train tracks, roadways, warehouses and other infrastructure adjacent to ports will not be moved to higher ground away from the water; they will have to be adapted to manage the rising threat. Advertisement Port infrastructure is constantly evolving, noted Philip Orton, a professor of ocean engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. Ports are accustomed to incorporating new technologies and the biggest ports, which have had to evolve to handle the needs of enormous, 1,300-foot-long container ships, tend to be the most flexible. But the loading and transit areas behind ports are generally less innovative and less resilient. When storm surge from Hurricane Marie hit Southern California in August 2014, damage to the Port of Long Beach caused shipping operations to halt for several days. But as a subsequent report noted, it was months before the surrounding roads and facilities were back to normal. The seas have been rising incrementally for centuries, but the projected rise in this century is markedly different, as are the consequences. The basic formula is this: Greenhouse gas emissions produce higher temperatures. Those higher temperatures warm the water, expanding the volume of the seas. As temperatures rise, ice stored at the poles and elsewhere including mountain glaciers melts, further increasing water volume. It is a powerful feedback loop that will cause the rate of sea rise to increase dramatically as the 21st century progresses. More than 200 feet of potential global sea rise is currently stored in ice. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the worlds glaciers will lose between 18% and 36% of their ice mass this century. Meanwhile, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting at a faster pace than previously expected. Advertisement Millions of years ago, before those ice sheets materialized, water covered far more of the earth than it does now. The northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico, for example, was not along the beaches of what we now call Alabama and Mississippi. It was in present-day Illinois. The Gulf will not be flooding Chicago anytime soon. But at sea level, one foot of vertical rise can produce about 100 feet of horizontal spread. In many low places, that translates to a lot of flooding. Sea level rise will not be consistent across the globe. But according to US government projections, if the world significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, there may be about two feet of rise by 2100. If it doesnt, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notes, average sea level rise for the contiguous US could be more than seven feet. Ports, like other coastal real estate and infrastructure, are very much in the flood zone. A paper by a team of researchers at Princeton and Rutgers points to a preparedness dilemma in the US. While the federal government seeks to protect citizens from natural disasters, it has limited control over efforts to do so, the researchers write. Both the exposure and vulnerability to a coastal hazard are largely shaped by state and local land use and building codes. Advertisement One thing that helps to galvanize political and financial support for resilience upgrades, they say, is a whopping storm: In one model of the policy process, floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events have been viewed as focusing events, whereby they refocus the attention of elected officials and publics on an existing problem. During a focusing event, a policy window of opportunity opens for a short period, and advocates emerge, racing to push their preferred solutions through before the window closes. For the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was a focusing event. Sandy shut down most of the port for a week, which resulted in 25,000 shipping containers being diverted to other ports. Waterways had to be surveyed and cleared. Some cargo terminals and maritime support facilities were out of commission longer, due to power failures and damaged equipment. Oil terminals, for example, couldnt offload product from tankers because they lacked power. Damages to port authority operations, which include commuter rail, reached an astonishing $2.2 billion. Advertisement The Port Authoritys resilience and sustainability efforts after the storm included complex analysis of the ports future but also some very basic problem solving. For example, engineers realized that motors for container cranes can be raised higher off the ground to avoid being inundated. For the most part, cranes, like electrical substations and other vital infrastructure, are not owned by the Port Authority. So upgrading which often means elevating requires coordinated action with various private partners. Mitigation efforts at U.S. ports, said Austin Becker, will require disparate interests coming together. Given the central role that ports play in global commerce, however, those interests include more than those of shipping companies and others directly engaged in port activities. All kinds of businesses and consumers, including the most landlocked, depend on ports. Yet not all of those ports will prove dependable in the face of the 21st centurys rising waters. Thousands of small and medium ports that provide these really essential services to their local economies and local regions dont have the resources they need and are already working with outdated infrastructure, Becker said. Advertisement Giants such as Long Beach and the Port of New York and New Jersey have the financial power and expertise to ride out the rising seas. As the water rises, however, hundreds of smaller ports are left hoping their luck doesnt collide with the next waterborne focusing event. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Americas Jammed-Up Ports Need Help: The Editors Get Ready for Years of Chaos in Container Shipping: David Fickling How to Get the Worlds Ships to Run on Time Again: James Stavridis This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering U.S. politics and policy. Previously, he was an editor for the Week, a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article This account, in previously unreported detail, shines new light on the road to war and the military campaign in Ukraine, drawn from in-depth interviews with dozens of senior U.S., Ukrainian, European and NATO officials. MORE COVERAGE Shareholders in ANZ Bank have endorsed a potential move by the big four lender to acquire retail banking assets from insurance giant Suncorp, as its $4 billion plus pursuit of accounting software provider MYOB is put on ice. Less than a week after ANZ admitted it was in talks about potentially buying MYOB, media reports surfaced on the weekend that it was closing in on the acquisition of Suncorps banking arm, with a deal set to be announced as soon as Monday. The market is wary about ANZ Banks interest in potentially buying MYOB. Credit:Will Willitts While there was widespread market scepticism about the rationale for ANZ buying MYOB, ANZ investors were more supportive of the potential purchase of Suncorps bank, which had $58 billion in loans at its latest results. Atlas Funds Management chief investment officer Hugh Dive, who holds shares in ANZ and Suncorp, backed the potential deal and its impact on both companies. Suncorp has been divesting non-core businesses in recent years including life insurance and smash repairs, and offloading the bank would make it a pure-play insurer. One of the countrys most senior Catholics says he would fully support a decision by Pope Francis to allow women to serve as ordained deacons, an idea being considered by the Vatican and hotly debated around the world. Timothy Costelloe, the newly appointed president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, also said the church had become too inward-looking in recent times and needed to do more to connect with wider society. The Catholic Churchs plenary council, a major policymaking gathering held in Sydney earlier this month, plunged into disarray over the question of women within the church, but delegates eventually passed a set of motions affirming the importance of Catholic women. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Tim Costelloe said the church had become too introspective in recent times. The council supported a motion saying the church would examine how to best allow women to serve as deacons if such a move is approved by the Vatican. South Molle, also owned by a Chinese investment group, sits idle too, too expensive to restore after Cyclone Debbie in 2017. Gina Rinehart had been looking at the long-rotting Great Keppel, off Rockhampton which once sold itself as a great place to get wrecked, complete with pictures of scantily clad beauties on banana boats as a tourism venture, but has recently backed off. Up to 10 once-thriving Queensland resorts are now ghost islands. Cost is one of the problems. Affordable flights to Fiji and Bali left Australian islands struggling to compete, given their much higher wages bill and huge insurance costs, which get bigger after every cyclone. Owners or leaseholders also have responsibilities to the environment and the local communities, which dont come cheap, either. I dont know whether the proponents [of island resorts] fully understand that, says Amanda Camm, the Queensland MP for the Whitsundays who lobbied for a Queensland parliamentary inquiry into the future of island resorts. Gina Rinehart toyed with the idea of buying Great Keppel. The inquiry revealed deep community concerns about resort owners living up to their social responsibility. Some locals say they have lost access to the islands. Others are concerned about foreign ownership. One former national park ranger made a submission in which he argued big resorts were no longer sustainable. Guests expect an ever-higher standard of accommodation. Many islands are quite a trek from the airport, which puts visitors off. And the environmental impact of providing power, water and sanitation for so many tourists is hard to justify, and has begun to bother the tourists themselves. The assumption made by many is that if Gina [Rinehart] doesnt make [tourism] stack up, it doesnt stack up, says Camm. Returning some islands to national park with public facilities is a conversation that has to be had, she says. Theres certainly assets in the Whitsundays that are in rack and ruin and are causing major impacts to the quality of the national environment and habitats. Ive always advocated for the use it or lose it approach. For those who would prefer a secluded getaway to the risk and effort of running a resort, an entry-level island is not financially out-of-reach for a Sydney property owner. At $1 million, the 20-hectare Poole Island in the Whitsundays is more than half a million dollars cheaper than the citys median price. It comes with an airstrip, two rustic houses, and a handmade rock swimming pool. Richard Vanhoff, who specialises in selling private islands, says Poole was bought a few years ago by a Sydney businessman who never actually visited, due mostly to COVID-19 restrictions, and who has now put it on the market with the same price tag. [Before that] it was owned for 40-odd years by a doctor from Melbourne, who since passed away, he said. Its a great island. It needs a lot of work. Buying an island didnt stack up for Gina Rinehart, but Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes have a history of buying property with environmental aims in mind. At less than $400,000, Worthington Island off Gladstone is even cheaper. It comes with an orchard, rain tanks and a quad bike. Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria is on sale for $4 million, and has basic accommodation and rich fishing. At the fancier end of the scale theres Pumpkin Island in the Great Keppel group, which has five self-contained guest cottages, excellent snorkelling and easily accessible coral reefs. Vanhoff says billionaires usually buy off-market, but he has plenty of not-quite-so-rich clients, too. I do have some people in the million dollar mark who are looking for the ultimate getaway with two or three friends, wanting to turn the island into a place of refuge and fishing, he says. It doesnt have to be the Rineharts or Cannon-Brookeses, theres a lot of successful small business people who are keen to have that alternative lifestyle when they require it. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Customs clearance of goods into Laos at Cau Treo border gate in Ha Tinh province. (Photo: hatinh.gov.vn) Vietnam and Laos are strategically located on the East West Economic Corridor and share a border of more than 2,300 km, spanning administrative boundaries of 10 localities of each side. Both sides take advantage of incentives from the Vietnam Laos Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Vietnam - Laos Border Trade Agreement to promote trade in goods and services. Every year, the Ministries of Industry and Trade of the two countries sign a document under which Vietnam pledges to support Laos in showcasing goods and services at major fairs and exhibitions held in Vietnam such as Vietnam Expo and Vietnam Foodexpo. According to the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the trade turnover between Vietnam and Laos has always grown positively over the years. Their goods are quite diverse and highly complementary. Textile is one of Vietnams main export items to Laos. (Photo: VOV) Statistics show bilateral trade turnover reached US$1.37 billion last year, up 33.3% year on year. Of the total value, Vietnamese exports brought back US$594.7 million, up 4%, while the imports fetched US$778.2 million, up 69.8%. The first half of 2022 saw Vietnamese exports to Laos fall 6% year on year to US$309.4 million. Major export items to Laos were iron and steel products; means of transport and spare parts; other machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts; fertilizers; plastic products; and vegetables. Meanwhile, Vietnam also imported US$514.6 million worth of commodities from Laos in the first six months, up 45.3% year on year. Major import items were rubber products; wood and wood products; fertilizers; vegetables; ores and minerals. The two sides have facilitated Vietnamese investment in Laos in organic agriculture, manufacturing & processing, and other fields of strengths in the region along the border. To date Vietnam has poured a total of US$4.3 billion into 417 projects in Laos, ranking third among 54 countries and territories investing in the country. Progress of Long Thanh intl airport project must be ensured: Deputy PM A corner of the construction site of the Long Thanh International Airport project (Photo: VNA) Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh chaired a meeting of the Government's Steering Committee for the implementation of Long Thanh International Airport project on July 16, during which he asked for more efforts to ensure the projects progress, reported Vietnam News Agency. According to reports presented at the meeting, the construction bidding packages of piles and foundation are likely to have been completed by September 20 this year, 30- 45 days ahead of the schedule. The preparation of total estimate for the design work is also being urgently sped up and is expected to be completed in July 2022. The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) reported that the ground of most of the main construction areas have been basically handed over to the investors. According to the Ministry of Transport, the construction progress for drainage, foundation and piling works in passenger terminal meets the plan. A corner of the construction site of the Long Thanh International Airport project (Photo: VNA) Deputy PM Le Van Thanh applauded efforts by units in accelerating the progress of he project, noting that this is a national key project, so no stage can be delayed. He asked the ACV to take measures to further speed up the progress on the construction site, and demanded the authorities of the southern province of Dong Nai to complete the site clearance - Phase 1 within this month. He underlined the necessity to renovate the administration of the projects management board. For other component projects, the Deputy PM requested a thorough review and detailed progress reports at the meeting of the committee next month. Covering more than 5,580 hectares, the Long Thanh International Airport will spread across six communes in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province. Its construction has been divided into three phases. In the first phase, a runway and one passenger terminal, along with other supporting facilities, will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year. This phase is scheduled to be completed in 2025. The project started in 2021. Once fully completed in 2050, the airport will be able to handle 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo annually. Located 40km to the east of HCM City, the airport is expected to relieve overloading at the southern metropoliss Tan Son Nhat International Airport, which is currently the largest in Vietnam. Vietnamese doctors save Nigerian woman with severe malaria Dr. Ngo Chi Cuong and the Nigerian patient (Photo: VNA) The Centre for Tropical Diseases of Bach Mai Hospital recently saved the life of a 32-year-old female Nigerian patient with severe malaria, who had been hospitalised in a critical condition, reported Vietnam News Agency. Dr. Ngo Chi Cuong, who directly treats the patient, said that on July 6, the centre received the Nigerian who has lived in Vietnam for 4 years. She returned to her hometown in Nigeria on April 30 and came back to Vietnam on June 19. After being checked-up in Medlatec Hospital and treated in Dang Van Ngu Hospital, the patient was admitted to Bach Mai Hospital in a state of irritability, high fever of 39 degrees Celsius, pale mucous membranes, low blood pressure, and oliguria. The initial diagnosis was severe malaria with acute renal failure. After five days of treatment, the patient had no fever, no malaria parasites in peripheral blood smear tests, and no sign of anemia, her rental failure gradually improved, and urine output returned to normal. According to Assoc. Prof., Dr. Do Duy Cuong, Director of the Centre for Tropical Diseases, malaria is a rare infectious disease in the northern region because Vietnam has successfully controlled it. However, recently the number of malaria cases has increased, mainly from people returning or coming from Africa./. Wealthy businesswoman Therese Rein, wife of former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, and Gina Rinehart come from different ends of the political spectrum, but have found common ground over an almost $10 million cottage on Queenslands Sunshine Beach. The classic beach cottage was advertised for sale last year and purchased by an investment company ultimately owned by Rein for $6.75 million, only to be resold six months later for $9.75 million. The two-bedroom cottage sold by Therese Reins investment company for $9.75 million is set on 588 square metres with a goat track to Sunshine Beach. Credit: The sale delivered the self-made businesswoman a capital gain of $3 million during her brief ownership, equating to $500,000 for each month that she owned it. The recent off-market sale of the two-bedroom house on Sunshine Beach was lodged in the name of Rineharts Hancock Prospecting subsidiary, BV Investments. London: Netflixs Emmy-award winning drama The Crown may have saved the monarchy in Australia ahead of a possible new referendum, opposition frontbencher Andrew Hastie said. Speaking in London to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age at an event hosted by think tank Henry Jackson Society, Hastie said he would argue the case against change, if Labor pressed ahead with a second referendum on Australia becoming a republic. Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie. Credit:James Brickwood Im a monarchist, Im not someone whos out and proud and making the case every day, but certainly I see the benefits of our system, if we were ever going to change it I would want a good reason to do so, he said. He said he was not sure if support for a republic had grown since the question was last asked in 1999, when it was rejected by the Australian people, following campaigns led by now former Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott for the monarchists and Malcolm Turnbull for the republicans. Palaiochori: All eight crew members were killed when a Ukrainian cargo plane carrying munitions from Serbia to Bangladesh crashed in northern Greece late on Saturday, Greek and Serbian authorities said on Sunday. The Antonov cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed near the city of Kavala and residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the incident. The debris of an Antonov cargo plane in northern Greece. Credit:AP Drone footage shows that small fragments are all that remain from the plane that Greek Civil Aviation authorities said was heading from Serbia to Jordan on Saturday. The An-12, a Soviet-built turboprop aircraft, was operated by cargo carrier Meridian. Greek media reported that the plane was carrying 12 tons of dangerous materials, mostly explosives. The Israeli public mostly supports Ukraine and opposes Russian aggression, despite the increasing number of cases of Russian financing of anti-Ukrainian demonstrations in Israel. This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel Yevhen Korniychuk, according to the Embassy's Facebook page. The emphasizes that Russian aggression against Ukraine also spreading to Israel: Recently, alongside a notable propaganda attack on social media, we have witnessed anti-Ukrainian demonstrations funded by the Russian government. These demonstrations took place in Haifa, Netanya, and in front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel. However, the ambassador of Ukraine notes that these efforts do not bring the expected effect. We are not shocked or surprised to see Russian funding directed at misleading the Israeli public. Despite the engineered demonstrations, we are aware that the Israeli public, for the most part, supports Ukraine and opposes the brutal Russian attacks, - Yevhen Korniychuk emphasized. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 15. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan Mekan Ishanguliyev in connection with the completion of his diplomatic mission in Azerbaijan, the ministry told Trend. According to the ministry, Bayramov thanked the ambassador for his successful activities in the name of developing friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries and wished him success in his future work. During the meeting, the historical significance of the growing partnership and dialogue between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in various formats, regular visits and high-level meetings, agreements reached on the Caspian Sea, and expanding cooperation was emphasized. Expressing satisfaction with the ties between the two countries based on historical, cultural and ethnic unity, the ambassador noted potential for further development of bilateral cooperation in political, economic, trade, transport and transit areas. AS IT TURNS OUT TBA Productions The Clock Tower (Venue 3) to Sunday A wealthy woman is selling her mansion, which becomes the scene of a cross/double-cross confrontation with her husband, the vixen-ish secretary with whom hes having an affair, and the secretarys unsuspecting husband. There are two main problems with this 75-minute ensemble drama written and directed by Winnipegger Liz Farler. First, the script literally needs to be cut in half. The repetitive, meandering back-and-forthing between characters gets tedious. These give us endless backstory and exposition but no action or forward motion and little character development. At one point, the unsuspecting husband says, I dont need to hear all the details. One can relate. Second, the performances are uneven, ranging from inexplicably cartoonish (Sara Groleau as the vixen secretary) to timid (Kathryn Shank as the daughter). The production is low-energy to the point where it was often hard to hear the actors over the venues fan. 1.5/5 Mary Agnes Welch BLUEBERRIES ARE ASSHOLES TJ Dawe Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6) to Sunday SUPPLIED TJ Dawe in Blueberries Are Assholes Vancouvers TJ Dawe (The Slipknot, Tired Cliches) is the king of the fringe for a reason hes a masterful storyteller, weaving wonder and meaning into tales that hold audiences rapt. But hes trading on that goodwill with his new show, a baggy hour of quasi-standup comedy that trades in gentle observational humour, a kind of Jerry Seinfeld-lite. His consummate ease onstage helps him sell his material, which is ostensibly about the way weve become inured to how weird the world is, but much of it borders on trite (a bit about Winnie-the-Pooh looking like poo is cringe-worthy) and the construction and language need to be much, much sharper to work as standup. There are Twitter threads and TikToks that cover this ground more incisively. 3/5 Jill Wilson DEJA VU Meraki Theatre Productions The Black Box at Theatre Cercle Moliere (Venue 19) to July 24 Imagine youre a teenager. Its test day at school. Again. It keeps repeating. Every time your grade gets worse. You become more and more sullen. The reason? Your Joie de Vivre has separated from your physical self, and is trying hard to reconnect with help from two bickering characters in tops hats. This imaginative Alice In Wonderland/Groundhog Day-like script was collectively penned by members of its cast, all aged 11-15. The lines alternate English and French, allowing viewers to practice a second language while easily following the story by context even if they dont get every word. Technically, the production used sound effects and music to good effect, except during a nightmare sequence where the music drowned out the dialogue. Not perfect or fully polished, but thats hardly the point: For tweens and teens interested in theatre, this is a great idea. After the 35-minute show, you get a Q&A with the cast members and their director. Bonus! 3.5/5 Janice Sawka ELEANORS STORY: AN AMERICAN GIRL IN HITLERS GERMANY Ingrid Garner The Fountain (Venue 4) to Saturday SUPPLIED Eleanors Story: An American Girl in Hitlers Germany. Los Angeles-based actress Ingrid Garner brings to life her grandmothers story of being an American girl in Berlin during the Second World War in this harrowing tale of survival, based on the elder Eleanor Ramrath Garners autobiographical memoir of the same name. Garner is unflinching in her storytelling skills, including gut-wrenching references to rape and suicide, as well as a no-holds barred bombing scene. She easily morphs among her German-born family members, crisp Nazis encountered at school and the Hitler Youth group her grandmother was obligated to join after her family emigrated to Germany in 1939 from New Jersey in search of greater economic opportunities, ultimately becoming trapped as enemy aliens. The 60-minute drama with its compact set also asks pertinent questions about identity, and its impossible to watch this show without recalling another war raging right now. The narrative wraps up a bit too neatly, though poetic references to her 14 angels serve as welcome balm to all that has come before. 4/5 Holly Harris EPIDERMIS CIRCUS Snafu PTE Colin Jackson Studio (Venue 17) to Sunday JAM HAMIDI PHOTO Ingrid Hansen in Epidermis Circus. Imagine Shari Lewiss soul got possessed by David Lynch. Victoria-based performer Ingrid Hansen doffs the Cousin Itt hairstyle she wore in The Merkin Sisters alongside Stephanie Morin-Robert at the fringe a few years back. But she still wears that shows dark, deadpan humour in this 75-minute puppet piece that boasts not a single conventional puppet. As the title suggests, Hansen uses parts of her own body parts to create puppets, most frequently her hands, in the case of two-hander Florence McFingernails, but a more challenging bit of anatomy in playing raunchy comedian Lenny the Boob. (I gotta get something off my chest.) Hansen employs technology and video projection to provocative, cinematic effect, incorporating weird objects (her use of a dolls head may induce nightmares), unsettling audience participation, apocalyptic imagery, and the occasional erotic frisson. At the end of the show, Hansen mischievously suggests bringing someone whos never been to the fringe before to check out her show to get a taste of the festival. Shes not wrong: Epidermis Circus is everything a fringe show should be. 5/5 Randall King I AM THE MOST UNFEELING DOCTOR IN THE WORLD (AND OTHER TALES FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM) Melissa Yuan-Innes The Cinematheque (Venue 7) to Sunday ANDREW ALEXANDER PHOTO Dr. Melissa Yuan-Innes in I Am the Most Unfeeling Doctor. Ontario author and doctor Melissa Yuan-Innes has seen some things during her time in the ER births, deaths and everything in between. In her 50-minute (slightly shorter than advertised) one-woman show, she dons a lab coat and uses a skeleton to help illustrate her sometimes graphic, sometimes moving recollections. Yuan-Innes is an affable presence and does well with making medical procedures and terms clear for the audience. She elicits some laughs and some tears, and gets in a few jabs at the medical system. But she is just not a natural raconteur her stories are full of awkward pauses and sometimes trail off without a real ending and the show needs a dramaturge, stat, to shape it and give it a dramatic arc or a thread that pulls it together. 2/5 Jill Wilson KING, WARRIOR, MAGICIAN, LOVER Wolfhaven Productions The Clocktower (Venue 3) to Sunday Matthew Evan Havens latest story is one as old as time: a boy becomes a man, abandoning his agrarian life to see the rest of the world. He goes on a voyage to a far-off city, meeting characters with names like Badger along the way, There are dashes of royalty, war, sorcery and love as the central character trudges through what is often an inscrutable storyline, with not enough of any of the titular elements to make the audience truly care about what happens to the man along the way. For better or worse, Winnipeg performer Havens approach is pure storytelling: he bounds between folksy anecdotes and scenes of dialogue in which he plays all characters. But theres a reason kids ask storytellers to Do all the voices: its simply more engaging. Here, Havens fails to adequately between the characters he embodies. King, Warrior, Magician, Lover has the promise of a good story. But the one-person format might not be the best version of it. 2.5/5 Ben Waldman THE MAGIC THAT IS ME Music with Mandy Manitoba Theatre for Young People (Kids Venue) to Sunday Audience members get a balloon on arrival, which proved to be a big, pre-show hit with the kids and an effective interactive prop throughout this gentle music and dance show. The original songs (sung by Calgary jazz vocalist Mandy Morris) and tap-dancing routines (by Alicia Ward, who also plays the lead) are built around the story of a child named Max and their colourful adventures through their dreams and imagination. Each dream segment brings a different emotion Max must manage. The songs arent quite memorable or energetic enough, and the narrative is a little unclear even to an adult. Plus, Im not sure tap dancing is enough to propel a story forward or capture kids attention. The best, most delightful part was the interactive warm-up at the start. Wholesome, but underbaked. 3/5 Mary Agnes Welch MEAGRE JOYS Pigeon Project Comedy at Wee Johnnys (Venue 15) to Sunday If the laughs emanating from Wee Johnnys comedy venue dont seem as loud or as frequent during Meagre Joys show, dont let that fool you. Some of the sketches from this local company Danielle Kayahara, Lar Simms and Abby Falvo are of the thinkier variety, more likely to elicit a barked Ha! than a belly laugh, and are filled with throwaway lines that sneak up on you. The situations range from relatable trying to sell something online, door-holding etiquette to outre (a sketch combining Lady Gaga and The Babadook is a highlight, as is a silent-film-era influencer video), but all are clever. The performances are occasionally a bit hesitant and could go broader (a couple of punchlines were inaudible) but the joys provided here are bountiful. 4/5 Jill Wilson MR. COFFEEHEAD Spec Theatre The Black Box at Theatre Cercle Moliere (Venue 19) to Sunday Stanczyk is desperate to not take over his fathers deli and to escape his loving grandmother who keeps threatening to have a heart attack and leave a note blaming him. So he leaves on a 1,000-day bicycle trip, accompanied only by his friends Herr Helmut (his helmet), Pani (his bike bag) and Mr. Coffeehead (his bike). Oh, and all his online followers. Described by Vancouver writer-performer Ira Cooper as a slapstick tragedy, this one-man clown show at first looks like something for the kiddies his bag has a mustachioed face, his helmet has googly eyes and Stanczyk looks a lot like Captain Jack Sparrow with red clown cheeks. But then things spin off into a mashup of techno music, double-entendres, angst, loss and ultimately despair as Stancyzk wonders Is anybody even watching? Very fringy and worth a look, but ultimately this one is all over the road. 3/5 Janice Sawka PRETTY BEAST Kazu Kusano The Cinematheque (Venue 7) to Sunday KIM NEWMONEY PHOTO Kazu Kusano in Pretty Beast. Japanese-born comedian Kazu Kusano is a firecracker of a performer, bounding around the stage in bright red shorts and a tank top as she tells the story of how she overcame sexism and family trauma to achieve her dream of doing standup for a living. The performers mother had schizophrenia and a germ phobia she never touched her daughter and her father was hilarious but an alcoholic. Kusano is compelling as she recounts the obstacles she faced as a pretty tomboy who didnt follow the rules, slipping easily into other characters along the way. But like so many autobiographical shows, Pretty Beast (65 minutes, not 75) falls into the and then this happened trap of straight chronological retelling. This blend of comedy and family drama needs reshaping and trimming to deliver real punch. 2.5/5 Jill Wilson ROBERT WILL SHOW YOU THE DOOR (TALES OF BEING FIRED) Jeremy Productions The Clock Tower (Venue 3) to Sunday In the course of searching for Gods plan for her life, New York comedy veteran Susan Jeremy got fired from almost every job she ever had. She got fired from a fishnchip stand; fired from a gig as a birthday party clown; she even ran into trouble doling out celebrity impressions on the street. Hey, at least it left her with lots of material for this 60-minute whirl through the indignities faced by an aspiring comic, waiting for her big break. Along the way, Jeremy discovered not just one, but a few purposes in life. One of them is to amuse audiences with shows like these. Shes a natural onstage, bold and engaging, never better than when shes slyly poking fun at herself. Throw in a little 70s and 80s nostalgia that will entertain the right generation, and the hour rolls by easy. 3/5 Melissa Martin SCATTERED SEEDS Kolja Company The Clock Tower (Venue 4) to Sunday Theres no purer fringe experience than when people who dont make their living in theatre get on a stage and open their hearts to strangers. In this case, Winnipegs Greg Evans is a lawyer. Hes also someone who navigated childhood grief that gave way to addiction, and someone who, thanks to the love of the people in his life, found his way out. In Scattered Seeds, Evans shares vignettes from that life story through a mix of monologue and original song. Its a simple production: just a man, his guitar and his own affable manner, giving an hour to relate the events that shaped his life. Though his reflections dont always go as deep as they could, and some parts dont feel as emotionally urgent as they might, its still a lovingly intimate piece, and Evans is warm and effortlessly pleasant onstage. 3/5 Melissa Martin SIX-LEGS Second Date Productions The Fountain (Venue 4) to Sunday SUPPLIED Six-Legs On the surface of the planet, a plague of locusts rules the Earth. In tunnels deep underground, three women eke out an existence on whatever they can scrounge. We meet them just as they come to terms with their dwindling supplies and isolation, but this original local drama is really about the relationships between them. Its a good premise. The trio of actors has wonderful chemistry and presence, and they have much to play with on a beautifully dressed stage. The script, on the other hand, feels slightly aimless; just as it seems to be building, it reaches an unclear and anticlimactic end. It would have been nice to explore these characters and their tensions and bonds in more depth, but what is present is enough to hold 60 minutes of interest. 3/5 Melissa Martin SLOWLY AND SIDEWAYS Shoestring Players Cre8ery (Venue 11) to Saturday This year, Winnipegs Shoestring Players bring us four mini-one acts that run the gamut from middle-aged ladies considering an affair to strangers facing their fears on a Ferris wheel. These shorts are about the small moments in life that help us move forward. Most are two-handers and very talky with not much action which makes sense for a theatre company born from the Manitoba Speech Association. However, that sometimes nets the deadly fringe combination of slightly stilted but also over-actorly performances that never quite capture the naturalness of a conversation. But the Players chose good, workable scripts, and the performances are polished and brisk. Perhaps the best short was Duet for Bear and Dog, a light, slightly wistful debate about evolution and domestication between a yappy dog and a bear caught in a tree. (Maybe more bear-and-dog and less cartoonish Russian dog owner, though?) 3.5/5 Mary Agnes Welch TANGO: TO THE POINTE PointeTango John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1) to Sunday MARK RUDDICK PHOTO Tango, to the Pointe. Ballet meets bordello with this often-breathtaking contemporary dance show that mashes together pristine classical dance with the passionate moves of tango. Montreal-based company members Erin Scott-Kafadar and Alexander Richardson dazzle with an imaginative one-hour program teeming with wit (also choreographed by Richardson), including plenty of pirouettes, tango kicks and flicks, punctuated by gravity-defying lifts that explode like fireworks. An eclectic soundtrack ranges from spoken narration the duet accompanied by Charles Bukowskis grungy ode to style is dynamite to smoky bandoneon music right out of Buenos Aires, where the show was birthed during pandemic lockdown. A highlight is Richardsons solo performed with a pair of pool cues rife with sub-text. Scott-Kafadar has toes of steel, delivering astonishing pointe work; however, the show ironically is most potent when the artists perform bare-footed, their palpable physical and emotional connection now at its most achingly vulnerable, intimate best. 4.5/5 Holly Harris WHATEVER HAPPENS AFTER Naked Theatre Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8) to Sunday This 60-minute drama by emerging Manitoba playwright Sarah Flynn has the flaws of many works by young writers, but in the last part, the plays strengths come strikingly alive. Acted by Flynn and Jodi Kristjanson under Simon Mirons astute direction, the action follows a strange farewell between half-sisters Quinn and Ash. We hear, at too great a length, their myriad, sadly funny family problems. But then we come to what has been avoided, Quinns soul-killing depression and the belief her farewell is the only way out. No plea from Ash will work. Sometimes there arent happy endings. The banter leading to Quinns revelation should be subtler, but hold on and wait for the powerful yet almost casual conclusion. With it, Flynn shows herself a playwright to watch in the future. 3/5 Rory Runnells WRITE, REWRITE, REPEAT Crosswalk Productions The Fountain (Venue 4) to Sunday As every writer knows, characters can take on a life of their own, and in this dramatic comedy from local playwright Cora Fast, that idea is made flesh. Riley, a writer, hunches over her desk, working on a story about a university student named Reise and his friends, but he has his own ideas about what the story should be. At his urging, Riley revises some scenes. That central device has immense potential, but the script only sometimes uses it to full effect. The moments when Reise and Riley butt heads are brightly comic and thoughtful, but much of the 60-minute runtime gets bogged down in awkward dialogue that cant find enough depth. A gut-punch emotional twist at the end does pull it together, albeit abruptly. Overall, an imperfect but intriguing idea, given life by an eager and likable cast. 2.5/5 Melissa Martin OTTAWA Protesters called on Canada to be brave like Ukraine and uphold economic sanctions against Russia on Sunday, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered essentially the same message to the Prime Minister. In a phone call between the leaders, Zelenskyy told Justin Trudeau that his stance on sanctions against Russia must be principled at a time when relations between Canada and the embattled country are somewhat strained by Canadas controversial decision to send parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany. Zelenskyy recapped their conversation in a short statement shared on Twitter, saying he thanked Trudeau for the continued powerful defence support Canada has offered his country but also raised the importance of upholding the sanctions. Pipes of the gas storage plant Reckrod are pictured near Eiterfeld, central Germany, Thursday, July 14, 2022, after the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was shut down due to maintenance. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to speak with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today as relations between the two countries have been strained by Canada's decision to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Michael Probst After the terrorist attacks in Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Chasiv Yar, etc. the pressure must be increased, not decreased, he said. Trudeau reiterated Canadas support for Ukraine against Russias military aggression, according to an official account of the discussion from the Prime Ministers Office. The two leaders also talked about maintaining unity among their allies and imposing severe costs on Russia, the PMO said. Supporters of Ukraine hold a rally against the Canadian governments decision to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sunday, July 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Canada agreed earlier this month to grant an exemption to the economic sanctions issued against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The two-year waiver would allow six Siemens Energy turbines, which were in Montreal for repairs, to be returned to Germany for use in the Russian state-owned Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Trudeau has previously defended the decision and said Canadas German ally relies on the natural gas supply from the pipeline. In a written and video address last week, however, Zelenskyy called the move absolutely unacceptable. Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom reduced gas deliveries from its Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs to northeastern Germany, by 60 per cent last month, citing turbine-related technical problems. The decision has left several Ukrainian supporters who attended a rally in Ottawa Sunday afternoon in a state of disbelief. Canadian-Ukrainian Yuri Kolomiyets told the crowd of about 150 supporters assembled on the lawn of Parliament Hill that the decision will mean more oil and gas money for Russia to fund its attack on Ukraine. I guess its okay to supply genocidal maniacs with the technology and the money, as long as it keeps German voters happy, Kolomiyets told the crowd, eliciting cries of shame in response. Its not their children who are dying in the missile strikes. Two young protesters, Arsenii Pivtorak and Ladislao Zaichka, have been camped outside of Parliament Hill for days and say theyve been on a hunger strike since July 9 when the waiver was announced. This decision broke our heart. We felt like the Germans pockets were more important than Ukrainian lives, Pivtorak, 19, said of the decision. Zaichka said hes particularly passionate about the decision because he has family in Ukraine. What Justin Trudeau did and what the Canadian government has done is upsetting for me as a Canadian but even worse for me as a Ukrainian, he said. The Ottawa chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress planned the Parliament Hill protest to urge the government to revoke the waiver. The protesters called for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who defended the turbine decision last week, to answer to the Ukrainian community in Canada. They also chanted for the government to stand with Ukraine. Speaking to reporters in a teleconference after a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Bali, Indonesia on Saturday, Freeland said Germanys ability to sustain its support for Ukraine could be at risk if the turbines were not returned. She said a united G7 effort would be needed to support Ukraine and allowing the repaired parts to return to Germany was the right thing to do. The United States has also spoken up in support of Canadas decision. The congress parent organization, the Ukrainian World Congress, has petitioned the Federal Court for a judicial review in hopes of stopping the turbines from making it to Germany. Both Canada and Germany, we feel, have been manipulated here by the Russians, said Ukrainian Congress national executive director Ihor Michalchyshyn ahead of the planned protest. The group contends Canada bowed to Russian blackmail and set a dangerous precedent that will lead to the weakening of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia. This is a decision that has angered Canadians and the Ukrainian government as well, Michalchyshyn said. He said Ukrainian-Canadians involved in his group initially expressed surprise and disappointment when they learned that Canada would allow the turbines to be returned. The government has also faced political backlash. In a video posted on Twitter Sunday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney admonished the Liberals for helping to fund Russian oil and gas and allowing the country to continue to dominate the European energy market. Why do we have a government in Ottawa that is impeding efforts to export responsible Canadian energy to Europe while helping Vladimir Putins Gazprom to continue to dominate European energy markets? It makes no sense, Kenney said. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is expected to appear at a Foreign Affairs Committee meeting to discuss the decision, along with the ambassadors of Ukraine, Germany and the European Union to Canada. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson have also been summoned to the committee to answer questions about the exception. Echoing Zelenskyys principled stand on sanctions, protester Oksana Bashuk Hepburn said Canadas strength is its values. Standing in front of the parliament buildings in a straw hat decorated with a ribbon in Ukraines yellow and blue colours, she said Canada should stick to those values and stand by the sanctions. You have suasion because you have an honorable reputation. Take it back, she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2022. Mid-afternoon on Saturday at the University of Winnipegs Axworthy Health and RecPlex, a dozen Red Cross volunteers are unfolding rows of green cots. The gymnasium will act as a temporary shelter for members of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, who were forced to evacuate their homes when a wildfire broke out Thursday afternoon. By the end of the day, there will be 600 cots filling the gym space. The fire bulletin published by the Manitoba Wildfire Service on Friday said the wildfire in Mathias Colomb Cree Nation and the greater Pukatawagan region in northern Manitoba near the Saskatchewan border was estimated to cover more than 24,000 acres. At the time the bulletin was published, there were 39 wildfires burning across the province. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Zainab Mansaray helps set up 600 cots at Axworthy Health and RecPlex, University of Winnipeg, in preparation for the potential arrival of wildfire evacuees from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation Saturday. Jason Small, Manitoba communications manager for the Red Cross, told reporters that the emergency shelter space will start being filled once hotels reach capacity. More than 1,000 people were expected to arrive from the community Saturday, he said. Currently, our plan is still to get as many people as possible into hotel, but if we do run out of hotel space, we do have the shelter, Small said. Its the last choice, but there are a lot of people coming out of the community so we have to be prepared. If hotel beds fill quickly enough, the Red Cross may welcome people to the emergency shelter as soon as this evening, Small said. Currently, community members from the First Nation are scattered throughout Thompson, The Pas, Sherridon and Winnipeg. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Volunteers Rhydham Sharman and Justin Harman work in earnest to set up the cots. More than 1,000 evacuees were expected to arrive from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation Saturday. Staff at the locally owned Missinippi Airways and the Keewatin Railway Co. have been working tirelessly to evacuate community members from the area. This afternoon, David Coholan, the director of flight operations at Missinippi Airways, told the Free Press that most of the community has been evacuated. He estimates that the aircraft transported 136 people. Now, the airline is redirecting its efforts to bring equipment up to firefighters. From his understanding, most people are being transported to Winnipeg. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The University of Winnipeg's Axworthy Health and RecPlex is transformed into a place of shelter for the arriving wildfire evacuees. We see the end of the tunnel right now, Colohan said. Instead of pulling people out, now were bringing equipment in and will continue to do that until that mission is complete. Small said that Red Cross continues to be in frequent communication with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation leadership. The organization has worked with the community before, including during a COVID-19 outbreak in March 2021. Were also greatly appreciative of folks in Opaskwayak Cree Nation. Theyve worked with them in The Pas to let us set up the staging area for their community facilities, Small said. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jason Small, Manitoba communications manager for the Red Cross, told reporters that the emergency shelter space will start being filled once hotels reach capacity. On Saturday, Chief Lorna Bighetty told CBC News that another 200 to 300 people are still waiting to be transported from the community. She also expressed concerns about COVID-19 transmission due to the close quarters evacuees are in. It was really scary yesterday because you could see the fire right close to where we were standing, and you can feel the heat, Bighetty said. Until the fire clears up, Coholan said the airline will continue to be of help to the community in any way. Weve been given full authority to just do whatever needs to be done to ensure people are safe, Coholan said. It is our goal between planes and trains to get everybody out by the end of the night, Small said. cierra.bettens@freepress.mb.ca WINONA Jane Knothe, age 65, of Winona, Minn., passed away on July 2, 2022, at home with her husband and sister by her side. Cancer may have shortened her life, but in her words, the hand that she was dealt did not define her. Rather, Jane was blessed to have lived her life as a true reflection of the Bible verse This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! Thus she considered herself very lucky in every way. Each day her inner beauty, infectious smile, and desire to help anyone and everyone in a non-judgmental way, led her to a life filled with an accepting smile, quick wit, glowing kindness, and a bevy of treasured friendships with people of all ages. Jane was fond of proper grammar, a stickler for manners, courtesy, and hospitality, and guests rarely left her house without a parting gift. Her marriage with Terry of 44 years was built on the foundation of unconditional love, constant communication, and shared passions of faith and family, the wonders of nature, and of their pets. Her unbelievable memory skills and ability to put things in perspective led Terry to coin the phrase, What would Jane do in this situation? as they shared the daily questions of life. Jane helped make the world a better place. Even though she was too modest to ever say so, she would hope that somehow, someway, people might find an example in her life that could also help make life just a little bit easier for someone, somehow. Jane was born February 10, 1957, in Chambersburg, Pa., to Joseph and Shirley (Coryea) Lutz. She graduated from Burnsville, Minn., Senior High School and Winona State University. On August 26, 1978, she married the love of her life, Terry Knothe. Jane worked 20 years with Winona Health followed by 20 more years at Merchants Bank as an Executive Assistant until her retirement in 2020. She led groups like 10 Days of Giving, United Way, Steamboat Days functions, Christmas holiday concerts and many others. She was very active in her community, delivering meals for Winona Volunteer Services, serving on the board of St. Annes Foundation and the Winona Area Red Cross, Past President of the Winona Area Women in Business group, a member of local Professional Administrative Assistants organizations, PEO, and a member of St. Marys Catholic Church. Jane will be forever loved and missed by her husband, Terry, who she loved with her whole heart; her sister, Carolyn Lutz; brother, Greg (Martha) Lutz; sisters-in-law: Mary Pat (Jay) DeLong, Pam (Mark) Moran and Connie Knothe (Randy Olson); nieces and nephews: Amber Jane (Joe) Christman, Zach (Alyssa) Lutz, Jamie (Jeremy) Pauls, Chad Knothe (Erika Torrison), John (Tabatha) DeLong, Austin (Kaitlin) DeLong, Ben (Kelsea) DeLong, Eric (Alyssa) DeLong, Taylor (Brianna) Knothe and Emily Knothe; step-mother-in-law, Judy Knothe; many great-nieces and nephews; and her much-loved four-legged companion, Finn. She was preceded in death by her parents, Joe and Shirley Lutz; brothers-in-law: Mark and Mike Knothe; and parents-in-law, Al and Mary Knothe. A Mass of Christian burial will be 11 a.m. Saturday, July 23, 2022, at St. Marys Catholic Church with the Reverend Michael Cronin officiating. Visitation will be 9:30 a.m. until the time of the Mass in the Visitation Commons at the church. There will also be visitation 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 22, at Hoff Celebration of Life Center, Goodview. Livestream of the funeral Mass will be available via a link on Janes obituary page at www.hofffuneral.com. Janes family would like to express their gratitude for the outpouring of support showered upon Jane, and on all of us during this health journey. Family, friends, neighbors, prayer chains, the staff of Gundersen Health System, Fr. Mike Cronin, and so many others helped provide physical, mental, and spiritual support in a way that is truly appreciated. Memorials are preferred to the Winona Area Humane Society (1112 E Broadway St., Winona MN 55987), St. Charles, Minn., schools towards a scholarship in Janes honor (https://scschools.revtrak.net/district/#/v/donation), or donors choice. Hoff Celebration of Life Center, Goodview, is assisting the family with arrangements. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17.Thanks to President Ilham Aliyev's leadership, Azerbaijan has achieved a growing prominence on the international stage, national security analyst and expert from the US Irina Tsukerman told Trend. She noted that President Biden has written two direct letters earlier this year to congratulate Baku on the Republic Day and to mark the Energy week, but has also expressed interest in the integration of the South Caucasus and the sthe finalizing of the peace process with Armenia. "This indicates Azerbaijan's growing importance as an energy producer but also a potential peace interlocutor on various regional issues. Similarly, Azerbaijan has strengthend ints relations with EU, and is being seen as an increasingly active and important country in light of the current European national sovereignty concerns, the food shortage crisis, and the energy crisis," she said. In her words, there is also a strong coordination with Israel on defense and other issues, and growing relations with some of the reform-minded countries in the Arab world, both on economic and political issues. "In light of these developments, Baku's positive role in pushing for a peaceful transition to regional integration after its victory in the Second Karabakh War, and its continuous willingness to extend efforts at friendship will be particularly appreciated. Another conflict right now is the last thing anyone needs or wants to see, and so the fact that even despite the 30 years of devastating occupation and illegal activities by Armenians, Azerbaijan is still going out of its way diplomatically to overcome tensions will play an important role in bringing it even close to other countries - but will also benefit it in terms of the ability to attract investors, support for various economic, green energy, hi tech, and educational projects, and will be taken into account even in courts over the deliberation of the handling of the occupation issue and Azerbaijan's legal claims of war crimes by Yerevan before an during the war," she said. Tsukerman emphasized that Armenia would be wise to take Azerbaijan's positioning as an example and similarly focus on positive development of relations with its neighbors and others, instead of looking towards the past. In turn, Peter Tase, US expert, and strategic adviser on international affairs and public diplomacy to governments, universities, and corporations in Europe and the Americas told Trend that Azerbaijan has pursued an admirable real politics that has delivered impressive results in the national economy, foreign affairs operations, bilateral diplomacy and provided an outstanding performance in agroindustrial sector. "The relations of Azerbaijan with neighboring countries have improved, Georgia has been an important economic partner, Kazakhstan has increased its political, commercial and economic cooperation with Azerbaijan. The brotherly relations with the Republic of Turkiye have enabled Azerbaijan to be at the forefront of global geopolitics and bolstered its role in Eurasia. Azerbaijan has been a staunch ally of the European Union and expanded its cooperation with Italy, Germany and Austria, among other countries that are part of the EU. With Washington, Azerbaijan strengthened its alliance and political dialogue as well as economic ties are greater now than December last year. Washington in Azerbaijan sees a prominent ally and a geopolitical actor of huge proportions in Europe and beyond. Azerbaijan has employed every tool to increase dialogue and close cooperation with the US Department of State," he said. He also added that Armenia continues to be a belligerent actor in Europe and EU, other diplomatic actors in the region must convince Armenia to become a better neighbor and ensure more transparency in bilateral dialogues engaging Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Georgia and other European countries. He emphasized that Europe and United States do not realize how important Zangazur corridor is for the economies of Caucasus and will immediately improve the peaceful coexistence among neighbors and nations in this region of Europe. "Opening of Zangazur corridor will help Significantly the Western European economies in these difficult geopolitical and economic times. President Ilham Aliyev has been a true visionary statesman and always taken diplomatic actions that benefit, human rights, economic prosperity and defense cooperation with European nations, Turkiye, and other key global partners," he said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. Full utilization of the routes through Zangezur will greatly facilitate transEurasian transportation and the development of the Middle Corridor, former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told Trend. Doing so will have positive economic impacts for the whole of the region, from the Back Sea across the Caucasus and Central Asia to India, China, and others in eastern and southern Asia. Let me expand a bit. I know there is a great deal of focus within Azerbaijan on establishing secure transportation links with Nakhchivan. This is to be expected given the importance of linkages between these two parts of the country and the pain and disruptions of the years of conflict with Armenia. However, establishing new roads and other connections across Zangezur and the rest of the region will have much broader impacts and benefits. In addition to facilitating and expanding trade between say Germany and China, it will create opportunities for new jobs and businesses across the Caucasus. Zangezurs opening will also help build connections between Armenians and Azerbaijanis and contribute to a lasting peace between the two countries and a more stable and secure Europe, he explained. Cekuta noted that such increased trade via Zangezur will boost prosperity in Azerbaijan and in the region as a whole. A more robust electrical gird among countries in the region will increase energy security as well and could have beneficial impacts when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases while providing for the regions growing energy needs. And we should not forget about the possibility for increased fiberoptic and other IT connections across the region and the benefits they would bring. Studies we have been doing show that it is not just the physical infrastructure that is important in building transport routes and other connections, but also working to reduce administrative barriers, improving customs procedures. As Azerbaijan, Armenia, and others in the region work to expand connections across Zangazur and the whole of the Caucasus, it is important they look at and address the nonphysical barriers to trade as well, added the former ambassador. He pointed out that the disruptions of trade across Eurasia and world-wide, greatly boosted the importance of the Middle Corridor that connects east and south Asia with the European portion of the continent. Azerbaijan, as the only country that borders both Russia and Iran, is critical to the viability of that east-west Middle Corridor across Eurasia. Transportation systems, IT cables, pipelines, all need to cross through Azerbaijan if they are going to be insulated from the political risks, Cekuta said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. On July 17, a telephone conversation took place between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, Trend reports citing Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The parties exchanged views on the current regional processes, including various directions in the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Jeyhun Bayramov brought to the attention of the American side the well-known position of Azerbaijan on ensuring peace and progress in the region, including the opening of communications, the delimitation of the border between the two states, the start of work on a future peace treaty, as well as the steps taken by Azerbaijan in these directions. The importance of full fulfillment by the parties of their obligations was emphasized. Karen Donfried highly appreciated the first direct meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Tbilisi and stressed the importance of continuing direct contacts. Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the telephone conversation. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help Tajikistan to attract more investors, Officer-in-Charge of the ADBs Tajikistan Resident Mission, Ms. Rhodora Concepcion told Trend. According to her, the Bank will assist government-led structural reforms to transform Tajikistan into a more attractive destination for foreign and domestic private investors. "ADB will support Tajikistan's agricultural production and natural resources management, improve urban services in Dushanbe and secondary cities, tap the tourism potential of the country, and develop roads to connect rural and urban areas with neighboring countries", she said. Currently, ADB operations in Tajikistan pursue three strategic priorities: - supporting structural reforms to enhance resource allocation and mobilization; - improving labor productivity through human capital development; - fostering better livelihoods through investment in a land-linked economy. Notably, in September 2021, ADB and the government launched a new 5-year country partnership strategy for Tajikistan focusing on improving the quality of the countrys economic growth by supporting government efforts to increase productivity and mobilize private investments. Dissatisfied audiences and declining viewing share could damage the legitimacy of the BBC funding debate, according to an influential UK House of Lords report, which urged the corporation to seize the opportunity to generate momentum for change. The long-awaited Licence to Change BBC Future Funding report was unveiled with the future of the 100-year-old funding model due to be debated this week, and the Lords said that debate is being undermined by the view from some parts of the country that the BBC is not for them. More from Deadline The BBC cannot provide content that pleases everyone all the time, said the House of Lords Communications and Digital Commitees Report, which nonetheless noted the BBCs various diversity initiatives as a positive. Yet we continue to hear that the BBC is not representing widely held perspectives in the UK, which often do not divide neatly along party political lines. The legitimacy of a future funding model risks being undermined by dissatisfied audiences and declining viewing share. The call came a few days after the BBCs Annual Report, which contained alarming audience figures showing that average viewing to BBC TV fell by one hour per week last year and less than three-quarters of the UK population is now using the BBC, down by 3 percentage points. UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries ordered a review into the BBCs licence fee model for which the majority of British citizens pay an annual 159 ($188) levy which could end with that model being replaced when it expires in 2027, although the collapse of Boris Johnsons government has left the review up in the air. Story continues The Lords passionately urged the BBC to use the debate on its future funding to embrace its challenges and seize the opportunity to generate momentum for change. This will require confident and clear proposals from the BBC, said the report. That thought is being applied by the biggest brains in BBC New Broadcasting House and Director General Tim Davie has said his team will publish the principles of a future funding model in the coming weeks. Alternatives The Lords examined several alternatives to the licence fee and concluded the best would be a hybrid licence fee/subscription model or progressive household levy. The former would offer an opportunity for the BBC to maintain a broad range of quality programming without regular rises in the licence fee, said the committee, giving audiences the choice over whether to watch certain genres while core shows remain universally accessible. It flagged significant commercial risk with no guarantee of success, however. The universal household levy, meanwhile, was talked up as a viable alternative that would need to be means-tested to make it fairer than the current model, which is regressive as all citizens regardless of wealth are charged the same amount. The report floated linking the levy to council tax, which is paid by homeowners and renters. The UK government will now examine the Lords independent review and respond to the results, although it is difficult to know when this will take place due to the current government chaos and upcoming summer recess. A BBC spokesperson said: We welcome the Lords report. We agree we need to keep reforming which is what we have been doing at pace. Clearly the BBC needs to keep relevant and we welcome the reports finding that a market failure BBC wouldnt be a good outcome. Beyond that, we are open minded about the future and it is right there is a debate on whether the licence fee needs to evolve and if so, what comes next. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. President Joe Biden made a clear promise on Iran, declaring that the country would never become a nuclear power under his watch. But during his time in the White House, the path towards upholding that promise has only become murkier. During his trip to the Middle East, the president said he would consider using force against Iran only as a "last resort," although Israel, the U.S.s most ardent ally in the region, has pushed for the administration to issue a "credible military threat" against Tehran. His administration has downplayed the efficacy of such an intervention, saying it could not erase Irans advancements and would only modestly slow its progress towards creating a nuclear weapon. Instead, Biden has prioritized diplomacy -- seeking to negotiate a return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement aimed at ensuring Irans nuclear program would be used only for peaceful purposes that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. But while the administration initially hope to cut a "longer and stronger" deal with Iran, over a year and half of indirect negotiations has produced little movement towards restoring even the original terms of the agreement. MORE: Biden pledges US won't 'walk away' from Middle East After a monthslong stalemate, a 9th round of talks took place in Doha, Qatar, at the end of June. A State Department spokesperson did not sugarcoat the outcome, saying "no progress was made." PHOTO: New Iranian 'Kheibarshekan' missiles are unveiled in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this picture obtained on Feb. 9, 2022. (Wana News Agency via Reuters,FILE) "I think the process is increasingly hopeless," said Ali Vaez, the Iran Project director at The International Crisis Group and former senior political affairs officer at the U.N. "The meeting in Doha was a major setback, because it was an absolute dead end." While both sides have shown little willingness to move past outstanding sticking points, the political motivation to do so also diminishes by the day. On the Iranian side, Vaez says politicians know all too well that any deal cut now may be reneged upon later if Democrats dont retain hold of the White House. And because hardliners hold complete control over Irans government, they would be saddled with the entirety of the blame. Story continues MORE: Trump comparisons trail Biden through Middle East trip: The Note "They would have no scapegoats," he said. "They would be seen primarily as responsible for committing the same mistake twice." Beyond that, Vaez says theres a perceived economic risk. "Their view is that their economy has not adjusted to sanctions," he said. "Although there might be a short term economic reprieve if sanctions are lifted, once they snap back, the shock for the Iranian economy will be even bigger than previous shocks." The U.S. also has little room to maneuver, says Sam Hickey, an analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. "There are a lot of political reasons not to want to take on the extra baggage of securing a deal at the moment," he said. "We have the upcoming midterm elections, and so frankly, any efforts to lift sanctions on Iran would hurt the Democrats, and likely it would be fuel for the Republicans." PHOTO: A group of students during their gathering to condemn President Biden's tour to the Middle East, July 16, 2022, in Tehran, Iran. (Vahid Salemi/AP) Both Vaez and Hickey both say securing a deal would be beneficial for all parties -- but that while it may be possible, it does not seem probable. MORE: Israel strikes Gaza target in response to rocket fire Both sides will be better off with an agreement that would "freeze the cycle of escalation," Vaez said, with a stopgap measure that would see Iran ceasing to accumulate highly enriched uranium in exchange for its oil returning to the market. "I do believe there is an opportunity in the next few months to try to explore the possibility of this kind of stopgap agreement, even though it's hard to be optimistic about even that option because the two sides have mismatched expectations," he said. But while Iran and the U.S. might seem comfortable enough with the deadlock at the moment, Hickey says its ultimately unsustainable. PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid at Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) "The status quo where Irans nuclear program continues to advance relatively slowly and the U.S. continues to put more economic sanctions on the program and attempts to diplomatically isolate Iran -- that that paradigm cannot exist indefinitely, and I'm very uncertain that it can even last another two years," he said. "Now, we're kind of continuing along an escalatory ladder, but we are really running out of rungs on the ladder." Though the U.S has other means of trying to curb Irans nuclear ambitions, they also come at a cost. "The problem is every time the administration ups the ante, the Iranians retaliate," Hickey said. Hickey says this is already playing out in a dangerous way, with Tehran responding to a U.S.-led international censure by blocking the United Nations atomic energy watchdogs attempts to monitor its nuclear program -- creating a scenario where Bidens "last resort" could easily become reality. "Its getting to the point where it is incredibly difficult for U.N. nuclear inspectors to confirm exactly what fissile material Iran has and where it is. It could fuel speculation that Iran is diverting that material for some later time. And thats going to lead to military confrontation," he said. He added, "That would not be confined to the borders of Iran. That would spread through to every country in the region." Biden left with few options on Iran as nuclear talks stall originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Cindy McCain Cindy McCain John McCain's widow, Ambassador Cindy McCain, says the late Arizona senator would be displeased with today's Republican Party but determined to stand up for more familiar values. "I don't believe my husband would recognize it," McCain, 68, said Thursday during an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "But I do know one thing, he'd be fighting like the dickens to able to pull it back together and bring it back to what it was during previous Republican administrations and previous administrations as well." Appointed by Biden, Ambassador McCain serves as the Permanent Representative of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Agencies in Rome. On Thursday at the White House, she accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the president on behalf of her late husband, a war hero, Republican presidential nominee and an affable Senate colleague of Biden. RELATED: Simone Biles, Megan Rapinoe and More Receive Presidential Medals of Freedom: See the Photos McCain said her family is "grateful and so honored and proud" for her husband to be posthumously given the nation's highest civilian honor. US President Joe Biden presents Cindy McCain (L), the widdow of former Senator and presidential candidate John McCain, posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during a ceremony honoring 17 recipients, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 7, 2022. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty "It stands for so much and I think John stood for so much," she said of the Medal of Freedom, noting that her husband lost his freedom as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five years. "We used to argue like hell on the Senate floor. But then we'd go down and have lunch together afterwards," Biden said at the ceremony on Thursday. "I never stopped admiring John," he continued. "Never said a negative thing about him in my life because I knew his honor, his courage, and his commitment." RELATED: Former RNC Spokesman Tim Miller Recounts 'the Republican Road to Hell' in New Book: 'I Was a Dark Artist' McCain who endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential race over the GOP nominee Donald Trump also told Mitchell, "I'm still a Republican." "I believe in the party, and I believe in what we stand for. But right now, we've lost our way and so I'm hoping as the years go on we can right ourselves and do what Republicans do best and that is work for smaller government but work in a bipartisan fashion," she said. Story continues Asked about the revelations coming out of the Jan. 6 committee's public hearings on Trump and his supporters' plan to overturn the 2020 election, McCain said the testimony has been "hard to watch" for "all of us that work so hard and believe in this country in the way that we do." RELATED: Trump's Former Chief of Staff Urges Republicans to 'Pay Attention' to Jan. 6 Hearings "It's a good lesson," she added. "We're not being good examples for our children with what this represents right now and that's most important." John McCain embraces his wife Cindy PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty From left: John and Cindy McCain in 2008 McCain praised Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoke critic of Trump and one of two Republicans on the House committee investigating Jan. 6, for standing up for democracy despite the political consequences she's faced. "She's an amazing person," she said of Cheney. "Her strength and her ability to look beyond the now and work on what's good for the country. It may harm her in the end, it may [hurt her] political aspirations, but she can sleep at night and know that she did the right thing." RELATED: Cindy & John McCain's 38-Year Marriage Wasn't 'Perfect,' She Says, but Whose Is? 'We Had a Great Life' She encouraged others on both sides of America's political divide to emulate the leadership demonstrated by Cheney as well as her husband, who was known as a "maverick" in the Senate for crossing party lines. "We need to encourage our members and our politicians across the country to do just that, don't be afraid to buck the system and don't be afraid to speak out on any of these issues no matter what side you're on. Debate is good in this country calm debate, dignified debate is good," the ambassador said. After an election that many in the Republican Party still claim was fraudulent despite evidence to the contrary, McCain expressed her hope that the country will return to its foundational principles. "That's what makes us special as Americans. That's what makes this country special," she said. "Peaceful transfer of power, the way that we govern ourselves, the way that we represent who we are we have got to come back to that." Current high fuel prices, caused by a number of factors including supply and demand, impact the overall economy. Chris Zeigler is executive director of the American Petroleum Institute of Ohio. For weeks, Ohioans have awakened daily to reports that the average price of a gallon of gasoline is higher than when they went to bed. Consequently, gas prices have been a topic of conversation at the breakfast table, and then again at the dinner table. We know that fuel prices fluctuate for a variety of reasons including the cost of crude oil, supply disruptions, transportation challenges and other market dynamics. But the unprecedented, sustained fuel price increases were experiencing now, which are dramatically affecting our overall economy, cannot be attributed to any one specific factor like a refinery outage, temporary pipeline closure, or weather event. More: Gas prices in Ohio and other Midwestern states are spiking. Here's why As our nations economy recovers, the pandemic-induced gulf between energy supply and demand, a lack of sound policy direction in Washington, and the current, misguided efforts to secure energy supply from foreign governments are top among the issues that must be addressed. To prompt policymakers to unlock the full potential of American energy development, fuel our nations economic recovery, and strengthen our national security, the American Petroleum Institute recently issued its 10-in-22 Plan. Chris Zeigler is executive director of the American Petroleum Institute of Ohio. More: How to submit guest opinion columns to the Columbus Dispatch Among other items, the plan urges the Biden Administration to end natural gas and oil development restrictions on federal lands and waters, encourages the accelerated development of critical energy infrastructure projects, and advocates the industrys access to open capital markets free from artificial governmental constraints. More: Opinion: Biden's plan good for Ohio's people, jobs and the environment There is no question that our nation needs energy leadership from policymakers, industry leaders and other key stakeholders. Ohio is a leader among energy-producing states dedicated to providing Americans with affordable, reliable, and sustainable fuels and other petroleum products. Story continues Yet even in our state, we remain vigilant against policies that discourage the development of our energy resources or increases the costs of producing Ohio-made motor fuels and other energy products through mandates or other types of government overreach. Ohios natural gas and oil industry supported 375,000 total jobs across the states economy in 2019, based on pre-pandemic data. Ohio ranks among the highest states for total economic contributions by the natural gas and oil industry, including $24.6 billion added to total labor income and $58.7 billion toward the states gross domestic product. More: Column: Take pride in Ohios production of essential energy And Ohios natural gas and oil industry continues to attract investment. A report recently prepared for JobsOhio, the state's private nonprofit economic development arm, found the industry invested $2.3 billion in Ohio in the first half of 2021. From 2011 to 2021, an estimated $95.3 billion has been invested in the industry. Of this, $65.9 billion was invested in upstream, $21.4 billion in midstream, and $8 billion in downstream facilities. Additionally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently certified an Ohio refinery as a Voluntary Protection Program site, recognizing the facility for implementing highly effective safety and health management systems. The American Petroleum Institute's 10-in-22 Plan provides succinct, common-sense solutions that Washington policymakers can implement immediately. I remain hopeful our elected officials will act quickly to unleash our nations energy potential to address our current economic situation. In the meantime, Ohios energy industry will continue to do its part. Chris Zeigler is executive director of the American Petroleum Institute of Ohio. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: US needs sound energy policy to help economy recover Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis received his biggest-ever donation from a man who has a feeling aliens are right under peoples noses. Robert Bigelow, a Las Vegas space entrepreneur and founder of Budget Suites of America, donated $10 million to the Republican governor on July 7, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. The donation marked the biggest individual contribution to DeSantis, who is running for reelection in November. DeSantis has garnered monetary support from at least 42 billionaires and billionaire relatives who have a combined net worth of $275 billion, according to the newspaper. The top DeSantis donors interest in extraterrestrial life is no secret. Bigelow, in a 2017 interview with 60 Minutes, claimed his grandparents had a close encounter with a UFO and hes absolutely convinced in alien life. There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence [on Earth], Bigelow said. And I spent millions and millions and millions I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject. He added he didnt give a damn what people thought of his comments and claimed aliens were right under peoples noses. The biggest donation to the campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (above) is from Robert Bigelow, a space entrepreneur and founder of Budget Suites of America. (Photo: Miami Herald via Getty Images) The biggest donation to the campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (above) is from Robert Bigelow, a space entrepreneur and founder of Budget Suites of America. (Photo: Miami Herald via Getty Images) Bigelow, who was labeled a cosmic landlord in a 2011 profile by Forbes, reportedly put $350 million in profits from his Budget Suites business into his aeronautics and space technology company Bigelow Aerospace. He has also used his money to research the afterlife through the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies and to purchase the 480-acre Skinwalker Ranch to reportedly look into possible paranormal activity there. Bigelows donation adds to DeSantis $130.4 million in cash on hand, a number that exceeds the amount reported by former President Donald Trumps political committees at the start of the year, NBC News reported. Story continues DeSantis, aside from his reelection bid this year, is gearing up for a possible campaign in the 2024 presidential race, Politico reported last month. The Florida governor has seen a growth in fundraising, and Trump, who has hinted at another presidential campaign, has recently seen his fundraising slow down. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related... Uzbek authorities have stepped up medical controls at border checkpoints due to a cholera outbreak in Afghanistan. This was stated in the statement of the Service for Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health (SES), Trend reports citing Uzdaily. Foreign media reported that several cases of cholera were recorded in Afghanistan. The SES statement notes that Uzbekistan is implementing measures to prevent the spread and occurrence of cholera. In Uzbekistan, there are currently 54 sanitary quarantine points at state border crossings, of which 36 are on roads, 11 are at international airports, 6 are on railways and 1 is in a river port. Border checkpoints are equipped with modern thermal imaging cameras and non-contact thermometers (pyrometers). In specialized medical institutions, examinations for cholera are carried out. Special SES laboratories are provided with the necessary equipment, reagents and nutrient media for the diagnosis of cholera. A reserve of beds in medical institutions has been created to receive patients. Every week, specialists take samples from open water bodies and examine them for the presence of cholera pathogens. fun sign "war" going on in MO Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce A city in Missouri is enjoying some gentle ribbing between businesses some cleverly written signs. After a Marshfield, MO McDonald's declared a "sign war" multiple businesses jumped in to tease others in the area. Locals have been snapping photos of the signs since the first one went up at McDonald's, saying "HEY DQ! WANNA HAVE A SIGN WAR." The fast food chain responded by putting up a sassy message on their own marquee: "WE WLD BUT WERE 2 BUSY MAKIN ICECREAM." fun sign "war" going on in MO Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce While many of the bantering signs focused on ice cream at first, things have expanded as other establishments wanted in on the fun. Not every place has a flashy road sign to use, so businesses have gotten creative with poster board and plain old print-outs. "Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, We Want In On The Sign War Too" one place posted in their window on a piece of white paper. SignEffx, which specializes in printing banners and decal wraps, did not want to be outdone. "No invite to the sign war?" a newly-printed banner outside their Marshfield location asks. "It's okay we know who makes the best signs in town!" fun sign "war" going on in MO Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce RELATED: Shake Shack Has a BOGO Deal on Milkshakes for the Rest of the Summer Here's How to Get Yours The city of Marshfield has been enjoying the attention, posting on Facebook (sic) "Holy cow! The Marshfield, MO sign war has reached over a million people on Facebook! Thanks to everyone around the US who has shared our little [town's] sign war! We've all had a lot of fun watching the signs change. Who [knew] a fun little sign war would bring so many people together!" Randy Bryant, Director of Operations at the McDonald's told local outlet Ozarks First the origin story of the sign war. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. "Marshfield is such a close community, we're all like family here," Bryant said. "Mario on our team had a great idea to get this all started! Story continues "He said 'It's hot, the world is throwing everyone challenges and negativity,' so we all found a way to laugh and have fun as a community. And what's better than an old-fashioned sign war?" RELATED: Zendaya Gets Stitches After Kitchen Injury: 'This Is Why I Don't Cook' fun sign "war" going on in MO Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce Shelby Atkison, Managing Editor of local news outlet Laclede County Record has been documenting the war too, compiling the photos on her social media. "Compiled for your viewing pleasure it ain't over yet ," Atkinson wrote. Commenters are having a blast designating the "winners" of the sign war, although no consensus has been reached among those following the battles. Electric cars have the mile range to transport Savannahians to safety in a hurricane evacuation. Stan Cross leads electric transportation policy and utility reform efforts across the Southeast for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. As gas prices continue to soar, companies are drilling down on policies regarding electric vehicles. Our reliance on fossil fuels like oil has extraordinarily high costs, both environmentally and economically. Russia's attack on Ukraine is an additional wake-up call to the risks and consequences of basing a global economy on fossil fuels and being dependent to any degree on a petro-dictator. Bracing for Hyundai's impact: What 8,100 jobs paying $20-plus per hour means for Savannah For subscribers: Why did Hyundai Motors pick Bryan County megasite for auto plant? Here's how the deal happened We continue to see increasing evidence that decarbonizing the transportation sector and reducing our reliance on oil - regionally, nationally and globally - is key to both mitigating the worst effects of climate change and achieving energy independence. To advance that goal, our organization tracks the Electric Vehicle (EV) market across the Southeast U.S., defined as Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Currently, of those six states, Georgia ranks #1 in EV manufacturing jobs and #2 in EV manufacturing investments. Georgia stands to benefit greatly from transitioning to electric vehicles. Federal and state policies that make it easier for consumers and fleet operators to buy electric cars, trucks and buses will help grow the market for manufacturers operating in Georgia, like Hyundai, Bluebird, SK Innovation and Rivian. The stronger the EV market, the better Georgias long-term economic development prospects are. The new Hyundai manufacturing facility planned for the Savannah area is a prime example of this. This plant is expected to feed more than 8,000 jobs. Georgia has the opportunity to become the Silicon Valley of Electric Transportation. Story continues Even though Georgia is not an oil-producing state, its dependence on oil to fuel consumer and fleet vehicles is costly to all Georgians. It makes sense for Georgians to transition to EVs. According to the Transportation Energy Data Book published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in 2019, individuals and companies spent $15.4 billion on gas and diesel fuel and of that, $4.8 billion was kept in state. When Georgians fill up on gas and diesel, 69 cents of every dollar spent leaves Georgias economy for oil-rich states and countries. When you drive electric, that money stays local. Based on research by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, if every car, truck and bus in Georgia was electric today, Georgia would get a $7.9 billion boost to the economy annually. Thats money that today leaks out of the pockets of consumers, governments and businesses. These economic opportunities at hand are reasons why Georgians should be thinking about transportation electrification in addition, the benefits that would come with cleaner air quality and improved public health. According to the American Lung Associations Zeroing in on Healthy Air report, if Georgia eliminated tailpipe emissions and transitioned to clean electricity, it could realize almost $30 billion in cumulative health benefits between now and 2050, including avoiding more than 2,600 premature deaths, more than 70,000 asthma attacks and more than 385,000 lost work days, Our organization is laser-focused on tracking whats happening with EV manufacturing investment, jobs, vehicle sales and EV infrastructure investment and how thats all feeding into this economic and public health opportunity. Stan Cross leads electric transportation policy and utility reform efforts across the Southeast for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Georgia is well positioned to take advantage of the transportation electrification opportunities presented by the federal bipartisan Investments, Infrastructure, and Jobs Act. At the end of 2021, Georgia ranked #2 in the Southeast in passenger EV sales per capita with 57,303 EVs sold. The state ranks #1 in charging infrastructure deployment per capita riding impressive 63% growth in 2021 to 3,630 charging ports. With billions of federal dollars available, now is a critical time for Georgia's legislators, regulators, state agencies and stakeholders to work together to establish policy and regulatory conditions that will accelerate car, truck and bus electrification and support the states growing EV industry presence. This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia leads the region in electric vehicles, jobs and investments Craig Robinson attends the 11th annual Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation "Big Fighters, Big Cause" Charity Boxing Night at The Beverly Hilton on May 25, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. Rodin Eckenroth/Getty A gunman entered a North Carolina comedy club on Saturday brandishing a weapon and telling people to evacuate. The incident unfolded shortly before comedian Craig Robinson was set to take the stage for a set. Robinson, known for his role as Darryl in NBC's "The Office," live-streamed as he moved to a safer location. A gunman opened fire at a North Carolina comedy club, shortly before comedian Craig Robinson best known for his role as Darryl in NBC's "The Office" was set to take the stage. Witnesses and employees of The Comedy Zone told WSOC-TV Channel 9 that a man came into the club on Saturday night brandishing a firearm and demanding that people evacuate the building. At one point, the man fired, though the building had already been evacuated and no injuries were reported, police said, according to The Charlotte Observer. The incident unfolded at about 9 pm, shortly before Robinson was set to appear on stage for a sold-out 9:45 pm show, according to Comedy Zone's website. "There's an active shooter at the club I was at," Robinson said in a video on Instagram. "So they moved us over to this concert going on, and it's Big Time Rush, so I thought I would share with ya'll," Robinson said before enthusiastically adding, "Big Time Rush y'all, Big Time Rush, you don't know." He panned over to a crowd cheering as the band played. "I'm safe. It's cool, we cool. It was just wild. I was in the green room, and they were like, 'Everybody get out!' It was wild," Robinson said later in the video. At one point, Robinson could be heard speaking to someone off camera, asking if anyone at the comedy venue was injured. "Anybody get hit? Nobody got hit, right?" he asked. The video ended with someone off camera informing Robinson that "they got him," appearing to reference the suspect. Officers "quickly" detained the suspect, who was taken to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department headquarters for questioning, WSOC reported. Police have not yet released the suspect's name. Read the original article on Insider President Joe Biden wrapped up his first trip to the Middle East on Saturday by pledging that the United States will continue to be an engaged partner in the region. Speaking at the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Biden said his administration will support relationships with nations that "subscribe to the rules-based international order." "As the world grows more competitive, and the challenges we face more complex, it is only becoming clearer to me how closely interwoven our interests are with the successes of the Middle East," Biden said. "We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran." The U.S., he said, "is not going anywhere." MORE: Trump comparisons trail Biden through Middle East trip: The Note Biden on Saturday announced $1 billion to fight food insecurity in the region and said the nations present at the summit were collectively contributing billions of dollars on clean energy initiatives. PHOTO: President Joe Biden attends the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Biden's four-day international trip came as the U.S. remains focused on countering China's rise in the region and uniting global partners against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It also occurred as Biden seeks to lower sky-high gas prices at home. Biden said Saturday the leaders agreed on the need to ensure "adequate supplies" to meet global demand. After meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday, Biden said the Saudis "share that urgency" and that he expects to see further action in the coming weeks. But when asked when Americans can see the impacts of that visit, he acknowledged it wouldn't be immediate. "I suspect you won't see that for another couple of weeks," he said. PHOTO: The family photo during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Bandar Al-Jaloud/Saudi Royal Palace/AFP via Getty) Biden faced some criticism for his meeting with Mohammed bin Salman -- the man the U.S. believes is responsible for the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy. MORE: Biden says he raised Khashoggi murder with Saudi crown prince Biden and Mohammed bin Salman were photographed fist-bumping each other outside the Al-Salam Royal Palace, three years after Biden vowed as a presidential candidate to make the nation a "pariah" over Khashoggi's murder. Story continues Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, said Khashoggi would have responded to the fist bump by asking the president "is this the accountability you promised for my murder? The blood of MBS's next victim is on your hands." Biden told reporters he raised Khashoggi at the top of their meeting, and continued to condemn his killing as "outrageous." PHOTO: President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrive for the family photo during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 16, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via Reuters) Sitting next to Mohammed bin Salman at Saturday's summit, Biden also touched on the issue of human rights as he laid out his five-point vision for U.S. policy for the region. "Foundational freedoms are foundational to who we are as Americans," he said. "It's in our DNA. But it's also because we know that the future will be won by the countries that unleash the full potential of their populations, where women can exercise equal rights and contribute to building stronger economies, resilient societies, and more modern and capable militaries; where citizens can question and criticize their leaders without fear of reprisal." - ABC News' Molly Nagle and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report. Biden pledges US won't 'walk away' from Middle East originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) speculated on a right-wing talk show Saturday that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) avoids her because she intimidates him. Thats definitely not it, Swalwell slapped back on Twitter. He just doesnt like her. Boebert packed in as many insults as she could against Swalwell in an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on his TBN talk show. Boebert called Swalwell a la kindergarten Eric Smells Not So Well. Ive actually tried to have conversations with Eric Smells Not So Well, she explained. It doesnt really work out. He bee-lines away from me. And so maybe Im intimidating. Boebert on Eric Swalwell: He only acts tough on twitter. Ive actually tried to have conversations with Eric Smells Not So Well, and he bee-lines away from me. Maybe Im intimidating. pic.twitter.com/UZZ28phJhZ Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 17, 2022 Swalwell responded to the Boebert clip with a quickie scene from the 2009 movie Hes Just Not That Into You when bar owner Alex (Justin Long) tells Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin): Dont call him. He doesnt like you. That hit the spot on Twitter. Intimidating isnt the word that comes to mind. Patricia Suflita Wilson (@pilarwish) July 17, 2022 Eric wont give Lauren the time of day. Lauren cries. FedUpTexan (@texasbreathen) July 17, 2022 I swear I havent called anyone Smells Not so Well since KINDERGARTEN cherie baker vann (@cherievann) July 17, 2022 Jesus. Is she 7 years old? Bryan Harding (@brymw) July 17, 2022 Kind of an insult to 7 year olds! Joyce (@JoyceSja5848) July 17, 2022 This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. A demonstrator holds a placard saying "My Body My Choice" as they gather at the Sample Gates at Indiana University to rally in support of womens reproductive rights, in Bloomington. Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images An OB-GYN in Indiana spoke publicly about treating a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. Dr. Caitlin Bernard was attacked by media organizations and politicians who said her story was fake. Colleagues have come to her defense but worry they will face the same fate if they speak out. A doctor has come to the defense of a colleague who treated a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio after some media organizations and politicians labeled her a liar. Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN in Indiana, provided abortion care to the young patient, who traveled there from Ohio because of restrictions in her home state. In Ohio, abortions are restricted after 6 weeks. The child was 6 weeks and 3 days pregnant, according to the Indianapolis Star. After Bernard shared her story with the newspaper, she was attacked by The Wall Street Journal's editorial board and politicians like South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who tweeted the story was "fake to begin with." Fox News broadcast an image of Bernard and a host from the network said the story was fabricated. Even though Bernard's story was corroborated by The Columbus Dispatch, which reported the rapist's arrest, Ohio's attorney general said he plans to conduct an investigation. Now, Bernard's colleague, Dr.Tracey Wilkinson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, is defending her in an essay in The New York Times. Wilkinson said she's terrified that she or any of her colleagues "could soon face what Dr. Bernard is going through" after delivering care to their patients. According to Wilkinson, the attention has led to concerns for Bernard's safety and the local police are now involved. She said when talking about reproductive health care, doctors like to include patient stories to "humanize the often complex legal and medical concepts" for the public. Wilkinson adds that Bernard's story about the 10-year-old child does that by providing an example of how abortion bans impact the most vulnerable. Story continues In light of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, medical providers in states where abortion has been restricted are in a challenging situation. In reference to what happened to Bernard, Wilkinson writes, "my colleagues and I have watched all this in horror. We are worried that this could happen to us, too." While abortion is legal in Indiana, lawmakers are expected to impose strict rules, which could include a total ban, in a special session in the legislature at the end of this month. Read the original article on Business Insider Nearly half of the participants of a recent study who were menstruating regularly at the time of the survey reported heavier bleeding during their periods after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Others who did not typically menstruate including transgender men, people on long-acting contraceptives and postmenopausal women also experienced unusual bleeding. The new study the largest to date expands on research that has highlighted the temporary effects of COVID-19 vaccines on menstrual cycles but until now focused primarily on cisgender women who menstruate. Although the vaccines have largely prevented deaths and severe disease with few reported side effects, many medical experts initially brushed aside concerns when women and gender-diverse people started reporting erratic menstrual cycles after receiving the shots. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times To get a better sense of these post-vaccination experiences, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis distributed an online survey in April 2021 to thousands of people across the globe. After three months, the researchers collected and analyzed more than 39,000 responses from individuals between the ages of 18 and 80 about their menstrual cycles. All the survey respondents had been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson vaccines or another that had been approved outside the United States. And to the best of their knowledge, the participants had not contracted COVID-19 before getting vaccinated. The research, published Friday in the journal Science Advances, shows that 42% of people with regular menstrual cycles experienced heavier bleeding after vaccination, while 44% reported no change, and 14% reported lighter periods. Additionally, 39% of respondents on gender-affirming hormone treatments, 71% of people on long-acting contraceptives and 66% of postmenopausal women experienced breakthrough bleeding after one or both of their shots. Story continues I think its important that people know this can happen, so theyre not scared, theyre not shocked, and theyre not caught without supplies, said Katharine Lee, a biological anthropologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the studys first author. Lee cautioned, however, that the study did not compare the results with a control group of people who did not get vaccinated. And it is possible that people who observed changes in their cycles after vaccination may have been more likely to participate in the survey. Still, the findings line up with smaller studies that have reported menstrual changes after vaccination with more robust controls. Importantly, the new study also found that some demographics may be more likely to experience menstrual changes, and the study may help them be better prepared, Lee said. A heavier menstrual flow was more likely for those who were older, for instance. Survey respondents who used hormonal contraception, had been pregnant in the past or had been diagnosed with a reproductive condition like endometriosis, fibroids or polycystic ovarian syndrome were also more likely to have heavier bleeding during their periods. People who identified as Hispanic or Latino tended to report heavier bleeding too. And people who experienced other side effects of the vaccines, like a fever or fatigue, also had a higher chance of experiencing erratic periods. Postmenopausal women who were slightly younger, around an average age of 60, were more likely to experience breakthrough bleeding after the vaccine than those who were older. But the type of vaccine postmenopausal women received, whether they had other side effects like a fever or whether they had a past pregnancy did not seem to have an effect on their bleeding. Why do these changes occur? Some level of variation in menstruation the number of days you bleed, the heaviness of your flow and your cycle length is normal. Our menstrual cycles are not perfect clocks, said Dr. Alison Edelman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University who has also studied the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on menstruation. Hormones secreted by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the ovaries regulate the monthly cycle, and they can be affected by both internal and external factors. Stress and illness, weight loss or weight gain, calorie restriction, and intense exercise can all change typical patterns of menstruation. The endometrium, which lines the uterus and is shed during menstruation, has also been linked to the immune system. Because of the role it plays in the remodeling of uterine tissue and offering protection against pathogens, it is possible that when vaccines activate the immune system, which is what they should be doing, they also somehow trigger downstream effects in the endometrium, causing a disturbance in your menstrual cycle, Edelman said. And some individuals may be more sensitive to immune or hormone changes in their body. In her research, Edelman found that some womens periods came a day or two later than usual after they got vaccinated against coronavirus. But the changes were temporary menstruation tended to return to normal after one or two cycles. What to do if you notice menstrual irregularities after the COVID vaccine If you experience any new or unusual patterns of bleeding, take note of it. The menstrual cycle can be thought of as another vital sign, just like your body temperature or blood pressure, that provides clues about your health, said Dr. Jennifer Kawwass, a reproductive endocrinologist at Emory University, who was not involved in the study. A significant change in menstrual cycle interval or bleeding profile warrants further investigation to be sure there is not an underlying endocrinologic, hematologic or anatomic cause, Kawwass said. Breakthrough bleeding in people who no longer normally menstruate, for example, may also be a warning sign of cervical, ovarian, uterine or vaginal cancer. That being said, subtle variation in your menstrual cycle, if you have regular periods, should not be a cause for concern and does not require that you change anything you would normally do, Kawwass said. Clinical trials and other studies have already established that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and are unlikely to affect fertility in the long term. Should you get vaccinated at a certain time in your cycle? Experts agree that the chaos COVID-19 can cause throughout your body, including potential lingering effects, is far worse than any side effects caused by vaccination against the disease. People who have previously gotten a fever after a shot may plan their next dose on a day when they will not have to go in to work, Edelman said. But you should not let temporary menstrual changes prevent you from getting fully vaccinated or boosted. Since cases are on the rise again, delaying vaccination for two weeks or longer may significantly increase your risk of getting COVID-19, she said. Still, its important to track your bodys response to vaccination, and public health officials should acknowledge concerns about menstrual cycle variations in addition to warning people of the risk of getting COVID-19, said Keisha Ray, a bioethics expert at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. The increased transparency around menstrual changes or other side effects of vaccination could also have another benefit: reducing peoples vaccine hesitancy. Were trying to be truthful. Were trying to validate peoples lived experiences, Lee said. In turn, she hopes that the new research will help improve conversations around peoples health and lead to more inclusive clinical trials in the future. 2022 The New York Times Company INDIANAPOLIS Doctors across the country helped raised about $180,000 for an Indiana University obstetrician-gynecologist to pay for security and legal expenses after she became a focal point in the abortion debate over providing the procedure to a 10-year-old rape victim. The saga unfolded earlier this month after Dr. Caitlin Bernard told the Indianapolis Star, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, that she treated the 10-year-old girl from Ohio. After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, Ohio's trigger law went into effect, banning abortions after six weeks. The girl's story went viral, appearing in news outlets across the country and becoming a flash point in the abortion debate. It became a talking point for abortion-rights supporters, including President Joe Biden. Some opponents and news outlets criticized the story as unproven. But criminal charges and court testimony earlier this week confirmed the disturbing story. Doctors rally to support Bernard amid 'intense scrutiny' On Friday, supporters launched fundraisers to help Bernard with security fees and legal costs she has assumed while facing public scrutiny. A team of OB-GYN providers from across the country launched a GoFundMe that had raised nearly $180,000 from about 2,400 donors as of Saturday evening. "We are Ob/Gyn providers & abortion providers from across the country who want to thank our colleague, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, for doing a courageous thing and helping provide compassionate healthcare to a child in her time of need," the GoFundMe page says. "Many of us have experienced this in our line of work, and the ability to rise to the call despite tragedy like this is truly commendable." CEASE-AND-DESIST LETTER: Indiana AG's comments about doctor who performed 10-year-old's abortion prompt cease-and-desist letter Dr. Caitlin Bernard, a reproductive healthcare provider, speaks during an abortion rights rally Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. The rally was led by the ACLU of Indiana following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion. Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky announced Friday it would also provide Bernard with security services and assistance with legal fees. Story continues "We stand in solidarity with Dr. Bernard and all providers who continue to deliver compassionate, essential care to patients, even in the face of attacks from anti-abortion extremists," CEO Rebecca Gibron wrote in a statement. Planned Parenthood shared an abortion provider fund, which the organization says is where donors can offer financial support for abortion providers like Bernard who will have legal fees and other costs. Bernard tweeted her thanks Friday evening for the "outpouring of courageous support." "It has been a difficult week, but my colleagues and I will continue to provide healthcare ethically, lovingly, and bravely each and every day," she wrote. "And thank you to the journalists who have worked tirelessly and diligently to inform the public about this important story and the truth," she added. "I hope to be able to share my story soon." Thank you for the outpouring of courageous support. It has been a difficult week, but my colleagues and I will continue to provide healthcare ethically, lovingly, and bravely each and every day. 1/2 Caitlin Bernard (@drcaitbernard) July 15, 2022 Indiana AG says he's 'gathering the evidence' on Bernard As news of Bernard's account spread, it became a target for conservative Fox News hosts, as well as the attorneys general of Ohio and Indiana, who went on the television network to question the validity of Bernard's story. Since then, an Ohio man has since been charged in the rape of the 10-year-old girl. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita also questioned whether Bernard had violated Indiana law by failing to report the abortion and that the child had been abused. Documents obtained by IndyStar show that Bernard did report the procedure and the abuse on time. Despite IU Health concluding that Bernard did not violate HIPAA statutes, Rokita has maintained his intention to investigate Bernard. Rokita told Fox News on Wednesday that his office was "gathering the evidence as we speak, and we're going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure." He added: "If she failed to report it in Indiana, it's a crime for to not report, to intentionally not report." An attorney for Bernard sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rokita Friday, citing the claims he made about her in his Fox News appearance. "Your false and defamatory statements to Fox News on July 13, 2022, cast Dr. Bernard in a false light and allege misconduct in her profession," Kathleen DeLaney, the attorney representing Bernard, wrote in the letter to Rokita. A spokesperson for Rokita's office wrote in an email that the letter will be reviewed when it arrives but "no false or misleading statements have been made." This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Doctor who gave abortion to 10-year-old: 180K raised for legal fees EXCLUSIVE: Woody Harrelson, waved to the passengers on the ship, after which he showed the middle finger to the photographer. Woody is with his wife Laura Louie. Woody Harrelson, waved to the passengers on the ship, after which he showed the middle finger to the photographer. Woody is with his wife Laura Louie. Ivo Cagalj and Milan Sabic, and Miroslav Leals /PIXSELL. Split, Croatia Date Taken: 16 Jul 2022 Pixsell Pixsell / SplashNews.com Woody Harrelson is enjoying a day out on the water with his wife. The three-time Oscar nominee, 60, was spotted boating with his wife, Laura Louie, in Croatia on Saturday. The couple, who has been married since 2008, was captured with wide smiles as Harrelson waved to passengers on a nearby ship. The Hunger Games star also was also seen raising his fist into the air at another moment. Harrelson and Louie have three children together: daughters Deni, 29, Zoe, 25, and Makani, 16. The family of five currently resides in Hawaii. RELATED: Woody Harrelson's New Comedy Receives 8-Minute Standing Ovation at Cannes Film Festival (Report) Woody Harrelson Frazer Harrison/Getty While the couple enjoys their visit to the mediterranean, the actor is also said to be planning his next project: the 1970s jukebox musical Sailing, according to Deadline. The movie, from Rock of Ages creator Chris D'Arienzo, will follow a group of musicians in the late 1970s as they discover yacht rock, the soft rock music genre that took over radio during that era, the outlet reported. RELATED: Woody Harrelson Acted in 'Self-Defense' in Physical Altercation at Watergate Hotel, Police Say "Everything about the yacht rock vibe, ethos and lifestyle will be brought on board this fun and hilarious nostalgic comedy," Lionsgate president of production Erin Westerman said in a statement, per Deadline. "We're thrilled to be working with Jeremy, Jonathan, Gillian, Chris, and Woody, and we're confident that it will not only have a phenomenal soundtrack, but it will also put you in a summertime mood." Most recently, Harrelson's new film, Triangle of Sadness, was highly celebrated at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The satire from award-winning director Ruben Ostlund premiered at the French festival to an "uproarious" eight-minute standing ovation, according to Variety. CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Woody Harrelson attends the photocall for "Triangle Of Sadness" during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage) Mike Marsland/WireImage RELATED: White Men Can't Jump Turns 30: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez Reunite at 2022 Oscars "What a wonderful screening," Ostlund said after the movie premiered, per the outlet. "What an ensemble we had. Thank you so much!" Story continues Triangle of Sadness follows the journey of a luxury yacht filled with snobby guests who are guided by an alcoholic captain, played by Harrelson, as a storm rocks the boat. The last time Ostlund screened a film of his at Cannes he received the festival's highest honor, the Palme d'Or, for his 2017 comedy The Square. The movie starred Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Harrelson recently received another standing ovation while taking to the stage at the 2022 Academy Awards in March. He and his White Men Can't Jump costars, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez, reunited onstage 30 years to the day since the release of their 1992 sports comedy to present the award for Best Cinematography, which went to Greig Fraser for Dune. The past month has been a busy time for Chinese diplomacy in Africa, with senior officials making dozens of trips to the continent to resolve disputes, strengthen relations and respond to a recent Western charm offensive. In a meeting with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye on Wednesday, the Chinese government's special representative on African affairs, Xu Jinghu, promised China would continue to strengthen bilateral relations with the East African nation in priority sectors such as agriculture, health and infrastructure. Ndayishimiye said China had "stood by our side for years, especially in times of hardship", and Xu said Beijing would always support Burundi's economic and social development. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. China has sent agricultural scientists to Burundi to help improve food production and has awarded scholarships to Burundian students. Xu Jinghu with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye in Bujumbura. Photo: Handout alt=Xu Jinghu with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye in Bujumbura. Photo: Handout> On her eight-nation tour, Xu will also visit Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles. She is visiting the continent a few days after senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi visited Zimbabwe and Mozambique. And last month, Wu Peng, director general of the foreign ministry's African affairs department, visited South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo. Also in June, China's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, was in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for the first Horn of Africa peace conference - which was sponsored by China. Observers said the high-level trips aim to solve hotspot issues, especially ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions, and also to respond to the West's challenge to the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa. Story continues Zhou Yuyuan, a senior research fellow with the Centre for West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the specific role of a special representative on African affairs is political mediation. "I think one of its important missions is to explore China's contribution to solving the hotspot issues in Africa," he said. "The relations among the countries in the Great Lakes region are not in a good situation, with the relationship between the DRC and Rwanda especially tense." Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa with Yang Jiechi in Harare on July 3. Photo: Xinhua alt=Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa with Yang Jiechi in Harare on July 3. Photo: Xinhua> Rwanda and Congo have accused each other of firing rockets across their shared border. The Congolese authorities also alleged that Rwanda deployed soldiers in disguise on their territory. "So, choosing the Great Lakes Region makes sense," Zhou said. "Maybe the most important reason [is that] Xu is French-speaking - this means official visits to French-speaking countries will mostly rely on her." Tim Zajontz, a research fellow at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said Xu's stop in Kinshasa can be seen as a sign of goodwill to iron out protracted disputes between Chinese mining firms and the Congolese government. He said most telling is the frequency with which high-level Chinese officials have visited Africa's island nations in the Indian Ocean over the past few years. "Mauritius, the Seychelles and even Madagascar play a minor role for China economically," Zajontz said. "However, they are of central geostrategic importance for China's efforts to consolidate its presence across the Indian Ocean as part of the Maritime Silk Road." While senior Chinese officials visit some African countries more frequently than others, "China pays attention to ensuring that all countries, except eSwatini that recognises Taipei, are included on the schedule," David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, said. As a result, countries that have more important ties with China such as South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Senegal, Congo and Namibia receive more high-level visitors. Some of these countries, such as Congo and Zambia, are mineral-rich. Congo sells most of its copper and cobalt to China, while copper-rich Zambia has attracted Chinese capital into mining and infrastructure. The debt crisis in Zambia topped the agenda during Wu's recent visit to the country. He told a briefing in Lusaka that he was in Zambia to help coordinate China's response to its debt situation, which saw the country default on some dollar-denominated Eurobonds. Xue Bing, China's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, addresses the first Horn of Africa peace conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 20. Photo: AFP alt=Xue Bing, China's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, addresses the first Horn of Africa peace conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 20. Photo: AFP> But even countries of less importance to China - such as Malawi, Burkina Faso, Togo and Burundi - are included from time to time, Shinn said. "Occasionally, senior officials pay a visit because of a special event such as an independence celebration or a serious problem that requires high-level attention," he said. Zajontz, also a lecturer in international relations at the University of Freiburg in Germany, said Yang is China's top foreign-policy maker after President Xi Jinping so his visits are "of particular diplomatic importance". He added:"His recent trip to Harare is a courtesy visit to one of China's most loyal allies in the region." He said that under Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was trained in China during the liberation struggle, Chinese investment has flourished, not least in infrastructure and the mining sector. Chinese companies have recently acquired more lithium mines in Zimbabwe and now run Africa's largest steel plant south of the capital, Harare. "One could say Zimbabwe is becoming the new Zambia for Beijing, as Harare has opened the country's doors widely for Chinese investors," Zajontz said. He said the fact that Mozambique will assume a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in January played a role in Maputo being on Yang's itinerary. He said Chinese economic interests in Mozambique are diverse, spanning the energy, mining and agricultural sectors, and the Mozambican government used the visit to ask Yang for help in rehabilitating the country's 2,000km (1,200-mile) north-south EN1 highway. Zhou said Yang's visits to Africa were more political and he visited on behalf of top Chinese leaders. "As the highest-ranking official in charge of diplomacy, Yang pays visits to African countries nearly each year," he said. "This shows the importance China pays to Africa and the developing countries." Among the geopolitical reasons for visits to Africa by Chinese officials are increased Western engagement with the continent. European Council President Charles Michel answers questions at a news conference on the second day of the European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels on February 18. Photo: AFP alt=European Council President Charles Michel answers questions at a news conference on the second day of the European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels on February 18. Photo: AFP> For instance, the European Union-African Union Summit held in February shows the EU is increasing engagement with Africa and investment in the continent. High-ranking officials from the US departments of state and commerce paid visits to Africa in the past months, and the second US-Africa leaders' summit will be held later this year. Japan will hold the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tunisia next month. "It means the major countries are giving more importance to Africa, and this will lead to closer interactions," Zhou said. "I think this could benefit African countries if new commitments, investments and financing increase." Zajontz said the growing frequency of visits by high-level Chinese officials across the continent must be seen in the light of a recent Western charm offensive in Africa, including pledges to provide alternative infrastructure and development projects to those offered under China's Belt and Road Initiative. "It is evident that Chinese and Western leaders are engaged in an increasingly competitive contest for political influence in African capitals, while a scramble for strategic minerals and markets in Africa is under way," he said. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. The police received a signal about a bomb planted in the house of the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The information was confirmed by the press secretary of the ex-president Arman Musinyan, Trend reports citing Armenian media. Police officers, sappers and cynologists arrived at the scene, Ter-Petrosyan's house was cordoned off. The bomb signal in the house of the first president of Armenia .turned out to be false: no dangerous items were found as a result of the check. Germany boss Martina Voss-Tecklenburg praised Alexandra Popp and a very solid performance from the team after they wrapped up their Euro 2022 group games with a 3-0 victory over Finland in Milton Keynes (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire) Germany boss Martina Voss-Tecklenburg praised Alexandra Popp and a very solid performance from the team after they wrapped up their Euro 2022 group games with a 3-0 victory over Finland in Milton Keynes. The eight-time champions, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals as Group B winners after beating Denmark 4-0 and Spain 2-0, made a string of unsuccessful attempts on goal at Stadium MK before going in front in the 40th minute via Sophia Kleinhernes header. Germany skipper Popp then notched her third goal of the tournament with a 48th-minute header, and substitute Nicole Anyomi subsequently added a strike just after the hour mark. Germany manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said it wasnt a brilliant performance but it was a very solid one, everyone was full of passion (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire) There has been a headed goal in each of the group games for Popp, who is at her first Euros finals having missed the last two editions through injury, and only returned to action a few months ago after being sidelined for just under a year by a knee issue. Voss-Tecklenburg said of the 31-year Wolfsburg strikers scoring streak: Thats what you expect from a centre-forward. We know how good she is with her head and what an effect she has on the opponent, so we consciously gave her 90 minutes today so she could get a bit more fitness and I think she is ready to score her fourth goal! Giving her assessment of Germanys display, Voss-Tecklenburg said: We didnt always reward ourselves but Finland did a lot at the back. Germanys Alexandra Popp reacts after missing an attempt at goal during the UEFA Womens Euro 2022 Group B match (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire) If we had scored a bit earlier then things would have been a bit easier for us. It wasnt a brilliant performance but it was a very solid one, everyone was full of passion. We tried hard. Not everything worked. But nine points, 9-0 goals (for and against), we would not have believed that before if someone had bet on that, they would have made a lot of money with it. So were very happy. Weve been able to give more of our players playing time, which is really good, because thats much better than giving them only training time. Weve done very well and are now excited about the quarter-final. Story continues Germanys last-eight tie sees them take on Austria the runners-up behind England in Group A in Brentford on Thursday. Of the upcoming match, Voss-Tecklenburg added: We are really look forward to this match. It wont be an easy one at all its a quarter-final at the Euros, and Austria are deservedly there. Germanys Giulia Gwinn taking a throw-on during the UEFA Womens Euro 2022 match against Finland (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire) We are a small favourite (to win against Austria) but we have to fulfil that. There are a lot of great teams still in the race, quite a few difficult opponents. England, Spain (who play each other in another quarter-final), Germany, Austria some great matches there. Finland, confirmed as heading out of the tournament before this game, exit without a point to their name, having previously lost 4-1 to Spain and 1-0 to Denmark. Boss Anna Signeul, whose side are 24 places below fifth-placed Germany in the world rankings, said: I think again we did a good performance. Germanys Svenja Huth and Finlands Elli Pikkujamsa (left) battle for the ball during the UEFA Womens Euro 2022 Group B match (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire) Of course we didnt get the result, but I think we are again defending well-organised. We are really fighting the whole game, and I think the players who were on the pitch did very well. I think it has been a fantastic experience for the players. These are the matches that you develop in and I think you can see in this tournament how these players have grown. These are matches they dont have every day, not many of them. Thats how you develop, you need to be in environments that force you to be faster, quicker, take faster decisions. I think we see already these players have developed and they are going to develop even more. Germany boss Martina Voss-Tecklenburg praised Alexandra Popp and a very solid performance from the team after they wrapped up their Euro 2022 group games with a 3-0 victory over Finland in Milton Keynes. The eight-time champions, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals as Group B winners after beating Denmark 4-0 and Spain 2-0, made a string of unsuccessful attempts on goal at Stadium MK before going in front in the 40th minute via Sophia Kleinhernes header. Germany skipper Popp then notched her third goal of the tournament with a 48th-minute header, and substitute Nicole Anyomi subsequently added a strike just after the hour mark. Germany manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said it wasnt a brilliant performance but it was a very solid one, everyone was full of passion (Nick Potts/PA) There has been a headed goal in each of the group games for Popp, who is at her first Euros finals having missed the last two editions through injury, and only returned to action a few months ago after being sidelined for just under a year by a knee issue. Voss-Tecklenburg said of the 31-year Wolfsburg strikers scoring streak: Thats what you expect from a centre-forward. We know how good she is with her head and what an effect she has on the opponent, so we consciously gave her 90 minutes today so she could get a bit more fitness and I think she is ready to score her fourth goal! Giving her assessment of Germanys display, Voss-Tecklenburg said: We didnt always reward ourselves but Finland did a lot at the back. Germanys Alexandra Popp reacts after missing an attempt at goal during the UEFA Womens Euro 2022 Group B match (Nick Potts/PA) If we had scored a bit earlier then things would have been a bit easier for us. It wasnt a brilliant performance but it was a very solid one, everyone was full of passion. We tried hard. Not everything worked. But nine points, 9-0 goals (for and against), we would not have believed that before if someone had bet on that, they would have made a lot of money with it. So were very happy. Weve been able to give more of our players playing time, which is really good, because thats much better than giving them only training time. Weve done very well and are now excited about the quarter-final. Story continues Germanys last-eight tie sees them take on Austria the runners-up behind England in Group A in Brentford on Thursday. Of the upcoming match, Voss-Tecklenburg added: We are really look forward to this match. It wont be an easy one at all its a quarter-final at the Euros, and Austria are deservedly there. Germanys Giulia Gwinn taking a throw-on during the UEFA Womens Euro 2022 match against Finland (Nick Potts/PA) We are a small favourite (to win against Austria) but we have to fulfil that. There are a lot of great teams still in the race, quite a few difficult opponents. England, Spain (who play each other in another quarter-final), Germany, Austria some great matches there. Finland, confirmed as heading out of the tournament before this game, exit without a point to their name, having previously lost 4-1 to Spain and 1-0 to Denmark. Boss Anna Signeul, whose side are 24 places below fifth-placed Germany in the world rankings, said: I think again we did a good performance. Germanys Svenja Huth and Finlands Elli Pikkujamsa (left) battle for the ball during the UEFA Womens Euro 2022 Group B match (Nick Potts/PA) Of course we didnt get the result, but I think we are again defending well-organised. We are really fighting the whole game, and I think the players who were on the pitch did very well. I think it has been a fantastic experience for the players. These are the matches that you develop in and I think you can see in this tournament how these players have grown. These are matches they dont have every day, not many of them. Thats how you develop, you need to be in environments that force you to be faster, quicker, take faster decisions. I think we see already these players have developed and they are going to develop even more. A West Virginia man was arrested after his sister woke up from a two-year coma and told authorities her brother had assaulted and left her unconscious. In June 2020, Wanda Palmer was found unconscious at her home in Ravenswood, West Virginia, about 40 miles north of Charleston, "with a serious head injury," according to WCHS. Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger told WCHS on Friday he "wouldn't have wagered a nickel" for Palmer's life after she was found by neighbors. "Massive, massive amounts of head trauma, consistent with some sort of machete or hatchet-type injury," Mellinger said. With the life-threatening injuries, Palmer was put into a nursing home and spent the past two years in a coma. Investigators worked to find any leads or suspects for Palmer's condition, but none were found. ALLIGATOR ATTACK: Florida woman dies after falling into pond and alligators grab her, authorities say 'A TRUE RACER': Former NASCAR driver Bobby East stabbed to death in California; suspect killed by police But on June 27, deputies were told that Palmer had woken up and was beginning to speak, according to court documents obtained by WCHS. Authorities then visited Palmer on July 12 and despite suffering brain damage, she was able to speak coherently. When asked about what happened, she said was her brother, Daniel Palmer, that attacked her. "The keys to the whole thing lay with the victim herself and with her unable to communicate we were left with nothing. Now low and behold two years later and boom, shes awake and able to tell us exactly what happened," Mellinger told the West Virginia Metro News. The sheriff's department said they arrested Daniel Palmer on Friday. He is being charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding, as authorities believe he bludgeoned his sister with a weapon on the head. His bond is set for $500,000, according to WCHS. Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WV woman names her brother in attack that left her in 2-year coma Michelle Smith is the communications and employer engagement manager for the South Central Workforce Council in Yakima. You are the owner of this article. Then-Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Zirkle decided against filing criminal charges against a Yakima Catholic priest who was being investigated in connection with possessing child pornography in 2004-5. The United Arab Emirates has established an $186 million (AED 3 billion) fund to support the space sector, President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed announced on Sunday, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya. The Space Fund, launched on Sunday, aims to support the establishment of new companies in the sector, to develop the capabilities of the industry in terms of technological development, as well as encourage new national strategic and research projects. The UAE government also announced the launch of a national project for radar satellites, including the first Arab satellite for radar sensing. In a first for the UAE, the project aims to provide continuous, around the clock data from space in all weather conditions. The Sirb constellation of SDAR satellites will support advanced imaging applications, including environmental monitoring and analysis, and will be able to capture images day and night without being affected by cloud or fog. This will open up new areas for practical applications such as: the detection of oil spills, tracking and detecting ships, monitoring and detecting crop yields, border control, mapping and developing urban areas, monitoring road traffic, as well as search and rescue planning and management. The project will contribute [to the] UAEs efforts to develop solutions to climate change, environmental sustainability and improved disaster management, a statement by the UAE Space Agency (carried by the UAE media office), said. The platform will contribute to monitoring the changes that occur on the planet due to climate change and help find innovative solutions for environmental sustainability. Sister Kathleen Ross blesses the Dawson family home with holy water during a dedication ceremony for the Yakima Valley Partners Habitat for Humanity additions to the house Wednesday, June 16, 2021 in Zillah, Wash. Pat A. Cipollone, who served as White House counsel for President Donald J. Trump, appears on a video screen during Tuesday's seventh hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. India will remain a steadfast partner of Nepal, said External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday as he welcomed former Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is on a three-day visit to India, Trend reports citing The Economic Times. "Pleased to welcome @cmprachanda to India on his visit at the invitation of BJP President @JPNadda ji. A productive discussion on strengthening our neighbourly relationship with a focus on economic cooperation," Jaishankar tweeted. "Reflecting our Neighbourhood First policy, India will remain a steadfast partner of Nepal in its quest for progress and prosperity," he said in another tweet. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda will hold a meeting with former Nepali Prime Minister Dahal in the national capital on Sunday under the 'Know BJP' campaign. The meeting will take place at the party headquarters in the national capital on Saturday in which many senior leaders of the party will also be present. Notably, the former Nepali PM is on a three-day visit to India. BJP's foreign affairs department in charge Vijay Chauthaiwale said it is an "important" meeting. "This meeting is important and will be under the 'Know BJP' campaign. This is for the first time that the BJP has given an invitation to Nepali Communist Party." According to the sources, Prachanda will also meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The "Know BJP" campaign was started on the party's 42nd Foundation Day on April 6, 2022. Its second phase was held on 16 May 2022 while the third meeting was held on June 4 2022. "Know BJP" campaign is the BJP's initiative to introduce the party's vision, mission and work culture to different countries of the world. Under this program, Nadda has so far interacted with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Minister for Foreign Relations of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan and also envoys of 47 countries. Nadda has so far held talks with diplomats/heads of missions of 47 countries including the European Union.Earlier last month, Nadda had met the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Van Nen at the BJP Head Office in the national capital. On June 11, Nadda met the envoys of 13 foreign countries and said that is a need for better communication between the political systems and political parties of different countries to understand the vision of each other. Earlier, Nadda interacted with "Head of Missions" from 13 countries at the party's central office in the fourth phase of the "Know BJP" campaign. Addressing the visiting diplomats, Nadda said, "It is our belief that there should be better communication between the political system and political parties of different countries so that we can understand the vision of each other." The BJP firmly believes in a healthy democracy and shared cultural ties, he said. Today Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 106F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Mostly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 85F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Tomorrow Sunshine and some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 106F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Amidst rising aviation incidents and technical malfunctions involving Indian carriers, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held a meeting on safety issues with senior officials of his ministry and regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). During the meeting, the minister took a detailed report from the officials about these incidents over the last one month and told them that there should be no compromise over passengers' safety. The meeting comes at a time when multiple flights have made emergency landings due to various reasons. On Sunday, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precautionary measure after pilots observed a defect in one of the engines. On Saturday night, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air. A day earlier an alive bird was found in the cockpit of the Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight. Also read: Live bird found inside cockpit of Air India Express Bahrain-Kochi flight SpiceJet is under regulatory scanner right now. On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19. The DGCA is currently investigating all these incidents. With PTI inputs Live TV In yet another aviation incident, an IndiGo Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Pakistan's Karachi after the pilot detected a technical snag in the aircraft. As per officials of aviation regulator DGCA, pilots observed defect in one of the engines and as a precaution, the flight was diverted to Karachi. The flight 6E-1406, operating flew from Sharjah in the UAE and was bound for Hyderabad, but was diverted to Karachi. IndiGo said necessary procedures were followed as a precaution, as the Indian aviation industry reports second incident of an Indian airline to make a landing in Karachi in 2 weeks. "IndiGo flight 6E-1406, operating from Sharjah to Hyderabad was diverted to Karachi. The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi," IndiGo said in a statement. Last year, an IndiGo flight going from Sharjah to Luckow also had to make an emergency landing at the Karachi airport after a passenger fell ill mid-air and later expired. After the pilot of the Sharjah-Hyderabad flight observed a technical defect in the aircraft, as a precaution the aircraft was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan. An additional flight is being sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad: IndiGo airlines ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2022 An official of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) confirmed that an IndiGo flight has landed at the Karachi airport. "All the passengers have been taken care off properly and provided refreshments after they were moved to the transit lounge," he said. The PCAA official said the engineering crew had found faults in the engine number two of the IndiGo plane. "The plane was not cleared for flight so the Indian carrier has sent an alternate aircraft," he said. The passengers will soon leave for Hyderabad, the PCAA official noted. Also read: Why Indian airlines SpiceJet, IndiGo made emergency landing in Pakistan? Recently, an IndiGo flight flying from Delhi to Vadodara was diverted to make a landing in Jaipur, Rajasthan as a precautionary measure. Based on the reports the flight had vibrations in the engine. In the recent past, there have been multiple incidents of technical problems in flights from various airlines leading to emergency or diverted landings. IndiGo's competitor SpiceJet is under regulatory scanner right now. On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19. The aviation regulator said SpiceJet had "failed" to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services, and gave it three weeks to send a response to the notice. With agencies inputs Live TV An alive bird was found in the cockpit of Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight on July 15, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said on Sunday. The bird was found in the glove compartment on co-pilot's side when the plane was at 37,000 feet altitude, the officials noted. The plane landed safely in Kochi, they said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the incident, they mentioned. Prima facie, it looks like there was a ground handling lapse at a foreign station, the officials said while talking about the incident. In another incident, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted on July 17 to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in cabin mid-air. Live TV On July 17, a Sharjah-Hyderabad IndiGo flight made an emergency landing in Pakistans Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. The pilot of the flight 6E-1406 observed a technical defect in the aircraft and as a precaution the aircraft was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan. An additional flight has been sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad. A few days earlier, a SpiceJet flight SG11 made an emergency landing at Karachi airport. The Delhi to Dubai international flight suffered a technical fault and made the landing at the Pakistans Karachi airport on July 5. A flight ferried the passengers to Dubai later in the day. More than 150 passengers were present onboard the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Two flight incidents in the past few days have raised questions on the safety of the Indian airlines and DGCA has already ordered a probe in the rising number of emergency landings. More than that, the question arises, why are Indian Airlines choosing to land in Pakistan despite India having no such agreement with the neighbouring country? India and Pakistan are adversaries and theres no direct flights between the two nations. Any passenger who is willing to travel to either of the countries have to first travel to any Middle Eastern country like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and change flight to either of the nations. Regular citizens cant even travel to either of the countries on a tourist visa. So what makes Indian airlines like SpiceJet and IndiGo select Pakistan for emergency landings. In both the cases, the flights involved were travelling between Gulf and India and the only flight route between India and Gulf nations either passes through Pakistan or over the Arabian Sea, adjacent to Pakistan. IndiGo Sharjah-Hyderabad flight diverted to Paks Karachi after pilot reported technical defect in the aircraft which is being examined at the airport.Airline is planning to send another aircraft to Karachi. This is the 2nd Indian airline to make a landing in Karachi in 2 weeks pic.twitter.com/XbUcgNOzBs ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2022 India and Pakistan signed an Airspace Agreement in 1991, allowing commercial airliners to use each others airspace to travel to other nations, in order to save fuel and time. While the airlines dont use the airports on the neighbouring land, they do use the airspace for travel. Back in 2019, after the Balakot strikes, Pakistan blocked Indian airlines from using their airspace. This resulted in Air India, the sole air carrier operating international flights over the Pakistani airspace loose as Rs 500 crore in additional fuel. Not only this, IndiGo also couldnt start its Delhi-Istanbul flight. This means, Indian airlines travelling towards the Middle East and Europe cant avoid Pakistani airspace. As it happens, if something unwanted happens mid-air, airlines have no other option to contact Pakistani ATC and ask for permission to land on one of their airports. The Pakistani authorities cant deny permission as under the agreement signed, airlines can land in either of the counties in case of an emergency. In the case of SpiceJet flight, it was travelling over the Pakistan when the snag was faced, in the case of the IndiGo flight, the plane was close to the Pakistani airspace when the malfunction was detected and had no other choice to contact ATC and land in Pakistan. Had the snag been detected later, the pilot could have opted to land in any of the nearest airports in India. Or, if the snag was detected earlier, the pilot would have performed a go around and return back to Sharjah airport. During the SpiceJet incident on July 5, the company said that it was horrifying few hours to arrange another flight and fly out passengers out of Karachi due to India-Pakistan relations. While enmity between the two countries make the diplomatic channel difficult and a nightmare for air carriers in case of emergency landing, theres no other choice but to land at the nearest possible airport to avoid any unfortunate event. Live TV New Delhi: Amazon Prime Videos highly anticipated comedy show Comicstaan is dropping its season 3 today. The latest season of the Amazon Original boasts of a brand-new format, a new host, and funny mentors alongside veterans of the show. However, the true highlight of the show are the diverse contestants who bring their unique punchlines under one roof of comedy. Praising the great talents this season, comedian-judge Neeti Palta candidly revealed that she got to learn as much from the contestants, as they did from her. "When I listen to the contestants and their performances, I forget for a moment that I'm there to judge! I just sit and listen to them, and learn so much. I really look forward to them performing," she said. Commenting on the diversity in the current batch, she added, "The contestants have come from all parts of the country. They bring in different flavours and a unique tadka to the show with their content, delivery and mannerisms. It's amazing." The show deals with various genres of comedy such as sketch, anecdotal, improv etc. over the span of eight episodes. Zakir Khan, Kenny Sebastian, and Sumukhi Suresh will be joining Neeti Palta in the judges panel for season 3, while Rohan Joshi, Rahul Subramanian, Aadar Malik, Anu Menon, Kanan Gill, Prashasti Singh, and Sapan Verma will be seen as mentors. Hosted by Abish Mathew and Kusha Kapila, all episodes are exclusively available on Amazon Prime Video. Monkeypox Outbreak: A two-year-old girl, was suspected to have contracted monkeypox in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh but a blood test at the National Institute of Virology in Pune confirmed it to be negative. State Director of Health J Nivas said the two-year-old child returned to Vijayawada from Dubai and was found to have developed blisters on her hands. She was admitted to the Government General Hospital and kept in isolation as a precaution, along with her family members on Sunday, PTI reported. "We sent the baby's blood sample by flight to NIV-Pune for analysis and it turned negative for monkeypox," Nivas said in a release. The baby's family did not come into contact with anyone else, he added. "There are no cases of monkeypox in AP. There is nothing to worry about," Nivas said. A child was admitted to Andhra Pradesh's GGH hospital with monkeypox symptoms. Blood samples were sent to Pune and a report for the same is awaited. The family of the child is kept under home quarantine. The family returned to India from a Saudi Arabia tour yesterday, informed N Rao, Superintendent, GGH Hospital Vijayawada, AP. Another suspected case in Kerala A man, who reached Kannur district in Kerala from a Middle East country, was admitted to the government medical college after he showed signs of monkeypox. The hospital authorities told IANS that the youth was under observation in an isolated ward and that his samples have been sent for testing to the Pune Virology lab. The youth, according to the hospital authorities, reached Kannur from a Middle East country after landing at Mangaluru airport. The first monkeypox case in the country was from Kerala. A 35-year-old person from the Kollam district, who arrived from a Middle East country tested positive for monkeypox and is admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital. Thiruvananthapuram: A man, who reached Kannur district in Kerala from a Middle East country, was admitted to the government medical college after he showed signs of monkeypox. The hospital authorities told IANS that the youth was under observation in an isolated ward and that his samples have been sent for testing to the Pune Virology lab. The youth, according to the hospital authorities, reached Kannur from a Middle East country after landing at Mangaluru airport. The Kerala health department has increased surveillance at all the five airports in the state from Sunday onwards. Special facilities have been set up in Kannur airport for testing those who arrive from foreign countries. The first monkeypox case in the country was from Kerala. A 35-year-old person from Kollam district, who arrived from a Middle East country tested positive for monkeypox and is admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital. New Delhi: Chhattisgarh minister TS Singh Deo, was is said to be locked in a turf war with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on Saturday (July 16, 2022) resigned from Panchayat and Rural development department and alleged that not a single house was built for homeless people under the Prime Minister housing scheme as funds were not allotted by the CM despite "repeated request". Singh Deo, however, will remain the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Medical Education, Twenty Point Implementation, and Commercial Tax (GST) departments. Slamming the Baghel government ahead of the Assembly elections in the Congress-ruled state, he stated that houses could not be constructed for eight lakh people in the state although providing houses to the homeless poor was a key promise in the Congress' poll manifesto. The sudden development is seen as the bitter fallout of an old political rivalry between Baghel and Singh Deo, who was seeking the chief minister's post under a purported power-sharing agreement. In a four-page resignation letter addressed to the chief minister, Singh Deo cited various reasons stating that he was unable to fulfill the targets of the department as per the vision of the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the "current scenario". He said despite his request, funds were not sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY), as a result of which houses could not be constructed for eight lakh people in the state. "Despite my repeated request to you, funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna were not allotted as a result of which houses could not be constructed for 8 lakh people. Providing houses to the homeless poor was a key promise in the poll manifesto. But in the incumbent government, not a single house was built for the homeless, and progress of the scheme was nil," he said in the letter. Chhattisgarh Minister TS Singhdeo resigns from the post of state's Panchayat & Rural Development Minister pic.twitter.com/eG7oiIocMl ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2022 The Ambikapur MLA also claimed the draft of rules under the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act prepared by his department and sent to a committee was changed without taking him into confidence. Under the Mukhyamantri Samagra Gramin Vikas Yojna, a committee of secretaries headed by the chief secretary was constituted against the standard protocol for granting final approval to works. The discretion to approve works of any department lies with the concerned minister, he added. "I have raised objections over the constitution of this committee but it went in vain, due to which development works worth over Rs 500 crore could not be implemented," he said. In June last year, the differences between Baghel and Singh Deo had flared up shortly after the former completed his mid-term in the office. The fresh flash point between Baghel and Singh Deo seems coal mine projects in the Hasdeo Arand forest area of the Surguja district. Singh Deo had visited the Hasdeo Arand area in support of locals who are opposing coal mining and had announced that he would take the first bullet or blow from a stick if protesters are subjected to bullets and sticks. Baghel, however, tried to paper over the cracks saying if Singh Deo does not want trees to be cut for the coal mine projects then not a single branch will be chopped. Meanwhile, BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya also slammed the grand old party and said that it was Punjab all over again. "It is Punjab all over again for the Congress in Chattisgarh. Just before elections next year, senior leader TS Singh Deo has resigned from all but the health ministers portfolio. He is apparently miffed at Bhupesh Baghel blocking media from covering or inviting him to functions," he wrote on Twitter. It is Punjab all over again for the Congress in Chattisgarh. Just before elections next year, senior leader TS Singh Deo has resigned from all but the health ministers portfolio. He is apparently miffed at Bhupesh Baghel blocking media from covering or inviting him to functions. Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 16, 2022 Chhattisgarh BJP president Vishnu Deo Sai said that quitting a ministry by Singh Deo has proved the "dictatorial attitude" of Baghel. He alleged that Baghel was not allowing his cabinet colleagues to discharge their duties freely. "Singh Deo should resign from other departments too if he is not being sidelined and not allowed to do his job," Sai added. (With agency inputs) BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay an official visit to Iran on July 18-19 at the invitation of the President of the Islamic Republic, Ebrahim Raisi, Trend reports citing Administration of the President of Turkiye. As part of the visit, on July 19 Tehran will host the 7th meeting of the Turkiye-Iran High-Level Cooperation Council chaired by Erdogan and Raisi. The meeting, with the participation of relevant ministers, will review Turkish-Iranian relations in all aspects and discuss steps to be taken to improve bilateral cooperation. The meetings will discuss regional and global issues and bilateral relations. On the same day, Erdogan will take part in the seventh Astana format summit chaired by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The summit will hold political consultations on the situation in Syria, the fight against terrorist organizations that pose a threat to the security of the region, mainly the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Islamic State (IS), will discuss efforts to achieve a political solution, the humanitarian situation, the issue of voluntary return home of Syrian refugees. The Turkish President will also hold a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart. New Delhi: India recorded 20,528 new Covid-19 cases, 49 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 5,25,709, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health on Sunday (July 17, 2022). The active cases stand at 1,43,449. The country also reported 17,790 recoveries in a day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,30,81,441, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.20 per cent. An increase of 2,689 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The ministry also informed that the active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.47 per cent. COVID19 | India records 20,528 new cases & 49 deaths in the last 24 hours; Active caseload at 1,43,449 199.98 cr total vaccine doses administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. pic.twitter.com/gHFyDoOGAd ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2022 The cumulative doses administered under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 199.98 crore on Sunday at 8 am. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.23 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.55 per cent, according to the ministry. The 49 new fatalities include 17 from Kerala, eight from Maharashtra, six from West Bengal, three each from Karnataka and Punjab, two each from Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand and one each from Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tripura and Uttarakhand. (With agency inputs) Srinagar: A CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) was killed after terrorists attacked joint forces at Gangoo crossing of Pulwama district South Kashmir. ADGP Kashmir said that ASI of 182 BN CRPF succumbed to his injuries soon after he was shifted to nearby hospital in a critical condition. Soon after the attack, the whole area was cordoned off to nab the attackers. Kashmir zone police tweeted, Terrorists fired upon Naka party at Gangoo Crossing Pulwama from nearby Apple orchard. In this terror incident 01 CRPF personnel ASI Vinod Kumar got seriously injured. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he attained martyrdom. Area cordoned off. Search in progress. It's the second such type of attack in Kashmir on security checkpoints by terrorists. Earlier on July 12, terrorists attacked a police checkpoint at Lal Bazar Srinagar where one assistant sub-inspector was martyred, and two policemen got injured. ALSO READ: Jammu and Kashmir: Soldier shoots dead colleague in Poonch, kills self later New Delhi: NDA's candidate for the post of Vice President of India will be Jagdeep Dhankhar, BJP chief JP Nadda said. Making the announcement, BJP president J P Nadda lauded Dhankhar as a "kisan putra" (farmer's son) who established himself as a "people's governor". Since assuming charge as the governor of West Bengal in July 2019, Jagdeep Dhankhar has often been in news over his disagreements and tiffs with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Take a look at his biggest controversies with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee: When Mamata blocked Dhankhar on Twitter In January 2022, Mamata Banerjee blocked Dhankhar on Twitter accusing him for targeting and abusing her government. She said, I have been forced to block Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Twitter as quoted by ANI. "Everyday he (Governor) was issuing tweets targeting and threatening govt officials as if we're his bonded labourers," the Chief Minister further added. After she blocked him, Governor asked Mamata to reply to his queries In February this year, Dhankhar urged Banerjee to engage in dialogue with him and answer the queries raised by him. He wrote in a letter and tweet to her, Dialogue, discussion and deliberation, particularly amongst constitutional functionaries like the chief minister and the Governor are quintessential to democracy and inseparable part of constitutional governance. Birbhum violence: When Mamata asked Dhankhar to not make unwarranted statements In March this year, when a mob in West Bengals Birbhum area set fire to houses after the murder of a TMC leader Bahadur Shaikh, Mamata and Dhankhar again got into a war of words. Reacting to the violence, Dhankhar had shared a video on Twitter condemning the violence and blaming lawlessness. West Bengal CM asked the Governor to refrain from making unwarranted statements and allow administration to conduct an impartial probe on the incident. Governor slammed Mamatas 'jihad statement' against BJP In June this year, Jagdeep Dhankhar spoke against Mamata Banerjees statement that the TMC is declaring 21st July as day of Jihad against the BJP. Dhankhar said that "authoritarian and undemocratic" statement will bring the "death knell" of democracy and rule of law. Appointment of Chancellor of state-run universities In the West Bengal Assembly passed a bill which seeks to replace the governor with the CM as the chancellor of the state's University of Health Sciences. After this, the governor said that the legislation was passed to steal attention from the fact that Calcutta HC found irregularities in recruitment of teachers in state schools. Appointment of Vice Chancellor of RBU In July this year, WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar announced Mahua Mukherjee as the next Vice Chancellor of of Rabindra Bharati University (RBU). This courted a controversy as a bill to nominate CM Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of state-run universities is yet to be approved by him. Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had a strong reaction to this, he said, The governor has once again proved that he does not believe in democratic principles and federalism. The Bill passed by the West Bengal Assembly to appoint the Chief Minister to the post of Chancellor of the state universities is awaited, while the Honble Governor has announced one name as the Vice-Chancellor of RBU. He did not even consider it necessary to take the Education Minister and the Chief Minister into confidence before this announcement. When Mamata Banerjee called Governor about Nandigram elections West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on April 1, 2022 had called state governor Jagdeep Dhankhar about the concerns of voters not being able to vote in Nandigram constituency. She said, The local people are not being allowed to vote. I have been campaigning since morning. Now I am appealing to you, please watch. She had tweeted the request. Dhankhar replied to her on Twitter as well and said, Have been apprised of issues identified sometime back over phone to Mamata Banerjee. It has been assured that the rule of law will be followed. Sivasagar: A complaint has been lodged with the police in Assam's Sivasagar district against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra for her tweet which allegedly links the expression 'sexual harassment' with an Assamese surname. A local organisation, Jatiya Sangrami Sena had filed the written complaint alleging that Moitra had insulted the entire Assamese community with her tweet and demanded an unconditional apology from her. Moitra had allegedly posted the tweet in reference to a list of unparliamentary words. "My first of new twitter series on replacements for unparliamentary words. Banned word- Sexual Harassment Replacement- Mr Gogoi," she allegedly wrote on Thursday. This led to criticism, especially by netizens from Assam, who pointed that 'Gogoi' is a surname of a large section of Assamese people and the tweet was deemed by them as an insult to the entire community. My first of new twitter series on replacements for unparliamentary words . Banned word- Sexual Harassment Replacement- Mr. Gogoi Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 14, 2022 The TMC leader had on Friday clarified that she was not implicating the Gogoi community. "Just for those Sanghis twisting tweet to say I targeted all Gogois, let me spell it out : Mister Ranjan Gogoi. Honourable MP, Rajya Sabha," she had posted on the micro blogging site. Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi was accused of sexual harassment A former staff of Supreme Court had in 2019 accused Gogoi, who was then the chief justice of the country, of sexual harassment and the apex court took suo motu cognisance of the matter. An in-house committee of three judges had later given a clean chit to Gogoi. The Jatiya Sangrami Sena has also threatened not to allow TMC to hold any meeting or rally in upper Assam if she failed to apologise for her comment. A police official confirmed that a written complaint against Moitra, who had created an uproar with her Goddess Kali comment, had been received on Friday but no FIR has been registered as yet. Complaint filed, no case registered against Mahua Moitra "A complaint has been filed at Sivasagar sadar police Station. We are examining it. No case has been registered yet," he said. The ruling BJP in Assam Saturday demanded an apology from Moitra for her Twitter post. "The unparliamentary word used by Mahua Moitra is an insult to all the people of Assam. She must tender an apology for it," BJP state spokesperson Mominul Awal said in a statement in Guwahati. He maintained that the state TMC president Ripun Bora should also apologise to the people for the remark. A complaint had been lodged on July 6 by Bajrang Dal with the police at Hailakandi in Assam for Moitra's Kali comment in which she said she imagined the goddess as meat eating and alcohol accepting and that every one has the right to worship a god and godess in his or her own way. Live TV Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who had accompanied him to Guwahati had spent tense moments as and when they watched TV news showing various happenings following their rebellion. Speaking at a meeting organised by rebel Shiv Sena MLA Mangesh Kudalkar in suburban Kurla, Shinde said MLAs would get tense while watching the news from the hotel in Guwahati where they were camping after leaving Maharashtra. Also Read: Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet declares Aurangabad, Osmanabad name change after deeming Uddhav's decision as 'illegal' Post the rebellion, Shiv Sainiks staged protests against the breakaway MLAs in various parts of Maharashtra, necessitating the deployment of additional police personnel outside the homes and offices of some of the legislators. 'Would get tense initially but later felt relaxed': Shinde "It was said that the MLAs were forcibly held in the hotel in Guwahati contrary to the fact that they were free and enjoying themselves. The rebellion was not for power. They would get tense initially but later they felt relaxed," Shinde told a gathering. He reiterated that his rebellion was not aimed at seizing power but to take forward the ideals of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Hindutva, and ensuring the development of Maharashtra. CM Eknath Shinde on his stay in Guwahati: 'We were criticised for everything' Referring to some MLAs dancing in a hotel in Goa, where they had stayed before returning to Mumbai for the floor test, Shinde said it was normal as they were elated. A video of a few MLAs dancing in the hotel after Shinde was named as the chief minister had gone viral. "We were criticised for everything. But in Guwahati, we held on to our patience. We are staunch shiv sainiks and will not tolerate injustice. In Guwahati, we held meetings every day. Initially, we were tense but slowly our numbers grew, " Shinde recalled. Live TV Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday directed TRS MPs to raise their voices in both Houses of the Parliament against the Central government`s "partisan attitude" towards the state of Telangana. A meeting of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Parliamentary Party under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister concluded at Pragati Bhavan on Saturday ahead of the commencement of the parliamentary sessions. Rao said that they must stop the absurd attitude of the BJP, trampling on their rights, including the promises of state division, in coordination with the opposition MPs. The Chief Minister said due to the anti-people policies followed by the Central government, the development of the country is stalled in all areas. There is a need to fight against the BJP government at the Centre and directed the MPs to make both the Houses of the Parliament the right platforms for that, he said. "The Modi government has never encouraged Telangana, which is developing with economic discipline but is indulging in conspiracies to hinder development," KCR said. Rao said Telangana has a track record of repayment without a single day or a single paisa of default in the eight years of the state`s formation, the Chief Minister explained to the MPs. "It is very sad to see that PM Modi has turned a blind eye on Telangana, which is progressing unopposed under the regime and wants to suppress Telangana economically in the name of rules," Rao said. "The BJP leadership should clarify how the decisions taken by the Centre against Telangana are reaching the BJP social media groups. It is a criminal act to deliberately leak information related to the financial affairs of the country and the states, and spread bad propaganda against the Telangana government," Rao said. He made it clear to the MPs that BJP should be exposed in both the Houses of Parliament for such bankrupt and stupid affairs. On this occasion, KCR said that whatever development is achieved in the country, it contributes to the country`s GDP. He said there are only eight states in the country that contribute a large percentage to the country`s GDP, and Telangana is one of them. How much has gone from Telangana to the Centre in eight years? How many funds have come to Telangana from the Centre? Rao asked. The Chief Minister said that "If we look at the figures, even the common man will understand the injustice of the Central government to Telangana." A 27-year-old woman from the US, who arrived in India as a tourist, staged a drama of being physically and emotionally abused by some unknown people to emotionally blackmail her parents back home, a Delhi Police official said on Sunday. The victim-turned-accused was identified as Chloe Renee McLaughlin, who arrived in Delhi on May 3. The daughter of a former Army officer, she is a graduate and resides in Washington DC. Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Amrutha Guguloth said the US Embassy had approached them, stating that the woman was assaulted and beaten by an unidentified individual known to her and is missing after reporting the incident to her family in the US. The woman, in an email, claimed that she is in an unsafe environment where she has encountered physical and emotional abuse. "On July 10, the victim spoke to her mother Sandra McLaughlin via a video call on WhatsApp. The mother tried to gather some more information about her but an unknown individual entered the room and she could not disclose much," the DCP said. Based on the complaint, the Delhi Police registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code at the Chanakyapuri police station and began probing the matter. "In order to ascertain the present whereabouts of the girl, assistance was sought from Yahoo.com for providing the IP address used by her for sending email to the American Citizens Services on July 9. Further, the Bureau of Immigration was requested to provide her immigration form to find her whereabouts," he said. As per the immigration form details, the woman had given her local address as Khasra No 44 & 45 in Greater Noida. However, when the police team reached the location, they found it was the address of Radisson Blu hotel. "Enquiries were made at the hotel and it was found that no such person had checked in at the hotel," the official said. Thereafter, technical assistance was taken from the Cyber Unit to find out the IP addresses used by her WhatsApp number. On analysis of the information, it was found that the victim used someone`s Wi-Fi connection. Accordingly, the mobile number associated with the IP address and the alternate mobile number was obtained and details of this number were analysed. As a result, the police team succeeded in apprehending Nigerian national Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro alias Rechi, 31, from Gurugram, after it was found that as per the IP address, his mobile was used by the woman while making WhatsApp calls to her mother. On sustained interrogation, he revealed the location of the missing woman and ultimately she was traced to a hotel in Greater Noida. After rescue and examination of the victim, it was revealed that she had staged the incident to emotionally blackmail her parents. It was also found that her visa had expired on June 6. As per the investigation conducted so far, it is found that the victim had befriended Rechi through Facebook and after her arrival in India, she was staying with him. "On further investigation, it was found that the passport of Rechi had also expired," the DCP said, adding that legal action with respect to overstaying in India without a valid passport and valid visa is being taken against them. He said that both McLaughlin and Rachi have a passion for singing, probably, which was the main reason for their friendship. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (July 16, 2022) heaped praises on West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been named as the BJP-led NDA's vice presidential candidate, and said that the 'Kisan Putra' (farmer's son) is well-versed with legislative affairs and will be an outstanding Chair in Rajya Sabha. Taking to his official Twitter account, Modi said that Dhankhar brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career and has always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. "Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji is known for his humility. He brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career. He has always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. Glad that he will be our VP candidate," he tweeted. Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji is known for his humility. He brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career. He has always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. Glad that he will be our VP candidate. @jdhankhar1 pic.twitter.com/TJ0d05gAa8 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 16, 2022 Prime Minister Modi also said that Dhankhar has an excellent knowledge of the Constitution. "He is also well-versed with legislative affairs. I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha & guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress," Modi wrote. Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has excellent knowledge of our Constitution. He is also well-versed with legislative affairs. I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha & guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress. @jdhankhar1 pic.twitter.com/Ibfsp1fgDt Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 16, 2022 Earlier in the day, Dhankhar had called on Prime Minister Modi and had also met Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday. Who is Jagdeep Dhankhar, the NDA's vice-presidential candidate? Born on May 18, 1951, in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu, Jagdeep Dhankhar was schooled at Sainik School, Chittorgarh on a full merit scholarship after his primary education from the government school at village Kithana in Jhunjhunu. He graduated with honours in physics from Maharaja's College in Jaipur and an LLB degree from Jaipur University in 1978-79. Dhankhar forayed into politics in 1989 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu that same year and became a Union Minister in 1990. Dhankar, who practiced in Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, was designated a senior advocate in 1990. He was also a member of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha from 1993 to 1998 representing the Kishangarh constituency. Dhankhar is married to Sudesh Dhankhar and they have a daughter. He has been in the limelight since becoming governor of West Bengal in July 2019 over frequent run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee government. The Trinamool Congress leadership has often accused him of acting as an "agent of the BJP", while the saffron party in the state looked upon him as an "upholder of constitutional norms". On his part, Dhankar has claimed he has gone by the rule book and the Constitution in pointing out issues to the Mamata Banerjee government and the state legislature. (With agency inputs) New Delhi: Ahead of the July 18 Presidential elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday (July 16, 2022) took a jibe at NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu and said that the polls will be held for the election of the President and not to install "any statue" in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Backing Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, Tejashwi said that "no one has ever heard" Murmu's voice and that she hasn't held a single press conference since she became a BJP-backed presidential candidate. "We don't want any statue in Rashtrapati Bhavan, we are electing the President. You must have always heard Yashwant Sinha but we have never heard the voice of the presidential candidate (Draupadi Murmu) of the ruling party," the RJD leader said. "I don't think even you would have heard her voice (to the media). She hasn't held a single press conference since she became a candidate," Lalu Yadav's son added. WATCH: #WATCH | You don't need a 'Murti' (statue) in Rashtrapati Bhawan...You must have heard Yashwant Sinha Ji speaking, but not Centre's Presidential candidate... not a single presser by her since her candidature was announced: Tejashwi Yadav, RJD (16.07) pic.twitter.com/VKn38nNi9r ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2022 Recently, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar stirred controversy, saying that Murmu represents a "very evil philosophy of India" and should not be made a "symbol of Adivasi", a remark which drew a sharp reaction from the BJP. "It's not about Draupadi Murmu. Yashwant Sinha is also a good candidate and Murmu is also a decent person. But she represents a very evil philosophy of India. We should not make her a symbol of 'Adivasi'. We have President Ram Nath Kovind, Hathras happened. Has he said a word "The condition of Scheduled Castes has become worse," Kumar said. ALSO READ | Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma lands in legal trouble for controversial tweets on Draupadi Murmu! Calling the presidential elections a "fight for the soul of the nation", the Congress leader said that all like-minded parties should vote for the Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. Draupadi Murmu has edge over Yashwant Sinha With the support of regional parties such as BJD, YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and now JMM, NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu has a clear edge over the Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour. Murmu's vote share is likely to reach nearly two-thirds and she is set to become the first woman from the tribal community to occupy the top constitutional post. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee now has over 6.67 lakh votes after the support of various regional parties, out of a total of 10,86,431 votes. The electoral college which elects the president through the system of proportional representation comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative assemblies. Nominated MPs and MLAs, and members of legislative councils are not entitled to vote in this election. The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in this presidential poll due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir. In states, the value of the vote of each MLA varies in different states. In Uttar Pradesh, the value of the vote of each MLA stands at 208, followed by 176 in Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. In Maharashtra, it is 175. In Sikkim, the value of vote per MLA is seven, while it is nine in Nagaland and eight in Mizoram. Before naming Sinha, a former Union minister and a BJP leader, the opposition camp had approached Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and a former governor of West Bengal, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah to contest the poll. This year the Presidential election is not a contest between two individuals but two ideologies. Only one side wants to protect the provisions & values enshrined in our Constitution. I appeal to all MPs & MLAs to vote according to the Constitution and their conscience this time. pic.twitter.com/vemPHvdaPf July 16, 2022 After their refusal to be part of the electoral battle, Sinha, the then Trinamool Congress vice president, was named as the opposition's candidate. MPs, MLAs to vote on July 18 to elect India's 15th President Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on July 18 to elect the 15th President of India. The polling will take place in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies for which ballot boxes have already reached their destinations. The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25. The election of the President is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. In accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences, as there are candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1,2,3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the candidates, in the order of preference, in the space provided in column 2 of the ballot paper. This is the reason why electronic voting machines are not used in this as well as vice presidential, Rajya Sabha and legislative council polls. The EVMs are based on a technology where they work as aggregators of votes in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. According to Election Commission's directions, while MPs will get a green-coloured ballot paper, the MLAs will get a pink ballot paper to cast vote. Separate colours help the returning officer ascertain the value of the vote of each MLA and MP. Seeking to maintain the secrecy of voting, the EC has issued a specially designed pen with violet ink to enable voters to mark their ballot papers in the presidential poll. (With inputs from agencies) Amravati: A police sub-inspector has been arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old acquaintance in a hotel in Maharashtra's Amravati district, an official said on Sunday. The Sitabuldi police in Nagpur have arrested the 35-year-old policeman, attached to the office of the DIG Anti-Naxal Operation, for allegedly raping the girl, the official said. The accused policeman and the girl hailed from the same village and were acquainted with each other. She was living as a paying guest in Nagpur, he said. The incident took place on July 13 when the accused took the victim for a car ride outside the city and offered her alcohol during the drive. The accused then booked a hotel room and raped the minor and threatened her, the official said. On returning to the city the next day, the girl confided in her parents, following which a complaint was lodged and a case under sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered, he added. New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who was being treated in a hospital for Covid-19, has recovered well and would be discharged on July 18, PTI cited the hospital as saying. Stalin has been recommended complete rest at home for one more week, the hospital said. As per a medical bulletin notified by Kauvery Hospital on Sunday (July 17), the Tamil Nadu CM has recovered from coronavirus and will be completing "the isolation period tomorrow (Monday) and will be discharged from the hospital. He has been advised complete rest at home for one more week. Stalin had informed earlier this week that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The Tamil Nadu CM wrote on Twitter that he was feeling tired and after testing he was found out to be positive for Covid-19. "Today, I experienced mild fatigue. When tested, the result was positive for COVID-19. I have hence isolated myself," the DMK chief had tweeted. On Thursday, he was admitted to Kauvery Hospital in Chennai for investigations and observation. On July 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialed the DMK chief and enquired about his well-being. As per the state government release, PM Modi had a telephonic interaction with the Tamil Nadu CM. The chief minister told the Prime Minister he was recovering well," the statement had said. Meanwhile, former Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam, who is embroiled in a power tussle with AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, has been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai due to coronavirus-related ailments. As per IANS, the hospital said in a statement that OPS is admitted with mild Covid -19 symptoms and was responding to treatment, adding that he is under observation at an isolated ward. Tamil Nadu CM Stalin also wished O Panneerselvam a speedy and complete recovery. (With agency inputs) BJP yesterday announced the name of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for the post of Vice President. Soon after the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted welcoming the nomination of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President. Narendra Modi also claimed in a tweet that Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Vice President can also fulfill the role of Rajya Sabha Chairman properly. Narendra Modi tweeted, "Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has excellent knowledge of our Constitution. He is also well-versed with legislative affairs. I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha & guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress." Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has excellent knowledge of our Constitution. He is also well-versed with legislative affairs. I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha & guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress. @jdhankhar1 pic.twitter.com/Ibfsp1fgDt Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 16, 2022 From the afternoon yesterday, the discussion on the name of Jagdeep Dhankhar for the post of Vice President started in the capital Delhi. West Bengal Governor also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening Shortly thereafter, BJP All India President JP Nadda announced the name of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President. Jagdeep Dhankhar took charge as the Governor of West Bengal in the middle of 2019. After that, he repeatedly clashed with West Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress and the state government. With the numbers in BJP's votes, the election of Jagdeep Dhankhar for the post of Vice President is now a matter of time It is now to be seen who will be nominated by the opposition against Jagdeep Dhankhar. New Delhi: Mamata Banerjee-led TMC will announce its support for a vice presidential candidate by July 21, veteran party MP Saugata Roy said on Sunday (July 17). Roys statement came after the Opposition parties declared Margaret Alva as their joint nominee for the August 6 Vice Presidential election 2022. Saugata Roy said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will chair a meeting which would be attended by TMC parliamentarians on July 21 and then the party will clear its stance on their support for the vice presidential candidate, as per PTI. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party's top brass is assessing and discussing the entire vice-presidential poll issue. We are a disciplined party. We will not say anything on the issue beforehand," he said. Earlier today, senior TMC leader and Bengal minister Chandrima Bhattacharya took a dig at NDA vice presidential nominee Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, saying he has been rewarded by the BJP for antagonising CM Mamata Banerjee. Bhattacharya, the MoS for Health and Finance, also accused Dhankhar of acting as a BJP spokesperson during his state governor tenure. Dhankhar became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has made headlines since then over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government. Both BJP and the Opposition have urged TMC to extend support to their respective candidates. While Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar has appealed to the TMC to support the NDA vice-presidential candidate, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that the Opposition parties have reached out to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal seeking support for Margaret Alva. Meanwhile, as per ANI sources, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will support NDA's Vice-President candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar. The decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and sought support for Dhankhar. Besides BJD, AIADMK leader M Thambi Durai has said they will also extend support for the Bengal governor. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party has also announced support for NDA's nominee Dhankhar in the vice presidential poll, PTI reported. On BJP chief JP Nadda's appeal to all political parties including UPA allies to support Dhankhar in Vice Presidential polls 2022, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Our candidate is from the minority and is better than their candidate. If they will support our candidate (Margaret Alva) then it'll be a unanimous poll." (With agency inputs) New Delhi: A day after announcing West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the ruling National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) vice-presidential candidate, BJP chief JP Nadda on Sunday (July 17) urged all parties, especially UPA allies to vote for the 'Kisan Putra' in the upcoming polls. He said NDA has nominated a person from a humble background for the second top constitutional post. For Vice-Presidential polls, we have nominated a 'Kisan Putra', a person from a humble background, who also served the country in different capacities for three decades. I urge all political parties, especially UPA allies to support Jagdeep Dhankhar, ANI quoted the BJP chief as saying. While announcing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees bete noire as the NDAs vice presidential candidate, JP Nadda had said on Saturday, "NDAs candidate for the post of Vice President of India will be Jagdeep Dhankhar. Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar has been in public life for more than three decades. Jagdeep Dhankhar`s life story reflects the spirit of new India - overcoming innumerable social and economic hurdles and achieving one`s goals. #WATCH | For Vice-Presidential polls, we have nominated a 'Kisan Putra', a person from a humble background, who also served the country in different capacities for three decades. I urge all political parties, especially UPA allies to support Jagdeep Dhankhar: BJP chief JP Nadda pic.twitter.com/RTdJ1DQJQI ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2022 Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hailed Dhankhars candidature and said he is well-versed with legislative affairs and has worked for the welfare of the marginalised. "Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji is known for his humility. He brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career. He has always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. Glad that he will be our VP candidate," Modi said in a tweet. "He is also well-versed with legislative affairs. I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha & guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress," the PM had added. Meanwhile, the opposition party leaders will meet in New Delhi on Sunday to pick a joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election. As per PTI, the meeting will be held at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence at 3 PM, with all major opposition parties including Congress, TMC, Left Front constituents, RJD, SP, and others marking their presence. (With agency inputs) Kallakurichi: Violence broke out on Sunday (July 17) near here as protesters demanding justice over the death of a girl student went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles and indulged in stone pelting, in which police personnel also became the target. The agitators, pushing down barricades put up by the police, stormed the premises of a school at nearby Chinnasalem and set buses parked inside the institution's premises on fire, police said. Some of them set ablaze a police bus as well. Outnumbered for a while, the best efforts of police to disperse the protesters proved futile. A chunk of agitators had a free run and indulged in vandalism. Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu appealed to the people to maintain calm and warned against resorting to violence. Tough action would be taken against those indulging in violence, he told reporters in Chennai. A 17-year-old girl, studying Class 12 in a private residential school in Chinnasalem, about 15 km from here was found dead on July 13 in the hostel premises. ALSO READ- CBSE Result 2022 BIG Update- 'No delay' in 10th, 12th results: Edu Minister The girl, an inmate of a room on the third floor of the hostel was suspected to have ended her life by jumping to the ground from the top floor. A postmortem report reportedly indicated that she had sustained injuries before her death. Police registered a case and a probe is on. Shocked by her death, her parents, relatives and people belonging to her village Periyanasalur, off Veppur in the Cuddalore district have been staging non-stop protests seeking justice. ALSO READ- ICSE Result 2022: CISCE ICSE Class 10 result Today, here's how to check on SMS Blaming the school authorities and seeking action against them they held a protest here on July 16 for the fourth successive day. Their demands include a CB-CID probe and arrest of those responsible for the girl's death. Their demands have the support of a political outfit and the youth wing of a Left party. Live TV Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday asked if the BJP and NCP's tie-up after the Maharashtra Assembly polls in 2019 was a "natural alliance". Raut's remarks came after statements of some rebel Shiv Sena legislators that the party's alliance with the NCP and Congress, to form government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray (after the BJP-NCP government collapsed in three days in 2019), was an "unnatural" alliance and hurt the Sena. NCP had shortly joined hands with BJP to form government in 2019 After the Assembly polls in 2019, the Shiv Sena parted ways with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. NCP leader Ajit Pawar subsequently joined hands with the BJP to form government. BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was then sworn in as the chief minister and Pawar as his deputy at a hush-hush ceremony in the Raj Bhawan. But, Pawar returned to his party after three days and the Fadnavis government collapsed. Also Read: Unparliamentary words row: India is a democracy, everything is parliamentary, says Sanjay Raut Later, Shiv Sena and NCP formed MVA The Shiv Sena had then forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state. In his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana', Raut said just like (Chief Minister) Eknath Shinde now, Ajit Pawar had rebelled in 2019 and formed government with Fadnavis. The BJP legislators then did not say the NCP will finish off their party, he said. 'There is nothing natural and unnatural in politics': Sanjay Raut "If the BJP-NCP alliance had continued, would it be called an unnatural alliance? There is nothing natural or unnatural in politics," Raut said. The Rajya Sabha member further said in 2014, when there was a delay in government formation, NCP leader Praful Patel had announced his party's support to the BJP. "Sharad Pawar shares a good equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP had then not reject the NCP's support," he said. The rebel legislators like Deepak Kesarkar and Uday Samant, who have switched over to the Shinde camp on the issue of Hindutva, had joined the Shiv Sena with a "certificate ' from Pawar's school, Raut quipped. Kesarkar and Samant were in the NCP before they joined the Shiv Sena. Sanjay Raut claimed Delhi never wants Maharashtra leadership to grow independently "Why should they hate the NCP so much? More than the issue of morality in politics, it is political selfishness," Raut claimed. Raut further claimed that Delhi (central government) never wants Maharashtra's leadership to grow independently and has always pulled it down, be it formation of the 'Sanyukta Maharashtra' (in 1960) with Mumbai as its capital and the issue of inclusion of Belgaum and other places with Marathi-speaking population of Karnataka into Maharashtra. "A split was engineered in the Shiv Sena because Delhi realised Uddhav Thackeray can emerge as a national leader in future," he alleged. After the revolt by Sena MLAs led by Shinde, the Thackeray government in Maharashtra collapsed last month. On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and Fadnavis took oath as his deputy. Raut claimed there is talk in the BJP that Fadnavis was forced to become the deputy CM in the Shinde government so that he does not rise at the national level. Live TV New Delhi: Ahead of the presidential election, Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha on Saturday (July 16, 2022) appealed to all MLAs and MPs to vote according to the Constitution and their conscience. In a video message shot on the Rajpath in the national capital, he reiterated that this year the Presidential election is not a contest between two individuals but two ideologies. He reached out to all lawmakers, saying the Constitution provides that the vote will be secret and there will be no party whip which means that they can individually determine who they want to vote for. "The election to the post of president of India this time is taking place under extraordinary circumstances. The country is facing multiple problems on various fronts but the most important problem that we are facing is the problem of safeguarding and protecting our Constitution," the 84-year-old said. Constitutional provisions, its values being 'openly violated': Yashwant Sinha The constitutional provisions and its values are being openly violated by certain people in this country, elected governments are being brought down, all this is against the spirit of democracy which is enshrined in the Constitution, Sinha, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, said in the video. This year the Presidential election is not a contest between two individuals but two ideologies. Only one side wants to protect the provisions & values enshrined in our Constitution. I appeal to all MPs & MLAs to vote according to the Constitution and their conscience this time. pic.twitter.com/vemPHvdaPf Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) July 16, 2022 "So therefore this year's election to the post of the president actually is a contest not between two individuals, it is a contest between two ideologies. On the one hand, we have those who have no use for the values of the Constitution, on the other hand, we have the dedicated band of those who want to protect the Constitution and its values," Sinha added. Listen to your 'inner voice': Yashwant Sinha appeals to MLAs, MPs "I, therefore, appeal to you to exercise your vote in terms of the Constitution, according to your conscience. The Constitution provides that the vote will be secret but there will be no party whip which means that you have to determine for who you want to vote for," Sinha said in his appeal to the MLAs and MPs. He also urged those voting to listen to their "inner voice", look at the various problems in the country and shower their blessings on him in this election. My appeal to all members of the electoral college ahead of the Presidential election tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/27JVgwC8ZN Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) July 17, 2022 , pic.twitter.com/0Zs1F5qJic Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) July 16, 2022 Sinha, who held important portfolios such as Minister for External Affairs and Finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, is facing an uphill contest as his rival NDA nominee Draupadi Murmu's vote share in the poll is likely to reach nearly the two-third mark. Draupadi Murmu has edge over Yashwant Sinha With the support of regional parties such as BJD, YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and now JMM, NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu has a clear edge over the Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour. Murmu's vote share is likely to reach nearly two-thirds and she is set to become the first woman from the tribal community to occupy the top constitutional post. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee now has over 6.67 lakh votes after the support of various regional parties, out of a total of 10,86,431 votes. The electoral college which elects the president through the system of proportional representation comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative assemblies. Nominated MPs and MLAs, and members of legislative councils are not entitled to vote in this election. The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in this presidential poll due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir. In states, the value of the vote of each MLA varies in different states. In Uttar Pradesh, the value of the vote of each MLA stands at 208, followed by 176 in Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. In Maharashtra, it is 175. In Sikkim, the value of vote per MLA is seven, while it is nine in Nagaland and eight in Mizoram. MPs, MLAs to vote on July 18 to elect India's 15th President Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on July 18 to elect the 15th President of India. The polling will take place in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies for which ballot boxes have already reached their destinations. The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25. The election of the President is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. In accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences, as there are candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1,2,3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the candidates, in the order of preference, in the space provided in column 2 of the ballot paper. This is the reason why electronic voting machines are not used in this as well as vice presidential, Rajya Sabha and legislative council polls. The EVMs are based on a technology where they work as aggregators of votes in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. According to Election Commission's directions, while MPs will get a green-coloured ballot paper, the MLAs will get a pink ballot paper to cast vote. Separate colours help the returning officer ascertain the value of the vote of each MLA and MP. Seeking to maintain the secrecy of voting, the EC has issued a specially designed pen with violet ink to enable voters to mark their ballot papers in the presidential poll. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: Six of the 10 most valued firms suffered a combined erosion of Rs 1,68,260.37 crore from their market valuation last week, mainly dragged down by IT major TCS amid an overall weak trend in the equity market. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex fell 721.06 points or 1.32 per cent last week. From the laggards, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) took the biggest hit as its market valuation tumbled Rs 99,270.07 crore to reach Rs 10,95,355.32 crore. Shares of TCS dropped last week after the company's June quarter earnings failed to meet market expectations. Another IT behemoth Infosys also suffered an erosion of Rs 35,133.64 crore, taking its valuation to Rs 6,01,900.14 crore. (ALSO READ: 'Who would have thought 75 years ago...': Zerodha co-founder backs Indian-origin Rishi Sunak, likely next UK PM) HDFC Bank's market valuation fell by Rs 18,172.43 crore to Rs 7,57,659.72 crore and that of State Bank of India (SBI) declined by Rs 8,433.76 crore to Rs 4,27,488.90 crore. (ALSO READ: GST on packaged food: Rice all set to cost more in Tamil Nadu) The market capitalisation (m-cap) of HDFC dipped by Rs 4,091.62 crore to reach Rs 4,02,121.99 crore and that of ICICI Bank went lower by Rs 3,158.85 crore to Rs 5,22,498.11 crore. In contrast, the valuation of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) jumped Rs 17,128.52 crore to Rs 6,03,551.26 crore. Reliance Industries added Rs 6,801.72 crore, taking its market valuation to Rs 16,24,681.08 crore. ITC's m-cap climbed Rs 1,318.81 crore to Rs 3,62,327.81 crore and that of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) went higher by Rs 316.25 crore to Rs 4,48,157.71 crore. In the ranking of top-10 firms, Reliance Industries continued to remain the most valued domestic company, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, Infosys, ICICI Bank, LIC, SBI, HDFC and ITC. New Delhi: Salman Khan is one of the top actors in Bollywood today. He has given many blockbuster hit films to the Hindi film industry and has won millions of hearts. Today, we are to share an anecdote of the actor that will definitely put a smile on your face. The popular show 'Shark Tank' judge Ashneer Grover, who is also the co-founder of managing director of Indian fintech company BharatPe, in a recent college event opened up about his early days in the industry when he had lesser money. He talked about an incident including Bollywood's Bhaijaan, Salman Khan. Ashneer once negotiated with Salman for an advertisement as the actor's fees was higher than his budget. Salman at first didn't bother but later when Ashneer told him that he has not much money, he dropped Rs 3 crores off his fee and did the ad for a lesser price. According to Indian Express, while talking about this four-year-old incident, Ashneer said, "In 2019 I intended to enlist Salman Khan as a brand ambassador. Nobody could have ever thought of it. I was a small company and I wanted to generate trust overnight and so I thought to make Salman Khan my brand ambassador." "When I approached Salmans team, they told me that they will charge Rs. 7.5 crores, thats when I started calculating. I had 100 crores, I will give him Rs 7.5 crore, I will spend another Rs 1-2 on making the add and I should also pay to the broadcasters, its a Rs 20 crore expense and I have Rs 100 crore. I didnt know if I would get another round of investment, and so I told Salman to decrease his price, and he agreed to do the ad for Rs 4.5 crore," he added. Salman said, "Sir have you come to buy vegetables? How much will you negotiate?", to which the businessman replied, "I don't have the money to give." On the work front, Salman will be soon seen in his much-awaited film 'Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali.' He also has 'Tiger 3' with Katrina Kaif in his kitty. Live TV IRCTC Update: Indian Railways today (July 17) announced cancellation of several trains due to various reasons. A total of 246 trains were fully and partially cancelled by various Indian Railway zones. While train movements are affected due to maintenance and heavy rains in some states of the country, IRCTC has mentioned that today due to agitation at Secunderabad Railway station against the Agnipath Recruitment Scheme, several passenger train services have been affected drastically. Due maintenance and other construction work on rail tracks Indian Railways Central Railway and Western Railway are conducting Mega block and Jumbo blocks in Mumbai today. However, the special train services will run from Panvel and Kurla during the block. Meanwhile, Delhi-NCR has witnessed heavy rains today which has lead to halts in trains services. Further, today several incoming trains were regulated/short terminated at Secunderabad today at Cherlapally railway station and other stations. Additional Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police personnel were deployed at Secunderabad station. Check full list of cancelled trains HERE: 01539 Pune-Satara DMU 01605 Pathankot-Jwalamukhi 01607 Pathankot-Baijnathpaprola 03085 Azimganj Jn.-Nalhathi Jn. 05364 Kathgodam-Moradabad Also read: Indian Railways shares glimpse of 'Modern' Muzaffarpur Station, check new design HERE Also read: Mumbai local train update: Indian Railways to carry out Mega Blocks on July 17 Many trains were partially canceleed too due to the above mentioned reasons. However, Railway officials are working to resume the train services as soon as possible. Live TV Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi witnessed on Sunday the swearing-in of Egypt's 13 new ministers in the cabinet of Mostafa Madbouly, the premier since 2018, at the presidential palace in the New Alamein city. New Delhi: Over a period of time, Apple has made significant changes related to the build quilty of iPhone smartphones. And thanks to the toughness of the device, a Ukrainian soldiers life was saved amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The unique moment is captured in a video, which is now viral on social media platforms. In the video posted on Reddit, it is seen a Ukrainian soldier being shielded from a bullet by his iPhone 11 Pro. The video depicts what appears to be a Ukrainian soldier pulling his iPhone out of his bag. However, the details of the accident arent mentioned in the post. (ALSO READ: The damaged phone with the embedded bullet is the main subject of the video. In the video, it is pointed out that the soldier would have died without the iPhone 11 Pro acting as a bulletproof vest. (ALSO READ: Anand Mahindra shares 'simple yet creative' staircase design, netizens react) So far, the video has received more than 3800 upvotes on Reddit. The video has the caption: iPhone saved the life of a Ukrainian soldier. Maybe it's after such videos that Russians, instead of plate carriers, put Macbooks in their bulletproof vests? (ALSO READ: 6 of top-10 companies lose Rs 1.68 lakh cr in market-cap; TCS biggest laggard) Meanwhile, as Moscow pushed to increase its gains in the country's east, Russian missiles Sunday struck industrial facilities at a key city in southern Ukraine. Oleksandr Senkevych, the mayor of Mykolaiv, reported that the Russian missiles had hit a significant shipbuilding complex in the city's industrial and infrastructural district. There was no recent information available regarding casualties. Russian missile attacks on Mykolaiv have been frequent in recent weeks as Moscow has worked to weaken Ukrainian defences. The entire Black Sea coast of Ukraine, all the way to the Romanian border, has been declared a target by the Russian military. The Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which is home to the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian soldiers, is the focus of the Russian military's current operations. Kyiv: Russia said on Saturday its forces would step up military operations in Ukraine in "all operational areas" as Moscow`s rockets and missiles pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days. Rockets hit the northeastern town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region overnight, killing three people including a 70-year-old woman and wounding three others, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. "Three people lost their lives, why? What for? Because Putin went mad?" said Raisa Shapoval, 83, a distraught resident sitting in the ruins of her home. To the south, more than 50 Russian Grad rockets pounded the city of Nikopol, on the Dnipro River, killing two people who were found in the rubble, the region`s governor Valentyn Reznichenko said. Ukraine says at least 40 people have been killed in such attacks on urban areas in the last three days. Russia says it has been hitting military targets. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered military units to intensify their operations to prevent Ukrainian strikes on eastern Ukraine and other areas held by Russia, where he said Kyiv could hit civilian infrastructure or residents. "Clearly, preparations are now under way for the next stage of the offensive," said Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, adding that there was Russian shelling along the entire front line and active use of attack helicopters. Shoigu, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shown in military fatigues at a command post on the defence ministry`s Zvezda TV channel being briefed on the war and awarding "Golden Star" medals for heroism to two generals. His remarks appeared to be a direct response to what Kyiv says is a string of successful strikes carried out on 30 Russian logistics and ammunitions hubs using several multiple launch rocket systems recently supplied by the West. Ukraine`s defence ministry spokesperson said on Friday that the strikes were causing havoc with Russian supply lines and had significantly reduced Russia`s offensive capability. On Saturday, the Ukrainian military said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an offensive towards Sloviansk, a symbolically important city held by Ukraine in the Donetsk region. WAR OF ATTRITION While the focus of the war has moved to Ukraine`s eastern Donbas region, Russian forces have been striking cities elsewhere in the country with missiles and rockets in what has become an increasingly attritional conflict. Moscow, which launched what it called its "special military operation" against Ukraine on Feb. 24, says it uses high-precision weapons to degrade Ukraine`s military infrastructure and protect its own security. It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians. Kyiv and the West say the conflict is an unprovoked attempt to reconquer a country that broke free of Moscow`s rule with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. In one recent attack that stoked outrage from Ukraine and its Western allies, Kalibr cruise missiles hit an office building in Vinnytsia, a city of 370,000 people about 200 km (125 miles) southwest of Kyiv, on Thursday. Kyiv said the strike killed at least 23 people and wounded dozens. Among the dead was a 4-year-old girl with Down`s Syndrome named Liza, found in the debris next to a pram. Images of her playing shortly before the attack quickly went viral. Russia`s defence ministry has said the strike on Vinnytsia was directed at a building where top officials from Ukraine`s armed forces were meeting foreign arms suppliers. Late on Friday, Russian missiles hit the city of Dnipro, about 120 km (75 miles) north of Nikopol, killing three people and wounding 15, Reznychenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region that includes both cities, said on Telegram, adding that an industrial plant and a busy street next to it were hit. "When the blast wave hit, there were few shards because all my windows were taped up," a local woman who gave her name as Klavdia told Reuters. "The people whose windows were not protected like this, there was a lot of blood, their injuries were horrible. I saw a small child all covered in blood. It was awful," she said. Russia said it had destroyed a factory in Dnipro making missile parts. CONFLICT DIVIDES G20 The war dominated a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Indonesia. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said differences over the conflict had prevented the finance chiefs and central bankers from issuing a formal communique but that they agreed on a need to address a worsening food security crisis. "This is a challenging time because Russia is part of the G20 and doesn`t agree with the rest of us on how to characterize the war," Yellen said. Western countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia and have accused it of war crimes in Ukraine, which Moscow denies. Other G20 nations, including China, India and South Africa, have been more muted in their response. In one spillover from the conflict, a blockade restricting exports of Ukrainian grain has prompted warnings it could put millions in poorer countries at risk of starvation. Despite the bloodshed, both Russia and Ukraine described progress towards an agreement to lift a blockade in recent talks. Turkey, which is mediating, has said a deal could be signed next week. Kenya was calm on Tuesday, a day after Deputy President William Ruto was declared the winner of the narrow presidential election over longtime opposition figure Raila Odinga, a vote closely watched in the East African country that has been crucial to regional stability. The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a wartime deal appears to have ended up in Syria, even as Damascus remains a close ally of Moscow, satellite images analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press show. Egyptian authorities ordered the release of several pretrial detainees pending investigations, member of Presidential pardon committee and prominent lawyer Tarek El-Awady announced on his social media accounts on Saturday. According to El-Awady, among the released pretrial detainees will be ex-ambassador Yahia Negm, former Al-Ahram Daily editor-in-chief Abdel-Nasser Salama, human rights lawyer Amr Emam, and political activists Mohamed El-Ibrashi , Bassam El-Sayed, and Momtaz Kassam. The detainees were all arrested on charges related to spreading false news and joining an illegal group. Earlier this month, the Egyptian authorities released 60 pretrial detainees in what is described as the biggest release of pretrial detainees by the members of the Presidential Pardon Committee since its reactivation in April. Reactivated in April, the Presidential Pardon Committee is mandated to review the cases of those imprisoned for political crimes and others who meet certain conditions, such as families who have more than one relative in jail. In May, El-Awady said the committee is working on a list of pardon requests for 2,418 detainees and prisoners drafted by human rights groups. The restructured committee has said it will receive pardon requests through many avenues, including through the National Youth Conferences website. The committee will also receive requests through the Complaints Committee of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and via email to the human rights committees in both the House of the Representatives and Senate. Pardon requests can also be submitted directly to the members of the Pardon Committee. Search Keywords: Short link: Minister of Foreign Affairs and President-Designate of the COP27 Sameh Shoukry reviewed Egypts vision and goals on the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) in a telephone call with Prince Charles, the ministry announced on Saturday. The call was part of current consultations with all countries and parties concerned on preparations for the COP27 that will be hosted by Egypt in Sharm El-Sheikh this November, said Ahmed Hafez, the spokesperson for the foreign ministry. The minister lauded the vital role played by the UK during the COP26, especially the efforts exerted by Prince Charles to promote global climate action, added Hafez. Shoukry also said Egypt is looking forward to working with Prince Charles in the coming period to increase the participation of the private sector in global efforts to face climate changes through climate change-linked initiatives, said the spokesperson. Search Keywords: Short link: President Joe Biden asserted in a tweet late Saturday following his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on the sidelines of Jeddah Security and Development Summit that "there is a great deal of merit in the US and Egypt working closely together". "Earlier today [Saturday], I sat down with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi to reaffirm our shared commitment to the U.S.-Egypt strategic partnership, and to discuss regional and global challenges, US Biden posted on his official Twitter account. In celebrating the milestone of 100 years of US-Egypt diplomatic relations, El-Sisi and Biden expressed their intention to meet again in the near future to further enhance the two countries multi-faceted partnership, according to a joint statement issued following their meeting on Saturday. Earlier today, I sat down with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi to reaffirm our shared commitment to the U.S.-Egypt strategic partnership, and to discuss regional and global challenges. There is a great deal of merit in the U.S. and Egypt working closely together. pic.twitter.com/xCvqY9yFCZ President Biden (@POTUS) July 16, 2022 Last April, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gifted Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry -- during his visit to Washington to commemorate the centennial of diplomatic ties -- two letters marking the beginning of relations between both countries in 1922. El-Sisi and Biden renewed their commitment to the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue that is co-chaired by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry. They also welcomed the continued implementation of its outcomes, the joint statement said. The meeting between El-Sisi and Biden in Jeddah is the first between both presidents since Biden took the office in January 2021. According to the joint statement, Biden reiterated in the meeting that the US aims to continue to support Egypt in providing for its own defense, including through the continued provision of security assistance in consultation with the U.S. Congress. Concerning economic cooperation, both presidents agreed to explore new ways of expanding bilateral trade, increasing private sector investments, and collaborating on clean energy and climate technology. Furthermore, the leaders welcomed the recent US GreenTech Mission to Egypt and committed to launch the high-level Joint Economic Commission. The US is Egypts second-largest trading partner after China, with a total trade volume of $9.1 billion in 2021 up from $6.9 billion in 2020, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham). Egypt accounted for five percent of the Middle East and North Africa exports to the US last year and nine percent of the regions imports from the US. The US and Egypt share particular concerns over the severe global consequences that stem from the war in Ukraine, including the global supply chains as well as energy and commodity prices, the joint statement said. Concerning human rights, Biden and El-Sisi emphasised their mutual commitment to a constructive dialogue on human rights, which is an integral component of the strong US-Egypt partnership. On Saturday, the Egyptain president attended the Jeddah Security and Development Summit, which brought together leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in addition to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and the US. During his visit, El-Sisi also held several bilateral meetings with leaders participating in the Jeddah summit to discuss relations and the latest regional and international developments. Search Keywords: Short link: President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi headed on Sunday to the German capital of Berlin to co-chair the 13th edition of the Petersburg Climate Dialogue that will open on Monday, Egypt's Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement. Rady added that Petersburg Climate Dialogue is a remarkable step ahead of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) that will be held in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November, as it represents an opportunity for consultation and coordination among a large group of active countries in efforts to confront climate change. Since 2009, Germany has been holding the Petersburg Climate Dialogue ahead of annual UN Climate Change Conference for preliminary discussions. The invitation by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for Egypt to co-chair with Germany this important forum comes in appreciation of Egypts vital role under the leadership of President El-Sisi, in the framework of climate change negotiations over the past years, said Rady. Egypt has been coordinating with other countries and international partners on COP27 in the capacity of its presidency of the conference. Furthermore, Egypt wishes to focus in COP27 on ensuring the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate and turning pledges into actions. Last month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the president-designate of COP27, participated in the Bonn Climate Change Conference (56th session of the Subsidiary Bodies) in Germany, which aimed to lay the groundwork for the success of COP27. During the conference, Shoukry and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa officially signed the Host Country Agreement for COP27. Bilateral relations and agenda Besides the mutual priority of climate protection, El-Sisis visit to Berlin will focus on celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the German Embassy in Egypt said on Thursday. Diplomatic relations between both countries began on October 16, 1952. The foreign ministries of Egypt and Germany launched a joint logo in April, designed by the Egyptian Embassy in Germany and the German Foreign Ministry to commemorate 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. El-Sisis visit to Berlin reaffirms the depth of the German-Egyptian relations and the mutual keenness of the two countries to deepen cooperation in the field of climate and stability in the Middle East, German Ambassador to Cairo Frank Hartmann said. The Egyptian Ambassador to Germany Khaled Galal explained to MENA that the Egyptian president will meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in addition to convening meetings with the CEO of mega German companies interested in investing in Egypt. In an interview with the news agency MENA, Galal also stressed the importance of the visit and its great impact on advancing the process of joint cooperation between the two friendly countries and their distinguished bilateral relations, as well as exchanging views on regional and international issues of common interest. Galal explained that hundreds German companies are currently operating or have regional offices in Egypt. The ambassador pointed out that there is a high-level program for technical cooperation between the two countries amounting to 160 million euros annually to implement development projects in the fields of water, sewage, and education in Egypt. He also noted that the German side hailed the infrastructure development that is currently taking place in Egypt, referring to the cooperation in the Siemens project to construct the high-speed train at a total cost of eight billion euros. The Egyptian president is expected to meet with several German officials including the German chancellor to boost bilateral relations in all domains and discuss mutual interest files, according to the presidential statement. El-Sisis visit to Germany is the first since Scholz took office in November and the fifth for El-Sisi as president. Since he took office in 2014, El-Sisi paid four official visits to Germany in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019, as he discussed many issues of mutual concern with former Chancellor Angela Merkel. Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Niveen Gamea said in previous statements that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries totalled 5.1 billion euros in 2021 adding that German investments in Egypt amount to about 2.9 billion euros. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts Foreign Minister and President Designate of the 27th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) Sameh Shoukry discussed preparations for the conference in Berlin on Sunday with the UN Climate Change Acting Executive Secretary and UN Undersecretary General Ibrahim Thiaw. According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, Shoukry reviewed the work to ensure the high level participation in the conference, whether on the state level or by regional and international organisations and NGOs, yields the required results in the field of climate change. The meeting between Shoukry and Thiaw was held prior to their participating in the Petersburg Climate Dialogue on Monday, which Egypt co-chairs this year with Germany. Germany has been holding the Petersburg Climate Dialogue in Bonn since 2009 ahead of each years session of the UN Climate Change Conference. This year, Egypt is set to host the 27th session of the conference in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Berlin Sunday after an invitation by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in order co-chair the dialogue, according to the Egyptian presidency. Search Keywords: Short link: Sore throat is the most common symptom of COVID-19, followed by headache and blocked nose, the Egyptian Health and Population Ministry said on Sunday citing British ZOE COVID Study. The Ministry published a list of new symptoms including cough, sneezing, fatigue, and muscle aches, based on the data which has been collected by Zoe application, which is a COVID-19 epidemiological research mobile app developed in the United Kingdom. Earlier pandemic symptoms such as fever and loss of taste and smell were mentioned at the bottom of the list as the least reported symptoms of COVID-19 currently, according to the ministry The number of people infected with Coronavirus is increasing worldwide and in Egypt, and care must be taken to receive the vaccine and the booster doses, Acting Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said on Saturday. Ninty seven percent of the COVID-19 cases in Egypt are of the Omicron variant, Abdel-Ghaffar added. Most infections in Egypt do not require isolation at hospitals and isolation period at home takes between five to seven days, he explained. Its too early to say that the current pandemic situation in Egypt is a new wave of COVID-19, Abdel-Ghaffar said. He explained that anyone over the age of 65 and those who suffers from any chronic illnesses may now get their booster shots three months after receiving their third vaccine shot. Ealier this month, Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, announced that infection rates of Covid 19 have risen recently, urging citizens to wear face masks, especially in crowded areas. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Ati said on Sunday that rainfall over the Nile Rivers headwaters is currently below average for the month of July. During the meeting of the Permanent Committee for Regulating the Niles Revenue, the minister reviewed the hydrological situation of the Nile River, the different scenarios of the annual flooding, and the Niles revenue in the current water year. The Niles annual flooding which takes place from July till September is caused by heavy rains in the Ethiopian highlands. The meeting also tackled the mechanisms of fulfilling the water needs of the current agricultural season and for all other uses, noted a statement by the ministry. Furthermore, Abdel-Ati was briefed on the status of the water level in canals and drains as well as the readiness of lifting stations nationwide to ensure the ability of the waterway grid to meet the needs of the current agricultural season. The Permanent Committee for Regulating the Niles Revenue holds meetings regularly throughout the year to ensure that water resources are optimally managed to provide for the countrys water needs. The meeting comes ahead of Ethiopian plans to start the third filling of the GERD in August. Egypt and Sudan, the two downstream countries, have been involved in decade-long talks with Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Egypt has been concerned that the filling and operation of the GERD will harm its historic share of the Nile water. Meanwhile, Sudan is worried about the impact of the GERD on regulating flows to its own dams. Egypt and Sudan, which do not oppose the GERD, have seeked to reach a binding deal with Ethiopia on the filling and operation of the dam. Ethiopia has rejected all such attempts. In the absence of a legally binding deal, Ethiopia unilaterally completed the first and second filling of the dam, and started earlier this year operating first turbine of the GERD to generate power. It also seeks to start the third filling in August and September, according to a recent announcement by the GERD project manager. 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, the water needs of Egypt - with a population of over 102 million and growing - stand at around 114 bcm, placing 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 virtual water which is the embedded water required to produce commodities and reusing 42 percent of its renewable water, Abdel-Ati said in an earlier statement. Search Keywords: Short link: The Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR) in cooperation with Egypt's Supreme Standing Committee for Human Rights (SSCHR) will hold a conference 21-22 July on the challenges facing the right to privacy amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence. The two-day conference will touch upon the effects of artificial intelligence on the right to privacy and how any potential breach of this right would adversely affect other human rights. It aims to explore the boundaries of state and corporate responsibility in protecting personal data and guaranteeing the right to privacy to all citizens, read a press release. The conference will also address means to further reinforce legislative and legal frameworks relating to the protection of personal data and information. The SSCHR which is chaired by Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry was established by virtue of prime ministerial decree in 2018 to strengthen the institutionalisation of human rights protection and promotion in Egypt. The AOHR was established in 1983 as an international non-governmental and non-profit organisation, with the goal of promoting respect for human rights in the Arab world. The opening session of the conference will witness speeches by the President of AOHR Alaa Shalaby and a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Egyptian ministers of foreign affairs, justice and social solidarity, the chairman of the Human Rights Committee in Egypt's House of Representatives as well as a representative of the Egyptian Public Prosecution will be among the keynote speakers. Among the prominent participants are the Vice President of the Jordanian Supreme Court Mohamed Al-Tarawenah, President of the Arab Institute of Human Rights in Tunisia Abdel-Basset Ben Hassen, Head of the Human Line Organisation in Kuwait Maha Barjas, and Assistant Foreign Minister for Human Rights in Egypt Ambassador Khaled El-Bakly. The conference will also be attended by the Head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine Essam Younis, Vice President of the National Diwan for Human Rights in Kuwait Dr. Siham Al-Furaih, the Vice President of International Federation for Human Rights Shawan Jabarin, Vice-President of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) in Egypt Ambassador Mahmoud Karem, and Head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) and Journalists Syndicate Diaa Rashwan. A number of experts in law, media communication technology and human rights hailing from 23 countries will also participate in the conference, as well as 32 heads of human rights NGOs from 16 Arab States and seven European countries. The conference is in essence the first step pertaining to the implementation of a memorandum ratified in May 2022 between AOHR and SSCHR, the press release stated. This memorandum sets a significant precedent, as it is the first document of its kind to be signed between a human rights NGO and Egypt's governmental human rights mechanism. This comes, the press release said, in line with efforts aiming at actively implementing Egypt's National Human Rights Strategy (2021-2026) as well as President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's declaration that 2022 is the Year of Civil Society in Egypt. Search Keywords: Short link: Sudanese police and soldiers deployed in large numbers Sunday across the capital Khartoum, ahead of mass protests planned by pro-democracy groups. Security forces erected road blocks on bridges crossing the Nile river linking Khartoum to its suburbs, AFP reporters said. Undeterred, protesters vowed to take to the streets in large numbers following a period of relative calm over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha which ended early last week. The demonstrators oppose military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's October takeover and are also highlighting heavy fighting in Sudan's southern Blue Nile state, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) south of Khartoum. Sudan's latest military takeover derailed a transition to civilian rule, sparking near-weekly protests and a crackdown by security forces that has left at least 114 killed, according to pro-democracy medics. Nine were killed on June 30, the medics said, when tens of thousands had gathered and their deaths reinvigorated the movement. On July 4, Burhan vowed in a surprise move to make way for a civilian government. But the country's main civilian umbrella group rejected the move as a "ruse". Protesters have continued to press the army chief to resign. They accuse the military leadership now in power and the ex-rebel leaders who signed a 2020 peace deal of exacerbating ethnic tensions for personal gain. In Blue Nile on Sunday, witnesses reported troops deployed in the town of Al-Roseires, after at least 33 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in violence between rival ethnic groups, according to the health ministry. Guerrillas in Blue Nile battled former strongman president Omar al-Bashir during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war, picking up weapons again in 2011. Bashir was ousted in 2019. The following year, the transitional administration reached a peace deal with key rebel groups, including from Blue Nile as well as the war-ravaged western Darfur region. The current violence in Blue Nile is between two local groups, the Berti and the Hausa. Search Keywords: Short link: Police fired tear gas in Sudan's capital Khartoum Sunday against hundreds of pro-democracy protesters who also called attention to increasingly deadly tribal clashes in the country's south. The capital has been the scene of near-weekly protests since army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan launched a power grab in October last year that derailed a transition to civilian rule. The military take over saw key donors pull the plug on funding, exacerbating a long-running economic crisis and feeding into inter-communal unrest in remote parts of the country. Blue Nile state, bordering Ethiopia, is the latest crucible of tribal clashes, and on Sunday, authorities there raised the death toll to 60, from 33 the previous day, in fighting that began nearly a week ago. "Al-Damazin is bleeding," one Khartoum protester's placard read on Sunday, referring to the provincial capital of Blue Nile. In the city of Wad Madani, some 200 kilometres south of Khartoum, protesters diverted their demonstration to the local hospital to "donate blood to our brothers wounded in tribal clashes in Blue Nile," protest organiser Ammar Mohamed told AFP. The clashes in Blue Nile state, between the Berti and Hawsa tribes, first erupted last Monday. The violence came after the Berti tribe rejected a Hawsa request to create a "civil authority to supervise access to land", a prominent Hawsa member had told AFP on condition of anonymity. But a senior member of the Bertis had said the tribe was responding to a "violation" of its lands by the Hawsas. The revised death toll of 60 was provided by Blue Nile health minister Jamal Nasser, who also told AFP that 163 people have been wounded. "Violence is never a solution," UNICEF tweeted Sunday, in a country where the UN estimates half the population will be pushed into extreme hunger by September. Post-Military Take Over Security Vacuum Pro-democracy demonstrators accuse Sudan's military leadership and ex-rebel leaders who signed a 2020 peace deal of exacerbating ethnic tensions in Blue Nile for personal gain. Security forces had erected road blocks on bridges crossing the Nile linking Khartoum to its suburbs, AFP reporters said, to deter protesters who vowed to take to the streets in large numbers to protest against Burhan. Sudan's latest military take over sparked regular protests and an ongoing crackdown by security forces that has killed at least 114, according to pro-democracy medics. Nine were killed on June 30, the medics said, when tens of thousands gathered against the military. Early this month, Burhan vowed in a surprise move to make way for a civilian government. But the country's main civilian umbrella group rejected his move as a "ruse" and protesters have continued to press the army chief to resign. The rallies on Sunday follow a period of relative calm in Khartoum in recent days. Experts say last year's take over created a security vacuum that has fostered a resurgence in tribal violence, in a country where deadly clashes regularly erupt over land, livestock, access to water and grazing. Guerrillas in Blue Nile battled former strongman president Omar al-Bashir during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war, picking up weapons again in 2011. Prompted by enormous protests against his rule, the army ousted Bashir in 2019. The following year, a civilian-military power-sharing government reached a peace deal with key rebel groups, including from Blue Nile as well as the war-ravaged western Darfur region. Both areas remain underdeveloped and awash with weapons and there has also been an increase in violence in Darfur in recent months. Search Keywords: Short link: COP27 is an opportunity to increase awareness of business community and general public of ways to find financial resources for green transitions, Emad Hassan, the team leader of the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), stressed in an interview with Ahram Online. Egypt is speeding up its efforts in terms of green transition and climate adaptation ahead of its hosting of the upcoming UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) that will be held in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh on 8 November. Hassan explained to Ahram Online the GEFF programme's role in scaling up Egypts efforts in transitioning to a green economy, as well as supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country. The 140 million GEFF was launched in Egypt in 2017 with a focus on climate mitigation, followed by the Green Value Chain facility in 2021 with 70 million directed to SMEs and adding climate adaptation. Recently, the EBRD launched the GEFF II facility in Egypt with 150 million for SMEs to cover both mitigation and adaptation. These programmes receive support from the European Union (EU) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in the form of the incentive grant (funding from EU), technical assistance (funding from EU and GCF) and concessional co-financing (funding from GCF). Ahram Online (AO): How do you perceive the green financing scene in the Egyptian market, especially for SMEs? Emad Hassan (EH): I believe that the next decade will see a persistent growth in green financing due to the gap that keeps widening between the desired level of activities to face the threat of climate change and the available financing options. However, growth will not be limited to the amount of funding, but also in having a variety of options to meet market needs. Whether local financing sources will start appearing or not remains to be seen, but I think that its crucial to the equation as development partners and the donor community can only do so much. AO: What is the key role the GEFF plays in this regard? EH: The GEFF offers access to finance and financing institutions knowledgeable of climate change impacts and how to achieve economic sustainability, which are critical elements necessary to move the market towards a greener economy. The GEFF experience in Egypt is a success story for building the capacity of the banking industry and having examples of actual implemented green projects on the ground. It is critical for bank professionals to be able to identify and qualify green projects, but without having a portfolio of implemented projects applying relevant solutions that are geographically distributed, public awareness will remain limited. AO: What are the total finances the facility dedicates to boosting green finance in Egypt? EH: To date, the EBRD has allocated about $650 million under different GEFF facilities, of which $450 million are dedicated to SMEs. AO: How could such a facility support Egypts efforts ahead of the COP27 it will host in November? EH: The presence of a financing platform like the GEFF programme with participation from multiple banks to reach out to the market and with a variety of donors and development partners backing it up is a testimony that Egypt is moving towards greening its economy. It is also a statement of confidence that the donors and development partners community see the Egyptian market as ripe and ready to transition towards a sustainable existence; the message is stronger when results are tangible and present for people to see. AO: What is the main mission the facility is expected to do in the Egyptian market vis-a-vis the COP27? EH: The COP27 is not a destination its one stop in a journey that started a few decades ago. So, while we are very excited about using the COP27 as a base to communicate the success of the GEFF programme to the world; we see the event as an opportunity to increase awareness of the business community and the general public of the main mission, which is the need to find financial resources to complete the job. Its going to be a long journey. AO: In your opinion, what are the main challenges SMEs in Egypt face in terms of their green transition? EH: SMEs, by definition, are small entities in the economy in terms of size and revenues, and as such, they need all the help they can get financially and technically in their green transition. Some of the existing GEFF facilities are designed specifically for SMEs, which are the backbone of any sustainable economy. AO: During Egypts Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Forum that was held in January, you said that Egypt has $700 million dedicated to green project finances from both public and private sector, $400 million of which represents the share of the banking sector while only $100 million are utilised Could you please clarify that further? EH: To date, the EBRD has allocated about $650 million under different GEFF facilities for lending to private sector borrowers, but $450 million of those are channelled through private banks and $200 million through one public bank. Despite the impact of the pandemic and recent turbulance on the market, over $100 million have been signed into loans in about 100 projects. AO: Do you plan to cooperate with the government in achieving your mission? EH: Building Egypts climate resilience cannot practically work if proper coordination and cooperation with the countrys relevant player are not there. The GEFF programme is an initiative introduced mainly to support Egypts efforts in transitioning to a greener economy; its part of the puzzle and not an independent initiative. Search Keywords: Short link: The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) will continue to bear the difference between the actual cost of production and the price to consumers of subsidised bread in diesel-fueled bakeries, Minister of Supply Ali Moselhi said Sunday. The supply minister said that GASC will pay the net cost of producing subsidised bread to the diesel-fueled bakeries after the latest fuel prices hikes by the government. The price of subsidised loaves of bread will be kept unchanged at five piasters each, as the government will bear the difference between the cost and price, the minister added. The Egyptian government has allocated EGP 90 billion in the budget for FY 2022/23 to cover food subsidies including bread subsidies for 71 million citizens holding ration cards. Egypts Fuel Automatic Pricing Committee (FAPC) raised on Wednesday fuel prices for various octanes including diesel fuel by EGP 0.5 to EGP 1 per litre for the third quarter of the year due to the global rise in oil prices. The price of diesel and kerosine rose from EGP 6.75 to EGP 7.25 per litre. Search Keywords: Short link: Russian missiles hit industrial facilities at a strategic city in southern Ukraine Sunday as Moscow continued efforts to expand its gains in the country's east. Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said that the Russian missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility in the city, a key shipbuilding center in the estuary of the Southern Bug river. There was no immediate information about casualties. Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldova's separatist region of Transnistria, which hosts a Russian military base. Early in the campaign, the Ukrainian forces fended off Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which sits near the Black Sea Coast between Russia-occupied Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odesa. Since then, the Russian troops have halted their attempts to advance in the city but continued to pummel it with regular missile strikes. For now, the Russian military has focused its efforts on trying to take control of Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, where the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces are located. Ukraine says its forces still retain control of two small villages in the Luhansk region, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas, and are successfully fending off Russian attempts to advance deeper into the second one, the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Sunday that Ukrainian troops thwarted Russian attempts to advance toward Sloviansk, the key Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, and other attacks elsewhere in the region. During a visit to the front lines Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered ``to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas.`` While focusing on Donbas, the Russians hit areas all across the country with missile strikes. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians not to fall for Russia's attempts to scare them with warnings of horrendous missile attacks to come, which he said were aimed at dividing Ukrainian society. ``It's clear that no Russian missiles or artillery will be able to break our unity or lead us away from our path'' toward a democratic, independent Ukraine,'' he said in his nightly video address to the nation. ``And it is also clear that Ukrainian unity cannot be broken by lies or intimidation, fakes or conspiracy theories.'' On Thursday, a Russian missile strike killed at least 24 people _ including three children _ and wounded more than 200 in Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, the capital, far from the front lines that had largely been spared from the Russian bombardment before. Three of those missing after the attack were found alive in the rubble Saturday and one person remained missing, the emergency service said Saturday. On Sunday, relatives and friends attended a mourning ceremony for Liza, a 4-year-old girl killed in a strike. The girl with Down syndrome was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother in central Ukraine when the missile landed. Her mother, Iryna Dmytrieva, was among the scores injured. ``She remembered that she was reaching for her daughter, and Liza was already dead,'' Iryna's aunt, Tetiana Dmytrysyna, told The Associated Press. ``The mother was robbed of the most precious thing she had.'' In the Kharkiv region, at least three civilians were killed and three more were injured Saturday in a pre-dawn Russian strike on the city of Chuhuiv, which is only 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Russian border, the police said. Lyudmila Krekshina, who lives in the apartment building that was hit, said a husband and wife were killed, and also an elderly man who lived on the ground floor. Another resident said she was lucky to have survived. ``I was going to run and hide in the bathroom. I didn't make it and that's what saved me,'' said Valentina Bushuyeva. Pointing up at her destroyed apartment, she said: ``There's the bathroom explosion. Kitchen half a room. And I survived because I stayed put.'' Search Keywords: Short link: The 3,000-year-old Assyrian Lens The Nimrud Lens is a 3,000-year-old piece of rock crystal discovered in 1850 by Sir John Layard in the Assyrian palace of Nimrud in what is now Iraq. Since its discovery more than a century ago, scientists and historians continue to debate its use, with one prominent Italian professor claiming that the lens was used by the ancient Assyrians as part of a telescope. This would explain why the Assyrians knew so much about astronomy. The Nimrud Lens, which has been dated to between 750 and 710 BC, is made of natural rock crystal and has a slightly oval shape. It was roughly ground, apparently on a lapidary wheel. It has a focal length of about 11 cm from the straight side and a total focal length of about 12 cm. This would correspond to a magnification of up to three times that which a cluster can provide. There are twelve cavities on the surface of the lens that opened up during grinding and that contained some kind of liquid trapped in the raw crystal. The found lens is said to be able to focus even sunlight, although experts are still thinking about this fact. The original use of the Nimrud lens is widely debated. Some believe it served as a magnifying glass or as a burner to start fires by concentrating sunlight. Others then suggest that the lens was part of a telescope. But these theories are shattered by the British Museum's claim that the Nimrud lens had little or no practical use. And although this piece of rock crystal was carefully cut and polished and undoubtedly has optical properties, the scientists come to the unusual conclusion that the optical properties were probably accidental. A lens that can rewrite history The found lens can thus rewrite not only all claims made so far, but actually the entire history. For there is still no evidence that the Assyrians used lenses either for magnifying or for making fire. This makes it much more likely that it is a piece of marquetry. A kind of work of art that could have served as a piece of furniture. However, many disagree with this statement. Sir John Layard suggested that Assyrian artisans used lenses as magnifying glasses to create intricate and minute engravings. Exactly the ones found on seals and clay tablets using cuneiform writing. However, experts in Assyrian archeology are not convinced. They claim that the lens is of such poor quality that it would be a poor vision aid. Some scientists believe that the lens was burning glass that was used to focus the sun's rays. An outstanding researcher and author Robert Templewho has spent a lot of time studying ancient lenses, writes in his fascinating book The Crystal Sun that "technology is forbidden when it is not allowed to exist". Greeces Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias seized the opportunity to stress that in the last three years, Greece and Egypt have striven together to solidify bilateral relations on many levels. The Egyptian embassy in Greece celebrated on Friday the 70th anniversary of the 23rd of July Revolution in a reception party and welcomed distinguished guests, high profile officials and foreign diplomats. The guests were received at the embassy premises in Athens by the Egyptian Embassy's Charge dAffairs Amgad Rezk, who gave a speech about the unique relations between Egypt and Greece. Among the attendees were the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias, Egypts Counselor in Greece Mazen Gaber Moussa, the Ambassador of the United States to Greece George Tsunis, Frances Ambassador to Greece Patrick Maisonnave, and the famous Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy. It is with immense pleasure that I am here today, among so many friends, in order to celebrate the National Day of Egypt. We celebrate today an emblematic moment in Egypts history, and if I may say so, a very long history, said Dendias, adding that it was a moment that shaped the countrys trajectory through the years. Now the interaction between Greece and Egypt goes back centuries. In our days, I have to say again with pride, it has reached an unprecedented levels, we have done plenty in the last three years. That has to do a lot not with politicians, but with a common vision of the people. It reflects the will of the people to thrive in this challenging place in the world, the eastern Mediterranean, Dendias explained. The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs also emphasised that Egypt is a leading force in the Arab World and beyond with an important role to play in enhancing security in the wider region. According to Dendias, promoting stability in our region and working for the welfare of the country and the region is a direct result of President El-Sisi and his government's efforts. In the last three years, Greece and Egypt have striven together to solidify bilateral relations. Two years ago, I will always treasure the day, we signed our bilateral agreement for the delimitation of our maritime zones, after almost thirty years of negotiations. An agreement based on the International Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, as we all know. And we have cooperated very closely, in the fields of defence, economy, investment, tourism and energy, you name it, it is there. Between us and with other friendly and important countries, I should mention France as one of the most important, Dendias pointed. Despite the limitations posed by the pandemic, we have exchanged a significant number of visits. I personally have been to Cairo I think twelve times and I am preparing for the 13th. And also we have managed to promote our trilateral format of cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus. Egypt and Greece have signed the agreement for the electrical interconnection, again a very proud moment in our relations. Recently, I had the pleasure to join my dear friend, the Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry, in Brussels for the EU-Egypt Association Council, he added. He believes that Egypt knows that Greece is a steadfast supporter within the European Union. The destinies, allow me to say, of our two nations are linked. This has allowed the forming of a strong bond of friendship and a very strong bond of fruitful cooperation, and I am convinced that this path is the one we are going to follow in the future, Dendias concluded. Search Keywords: Short link: Abe, 67, was shot from behind in Nara in western Japan while giving a campaign speech. He was airlifted to a hospital but was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was pronounced dead later at the hospital. Abe was Japan's longest-serving leader before stepping down in 2020 for health reasons. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hastily returned to Tokyo from campaign events around the country, called the shooting ``dastardly and barbaric.'' Leaders from Turkey to Singapore condemned the attack, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the shooting ``despicable.'' ``His global leadership through unchartered times will be remembered by many. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and the Japanese people. The UK stands with you at this dark and sad time,'' Johnson tweeted. Incredibly sad news about Shinzo Abe. His global leadership through unchartered times will be remembered by many. My thoughts are with his family, friends and the Japanese people. The UK stands with you at this dark and sad time. Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 8, 2022 Iran condemned the shooting as ``an act of terrorism.'' ``As a country that has been a victim of terrorism and has lost great leaders to terrorists, we are following the news closely and with concern,'' Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. People in Japan could be seen reading extra editions of the Friday paper with Abe's picture large on the front page or stopping to watch the news on TV. NHK public broadcaster aired dramatic footage of Abe giving a speech outside of a train station in the western city of Nara. He is standing, dressed in a navy-blue suit, raising his fist when two gunshots are heard. The footage then shows Abe collapsing on the street. ``We are shocked and saddened to hear about the violent attack against former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,'' the White House said in a statement shortly afterwards. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier expressed her shock about the shooting. She said Abe was one of the first leaders she met after taking office and described him as deeply committed to his role, generous and kind. ``I recall him asking after the recent loss of our pet when I met him, a small gesture but one that speaks to the kind of person he is,'' Ardern said. ``Events like this shake us all to the core.'' In the NHK video, security guards are seen leaping on top of a man in a gray shirt who lies face down on the pavement. A double-barreled device that appeared to be a handmade gun is seen on the ground. Police have arrested a suspected gunman at the scene. Under Japanese law, possession of firearms, as well as certain kinds of knives and other weapons, like bow guns, is illegal without a special license. Importing them is also illegal. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that he was ``deeply shocked by the odious attack'' on Abe. He paid tribute to Abe as ``a great prime minister'' and said ``France stands at the side of the Japanese people.'' Many gave their condolences and expressed solidarity with Japan, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Saturday's one-day national mourning as a mark of his deepest respect for Abe. ``Mr. Abe made an immense contribution to elevating India-Japan relations to the level of a special strategic and global partnership. Today, the whole of India mourns with Japan, and we stand in solidarity with our Japanese brothers and sisters in this difficult moment,'' Modi said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock and solidarity with Japan on Friday after the killing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe. "I extend deep sympathy to his family, my colleague Fumio Kishida and our Japanese friends. We stand with Japan in these difficult hours." He tweeted The assassination of @AbeShinzo leaves me shocked and deeply saddened. My deepest sympathy goes to his family, my colleague Fumio @kishida230 and our Japanese friends. We stand closely by Japan's side in these difficult hours. Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) July 8, 2022 While former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said in a separate statement she was "shocked and appalled" by Abe's assassination, calling it a "cowardly and vile attack". Merkel said she had worked "closely together" with Abe during their years in office, united in the goal of facing up to the "great challenges of our time" in "multilateral partnership". Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent his best wishes to Abe's family. ``Spain stands together with the people of Japan in these difficult times,'' he tweeted. Conmocionado por el tiroteo contra el ex primer ministro de Japon, @AbeShinzo. Nuestros mejores deseos para el y su familia y nuestra rotunda condena a este cobarde ataque. Espana se solidariza con el pueblo japones en estos dificiles momentos. Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 8, 2022 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Abe was one of Australia's closest friends and a ``giant on the world stage, `` adding that ``his legacy was one of global impact, and a profound and positive one for Australia. He will be greatly missed. `` Italian Premier Mario Draghi offered his profound condolences and said Italy was embracing Abe's family, the government, and the Japanese people. ``Italy is distraught over the terrible attack against Japan and its free, democratic debate. Abe was a great protagonist of Japanese and international political life in recent decades, thanks to his innovative spirit and reformist vision,'' Draghi said in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called the death of Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe an "irreplaceable loss." In a telegram to Abe's family, Putin called Abe an "outstanding statesman" who had done a lot to develop "good neighbourly ties between our countries." "I wish you and your family strength and courage in the face of this heavy, irreparable loss," Putin said, according to a statement released by the Kremlin. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who is in Bali as president of the Group of 20 nations' foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, lamented Abe's ``untimely demise'' and said he ``will always be remembered as a prime example for all.'' In China, however, Abe's shooting triggered unfavourable comments from tens of thousands of nationalist citizens on social media. Some quipped, ``Hope he's not OK,'' while dozens half-jokingly called the shooter ``a hero'' or ``anti-Japan hero.'' Others said Abe's injuries were a comfort to the souls of people who had died in Japan's invasion of China during World War II. While not necessarily the view of most Chinese, the posts reflect strong public sentiment, encouraged by government propaganda, against right-wing Japanese politicians who question or deny that the military committed atrocities in China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian declined to comment. He said China expressed sympathies with Abe's family and that the shooting shouldn't be linked with bilateral relations. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed his condolences to the Japanese people for the loss of ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, describing the former premier as a "great leader" and "a loyal friend to Egypt." "I received with great sorrow the news of the death of the former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, after a treacherous act of assassination," El-Sisi tweeted Shinzo Abe was a loyal friend to Egypt, supporting it in all times and circumstances. Bilateral relations during his tenure witnessed unprecedented progress on all levels." he added . . / Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) July 8, 2022 South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Friday, called the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is an "unacceptable act of crime", "I extend my consolation and condolences to his family and the Japanese people for having lost their longest-serving prime minister and a respected politician," Yoon said in a statement released by his presidential office. A ghost town since a 2018 operation to flush out jihadists, Hajar al-Aswad near the Syrian capital has come back to life as the location of a Jackie Chan-produced action movie. "Home Operation" is inspired by China's 2015 evacuation of Chinese and other foreign citizens from the war in Yemen, an operation that was seen as a landmark for Beijing. Yemen was deemed too dangerous a venue to shoot and some scenes of the film, which is also backed by an Emirati production company, are being shot in Syria, although the script only mentions a fictional country called "Poman". The ruins of Hajar al-Aswad on Thursday filled with a motley crew of actors in Yemeni tribal attire, Syrian extras in uniform and polo-wearing Chinese film crew members. Jackie Chan is the main producer, although there are no plans for him to visit Syria. The film pitches itself as a blockbuster that will glorify the role of the Chinese authorities in a heroic evacuation. Speaking to reporters as his crew installed their equipment and tanks in hastily altered livery moved into position, director Yinxi Song confirmed the film's propaganda credentials. "It takes the perspective of diplomats who are Communist Party members, who braved a hail of bullets in a war-torn country and safely brought all Chinese compatriots onto the country's warship unscathed," he said. The ambassador of China, one of few countries to have maintained good diplomatic relations with the regime of Syria President Bashar al-Assad, was present to launch the Syria shoot, which is expected to last several days. A red banner in three languages was unfurled for the small ceremony and another that read "Peace & Love" was propped up on the front of a tank. 'Low-cost studio' Hajar al-Aswad, which means "black rock" in Arabic, was once a densely populated Damascus suburb that lies next to the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk. Both areas became major hotspots in the Syrian civil conflict that erupted in 2011 and were at least partially controlled at one point by the Islamic State group. The reconquest of both neighbourhoods by Syrian pro-government forces in May 2018 marked the moment the regime brought the entire capital Damascus back under its control. Swathes of Hajar al-Aswad were completely levelled, however, turning the neighbourhood into a sinister sprawl of grey, gutted buildings. A few residents have returned to the least damaged parts of Hajar al-Aswad, leaving the rest completely uninhabited. "The war-ravaged areas in Syria have turned into a movie studio. These areas attract film producers," said director Rawad Shahin, who is part of Home Operation's Syria crew. "Building studios similar to these areas is very expensive, so these areas are considered as low-cost studios," he said. The production team says it plans to use several other locations to film in Syria, where productions from Iran and Russia, both allies of Assad, have also been shot. Syria is targeted by a raft of international sanctions and is also littered with unexploded ordnance which last year made it the world's most lethal country for landmine kills. Chinese navy vessels carrying out anti-piracy patrols were diverted to Yemen in 2015 to evacuate what officials at the time said were hundreds of people from 10 different countries stranded by the escalating conflict. The successful operation was touted by Beijing at the time as a proud moment for its navy, evidence of its humanitarian principles and of its growing global reach. Search Keywords: Short link: The U.S. Navy says it has asserted its "navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea" by sailing one of its destroyers near the disputed Spratly Islands. The 7th Fleet said the freedom of navigation operation conducted Saturday by the USS Benfold upholds "the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging restrictions on innocent passage imposed by the People's Republic of China, Vietnam and Taiwan." Several Asian nations also have declared overlapping claims to the South China Sea. China says it does not halt the passage of ships and has accused the U.S. of stirring trouble with such claims. KYODO NEWS - Jul 17, 2022 - 09:18 | World, All Thousands of Malaysians thronged a festival of Japan's traditional summer Bon Odori dance Saturday evening, defying conservative Islamists' call for Muslims to stay away. After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, many locals, including hijab-wearing Muslim women, turned up in kimono and "yukata," or casual summer kimono, at a stadium in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state, which surrounds Kuala Lumpur. The festival proceeded smoothly in a carnival-like atmosphere. The Bon Odori dance festival has been held annually in the predominantly Muslim country since 1977 without any issue, with the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur being involved as organizers. But it was suddenly thrust into the spotlight last month when Islamic affairs minister Idris Ahmad advised Muslims to avoid the festival due to its "religious elements." Other Islamic authorities weighed in, saying the festival has links to ancestor-worship that could lead to polytheism. It was the intervention from the Selangor state monarch, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, that cooled down the matter. The sultan, who had attended the event in 2016, said in a statement last month that the event was merely to promote Japanese culture and there was no religious ceremony involved that could compromise the faith of those observing. He ordered authorities not to obstruct anyone from attending and even asked minister Idris and other religious officials to observe the event themselves. At a press conference on Saturday, Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Katsuhiko Takahashi said Japan highly appreciates Malaysia's cultural diversity and tolerance. "This diversity and tolerance has been an engine to promote bilateral relations in all aspects, including this Bon Odori festival," he said. Dai Hoshiai, chairman of the organizing committee, said at the press conference that everyone, including Muslims, can join in the dance. The controversy did not seem to dim the festivities, judging by the full-capacity crowd filling up the stadium. "Personally, I feel this is a unique event," said Umar Hakimi, a 23-year-old interior designer who came with his kimono-clad hijab-wearing female friend. "It unites a lot of people, not just Japanese but different races and culture in one place." He dismissed the Islamists' call for Muslims to avoid the event, saying, "As a Muslim, you are thought to embrace other culture, increase your knowledge. My advice to people who are skeptical is to come here and see for yourself." KYODO NEWS - Jul 17, 2022 - 11:40 | All, Japan Roughly half of Japanese companies think the government should take more steps to curb the impact of soaring prices as they bear the brunt of higher energy and material costs, partly due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a weaker yen, according to a recent survey by a credit research firm. Asked about the kind of economic measures they want the government to focus on, 50.8 percent of the companies selected financial support, gasoline tax cuts and purchase cost subsidies in the multiple response survey conducted by Teikoku Databank. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to swiftly help households and companies combat rising bills, a major issue in the House of Councillors election earlier this month. Kishida told a press conference Thursday the government plans to use part of around 5.5 trillion yen ($40 billion) in reserve funds to that end. Among a total of 22 choices in the survey, measures to help boost consumer spending and secure a stable power supply were selected by 43.1 percent and 42.4 percent of the respondents, respectively. By sector, 72.7 percent of transportation and warehouse firms that typically struggle with higher crude oil prices selected the response calling for government measures to deal with that issue. With the yen having rapidly depreciated against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies, 28.2 percent expressed the hope that the government would tackle changes in foreign exchange rates, according to the online survey conducted across the country between July 1 and 4 that received 1,926 valid responses. Among the respondents, an official at a construction metal products maker said, the government needs to "make efforts on more fundamental policies, rather than superficial subsidies and tax cuts." "The government should promote growth strategies from a medium- and long-term perspective, such as support measures aimed at raising wages, improving productivity and making (domestic firms) more internationally competitive," the Teikoku Databank report said in its conclusion. KYODO NEWS - Jul 17, 2022 - 18:15 | All, Japan The man charged with murdering Shinzo Abe sent a letter to a critic of the Unification Church signaling his intention to kill the former prime minister prior to the shooting earlier this month, the recipient said Sunday. The letter shows the strong resentment that the assailant, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, felt toward the church, with which he believed Abe had ties. Police appear to be aware of the letter. Yamagami is also believed to have expressed his resentment on Twitter sometime after the fall of 2019, making such tweets as "The only thing I hate is the Unification Church" and "The Unification Church's duty is to take all the money they can from families." The letter was apparently sent this month from Okayama Prefecture to the recipient's address in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan. The male recipient, whose identity is withheld, made blog posts criticizing the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church. Yamagami has told investigators that his mother's donations to the church ruined his family's finances. His uncle says they totaled about 100 million yen ($720,000). In the one A4-page printed letter, Yamagami said he "felt bitter" toward Abe, who he described as "one of the most influential sympathizers of the Unification Church in the real world," but that the former leader was "not his original enemy." Yamagami also wrote that he had spent time obtaining guns and would no longer care about "the political meaning and ramifications of Abe's death." According to investigators, Yamagami said he harbored a grudge against the church for more than 20 years and killed Abe as he believed his grandfather had invited the group to Japan from South Korea. While the postmark date on the letter is not clear, it is known that Yamagami visited a hall in the city of Okayama on the eve of the fatal shooting in an attempt to kill Abe there. He may have mailed the letter the same day. Abe was shot on July 8 while delivering a stump speech on a street in the western city of Nara. Yamagami was arrested at the scene, where police found a homemade gun, and he was later sent to prosecutors on suspicion of murder. KYODO NEWS - Jul 17, 2022 - 20:24 | All, Japan The Unification Church, at the center of growing public scrutiny over former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's assassination, on Sunday corrected remarks that it has had "no trouble" with its followers since 2009. A group of lawyers had criticized the comments made by Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Japan branch of the church, at a press conference last Monday, underscoring that the church has been facing a series of requests for returning donations even after 2009. "We meant we've achieved certain results through our compliance system. It doesn't mean we have no trouble. We apologize for having caused misunderstanding due to our poor wording," said the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, in a statement. Tetsuya Yamagami, who was arrested after Abe was fatally shot during a street speech in the western city of Nara on July 8, has told investigators that his mother's donations to the church ruined his family's finances. His uncle says they totaled about 100 million yen ($720,000). Yamagami has also said he harbored a grudge against the church for more than 20 years and killed Abe as he believed his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, had invited the religious group to Japan from South Korea, according to investigators. Related coverage: Unification Church says Abe shooter's mother is follower Shooter signaled Abe killing in letter to Unification Church critic A health worker inoculates a man with a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Bangalore, India, July 16, 2022. The Indian government on Friday began a 75-day special drive to administer COVID-19 booster doses to all adults aged above 18 years. (Str/Xinhua) NEW DELHI, July 14 (Xinhua) -- India's health ministry data showed on Thursday that 20,139 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,689,989 in the country. Indian capital Delhi logged 490 new cases in the last 24 hours, and the active caseload currently stands at 136,076. The country also logged 38 related deaths during the period, which has pushed the overall death toll to 525,557, the ministry said. The daily positivity rate has risen to 5.10 percent and the weekly positivity rate has increased to 4.37 percent, the ministry data showed. Meanwhile, the government announced Wednesday evening that all adults will be able to get free booster (precaution) doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at government centers under a special drive over the next 75 days. The drive will start on Friday. Health officials said the new move has been taken to increase vaccination coverage among the population in wake of the detection of new variants. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed the hope that the decision for free COVID-19 precaution dose for all citizens above 18 years of age will further India's vaccination coverage and create a healthier nation. Reports said so far less than 1 percent of the 18-59 age group have been administered the booster dose. The detection of super contagious Omicron mutant BA.2.75 that has begun to gain ground in India has worried health officials. There are fears that the new mutant may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infections. A health worker inoculates a woman with a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Bangalore, India, July 16, 2022. The Indian government on Friday began a 75-day special drive to administer COVID-19 booster doses to all adults aged above 18 years. (Str/Xinhua) ADDIS ABABA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government said it has generated about 14.5 million U.S. dollars export revenue from commodities produced at the Chinese-built Dire Dawa Industrial Park during the Ethiopian 2021/22 fiscal year which ended on July 7. The Dire Dawa Industrial Park, which was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and inaugurated by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2020, has 15 factory sheds built inside the premises of the industrial park. The industrial park generated the reported export revenue from products such as shoes and textile products, among others, state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) quoted Kamil Ibrahim, head of the Dire Dawa Industrial Park, as saying on Saturday. The major export destinations for commodities produced by companies operating inside the premises of the Dire Dawa Industrial Park were said to be China, Pakistan, United States and Djibouti, according to Ibrahim. On Friday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, said the country earned over 4.12 billion U.S. dollars in export revenue during the recently concluded Ethiopian fiscal year. The East African country had an initial target of generating 4.63 billion U.S. dollars from the export sector. The reported 4.12 billion U.S. dollars is said to have 13.81 percent increase as compared with the previous fiscal year's 3.62 billion U.S. dollars export revenue. The ministry said the agriculture sector contributed about 72 percent of the total export earnings, while mining, industry and electric energy sectors contributed the remaining shares of the annual export revenue. CAIRO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed on Saturday cooperation between the two countries, the repercussions of the global food crisis, and the disruption of energy supplies, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. Sisi and Biden met in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where they will also participate in a joint conference later in the day with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, as well as the Jordanian king and the Iraqi prime minister. This was the first meeting between Sisi and Biden. During the meeting, Sisi underlined Egypt's keenness to strengthen cooperation with the United States and the importance of the Egypt-U.S. partnership in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East region, according to the statement. For his part, Biden affirmed his government's aspiration to activate the frameworks of bilateral cooperation and enhance the existing coordination and consultation between the two countries. Sisi also stressed the need to help regional countries through crises and reach a just and comprehensive solution that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of their independent state, according to the statement. On the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that also involves Sudan and Egypt, the Egyptian leader demanded to reach a binding legal agreement for the process of filling and operating the dam, in a manner that preserves Egyptian water security and achieves the common interests of all the three countries. HONG KONG, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Sunday that it will distribute around 250,000 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 Sunday, Hong Kong registered 3,313 confirmed locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 and 173 imported cases. Meanwhile, since the start of a mass inoculation program in February last year, over 6.75 million people, or 92.8 percent of the eligible population in Hong Kong, have taken at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines, while over 6.49 million, or 89.2 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses. As of Sunday, 65.8 percent of the eligible people in Hong Kong have taken their third booster doses, while a total of 180,106 people have taken a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine, official data showed. by Sanaa Kamal RAMALLAH/GAZA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden's ignoring of the Palestinian-Israeli issue made him lose the "last chance" to be trusted by the Palestinians, forcing the Palestinian leadership to search for a new international sponsor, analysts said. On Friday, Biden arrived in the West Bank city of Bethlehem for a short visit to meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, after a 40-hour visit to Israel. Biden said at a joint news conference following the meeting that "the U.S. commitment to the goal of a two-state solution has not changed," but added that the goal may seem "unattainable." Biden announced that the United States would provide 200 million U.S. dollars in funds to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for its critical role in the region. During a trip to a local hospital, he also pledged to provide 100 million dollars to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, which includes six health institutions and works to serve the Palestinians in Jerusalem. Mohammed Hijazi, a Gaza-based political analyst, told Xinhua that "Biden is just offering Palestinians' money in exchange for not demanding any political move." "The previous U.S. administrations, despite their failure to do so, were seeking to put forward a complete project to settle the Palestinian issue, but the Biden administration deliberately marginalized the issue and made it an internal Israeli affair," he added. Such a procedure would allow the Israelis to expand settlement activities and commit more political, economic, and field violations against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, noted Hijazi. Adel Samara, another Ramallah-based political analyst, told Xinhua that "Biden is doing his best to transform the Palestinian cause from a political issue into humanitarian and economic issues by coming to the region to provide financial aid to a group of starving poor." Meanwhile, Samara doubted the possibility of Biden fulfilling his economic promises to the Palestinians, pointing out Washington "is facing a major economic crisis." Hani al-Masri, a Ramallah-based analyst, said that Biden's visit did not bring anything new to the Palestinians. "Biden wanted to integrate Israel into the Arab region at the expense of the Palestinian cause," he told Xinhua, adding that "he tried to silence the Palestinians by providing only some financial aid." "Although the main goal of Biden's visit is to secure Israel and protect it from the surrounding dangers, whether Iran or others, and make Israel a dominant state in the region, the United States is experiencing a real crisis which lies at the beginning of the formation of a bipolar world," al-Masri said. Hijazi believes that the Palestinians have two main paths that they could pursue, internationally and locally, in order to get rid of the U.S. hegemony and Israeli intransigence regarding the Palestinian issue. Locally, it is important for the Palestinians to present the Palestinian cause to the international community to pressure Israel to find a solution to the conflict, he said. Internationally, "the Palestinian leadership will be forced to search for a new sponsor of the peace process with the Israelis instead of the United States," he added. KUWAIT CITY, July 17 (Xinhua) -- For many years, Souk Al-Mubarakiya, one of the oldest markets in downtown Kuwait City, had served as a popular tourist attraction and a go-to place for the locals who cherish the traditional way of life, until a blaze struck it in April. The souk, meaning market in Arabic, housed hundreds of shops, selling goods ranging from gold jewelry, perfume and spices to fish, fruits and vegetables, along with several restaurants that served traditional Kuwaiti dishes. Established more than 120 years ago, it was the center of trade in Kuwait prior to the discovery of oil and had been revamped several times throughout the years. This April, a huge fire destroyed at least 25 shops in the Al-Mubarakiya market. After that, Kuwait city released a high-profile restoration plan aiming to bring the market into a modern rebirth. But it received mixed reactions from many locals, especially the heritage experts who are worried that its traditional form and function would disappear. The plan focuses on "combining past heritage with a modernized future," in a bid to keep pace with the urban development and the vision of "New Kuwait 2035." The new market will include luxury hotels, an open theater, a mosque, souvenir shops and a tourist service center, with an aim to revive the tourism hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fahad Al-AbdulJalil, president of the Kuwait Heritage Society, complained that the new design does not reflect the traditional business-dealing for visitors to experience in its alleys, and will wipe out the identity of the market as a heritage place. "The design plan has gone viral on social media platforms ... It will contradict the historic Kuwaiti buildings that reflect the spirit of a place and will deprive the market of its cultural connection to the Kuwaiti society," he told Xinhua. "The new designs encroach on the memory of the Kuwaiti nation and individuals," Dalal Al-Dayel, historian and founder of the Tura Initiative that preserves oral history, told Xinhua. He added that preserving historic buildings is a national duty and there are international standards, methods, and specifications on how to take care of them. Al-AbulJalil, whose organization engages in research on ways to protect the material heritage of the market, called on city authorities to redesign the market with the assistance of local specialists and restore the old appearances of the buildings with materials from which they were built. This is not the first time the old souk is renovated. In 1990, the marketplace was damaged during the Iraqi invasion and later restored with its traditional characteristics preserved. Abdulraouf Murad, a Kuwaiti architecture photographer, believed that the latest design which will transform the old market into a modern business complex does not necessarily mean the old market will be gone. "Although the Al-Mubarakiya market will be modernized somehow with the perfume shops, fast food restaurants, and modern building materials, its old heritage will remain," he told Xinhua. In Kuwait, many projects on renovating historic buildings are awarded to ordinary contractors, who more than often would come out with a plan lacking the sense of preservation, which is the case of the Al-Mubarakiya design. Because of this, many historic buildings across Kuwait have already been altered by improper restorations, such as the American Hospital, Great Mosque, and houses in the Um Sadah area, Murad added. WUHAN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province saw its foreign trade exceed 290.91 billion yuan (about 43.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 18.4 percent, according to local customs. In the first half, the province's exports rose 27.9 percent year on year to 193.66 billion yuan, while imports increased 3.2 percent to 97.25 billion yuan, data from Wuhan Customs shows. During the period, exports of high-tech products reached 62.46 billion yuan, approximately one-third of the province's total export volume. Exports of laser equipment surged 59.9 percent year on year, with a total value of 320 million yuan. Hubei's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), its largest trading partner, topped 43.11 billion yuan in the first half of the year, accounting for 14.8 percent of the province's total. Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are the three ASEAN members with the highest trade volumes with Hubei, respectively occupying 24.2 percent, 19.1 percent and 15.7 percent of the province's total trade with the ASEAN. North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski attends a session of the parliament, in Skopje, North Macedonia, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia's parliament on Saturday voted to approve the conclusions on French proposal presented by the ruling majority on the negotiating framework for opening the European Union (EU) accession talks. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua) SKOPJE, July 16 (Xinhua) -- North Macedonia's parliament on Saturday voted to approve the conclusions on French proposal presented by the ruling majority on the negotiating framework for opening the European Union (EU) accession talks. Sixty-eight out of 120 Members of the Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of the draft conclusions submitted to the parliament by the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) parties, while opposition MPs did not participate in the vote. The parliament session resumed on Saturday for the third day in a row during which MPs held heated debates on the negotiating framework for North Macedonia proposed by the French EU presidency on June 30 to resolve conflicts with Bulgaria. The conclusions give clear directions to the government on what to negotiate during the process of accession to the EU, demanding unconditional respect to the identity, language, cultural and historical characteristics of the people of North Macedonia. Addressing the parliament of North Macedonia on Thursday, visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that should the lawmakers endorse the French proposal, the EU would be able to launch accession negotiations for North Macedonia "as soon as next week." Bulgaria has been blocking North Macedonia's efforts to join the EU and vetoed the country's EU integration bid, demanding its acceptance that the language of North Macedonia is derived from Bulgarian and urging the country to recognize the Bulgarian minority there. However, on June 24 Bulgaria decided to lift its two-year veto on North Macedonia's EU membership bid, making it possible for the country to start EU accession talks. The approval of the conclusions on the French proposal, which was presented by France's President Emmanuel Macron, enables the launch of the EU membership accession negotiations, not only for Skopje but also for Tirana. North Macedonia and neighboring Albania have been waiting since March 2020 to hold their first intergovernmental meetings with the EU. North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski holds a press conference after voting on French proposal at the parliament in Skopje, North Macedonia, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia's parliament on Saturday voted to approve the conclusions on French proposal presented by the ruling majority on the negotiating framework for opening the European Union (EU) accession talks. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua) North Macedonia's lawmakers display flags of North Macedonia and EU after voting on French proposal in the Parliament in Skopje, North Macedonia, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia's parliament on Saturday voted to approve the conclusions on French proposal presented by the ruling majority on the negotiating framework for opening the European Union (EU) accession talks. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua) KABUL, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan Bahadur Aminian called on Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban-run administration on Saturday, with the two sides exchanging views on issues including bilateral cooperation. During the meeting, they discussed topics including Afghan refugees living in Iran, prisoners, anti-drug efforts and border issues as well as trade and economic cooperation, deputy spokesman for the caretaker government's foreign ministry Hafiz Zia Ahmad tweeted on Sunday. The Iranian ambassador said peace and stability in Afghanistan is in the interests of the region, Ahmad tweeted. The meeting came after a reported exchange of fire between border forces of the two neighboring countries a couple of days ago. A medical worker injects a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine for an 86-year-old citizen at Aoyuncun Subdistrict in Chaoyang District, Beijing, capital of China, July 13, 2022.(Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 106 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 53 in Gansu, 21 in Guangdong, and nine in Guangxi, the National Health Commission said Sunday. Altogether 474 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified in 12 provincial-level regions on Saturday, of which 235 were in Guangxi. A total of 94 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the Chinese mainland on Saturday, said the commission. The total number of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals after recovery reached 220,971 on the Chinese mainland as of Saturday. Saturday saw no new deaths from COVID-19, with the total death toll at 5,226. DHAKA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Installation of rail tracks on the lower deck of Bangladesh's Padma Bridge built by a Chinese enterprise is expected to start from next week. Bangladeshi Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan made the announcement on Friday. The 172-km Padma Bridge Rail Link Project is also one of the most significant projects under construction by the China Railway Group Limited (CREC) in Bangladesh. The rail link will pass through the bridge, the largest of its kind in Bangladesh, which was built by the China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co, Ltd. The Padma Bridge is located about 40 kilometers southwest of Dhaka, with a total length of 9.8 kilometers, and of that, the main bridge is 6.15 kilometers long. The history of crossing the mighty Padma river between dozens of districts in southern Bangladesh and the capital of Dhaka only by ferries or boats ended last month as the bridge opened to traffic. After visiting the rail link's Mawa station on the outskirts of Dhaka, the minister said, "We expect that the installation of rail tracks on the lower deck of Padma bridge will start from next week." He said it will be possible to run trains on one of the Rail Link Project's three sections -- Dhaka to Bhanga in central Faridpur district for some 81 kilometers by June 2023. The rail link, also a vital channel that connects the trans-Asian railway network, is expected to greatly promote regional connectivity and economic development of Bangladesh. * Since the beginning of this year, global auto companies including Audi, BMW and Volkswagen have accelerated their expansion in China, launching a number of large new energy vehicle (NEV) and other projects. * Thanks to the effective containment of COVID-19 resurgences and strong policy stimulus, China's auto sales regained strong momentum in June after declining for three consecutive months. * In June, a total of 2.5 million vehicles were sold, up 23.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). CHANGCHUN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The 19th China Changchun International Auto Expo that kicked off on Friday in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, has attracted tens of thousands of automobile enthusiasts. A total of 155 domestic and foreign automobile brands and 128 enterprises are vying for customers' attention with their latest models, technology and services. An electric vehicle is displayed at the booth of the FAW-Volkswagen during the 19th China (Changchun) International Automobile Expo in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, July 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) The expo opened at a time when China's automobile market is recovering from a COVID-induced slump earlier this year. It serves as a platform for automakers from home and abroad to seek new opportunities in the world's largest auto market. The 10-day auto expo, covering a total exhibition area of 200,000 square meters, has nine indoor exhibition halls and four outdoor exhibition areas. As of 10 a.m. Sunday, more than 26,000 consumers visited the auto show, according to its organizing committee. GROWING GLOBAL INVESTMENT FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd. displayed 15 vehicles spanning 13 models at the expo. Xu Jianxin, a sales manager with the company, said that despite the impact of the epidemic, mid- and high-end models have seen steady growth in sales during the event. The FAW Audi booth has 21 models displayed at the expo, drawing widespread attention of car enthusiasts. Meanwhile, 20 car models have been put on display in the Mercedes-Benz exhibition area. In June, the joint venture of Mercedes-Benz and BAIC Group in Beijing saw the 4 millionth complete vehicle roll off the production line. Arno van der Merwe, president and CEO of Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. said the joint venture has learned from the advanced manufacturing system and technology of German factories and also fed back its own innovative technology and experience to the German factories. Since the beginning of this year, global auto companies including Audi, BMW and Volkswagen have accelerated their expansion in China, launching a number of large new energy vehicle (NEV) and other projects. The Audi FAW NEV project, with an investment of over 30 billion yuan (about 4.44 billion U.S. dollars), broke ground on June 28 in Changchun. This is Audi's first production base specifically for purely electric vehicles in China and is expected to go into operation at the end of 2024, with a planned annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a groundbreaking ceremony of an Audi FAW NEV project in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. (Audi FAW/Handout via Xinhua) Volkswagen Group China is also accelerating the process of vehicle electrification. Volkswagen Anhui recently began working on a new project for manufacturing auto parts, with an investment of 130 million yuan. Located in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, the project has a planned construction area of around 31,000 square meters. Upon completion, it will provide auto parts including seats and accessories for NEVs produced by Volkswagen Anhui. On May 10, Volkswagen Group China announced to establish a new digital sales and services company in Hefei. The new company is expected to complete Volkswagen Anhui's entire value chain in terms of manufacturing, R&D, testing, marketing, and customer services. RECOVERING MOMENTUM OF AUTO MARKET China is the world's largest automobile market. In 2021, retail sales of automobiles and related products accounted for 9.9 percent of the country's retail sales of consumer goods. Thanks to the effective containment of COVID-19 resurgences and strong policy stimulus, China's auto sales regained strong momentum in June after declining for three consecutive months. BMW i3 electric cars are pictured during the inauguration ceremony of Plant Lydia of BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) in Tiexi District of Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, June 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Yang Qing) In June, a total of 2.5 million vehicles were sold, up 23.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The automobile association expects steady growth for the entire year and has predicted annual vehicle sales to reach 27 million units, up 3 percent year on year. June's NEV sales hit a record high of 596,000 units, jumping 1.3 times from the same month of last year and accounting for 23.8 percent of the entire auto sales, CAAM data showed. In the NEV sector, Chinese brands have leaped to the forefront of the market and even outperformed joint venture enterprises in certain technical fields. Han Zhuoxuan, a salesperson with China's leading NEV manufacturer BYD, deemed NEVs the new trend and fashion. "Consumers are eager to learn more about and try out new NEV models." (Video reporters: Jiang Mingming, Wei Meng; Video editors: Ma Ruxuan, Zhu Jianhui, Zhao Yuchao) JERUSALEM, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel's flag carrier El Al has submitted an official request to fly through Saudi Arabia's airspace, Israeli media reported Sunday. The request was filed to the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia, a senior official at the airline confirmed to Xinhua. The requested flight, which connects Israel and Thailand and currently takes about 11 hours one way, is expected to be shortened by up to two hours once rerouted. Saudi Arabia on Friday decided to open its airspace to all carriers that meet the authority's requirements for overflying. Israeli airlines had been banned by Saudi Arabia from flying over the kingdom's airspace, making flights between Israel and Asia longer and costlier. BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Sunday continued to issue a yellow alert for high temperatures as intense heat waves linger in many regions of the country. During daylight hours on Sunday, parts of Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Hubei and other areas are expected to experience temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center said. Temperatures in parts of Shaanxi and Zhejiang may surpass 40 degrees Celsius, the center said. The center advised against outdoor activities during high-temperature periods in the afternoon and suggested workers exposed to high temperatures or who need to work for a long time outdoors take necessary protective measures. China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. The Azadi Tower is illuminated in Tehran, Iran, on Jan 1, 2021, during a ceremony on the occasion of first anniversary of death of Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua) Over the past 11 months, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's good-neighborliness "dynamic diplomacy" and "Look to the East" policy have minimized impacts of intensified U.S.-led Western sanctions. TEHRAN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden's first Middle East tour meant to rally support to counter what he called "Iranian threats" is most likely to see a watered-down achievement, given Iran's sustained efforts to improve relations with neighbors and other countries in the region, analysts said. A handful of Iranian media outlets recently reviewed the track record of Iran's foreign policy under the current administration that has put regional countries on top of its priorities, finding some fruitful outcomes in fixing Iran's strained ties with regional powers such as Saudi Arabia. WEST NO LONGER PRIORITY Since the first day of his administration, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been focusing on developing ties with, firstly, neighbors and regional countries and, secondly, Asian and other countries. "As widely confirmed by experts, Iran's neighbors offer considerable capacities for exchanges in the economy, energy, transit and trade sectors," the semi-official Tasnim News Agency wrote in a recent analysis on Raisi's approach. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) welcomes his visiting Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Tehran, Iran, July 6, 2022. (Iranian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Xinhua) The most important strategy Raisi has pursued is to go beyond the "unwritten" convention of limiting Iran's foreign policy to the interactions with the West, Khabaronline news website wrote in an opinion piece on the 11-month performance of the Raisi administration. Instead, "he and his team have constantly taken major steps toward opening new chapters in bilateral ties with neighbors and regional states and clearing up the misunderstandings," the website wrote. The Raisi administration managed to prepare all the ground for Iran to get full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in a bid to enjoy the abundant opportunities the transnational group can offer, it added. NEUTRALIZATION OF SANCTIONS Tasnim said the Raisi administration has made "diverse achievements" in diplomacy, such as a 400-percent increase in transactions with Tajikistan, expansion of strategic relations with Russia, and expressing willingness for cooperation with BRICS and other regional and international organizations. Raisi has sought to minimize the impacts of intensified U.S.-led Western sanctions on his country with such a "dynamic diplomacy" and by adopting a "Look to the East" policy, among other efforts, semi-official Fars News Agency said in a recent article. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (R) meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at the Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022. (Saudi Press Agency/Handout via Xinhua) Iran has been a target of U.S. coercive measures over the past four decades, especially since May 2018 when then U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of a 2015 nuclear deal and intensified sanctions on Iran. However, the rise in vaccine imports and oil sales, Iran's more active and influential role in the region, and its increased interactions with the rest of the world are all evidence of the positive outcomes of Tehran's approach against such sanctions, the Fars article noted. In line with its policy of boosting ties with neighbors and regional countries, the Raisi administration revived Iran's relations with the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), an Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization, and had an active presence in the 15th ECO Summit hosted by Turkmenistan last November, where Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan signed a gas swap deal that helped resolve Iran's gas dispute with Azerbaijan, Khabaronline said. Abbas Moqtadaei, vice chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament, told official news agency IRNA that the Raisi administration's good-neighborliness approach will open up new cooperation potential in economy, trade and politics. EFFORTS BEARING FRUIT Over the past years, Iran's strained ties with some regional countries allowed the United States sufficient room to pressure Iran through sanctions and isolation policy, analysts said. But under Raisi, Tehran managed to revive or, at least, began to mend some of its strained relations, Khabaronline wrote. "One of the measures taken by the Raisi administration was to start a new round of Iraq-brokered normalization talks with Saudi Arabia," as Tehran-Riyadh tensions in recent years are among the most challenging problems to solve in the region, according to Khabaronline. Director General of Kuwait's Environment Public Authority Sheikh Abdullah Al-Humoud Al-Sabah (1st R, Front) and Ali Salajegheh (2nd R, Front), visiting Iranian vice-president and head of the Department of Environment, attend a signing ceremony in Al-Asimah Governorate, Kuwait, on July 5, 2022. (Photo by Ghazy/Xinhua) Iran and other Arab states have also seen frequent mutual visits over the last few months, Tehran Times said, adding that Raisi has travelled to many countries, including Oman and Qatar, in a bid to advance the country's foreign policy goals. Official voices from countries with strained relations with Iran, including those that came during Biden's first trip to the Middle East, have shown that the Raisi administration's diplomatic efforts are gradually coming to fruition. Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) president, told reporters on Friday that the UAE is working to send an ambassador to Tehran in thawing relations. "We are open to cooperation, but not cooperation targeting any other country in the region and I specifically mention Iran," he said. NEW DELHI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The fear of African Swine Fever has gripped the Dibrugarh district of India's north-eastern state Assam, after 21 pigs died of the disease during the last month, confirmed a veterinary doctor to Xinhua over phone on Sunday. "After 21 pigs had died last month, a few samples were sent for medical examination at a lab and the disease was confirmed. All the pigs that had died last month belonged to the same poultry farm located in a village. We alerted all areas in the immediate vicinity, and called for culling of the pigs suffering from the disease," said Dibrugarh Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Officer Dr. Himandu Bikash Barua. Quoting experts, media reports said that the African Swine Fever does not infect, or spread to humans even though it is deadly and highly contagious for pigs. Since the disease is highly communicable and has no vaccine, the state government has urged local residents to avoid eating pork, said a media report. NEW DELHI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Another Indian aircraft made an emergency landing in a foreign country over the past 24 hours, media reported on Sunday. An Air India Express flight from India's southern city of Calicut to the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Dubai was diverted to Oman's capital Muscat after a burning smell emerged in the cabin. Post-landing engineering inspections were carried out on the aircraft and the engines, but no fumes or smoke were observed and the flight took off for its onward journey to Dubai, the reports said. This was the second Indian aircraft to make an emergency landing in a foreign country over the past 24 hours. Earlier, private airline IndiGo's flight from Sharjah in the UAE to India's southern city of Hyderabad was diverted to Pakistan's Karachi airport after it developed a technical snag. Incidents of technical glitches and smoke emerging inside the cabin have been on the rise in Indian airlines' flights over the past few weeks. ATHENS, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek authorities are on alert after a Ukrainian cargo airplane crashed near Kavala city in northern Greece on Saturday evening, which killed all eight crew members on board. Residents of nearby communities were asked to stay indoors, according to an e-mailed press release from the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. Disaster personnel will search the crash site for dangerous wreckage, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported. Earlier, Greece's General Secretariat of Civil Protection advised residents to close their windows and doors due to toxic fumes after the aircraft crashed. The Antonov An-12 plane had departed from Nis, Serbia, and was on route to Jordan and then Riyadh with the final destination of Bangladesh, carrying around 11 tons of weapons, particularly landmines, Serbia's Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said at a news conference on Sunday. The minister said that eight crew members on board, all Ukrainian nationals, were killed. A local prosecutor has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident, according to ERT. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko confirmed the crash on Sunday, saying that the preliminary investigation found a failure in one of the plane's engines, which likely caused the crash. The aircraft's pilot had requested permission for an emergency landing and notified Greek authorities of a failure in one of the engines, according to the report. An unidentified white substance on the site irritated the eyes and mouth of firefighters. Two of them have been transferred to a local hospital with respiratory problems, Marios Apostolidis, a fire service officer, told ERT. Eyewitnesses saw a plane engulfed in flames crash into a corn field some 500 meters away from a residential area, according to the reports. Explosions followed. Electricity supplies in communities near the crash site were briefly interrupted as the plane damaged cables before crashing. Kiev has set up an operational headquarters at the Consulate of Ukraine in the second largest Greek city of Thessaloniki after the accident, spokesman Nikolenko said, adding that representatives of the Ukrainian consulate have already arrived at the crash site. EU: The European Union will hold high-level trade talks with China on Tuesday, just before the summer recession hits Brussels. The 27-member bloc has been trying to arrange these talks for more than three months. The virtual meeting, which will also include representatives from the ministries of trade and economics of the two countries, will be co-chaired by Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He and European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrowski. According to a representative of the European Commission, it will cover a range of global economic challenges, including concerns about food security and energy prices, supply chains, financial services and bilateral trade and investment. The representative said the talks are taking place "against the backdrop of the war in Europe and the growing uncertainties in the outlook for the global economy." The last high-level meeting between the EU and China was a virtual summit in April, which failed because the EU was unable to secure any guarantees from China that it would not support Russia's war against Ukraine, either economically or militarily. . However, both sides agreed to speak once again "to find specific ways to move forward on these issues before the summer". Brussels continued to pressure Beijing to set a deadline, but China was slow to respond. The German Marshall Fund of the United States' Noah Barkin, a Berlin-based analyst of relations between Europe and China, suggested that Beijing was trying to get used to its new relationship with Europe because of the slow response. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the second quarter of the year saw a 0.4% increase in economic growth in China, down from the 4.8% growth in the first quarter. The upcoming trade talks are being viewed with optimism by the China Chamber of Commerce for the European Union (CCCEU). The Chinese business community said the talks would help the two sides go on their economic and trade agendas to identify areas of cooperation as well as manage disagreements or disputes that undermine mutual trust. A Jackie Chan produced film shoot brings life back to a war torn Syrian town Military drills are a sign of Beijing's increasingly aggressive stance toward Taiwan Deals between South Korea and China and Russia have been derailed after new administration's policy shift towards US Beijing: French luxury brand Dior received criticism in China. After releasing a skirt that was dubbed the "Hallmark Silhouette" and claimed to be similar to an item of ancient Chinese clothing. The skirt and reportedly Dior silhouette of the Chinese horse are very similar. Why is it explicitly referred to as a "new design" and a "Hallmark Dior silhouette" when many of the details are the same? People.cn, the online home of the People's Daily, the propaganda arm of the Communist Party, featured in an opinion piece. A commentary was posted on Chinese social media site Weibo on Saturday with the hashtag "cultural appropriation" alleging the unauthorized adoption of foreign cultural elements. During the Ming (13681644) and Qing (16441911) dynasties women often wore a skirt with a Chinese horse face, or ma mian kun. It has its origins in the 10th century Song dynasty. When wrapped, the wraparound garment consists of a fabric with pleats on both sides. Although its name refers to the ancient Chinese defensive structures that straddled the city walls, it has four slits down its sides that make it suitable for riding horses rather than animals. The article on People.cn urged Dyer to address the debate and provide clarification on its design, which "stimulated public opinion, raised questions among netizens, and continued to ferment." Dior must respond to the concerns of [Chinese] netizens as quickly as possible. This will demonstrate that globally recognized businesses [such as Dior] are accountable for their corporate culture and respect the world's rich history and cultural heritage , it added. For feedback, we contacted Dior. The skirt is still available at physical Dior stores in the city for HK$30,000 (US$3,820), but it is no longer listed on the company's website for mainland China and was marked as "sold out" on the Hong Kong site . French fashion houses were first interested in horse-faced skirts, but with the proper attribute for inspiration. The 2010 Chanel Paris-Shanghai collection featured a horse-faced short skirt and was influenced by aspects of Chinese culture. Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana was forced to postpone a high-profile fashion show in Shanghai in 2019 after a video of a Chinese model using chopsticks to eat Italian food went viral. Social media users criticized the video for its depiction of women, which they found derogatory and derogatory. Last year, Chinese consumers also had H&M and Nike, but not for design-related reasons. Both businesses faced criticism after they pledged to avoid cotton from the Xinjiang region of far-western China due to claims of forced labor involving a predominantly Muslim Uighur population. Chinas home prices generally stable in June China, Nepal activate existing boundary mechanisms Chinese diplomat turns to Africa in response to western allure BEIJING: China has taken a more aggressive military stance toward Taiwan holding more battle-ready exercises near the self-ruled island since the beginning of the year, according to Mainland analysts. On 8 July, the Chinese Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army conducted several large-scale joint battle-preparation exercises in the waters and airspace surrounding Taiwan. While no details were given about the exercise Eastern Theater Command spokesman Xi Yi told reporters that the command is on high alert and has increased military training to prepare for combat. The exercise took place in conjunction with US Senator Rick Scott's visit to Taiwan, during which he met key Taiwanese leaders, including President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang. A further two Chinese war-preparation exercises were conducted in April and May, around the time that American politicians visited the island. In late May, US Senator Tammy Duckworth made a three-day visit to Taiwan, where she met with the Taiwanese president and reiterated America's support. In mid-April, six US lawmakers made an unannounced visit to the island. The Chinese military condemned the visits, saying they put Taiwan in danger. Beijing has also increased regular military exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan, holding three large-scale exercises in May alone. According to Ridzwan Rahmat, principal defense analyst at global intelligence firm Jens Chinese military operations have not only increased in frequency but have also involved a wide range of military weapons and assets. These operations have progressed from regular constabulary patrols to more expeditionary missions. In other words China is not only building up its forces to defend Taiwan but attacking a potential adversary before it can even reach the disputed island," Rahmat explained. According to Rahmat, there has also been an increase in China's operations in and around the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines. From China's point of view, it is important that this waterway remains unobstructed and free of hostile submarines during the war." Former Chinese military instructor Song Zhongping said the Chinese military needed to increase the frequency and intensity of exercises to strengthen its power and prepare for a real conflict. I believe that if Taiwan moves closer to the US, future exercises will grow in size and intensity," Song said. "It is a natural response to years of practice by China in the region, as well as Beijing's." A practical way to strengthen your strength. prevention capability." However, Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at US think tank RAND, said he does not see any significant change in Chinese military posture or exercises involving Taiwan. Everything appears to be normal referring to the island's air defense detection area. Chinese flights more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, reaching an average of 2.6 flights per day. Chinese diplomat turns to Africa in response to western allure Why China, unlike Russia, will not comment on Central Asian civil unrest Military talks between India and China will take place on July 17 BEIJING: The past month has been a busy one for Chinese diplomacy in Africa, with senior officials visiting the continent on dozens of occasions to resolve disputes, strengthen ties and most recently respond to an onslaught of Western attractions. The Chinese government's special representative on African affairs Xu Jinggu on Wednesday promised Burundian President Evariste Nadishimi that China would continue to strengthen bilateral ties with the East African nation in priority areas such as agriculture, health and infrastructure. Ndayishimiye said China "has stood by our side for years, especially during difficult times," and Xu said Beijing will always support Burundi's economic and social development. China has sent agricultural scientists to Burundi to improve food production and has given scholarships to Burundi students. Xu will also visit Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles during her eight-nation tour. She is visiting Africa just days after senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi's visits to Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Wu Peng, director general of the Department of African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo last month. Xu Bing, China's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, was also in Addis Ababa in June for the first Horn of Africa peace conference, which was sponsored by China. According to observers, the high-level visits are intended to address hotspot issues, particularly the ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions, as well as respond to the West's challenge to the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa have to give. According to Zhou Yuyuan, a senior research fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies' Center for West Asian and African Studies, the specific role of a special representative on African affairs is political mediation. "I believe one of its important missions is to examine China's contribution to solving Africa's hotspot issues," he said. "Ties between the Great Lakes countries are strained, with relations between the DRC and Rwanda particularly strained." Rwanda and Congo have both accused each other of launching rockets across their shared border. Congolese officials also claimed that Rwanda had deployed disguised troops in its territory. As a result, it makes sense to choose the Great Lakes region," Zhou explained. "Perhaps the most important reason is that Xu speaks French, which means official visits to French-speaking countries will largely depend on that." According to Tim Zajontz, a research fellow at the Center for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, Xu's stay in Kinshasa was interpreted as a sign of goodwill toward resolving long-running disputes between Chinese mining companies and the Congolese government. as can be done. He believes that the frequency with which high-level Chinese officials have visited the Indian Ocean island nations of Africa in recent years is the highest. "Mauritius, Seychelles and even Madagascar play a minor economic role for China," Zontz explained. "However, they are important geo-strategic assets for China's efforts to strengthen its presence in the Indian Ocean as part of the Maritime Silk Road." While senior Chinese officials visit some African countries more often than others, "China focuses on ensuring that all countries, with the exception of the equestrians that recognize Taipei, are included on the schedule," said George Washington. University professor David Shin said. Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington. As a result, countries with strong ties to China, such as South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Senegal, Congo and Namibia, receive high numbers of high-level visitors. These include mineral rich countries like Congo and Zambia. Congo sells most of its copper and cobalt to China, and copper-rich Zambia has attracted Chinese investment in mining and infrastructure. During Wu's recent visit to Zambia, the debt crisis was at the top of the agenda. He told a news conference in Lusaka that he was in Zambia to help coordinate China's response to the country's debt crisis, which saw it default on some dollar-denominated Eurobonds. However, countries of lesser importance to China, such as Malawi, Burkina Faso, Togo and Burundi, are sometimes included according to the Shin. On occasion, senior officials visit due to a special event such as an independence festival or a serious problem that requires high-level attention, he explained. According to Yang, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Freiburg in Germany, China's second most powerful foreign policy maker after President Xi Jinping, so his visits are of "special diplomatic importance". He stated that Chinese investment has flourished in Zimbabwe under Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was trained in China during the liberation struggle. Chinese firms recently purchased additional lithium mines in Zimbabwe and now operate Africa's largest steel plant south of the capital, Harare. "One could argue that Zimbabwe is becoming the new Zambia for Beijing," Zajontz said, referring to Harare's decision to open the country's doors to Chinese investors. He explained that the fact that Mozambique will take up a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in January influenced Yang's decision to visit Maputo. He stated that China has a wide range of economic interests in Mozambique, including energy, mining, and agriculture, and that the Mozambican government used the visit to ask Yang for assistance in rehabilitating the country's 2,000km (1,200-mile) north-south EN1 highway. Yang's trips to Africa, according to Zhou, were more political in nature, and he went on behalf of top Chinese leaders. As the highest-ranking official in charge of diplomacy, Yang pays nearly yearly visits to African countries," he said. This demonstrates China's regard for Africa and developing countries. For example, the European Union-African Union Summit in February demonstrated that the EU is increasing its engagement with and investment in Africa. High-ranking officials from the US departments of state and commerce have recently visited Africa, and the second US-Africa leaders' summit will take place later this year. Next month, Japan will host the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tunisia. It means that the major countries are giving Africa more importance, which will lead to closer interactions," Zhou explained. "I believe that if new commitments, investments, and financing increase, this could benefit African countries. The increasing frequency of visits by high-level Chinese officials across the continent, according to Zajontz, must be viewed in the context of a recent Western charm offensive in Africa, which included pledges to provide alternative infrastructure and development projects to those offered under China's Belt and Road Initiative. It is clear that Chinese and Western leaders are engaged in an increasingly competitive contest for political influence in African capitals, while there is a scramble for strategic minerals and markets in Africa. Why China, unlike Russia, will not comment on Central Asian civil unrest Military talks between India and China will take place on July 17 Chinas home prices generally stable in June South Africa: Condolences pour in for Duarte Messages of condolences continue to pour in for the late struggle stalwart and ANC Deputy Secretary General, Yasmin Jessie Duarte, who succumbed to a battle with cancer in the early hours of Sunday morning. Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, has described Duartes passing as a sad loss for the country and the political system in South Africa. We wish to send our deepest condolences to her family and to ask that the almighty receives her with mercy and grace. She made an immense contribution as a freedom fighter, a leader within the liberation movement and as a woman who fought for freedom in particular for the rights of women and for diversity in South Africa. May her gracious soul rest in peace, Pandor said. Taking to twitter, Deputy President David Mabuza said that the country is poorer without the late Struggle stalwart. Today we woke to the news of the sad passing of our dear comrade and sister in struggle, Jessie Duarte. We bow our heads to salute her immense contribution to the struggle for freedom, as well as her dedication to building a democratic South Africa. We are poorer without her, the Deputy President said. Gauteng Premier David Makhura said that the Gauteng Provincial Government is deeply saddened by the passing of Gauteng's first MEC for Safety and Security, Jessie Duarte. Duarte was elected to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 1994 as part of the first contingent of ANC public representatives who charted the way in building the institutions of our new democratic dispensation. "We owe a great debt of gratitude to Ms Jessie Duarte and her generation of public representatives and public officials who played a pioneering role in setting up the democratic institutions of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and Gauteng Provincial Government," Premier Makhura said. On behalf of the Provincial Government and the people of Gauteng, Makhura expressed his heartfelt and deepest condolences to the Duarte and Dangor families, friends and comrades of Duarte. The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has also conveyed its condolences to the Duarte and Dangor family on the loss of their daughter, mother and grandmother. SALGA hailed Duarte as an activist who fought in the forefront for the liberation of the African people. Her contribution as an anti-apartheid activist and a gender activist contributed to the attainment of democratic South Africa and her passing is a huge loss for South Africa. On behalf of the Local Government, SALGA honours her life, which she dedicated to the emancipation of the people of South Africa. A fearless and gallant fighter of our time, Duarte was a real servant, SALGA said. Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Director-General, Phumla Williams, has also sent her condolences to the Duarte and Dangor family. Deepest condolences to the Duarte and Dangor family on the passing away of Jessie Duarte, Williams posted on twitter. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said that Duartes caring, revolutionary and tenacious spirit will live on. Fare yee well ANC DSG Jessie Duarte. You have fought a good fight and run a good race in the service of the Almighty and our people. Condolences to the family, the Minister posted on his twitter account. Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, has also sent her condolences to the family, saying that Duarte fought a good fight. At the time of her untimely passing Daurte served as the Deputy Secretary General and Acting Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was a member of its National Executive Committee, a role she occupied since 1997. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2022-07-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Seoul: An apparent change in the external economic policy of South Korea's new government has stalled several efforts launched by administrations in Russia and China. While the change reflects emerging circumstances such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The sudden sea change accompanied by a change of leadership has come at the cost of increased government funding, time and effort. Under the Moon Jae-previous administration, an ambitious plan was drawn up to build power grids spanning South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and Mongolia. The plan was for Northeast Asian countries with high energy demands to be able to access wind and solar power, as well as natural gas, from the resource-rich eastern parts of Siberia and Mongolia. The prospects were discussed at the 2017 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, attended by Russian, South Korean, Japanese and Mongolian heads of state. The plan was supported by both the demand and supply sides as it met their needs. South Korean and Chinese officials also met to discuss the possibility of economic cooperation with China's northeastern province of Liaoning, which borders North Korea. It was part of Moon's "New Northern Policy", which sought stronger economic ties with Russia, Central Asian countries and north-eastern China. According to the Government Policy website, the previous administration established a Presidential Committee for the Initiative in 2017, which aimed to lay the groundwork for cooperation with North Korea and Russia on logistics, the prospect of a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic discover. Union (EAEU), and examining opportunities in China's overseas infrastructure project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative. The EAEU is included in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. As the Moon administration's relations with North Korea deteriorated, such plans were put on hold. However, they are now completely derailed due to the administration of Eun Suk-yol, which takes a harsh stance towards North Korea. The outbreak of the Kremlin-led war in Ukraine in March as well as Korea's adoption of sanctions against Russia all played a part. The Northeast Asia power-grid plan certainly lost its campaign," a South Korean government source told the Post, while also acknowledging that policy changes are inevitable given the five-year term of Korea's president. Events were also held to examine the role of Korean businesses.China's Greater Bay Area Initiative, which aims to create an integrated economic and business center with Hong Kong, Macau and nine southern Chinese cities. Such forms of cooperation have lost traction as a result of the Yun administration's intentions to strengthen ties with the United States and its allies, as the rivalry between the world's two largest economies shows no signs of diminishing. This policy shift towards the United States has also naturally resulted in economic policy alignment. Korea has joined US-led initiatives such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the Minerals Security Partnership, which aim to reduce dependence on China for key resources and commodities through the development of alternative supply chains. The Yun administration is now striving to strengthen economic ties with Europe and Australia to diversify trade from China, Korea's biggest trading partner, which will account for 25% of the country's exports in 2021. Yoon met with various heads of European states during his visit to Spain for a NATO meeting to boost Korea's chip-making and nuclear power capabilities, as well as the country's defense industry and green-energy sector. Choi Sang-mook, the president's secretary of economic affairs, drew attention to his remarks at a press briefing on the sidelines of the NATO meeting, reflecting the government's stance towards China. "The era of rapidly increasing exports through China in the last 20 years is coming to an end." There is a need for substitute markets and diversification. Saudi Arabian leaders meet with Biden over bilateral ties US Liable for $2 Trillion in Global Economic Damage from Climate Change-Driven Pollution Food, fuel crisis focuses at West Asia Quad summit: US Europe: As a heatwave shows no signs of easing, thousands of firefighters are still fighting wildfires in Portugal, Spain, and France. Portugal- according to Portuguese authorities the pilot of a waterbombing aircraft in northern Portugal crashed and Died in the Foz Coa region, not far from the Spanish border. at least 238 heat-related deaths have been occured from last week The Portuguese pilot who perished was operating a Fire Boss amphibious aircraft by himself. The areas of Portugal most prone to fire are to the north and east of Porto. This year, fires have destroyed 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) of land, which is the largest area since the devastating fires that struck Portugal in the summer of 2017 and resulted in about 100 fatalities. Spanish farmer Gemma Suarez, who was taken away from Casas de Miravete, sobbed as she told Reuters: "What a night. We didn't get any sleep last night. "I was visited by a social worker who wanted to pick up my elderly uncle. We stayed the night in Navalmoral, but we got absolutely no rest. I've never witnessed a fire this size. France- Over 12,000 people have been evacuated from the Gironde region in southwest France as fires rage through the area. Due to human-induced climate change, heatwaves are now more frequent, more intense, and last longer. Since the start of the industrial era, the world has already warmed by about 1.1C, and temperatures will continue to rise unless governments drastically reduce carbon emissions. On Sunday, parts of France are expected to reach as high as 41 degrees, according to the French weather service, and Monday is expected to break previous heat records. 22 additional regional departments, mostly along the country's Atlantic coast, were placed on high orange alert late on Saturday. Spain- La Vanguardia reports that the heat wave that has been affecting Spain for several days straight has claimed the lives of at least 360 people. The record-breaking heat in the nation was blamed for 123 deaths on Friday alone. The town of Madrid reported 22 deaths out of the 360 total, and a 60-year-old municipal cleaner passed away on the job on Saturday. There were 15 heat-related deaths on July 10, the first day of the heat wave. Since then, there have been more people dying every day. By Wednesday, temperatures in some parts of the country had surpassed 40 degrees Celsius, bringing the daily death toll from the heat to 60. On Thursday, Madrid-Barajas airport recorded its highest temperature ever for the month of July, reaching 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 C). On Thursday, Spain reported 93 fatalities that were heat-related. Since Friday, July 8, the heat has been baking Portugal and Spain, with frequent highs of 100 F (38 C). One of the hottest places has been Seville, Spain, where temperatures have been at or above 105 F (41 C) for nine straight days. People are evacuated as a blazing heatwave in Europe started wildfires China, US and Europe are affected by dangerous heatwaves. New Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi over not being allowed to attend the World Cities Summit to be held in Singapore. He expressed displeasure through the letter, terming the Centre's behaviour as wrong. In fact, the Singapore government has invited the Delhi government for the World Cities Summit. Joining the summit, Kejriwal was to present the Delhi model in Singapore. But they have not yet received permission from the Central Government to go there. For almost a month, Kejriwal's file has been lying with the central government, but there has been no response. Now Kejriwal has written a letter to Prime Minister Modi asking him to be allowed to go to Singapore as soon as possible so that he can increase India's value on foreign soil. In his letter, Arvind Kejriwal wrote that the Delhi model has to be presented to many big leaders from all over the world in Singapore. Today the whole world wants to know about the Delhi model. This invitation from there is a matter of pride and honour for the country, but it is against the interest of the country to stop a Chief Minister from going to such an important forum. Nitish Kumar's big announcement, will support this candidate for vice-president's post 'Don't want a statue in Rashtrapati Bhavan..,' This leader's big statement on Draupadi Murmu Big blow to BJP in mayoral elections, know who is ahead? Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif celebrated her birthday on July 16. It was a very special day for her. In fact, this year she turned 39. Yes, and she has gone to the Maldives to celebrate this special occasion. She is accompanied by her husband Vicky Kaushal, brother-in-law Sunny Kaushal and her close friends. Yes, and now all the photos have come out. Katrina Kaif has shared several photos on her social media account. On the other hand, Vicky Kaushal has wished his wife Katrina Kaif on her birthday through social media. In fact, Katrina Kaif has shared some pictures on her Instagram account. In this, she is seen in the mood for fun. Katrina Kaif is seen looking at the camera in the first photo. You can see that in the second picture shared by Katrina Kaif, she is seen having fun with her girl gang. At the same time, Katrina Kaif and the rest of her friends all look very happy in the pictures. Along with this, in the third picture of Katrina Kaif, one of her friends has held her from behind. In this photo, you will see both of them. At the same time, in the fourth picture of Katrina Kaif, when she was posing with the girl gang, sunny Kaushal came forward and lay down and this photo also looks very good. On the other hand, Katrina's husband Vicky Kaushal has shared a photo of Katrina Kaif on her Instagram account. You can see Vicky Kaushal wishing her birthday with it and wrote in the caption, 'Baar Baar Din Ye Aaye... Baar Baar Dil Ye Gaaye. Happy Birthday My Love.' Along with this, he has also made heart emojis. In this way, Katrina's birthday was celebrated very specially. Sonam Kapoor's Baby Shower called off, Know why Sushmita Sens Father reacts to the news of the Actress dating Lalit Modi Review: Rajkumar's film 'HIT: The First Case' is full of suspense The Shantipur Multipurpose Agricultural Farm in Shantipur, Rajapur municipality-4 of the Bardiya district, has 36 farmers. Yet, it did not receive any fertiliser for the cultivation of mustard, wheat, and maize in the previous season. Buddhiratna Chalise, a farm employee, claims that as a result, winter production has dropped by 40 per cent. He informs Onlinekhabar over the phone, Our farm has been cultivating 45 bighas (around 300,000 square metres) of land. But, we could not get fertiliser even during the rice plantation season. We completed the plantation without using fertilisers on 35 bighas (around 237,00 square metres). This problem, however, is not limited to Rajapur for the last year also. The fertiliser crisis has been a regular phenomenon in Nepals agriculture sector for several years and it is unlikely to get solved anytime soon as the incompetent contractors get political backing. The same story everywhere The farmers plant rice in Shantipur, Rajapur municipality-4, Bardiya. They say a fertiliser crisis has impacted production. To solve the crisis, locals of Shantipur made some attempts to bring in Indian fertiliser, but they were also unsuccessful, according to Chalise. He claims the material is available after crossing the border, but it is expensive. Further, the strict border rules have tied local farmers hands. Sunsari in Province 1 is one of the highest rice-producing districts of Nepal. However, the farmers here are unsatisfied as they too have not been able to use the needed amount of fertiliser in their paddy field. Dilli Maya Sarki, a farmer from Bhelai, Sunbarshi municipality-3, shares her dissatisfaction, I cultivated crops without using fertiliser, and the production was less than anticipated. This year too, the same this is going to repeat. She questions, What is the use of working so hard in the field and there is no benefit at all? According to her, she has to pay Rs 2,000 for one sack of urea and Rs 3,500 for DPA if she has to purchase them from outside a governmental distributor, who could make them available for Rs 900 and Rs 2,300 respectively. More than 60 per cent of Nepalis are dependent on the agricultural sector and if this continues, it will affect Nepals economic aspect soon. Sushil Subedi, a rice cultivation expert says, the production of rice is going to fall by 25 per cent this year. The imbalanced supply Ministry of Agriculture This fiscal year, the government had set aside Rs 27 billion to import fertiliser. The Ministry of Agriculture assigned the fully state-owned Krishi Samagri Company Limited and the semi-government Salt Trading Corporation to import 400,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser. The ministry estimates that Nepal needs 1.2 million metric tonnes of urea, DAP, and potassium every year. However, the supply has never met the demand. According to the data from the ministry, only 200,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser have been made available, with many difficulties. Moreover, this year, there is a low probability of importing the same amount. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development spokesperson Prakash Sanjel, says that 42,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser would be available during this rainy season. He claims that there are 22,000 metric tonnes in stock and a further 20 metric tonnes are on the way. The then Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Mahendra Rai Yadav had informed the parliament that a contract had been signed for 2.5 million metric tonnes of fertiliser, but the contractors did not bring half of it. According to Punya Prasad Upadhyaya, information officer of the Krishi Samagri Company Ltd, this year, the company selected 12 contractors to bring the fertiliser, but five of them have not brought 150,000 metric tonnes. Entry of incompetent contractors Chemical fertiliser In the fiscal year 2019/20, the Ministry of Finance decided to impose a tax on agricultural commodity businesses. The tax was levied on agricultural commodity contracts. Foreigners participating in the contract were taxed at five per cent of the total contract and Nepalis at 1.5 per cent. According to the officials, this created a difference of 3.5 per cent in the tax rate between locals and foreigners, which became an opportunity for the local contractors to enter the contract to buy fertiliser and save their finances. They say the shortage began since then. In two years, eight out of 10 companies that did not bring fertiliser are Nepali companies. When a foreign company gets a contract worth Rs 1 billion, it has to pay five per cent tax on it. In comparison to them, Nepali companies could save Rs 35 million in the same contract. Due to this reason, incompetent Nepali companies are also competing for the contract, says an official of Krishi Samargi Company Ltd. Unfair political backing Within the last three years, eight Nepali companies got the contract to import fertiliser. Last year, there were three Nepali companies, which has increased to five this year. Meanwhile, those incompetent contractors who could not bring fertiliser and made the framer cry seem to have a strong political connection one way or another. According to a source at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Hum Nath Koirala, the owner of Hum Nath Koirala Honiko Multiple Pvt Ltd, which did not bring fertiliser last year, is a Nepali Congress leader. Another contractor, Sharada Prasad Adhikari, owner of Sailung Enterprises, is the landlord of CPN-Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Likewise, Muktinath Krishi Company Ltd was under the protection of CPN-UML Secretary Padma Kumari Aryal. Sources claim that Sonam Wangdi and Urgen Lama are connected to the representatives of the Nepali Congress leader Mohan Bahadur Basnet from Sindhupalchok and Uday Shamsher Rana from Lalitpur, respectively. Then, Bhim Kant Bhandari is considered close to Maoist leader Barshaman Pun. This year too, there are incompetent contractors who are getting protection from senior party leaders and ministers making them invincible though not fulfilling their assignments, says one of the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. On May 17, Krishi Samagri Company broke the contract and decided to seize the deposits of one of the failing contractors. However, officials say that the company got an interim order from the court. An interim order has been issued to suspend our action towards them. The court instead ordered us to work according to their demands, a ministry source says. The solution It has been three years since the Ministry of Agriculture announced to start importing chemical fertiliser from India through a G2G route, but the result is still zero. According to the announcement, 15,000 metric tonnes should have reached Nepal within this rainy season through the fast track. However, the officials from Krishi Samagri Company are sceptical about its arrival and say that is unlikely to happen this rainy season. According to Krishna Prasad Acharya, a former secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, importing chemical fertiliser is a complicated process due to internal reasons. He claims that one of the reasons is that the selected contractors lack international access and do not have any capacity to import. He says, Budget restrictions for the procurement of fertiliser should be eliminated and the amount to be brought by a company should be mentioned. And, only capable companies should be given the contract. He claims that if the government does not set up a system through which fertiliser can be purchased in the same way fuel is, the issue will always exist. This story was translated from the original Nepali version and edited for clarity and length. Home Business Fuel price revision unlikely in Nepal despite NOC receiving petrol, diesel at reduced rates Kathmandu, July 17 Despite the fuel price going down in the international market, Nepals state-run fuel distribution monopoly, Nepal Oil Corporation, is unlikely to make such changes in the domestic market. The corporation says it received revised rates for petrol and diesel from the Indian Oil Corporation on Saturday. According to this, the corporation receives a litre of petrol at Rs 15.60 cheaper and a litre of diesel at Rs 16 cheaper than previous prices. Yet, the corporation still incurs a loss of Rs 14 and Rs 22 in a litre of petrol and diesel respectively, informs the corporations spokesperson Binit Mani Upadhyaya. The price reduction in the international market is a relief for us. The corporation reducing its loss is also beneficial for the public, he says, Hence, theres no situation that we immediately reduce the fuel prices. According to him, the corporations monthly loss stands at Rs 4.32 billion currently. Realme GT Neo 3 has also been officially released in Nepal along with Realmes flagship, Realme GT 2 Pro. This is also the successor of last years release Realme GT Neo 2, which probably was the best premium mid-range smartphone. The launch of these two smartphones indicates that Realme is ready to compete against the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi in Nepal. Realme GT Neo 3 has a big shoe to fill as its predecessor GT Neo 2 was an instant hit among the people. The new model surely has some upgraded features over the old one and even offers some flagship-like features. It is lighter and thinner compared to the old model. The phone runs on a newer OS and also has a more efficient chipset. The improvement can be seen in the charger as well as it features the fastest charging system on a smartphone. There are many more exciting features on the phone. Lets get into the details to know what more Realme GT Neo 3 has to offer. Specifications Dimensions Height: 163.3 mm Width: 75.6 mm Thickness: 8.20 mm Weight: 188 grams Display 6.70-inch AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+ Sim Dual sims Resolution 1,080*2,412 pixels, 394 PPI density OS Android 12, Realme UI 3.0 Chipset MediaTek dimensity 8100 (5nm) GPU Mali-G610 MC6 Storage 256GB UFS 3.1 SD card Slot No RAM 12GB LPDDR5 Camera Front: 16 MP, f/2.5, HDR Rear: 50 MP, f/1.9, Multi-directional PDAF, OIS 8 MP, f/2.3, 119 degrees (ultrawide) 2 MP, f/2.4 (macro), Audio Super linear dual speakers Dual-mic noise cancellation Dolby Atmos audio certification Hi-Res audio certification No 3.5mm headphone jack Battery 4,500 mAh, li-po, non-removable 150W Fast charging Sensors Magnetic induction sensor Light sensor Proximity sensor Gyro-meter Acceleration sensor Hall sensor Ultra-fast in-display fingerprint sensor (supports heart rate test) 360 NFC Colours Sprint white, nitro blue Price Rs 77,999 Design and display Photo: realme Focus on speed, Realme GT Neo 3 features a racing stripe design on the back. The company claims that the design is an embodiment of speed and performance and is a reference to an epic rivalry between two automakers in one of the oldest endurance races during the 60s. The design surely offers a different feeling to the users. Photo: realme Realme GT Neo 3 features a glass front, a plastic frame and a glass back. The back of the phone is carved out of a piece of matte AG glass with a beautiful contour. Similarly, the smooth surface also helps in reducing glares and minimises fingerprints. There is a rounded, rectangular-shaped camera module on the back panel, which stands out of the panel and makes the phone wobble when placed on a rectangular surface. The phone weighs lightly at 188 grams and is 8.2mm thick. It is available in sprint white and nitro blue colours. Photo: realme On the front is a 6.70-inch centre punch-hole AMOLED display. It has a resolution of 1,080*2,412 pixels and 394 PPI density. The display also supports the HDR10+ feature for a more immersive viewing experience. Furthermore, the display also supports a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. The phone has an under-display optical fingerprint sensor for biometrics while there are no official IP ratings. Cameras Photo: realme Realme GT Neo 3 features a newly designed triple camera setup on the back. Though having a smaller resolution, the phone features a larger Sony IMX766 50MP camera sensor accompanied by an 8MP, 119 degrees FOV ultrawide and the infamous 2MP macro sensor. The main camera on the phone is paired with an f/1.9 aperture, multi-directional PDAF and OIS. On the front is a 16MP selfie shooter. The photography features on the phone include super nightscape, 50MP mode, professional mode, panoramic view, portrait mode, HDR, ultra-wide angle, text scanner, ultra macro, street photography mode, AI beauty, filters, AI scene recognition, and tilt-shift. Similarly, the main camera on Realme GT Neo 3 can record videos in 4K resolution up to 60fps while the front camera is limited to the 1,080p resolution only. It has videography features like auto video stabilisation, video bokeh, video beauty, video filters, slow motion, time-lapse, AI nightscape video, movie mode and dual-view video. The movie mode allows the users to play with stabilisation, shutter speed, ISO, exposure, focus, and white balance. Performance and memory Photo: realme Realme GT Neo 3 runs on Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12. The phone is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 8100 (5nm) chipset while the graphical duties are handled by Mali-G610 MC6. Focusing on the gaming community, this phone features Realmes GT Mode 3.0, which enhances the gaming performance of the phone. Also, the chipset on the phone allows for longer battery life and the users can enjoy prolonged gaming sessions. Similarly, there are also stainless steel vapour cooling system max features on the phone, which is 26% larger than its predecessors and reduces the temperature of core areas by up to 19 degrees Celcius. For the memory option, Realme GT Neo 3 is only available in a single variant of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The user does not have the option of expanding the storage on the phone through external sources. Battery life, connectivity and others Photo: realme Realme GT Neo 3 has a 2*2250mAh li-po battery backup which is equivalent to a 4,500mAh battery. The battery is not something that this phone can brag about, but what it can is its 150W fast-charging system that can charge the phone up to 50% in just 5 minutes. This is also the fastest charger on a smartphone. Power should not be a problem as the battery on the phone is durable as well. Photo: realme Realme GT Neo 3 features dual sims and both of them support a 5G network and dual VoLTE. The phone also supports dual-frequency Wifi with Wifi 6. For wireless pairing, the phone supports Bluetooth 5.3 and for charging and wired pairing the phone uses a USB Type-C 2.0 cable. For audio, there are plenty of features on the phone. It includes super linear dual speakers, dual-mic noise cancellation, Dolby Atmos audio certification and Hi-Res audio certification. Like last years predecessor, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack on the phone. Notable features of Realme GT Neo 3 are: Light and thinner body 120Hz dynamic refresh rate 360Hz touch sampling rate HDR10+ support 6.7 inches display Racing stripe design Sony IMX766 OIS Camera Dedicated display processor Stainless steel vapour cooling system MediaTek Dimensity 8100 (5nm) chipset Android 12 150W UltraDart charging 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage Dolby Atmos dual speakers Tactile Engine 2.0 X-axis Linear Motor The price of Realme GT Neo 3 is Rs 77,999 for the single 12/256GB variant. This is a huge price increase compared to its predecessor Realme GT Neo 2, which was priced at Rs 60,999 for the 12/256GB variant. Description The Huntington Militia will host "Huntington Independence Day on Sunday, July 17, 2022 from 12PM to 4PM at the Arsenal & Village Green, 425 Park Ave, Huntington, NY. The rain-date is Sunday, July 24. Please check our website and Facebook page for updates on this event: http://www.huntingtonmilitia.com/ https://www.facebook.com/HuntingtonMilitia1775 Hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud in its entirety. See how the Town of Huntington reacted to the news of American Independence. Learn about the Huntington Militia and its involvement in the American Revolutionary War. Watch the Militia drill with musket and cannon firings. See colonial crafts, trades, cooking, and music. THE DECLARATION ARRIVES AT 1PM! BE ON THE SITE BEFORE 1PM IF YOU WISH TO SEE THIS REENACTMENT. COME EARLY AND STAY AFTER TO EXPERIENCE 18TH CENTURY LIFE ON LONG ISLAND! THIS EVENT IS FREE! First lady Jill Biden stopped by the Nantucket Fire Department Friday evening to show her appreciation for its work during a July 9 fire that destroyed the Veranda House and two other downtown buildings. Biden and President Joe Biden visit Nantucket annually to spend Thanksgiving, Fire Prevention Officer Joseph Townsend said. She visited about 7 p.m. Friday as department members lined up to introduce themselves. Biden also distributed Dove ice cream bars with the Presidential seal printed on the wrappers. For her to stop by and acknowledge the work that we had done, and to show her appreciation the way that she did...it was pretty special, Townsend said. More: Fire destroys Veranda House in downtown Nantucket; other buildings damaged Biden took an extra minute to talk to Fire Capt. Nathan Barber who was getting coffee near the Veranda House last Saturday. When Barber saw smoke shortly before 7 a.m., he rushed over and helped two people escape the building. Other civilians also rushed to help evacuate the hotel, according to the Nantucket Fire Department. First lady Jill Biden visited the Nantucket Fire Department on Friday. The Veranda House as well as two neighboring buildings were destroyed by the fire probably caused by careless smoking, according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. More: Nantucket inn stands as a charred skeleton after morning fire July 9, 2022 The entire Nantucket Fire Department took part in the firefighting as well as firefighters from Hyannis, Yarmouth, and COMM Fire. The Dennis, Harwich, and Sandwich Fire departments also lent a hand. The last vestiges of the fire were put out around 8 p.m. Saturday. Four Nantucket firefighters were taken to the hospital for possible heat-related injuries, though three were released that same day. Dove bars with the seal of the President of the United States Nantucket Fire is now working with the building and health departments to determine how to demolish and remove the building safely. Townsend was not aware of any rebuilding plans. Story continues Such an incident brings firefighters closer together, and their respect for one another is amplified, he said. Since the fire, first responders have received an outpouring of support. Local restaurants provided food and drink and members of the public posted their gratitude on social media. Theres been support like I havent seen before in the 10-plus years that Ive been with the Nantucket Fire Department, Townsend said. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Jill Biden thanks Nantucket Fire Department for Veranda House response Hippo Wallet is a multi-currency, decentralized, non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet. Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- One of the crypto industrys key pillars is that of cryptocurrency wallets. Put simply, a crypto wallet is a hardware device, or a software service that stores the private and public keys for all kinds of crypto-based transactions. A crypto wallet frequently includes the functionality of being able to encrypt and sign information along with the main function of storing keys. There are also different kinds of crypto wallets such as hot wallets, cold wallets, paper wallets, hard wallets, and so on. With that in mind, Hippo Wallet aims to attract the attention of the crypto industry as well. What does Hippo Wallet offer? SECURITY & PRIVACY Through Hippo Wallet, private keys are only stored locally on users respective devices and are protected with multiple layers of top-notch security measures. In order to further boost the wallets safety features, every users crypto balance is stored within a 24-word recovery phrase that is only known to them. It is recommended to write down this recovery phrase somewhere, which users can do with a simple piece of paper or notepad, after which they can store this document in a secure place and refer to it whenever needed. FLEXIBILITY & CONVENIENCE Also, Hippo Wallet enables users to have an unlimited number of wallets for each account in addition to also being able to store an unlimited amount of tokens per wallet. What makes Hippo Wallet unique is that users can also specify how much crypto they want to receive from the sender. This allows customers to request payment with a specific amount and seamlessly complete any given transaction. SIMPLE IMPORTING & EXPORTING Hippo Wallet allows users to import both single coin and multi-coin wallets. If someone is an existing wallet user with someone other than Hippo Wallet, and they would like to make the switch to Hippo Wallet, the steps are very simple and easy Story continues For single coin wallets: users need to input their current wallet's private key. For multi-coin wallets: users need to input their current wallet's private key or scan the QR code of their existing wallet to successfully import multi-coin wallets. MULTI- WALLETS A useful feature for users is having multi-wallets all in their same device. In order to do this, they would have to go to their Hippo Wallet app, create the new wallet, note down the passcodes and mnemonic keys, and the wallet gets created immediately. This way, the user can have separate wallets on their mobile device, one for multiple currencies, one could be for work reasons, the other could be to hold only one coin, or for family savings etc. About Hippo Wallet Hippo Wallet is a multi-currency, decentralized, non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet. It has an easy-to-use interface that allows both amateur traders and seasoned veterans to safely store, receive and send their crypto. Hippo Wallet is also highly secure and offers privacy, instant transactions, easy back-up and a user-friendly interface. Lastly, it is free to download on both the Apple and Google Play stores and there is no KYC requirement either. For more information, visit Hippo Wallets official website along with the Twitter, LinkedIn and Telegram channels. Disclaimer : There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. This is not an investment advice. Readers are encouraged to do there own research. Contact Details Company name :Hippo Wallet by Blockchain Commodities Contact Person : Rena Chehayber (CMO) Location : Dubai, UAE Contact Email : Admin@blockchaincommodities.ae Unsuccessful "Love is Blind" contestant Jeremy Hartwell is suing Netflix and the show's producers. Ser Baffo/Netflix A 'Love is Blind' contestant is suing Netflix over what he claimed were inhumane working conditions. Jeremy Hartwell said contestants were forced to work 20-hour days on excess alcohol and little food. A spokesperson for production company Kinetic said there was "no merit" in the lawsuit. A contestant on the Netflix dating show "Love is Blind" is suing the streaming service for being forced to film drunk, hungry and sleep-deprived. Jeremy Hartwell is suing Netflix and production company Kinetic Content for "inhumane working conditions" and paying cast members less than minimum wage. Insider first reported the legal action earlier this week. Hartwell told CNN that cast members were effectively placed into isolation for 24 hours on their arrival and had all their personal items taken away, and were made to wait hours for water or food. Alcohol though, was always available, the lawsuit alleged. "The combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food, and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled or encouraged by defendants contributed to inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the cast," Hartwell said in his complaint. "At times, defendants left members of the cast alone for hours at a time with no access to a phone, food, or any other type of contact with the outside world until they were required to return to working on the production." According to the reports, the lawsuit states that Hartwell and other season two contestants were paid a flat rate of $1,000 a week, but had to work 20 hours a day. That, Hartwell said, amounted to $7.14 an hour, or less than half the $15 minimum wage for Los Angeles. The lawsuit reportedly states that any cast member that decided to quit the show before shooting was completed would have to pay $50,000 in "damages." Hartwell's attorney Chantal Payton, of Payton Employment Law in Los Angeles, told CNN the lack of food and isolation "made cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making." Story continues "You see cast members constantly have an alcoholic beverage in their hands or within arm's reach and they are shown drinking a lot more than eating, and there are instances of individuals being visibly drunk," the lawyer told Insider. Hartwell is seeking unpaid wages, financial compensation for missed meal breaks, damages for unfair business practices and civil penalties for labor code violations. The suit was filed on behalf of all contestants and staff, the publications reported. Kinetic told Variety in a statement: "Mr Hartwell's involvement in Season 2 of 'Love is Blind' lasted less than one week. Unfortunately, for Mr Hartwell, his journey ended early after he failed to develop a significant connection with any other participant. "While we will not speculate as to his motives for filing the lawsuit, there is absolutely no merit to Mr Hartwell's allegations, and we will vigorously defend against his claims." Netflix and Kinetic didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Russian President Vladimir Putin. Alexei Nikolsky/Reuters The euro's slide below parity with the US dollar is tied to the uneasiness in energy, experts say. "The recent deterioration in gas supply to Europe has played a significant role in driving a weaker euro." The euro could pull back further to fall between $0.95 to $0.97 against the dollar, a range of analysts said. The euro is down nearly 12% from the start of 2022, and analysts are attributing most of that to Russia's war on Ukraine and its subsequent moves in the energy market. While the euro has rebounded a bit after falling below parity with the US dollar for the first time in 20 years, an escalation of the European energy crisis could send the currency to lower depths. "I think a large percentage (75%+) of the euro's move is because of the energy crisis caused by the Ukrainian crisis and the rest due to a hawkish US Fed," said James West, senior managing director at Evercore ISI. And as Europe heads toward a winter energy crunch, "it definitely gets worse before it gets better," he added. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened "catastrophic" consequences if Western sanctions go further. And the energy industry has warned that Putin has shown willingness to "weaponize energy supplies" as Russia looks to retaliate against Europe's sanctions. Moscow has already shut off gas flows to Germany as part of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline's annual maintenance after slashing deliveries by 60% prior to that. Europe is gearing up for the possibility that the gas won't return. In that situation, that "would lead to a near-certain recession in Germany as well as another big rise in energy prices," said George Saravelos, head of FX research at Deutsche Bank. And the euro may have more room to tumble, according to Saravelos, who warned in a July 6 note that the currency could pull back further to fall between $0.95 to $0.97 against the greenback. "The recent deterioration in gas supply to Europe has played a significant role in driving a weaker euro," Saravelos told Insider. He noted that a strong dollar has also contributed largely to the decline of the euro "on the back of global recession fears." Story continues Stephen Ellis, an analyst at Morningstar, said the growing effectiveness of Western sanctions against Moscow could keep Putin from pulling his energy strings. "Broadly, the euro's decline can be linked to a higher chance of a deep recession, which is influenced by oil prices and output," Ellis said in an email to Insider. But others on Wall Street are downgrading their forecasts on the euro. JPMorgan recently cut its euro-dollar target to $0.95 with a worst-case scenario of a test near $0.90, citing the likelihood of escalation in the European gas crisis. Citigroup also sees the euro hitting $0.95 if gas prices reach 250 euros per megawatt hour in the event Russian supplies don't come back. Olivier Konzeoue, director in the currency team at asset manager UBP, sees the euro falling to $0.97 or $0.95 as the energy crisis hits Europe's economy, telling Reuters, "Basically, we know it's all about Russia." Read the original article on Business Insider Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.) The National Defense Authorization Act, the annual budget and policy bill for the Department of Defense, is being considered by the House of Representatives this week. This bill is particularly important to rural New Mexico. The military often uses land and airspace in rural America for our wide-open spaces to train and test equipment to protect our great nation. Rural America disproportionately serves in our military compared to urban areas and remains an integral part of our national defense. Rural Americans give their lives in service to our country more than any other demographic, with some estimates placing the casualty rate from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts 41 percent higher in rural America than in metropolitan areas. Rural military bases are also important parts of civic life and have many public events. This attracts many veterans and military retirees to live in our communities. I am proud to offer two amendments that would help both New Mexico and rural communities nationwide, especially those around military bases. Rural communities often have installations designated as remote or isolated by the Department of Defense. These include Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range. Such installations have difficulty in filling civilian support staff vacancies, which can create quality-of-life issues for our servicemembers and their families. To address this issue, I am proud to co-lead an amendment with Congressman Jay Obernolte (California-08), which would require the Government Accountability Office to report on hiring difficulties at remote military installations. The report would include recommendations to the Department of Defense on ways to incentivize locals to fill civilian support service vacancies. We need to ensure that our brave fighting men and women and their families have necessary support on base and rural Americans can provide it. We must also ensure that these bases are maintained in full readiness for training, testing, and deployment. Thats why I offered an amendment providing for the repair and modernization of the Holloman Air Force Base High Speed Test Track, which allows our military to test weapon systems they need to protect our nation. The HHSTT is vital to our national security as well as our rural economy, being the premiere rocket sled test track in the world. Story continues The HHSTT stands at the forefront of national defense with a rapid increase in hypersonic weapon testing to compete with China and Russa. The HHSTT remains the only track of its type able to test with speeds above Mach 5. This places rural New Mexico at the forefront of Americas technological battles against our global adversaries. Rural Americans have stepped up to defend our country since the War of Independence. The 21st Century is no different, which is why I am proud to represent our districts diverse communities and military installations that help provide for our national defense. I urge my colleagues in Congress to carefully consider these amendments and help protect the rural military bases which defend America. Yvette Herrell, a Republican, represents New Mexico's second district in the U.S. House of Representatives. This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Herrell: Support military initiatives near rural communities TT Electronics Partnership taps into TTs market responsiveness and long-standing expertise in demanding military and aerospace applications WOKING, UK, July 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TT Electronics, a global provider of engineered technologies for performance critical applications, today announced the companys Kansas City facility has been awarded a Letter of Authority from long-term partner Honeywell Aerospace to proceed with the design of a new power supply for next-generation inertial navigation units. Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defence and space aircraft in the world and include aircraft propulsion, cockpit systems, satellite communications, and auxiliary power systems. Honeywell Aerospace is a subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc. This latest development reinforces the strategic partnership between TT Electronics and Honeywell with both companies working in collaboration on numerous projects spanning 20 years. Throughout this time, TT has delivered a variety of advanced solutions to fulfil Honeywells requirements for its aerospace and defence customers worldwide. With a strong focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, TT has made significant investments in engineering capability, supported by state-of-the-art equipment and vertically integrated manufacturing facilities, said Matt Sweaney, Vice President and General Manager, TT Electronics. This award reinforces our long-standing partnership with Honeywell and also demonstrates TTs strategy in action as we continue to grow our position in the aerospace and defence industry. Since the mid-1990s, Honeywell has produced and delivered more than 60,000 embedded GPS inertial navigation systems (EGI). Designed to provide maximum flexibility, Honeywells EGIs meet the most challenging military requirements, along with civil interoperability capabilities. Its products have a strong performance record for the most challenging navigation, pointing, stabilisation, and flight control applications. Story continues About TT Electronics plc TT Electronics is a global provider of engineered technologies for performance critical applications. TT solves electronics challenges for a sustainable world. TT benefits from enduring megatrends in structurally high-growth markets including healthcare, aerospace, defence, electrification, and automation. TT invests in R&D to create designed-in products where reliability is mission critical. Products designed and manufactured include sensors, power management and connectivity solutions. TT has design and manufacturing facilities in the UK, North America, Sweden, and Asia. For more information about TT Electronics visit www.ttelectronics.com . TT Electronics marketing contact: Lisa Lafferty TT Electronics T: +44-7972-297-051 E: lisa.lafferty@ttelectronics.com Press contact: Jacqueline Zerbst MPoweredPR T: +1-877-794-6777 E: pr@mpoweredpr.com STEPVA founder and executive director Jan Monroe was honored recently as one of the two recipients of the Darrel Tillar Mason Excellence in Advocacy Award from the disAbility Law Center of Virginia. The award is given to individuals whose work advances independence, choice and self-determination for people with disabilities. It is named for Darrel Tillar Mason, founder of the Center for Special Education Advocacy, who the dLCV describes as having tirelessly fought for the inclusion and rights of people with disabilities for over 50 years. The dLCV wanted to acknowledge the power of art in overcoming isolation and fear, especially that which many disabled people experienced in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization chose to honor two individuals who exemplified inclusion through the arts and bestowed the 2022 Darrel Tillar Mason awards to Joan Lipstock of Dreamers Theater in Richmond, and Monroe. The two were recognized at the dLCV Midsummer Nights Gala at the Cultural Arts Center in Glen Allen in June. Bill Fitzgerald, evening news anchor for WTVR in Richmond, and one of two emcees for the evening, described Monroe and Lipstock as beacons of hope for people with disabilities, in their respective communities, before Darrel Tillar Mason herself presented the awards. I am humbled and grateful of the recognition bestowed upon me this evening by Kelly Nelson, Brigid OLeary and the Disability Law Center of Virginia. I am also encouraged by this commitment to recognize the extraordinary efforts of nonprofit organizations and individuals who connect the disability community with theater and creative arts opportunities, Monroe said during her acceptance speech. This honor also energizes STEP VAs commitment to enable people with disabilities to develop their full potential through creative expression. Through the arts, all people can be heard regardless of perceived barriers. For more information about STEPVA or to donate, visit stepva.org. Robert Patterson has terminal cancer and pain so fierce, he said it feels like theres a knife in his stomach. But no one would know it by the look on his face or the tone of his conversation. Terry Maple, a Lake of the Woods Church chaplain whos become Pattersons driver, Bible reader and best buddy during what may be the last months of the sick mans life, said hes never heard him complain. Theres not a word of negativity that comes out of Roberts mouth and thats absolutely amazing, Maple said. Whereas you hear some people, Oh, why is it me? hes accepted it and hes living with it. As hes battled nausea from chemotherapy and dizziness from pain medicine, Patterson has been determined to leave a legacy. He wants others to know how he found healingof the mind, body and soulat the Living Water Community Clinic in Locust Grove. I just hope this will help at least let one person, even if its just one, see what yall have done for me, he said about those who donate their medical, counseling or administrative skills to the clinic. I think other people need to know that there is good organizations out there, Christian organizations, that want to help people. For the last six weeks, Debbie McInnis, the clinics executive director, has worked to schedule an interview between The Free LanceStar and Patterson when he felt up to it. Ongoing chemo sessions knocked him down, and he had to repeatedly cancel the interview. He got so sick, he was hospitalized and then moved in with his sister, Gale Patterson in Spotsylvania County. When he was able to be interviewed, he was alert and smiling. His color looked good and his head was full of curly gray hair. He joked that others have told him hes got the purtiest hair theyve ever seen in their lives. He watched the traffic from the front porch, grateful for the chance to meet new people and share his story. When you think youre going to be talking to someone on their deathbed, you walk in with a certain set of expectations, said Dr. Mike Evans, who first examined him. But he defies those. Even though hes near the end of his journey here, hes at peace. A LOT OF STRUGGLES That was not the case the first time Patterson, 61, entered the clinic, a ministry of the Lake of the Woods Church in Orange County. That was in June 2016 on the second night it was open. He paced around the building until one of the greeters saw him and invited him inside. He had a lot of struggles with his social situation, finances, trying to find work, said Dr. Cullen Hardy, a cardiologist in Culpeper and the clinics medical director. He had substance issues and was pretty depressed. I think he was suffering the woes of lack of people around him and family. Patterson doesnt have the happiest of backgrounds. Orphaned at an early age, he and his older sister lived in different foster homes and didnt see much of each other. His education didnt go past the eighth grade. He worked in landscaping and liked doing things with his hands, like working on cars, but he also struggled with alcohol abuse. Patterson started coming to the clinic to get medical help for an assortment of ailments: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart problems, back issues. When asked if he wanted to speak with a counseloran option that McInnis said is offered but never forcedhe agreed and Hardy said that seemed to cure what ailed him. I saw him after an interaction with the counselors there and he was a different guy, Hardy said. He was put together. He had stopped the alcohol use, he looked healthier, his face looked less gaunt and better. Patterson started making regular visits to the medical clinic, open each Thursday at 5 p.m. to uninsured adults in Orange, Spotsylvania and Culpeper counties. He said he always left feeling better, even after last summer when an unusual twitch led Hardy to order a scan. It showed cancer in the brain, and Patterson has since learned its also in his lungs and liver. As Patterson dealt with his diagnosis, clinic and church volunteers came to his aid. They brought him fresh vegetables and prepared meals, worked on a plumbing problem, mowed his lawn. McInnis is among those who call or text almost daily, just to see how hes doing. She even contacted him while she was on vacation at the beach. I cant get over that, said his sister, Gale. I mean, they have been there every step of the way for him. And with what Robbys going through, weve all got each other to support each other. When it got to the point Patterson couldnt drive to treatments or checkups, McInnis put out a call for help and Maple, a former lay minister and government worker, answered it. The two bonded on the first ride. NOT AFRAID NO MORE Maple is 74 and British, so when he reads the traditional version of the Bible, it sounds as if King James himself is reciting it. I really never read the Bible, and he reads it to me and the way he reads it, I understand it, Patterson said. And I like his language, his accent. They joke that Maples way of talkingand cultureis rubbing off. Today he was talking about tea and biscuits, Patterson said. Oh yes, were teaching him to drink tea properly, Maple said, sounding ever so regal. I hold my pinkie out, Patterson said, demonstrating. And he said biscuits, not cookies, so were really winning here, Maple added. Well make him a Brit before were finished. On a more serious note, Patterson said that Maple has helped him not be afraid of whats to come. He said he knows hes headed to a place where his pain will end. God will take me in his realm so Im not afraid no more, Patterson said. Theres only one downside. I just hate leaving my family and friends behind, of course, he said. Especially the people in the clinic whos helped me. IN A SURPRISE MOVE this week, the Rappahannock Area Health District announced that dozens of contractors brought on to deal with COVID are being terminated. This sudden change of course should focus our communitys attention on two important matters. Can we manage the pandemic with fewer people to guide us? And why are our local health departments so heavily dependent on contract workers? COVID is not a defeated virus. Heading into the school year, we are again confronting new variants. Kathy Katella, writing for Yale Medicine, reports: In early July 2022, a strain called BA.5the most contagious one so far along with BA.4, another subvariantis causing more than 50% of cases, making it the predominant strain in the United States. Predictably, nationwide, the number of COVID cases is again on the rise. Locally, we are seeing the same. According to the New York Times COVID tracker, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Stafford are all seeing increases in infections and in hospitalizations. Further, the test positivity rate in all three areas is over 20%, which is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. The same tracker reports that two of our three local hospitalsMary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospitalare at 100% ICU occupancy. Mary Washington has 15 COVID patients in its ICU; Stafford has four. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center is at 50% capacity, with six available beds. Its not difficult to see that a sudden uptick in cases would create a significant problem. Many of the contractors released by RAHD are critical in isolating and dealing with surges. They work with schools, businesses, and long-term care facilities to mitigate and deal with infection spikes. Nonetheless, last week Gov. Glenn Youngkin continued to politicize the pandemic, declaring that unvaccinated kids exposed to COVID-19 dont have to routinely quarantine. Today marks a shift in my administrations recommendations to optional quarantine for exposure to COVID-19 in child care and school settings as the severity of the disease decreases. On one hand, Youngkin has a point. Early data shows that the subvariants arent leading to notable upticks in deaths. Further, we are far better equipped to handle COVID now than when the outbreak first hit our shores. Vaccines and oral antivirals like Paxlovid and rapid testing are now in our toolkits What Youngkin fails to understand, however, is the COVID battle has changed. Dr. Leana S. Wen teaches at George Washington University and writes regularly about public health issues for the Washington Post. The struggle early in the pandemic, she notes, was between those who support restrictions (like mask mandates) and those who oppose restrictions. Youngkin is still stuck in that struggle. Were at a place, Wen says, where mandates can go. Instead, she writes, resources should especially go to help those most vulnerable to severe outcomes from COVID-19. Whereas Youngkin wants to act like the worst is behind, we are only shifting in the way were living with COVID, says Dr. Adam Lauring of the University of Michigan. The struggle, in short, has moved from the national and state levels to the community level. And local public health departments are best- positioned to carry out this battle. That makes RAHDs contractor dismissals deeply worrisome. When another spike occurs, and it will, RAHD wont be ready. The loss of contractors hampers COVID response, and it places more strain on an overburdened system that cant handle all it has to do. A May 2022 report by the Virginia Public Health Association reveals that Virginia has been failing to adequately fund public health for 20 years. In fact, from 2000 to 2020, Virginia Department of Health funding has been flat, leading to massive staffing shortages. To her credit, Rep. Abigail Spanberger has joined a bipartisan push for funding the Centers for Disease Control at $11 billion in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill. That will help our local public health departments respond to our current challenges. It wont make up for years of underfunding. Its time Virginia step up and hire a viable level of professionals to protect the commonwealth through the current pandemic, and whatever health threats lie ahead. COVID exposed the chasms in public health. Contractors bailed us out, but they arent a permanent solution. And when theyre pulled away, a system struggling from two decades of underfunding to do its core jobs is in no position to respond to emergencies. Local health departments are critical to our well-being. Weve learned our lesson about underfunding them. Its time to act. Hundreds of parishioners turned out over the weekend to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sacred Heart Catholic Churchs presence in Colorado Springs. The three-day celebration kicked off with Food Truck Friday, featuring historical tours of the church, live music from the All in Jazz Trio, and food from Craigs Fusion Mobile Restaurant and Papa Bears Grill Restaurant. Revelers could fight the heat with cool treats from the Wicked Good Ice Cream Truck. More than 400 people were on hand for the Friday festival, according to church officials. Saturdays festivities included a 5:30 p.m. mass and the dedication of a new sculpture: Our Lady of Sorrows, by local physician and artist Joel Ernster. Sundays Masses were the final services for Fr. Ron Raab, who served as Sacred Hearts pastor for nine years. On Tuesday, Raab will bid the church and the city farewell as he accepts a new position at Saint Edwards University in Austin, Texas. Father Ron has been such a blessing to me, to the diocese, and to you all, said James Golka, Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs. Thank you for your ministry of care and attention and faithfulness to the people of this parish and the people of our diocese. Since assuming leadership at Sacred Heart in 2013, Raab has been responsible for a sweeping renewal effort involving the church building and grounds. He spearheaded the repaving and beautification of the parking lot and surrounding campus, as well as the renovation of the previously unused rectory. In recognition of his service, the church gifted Raab with a plaque of gratitude that hung in the church lobby during his final week. In fulfilling his vision for the renewal of the parish, Fr. Ron uniquely prepared Sacred Heart for future generations of parishioners and the communitys second 100 years, the plaque read. In an emotional address to the parish, Raab said he was humbled and honored by their support and trust during his years of service at Sacred Heart. I also want to thank members of our parish staff through the years who worked so hard to make things look easy, he said. Sacred Heart also welcomed its new pastor, Fr. Jarrod Waugh, during Sundays service. It was always hard on a parish to say goodbye to their pastor on one weekend, and on the next weekend say hello to your new pastor, Golka said. So we take on the great task of doing both at this one Mass here today. After the 9 a.m. Mass, Golka and Raab dedicated a new addition to the church grounds St. Andre House, named for St. Andre Bessette, the first saint of the Congregation of the Holy Cross who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. The new venue includes a meeting space, classrooms and handicap-accessible restrooms. For many decades, the building housing Sacred Heart has served multiple generations of Colorado Springs worshipers, and those parishioners are what make the church an indelible part of the citys history, Raab said. Our parish is much more than buildings, he said. Thank you so much for your presence, prayer and participation in these lovely nine years. For those who enjoy outdoor foraging, July is the month that keeps on giving. As we roll into midsummer, North Iowans are presented with an abundance of wild, healthy, and highly nutritional foods that are free for the taking. Summer woodlands currently abound with an array of wild edibles including several varieties of mushrooms, raspberries, mulberries, and others. Local streams, lakes, and ponds contain burgeoning populations of native fish. Popular summer species include walleye, channel catfish, bluegills and crappie. At Clear Lake, the walleye bite remains red hot with limits often coming within the first hour of fishing. Panfish are becoming increasingly aggressive in local ponds; while catfish, walleyes, and northern pike are currently hanging the feed bag in the deeper pools of our larger rivers. Meanwhile, the wild edibles growing in nearby woodlands mulberries, raspberries, and summer mushrooms -- are reaching their peak. When gathering summer mushrooms, it is always wise to proceed with caution. Although several varieties are safe and delicious, others can land you in hospital bed or worse. It pays to know what youre doing before consuming that second or third helping. For those who enjoy foraging, there is no match for the diversity and abundance of midsummer. And when it comes to enjoying a healthy, full-flavored dinner plate, it just doesnt get much better than wild berries, sauteed mushrooms, and fresh fish. But dont take my word for it. Grab your berry pail and fishing rod and check it out for yourself. In order to make it 150 years as a church, a "we" ministry is key. First Baptist Church in Mason City is celebrating its 150th anniversary -- this year and this weekend -- as a congregation and being part of the community. "This is a we ministry, and I think that might be the bigger theme going forward is it's not an 'I ministry. It's a we ministry,' so we need you," said Pastor Jim Bringman. When asked what the 150th anniversary meant, congregation member Judy Allen said it's been a walk down memory lane. Allen, Carmen Ramsay, and Dianne Casto took part in putting together a presentation on those 150 years that is displayed in the basement of the church. "To me, it means just going back and looking at so many pictures, and finding out so many details of what happened in the church has been really interesting," Allen said. First Baptist Church was established on Nov. 16, 1866, by a few Baptists under the leadership of the Rev. George W. Freeman, and became the third Protestant group to organize in Mason City. This early congregation met in a stone schoolhouse that stood on the southeast corner of Georgia Avenue and First Street Southeast, according to the church's online historical account. Less than a year later, the church was received into the fellowship of the Cedar Valley Baptist Association of the Iowa Baptist Convention. In 1872, the church's Articles of Incorporation were filed, church documents state. "It was amazing the number of people in that congregation for the time in history and just watching that congregation grow dramatically in numbers," said Casto. The first church building was constructed on the present-day site in 1876. The church was dedicated Nov. 19, 1876, and cost the congregation $4,050. According to documents, the original church had horse sheds to shelter the animals of those who came in from the countryside. On a stormy winter day in February 1895, a fire of unknown origin totally destroyed the first building. The volunteer fire department worked all day, while water froze to the roof of the church. While the new church was being constructed, services were held in an old armory. The 15 months in the armory was spent raising funds for the new church through events such as a three-day carnival, according to First Baptist documents. "Just imagine how devastated they were by the fire. I mean it was a loss, but then they rebuild it and it got even bigger," said Ramsay. Constructing the second church building took just over a year, with costs reaching $18,200. It was dedicated on May 10, 1896. Congregants met in this building until another fire in 1927. Luckily, the fire only caused partial damage, but it cost $15,000 to restore the building. "One of the things that I noticed was not just the body here alone that put that church back together, but the community involvement. It's like this is something we want to see preserved," said Bringman. In 1953, the congregation worked to purchase a pipe organ and update the sanctuary space. Since then, First Baptist Church has continued to work on improving facilities and its aesthetics. Today, the church has members of all ages coming in for worship and fellowship through its programs. Bringman said the church, like many congregations, is still navigating coming out of the pandemic. He added it taught them how easily things can be taken away. "We can be a part of the victim, or we can lean on God and be his instrument of healing. So we're right in there somewhere, and we have good people all around us," said Bringman. Bringman said First Baptist has provided outreach to the community some might not expect. Whatever a person may need for their own spiritual wellness or community, First Baptist has something for everyone. In celebration of 150 years, First Baptist Church has participated in area parades, like the North Iowa Band Festival, and has held community meals. A big celebration is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, and everyone in North Iowa is invited. For its next 150 years, First Baptist Church's goal is to continually think of those outside of the congregation. "I think that's important to be more ecumenical. We know how to pray for one another. Not only thinking about that, this is the only place that God has chosen to reach his community, but how we can extend our ministry," said Bringman. Adventure doesn't always have to take place away from home. For Derik Broshar, an avid traveler and enjoyer of history and culture, RAGBRAI presents a new challenge that he can do right here in north Iowa. Originally from Clear Lake, Broshar grew up in Kanawha before moving back while he attended NIACC. After living in Iowa City for a period of time while attending the University of Iowa, Broshar moved back to Clear Lake once more, where he spent time working various jobs before backpacking around the world for four years. The last couple of years he's been building that nest egg back up to go see the wonders of the world again, and while that nest egg was being built Broshar decided to do something he'd contemplated for years. It had been on my list for a while," Broshar said. "You grow up in Iowa and youre like, RAGBRAI at some time in my life. Id just push it to the back because when you travel youre always thinking about the external stuff. Other countries, other states. I can always do my own backyard stuff. With the COVID-19 pandemic virtually shutting down travel and social events, that "backyard stuff" became more and more attractive. Buying a bike to combat the feeling of isolation, Broshar didn't use it much in 2021 due to a busy work schedule. Then, as things started to gradually open up more and more, a new challenge was needed. In late 2021, Broshar decided that this would be the year to take the plunge and participate in RAGBRAI. Visiting 54 different countries over the course of his travels, a yearly event that happens right at home provided the newest opportunity for adventure. Iowas not known as a tourist state," he said. "Flyover state, as some people call it. But its kind of up and coming in that, and RAGBRAI puts us on the map every year. I see it as an adventure that helps me meet people from Iowa and all over the world. During the winter, Broshar put in work in the gym. Riding anywhere from 15 to 20 miles per workout at the fitness center, preparation was officially underway. Experiencing a couple days of what Broshar described as "trick weather" in April, where the sun was out early in the day before the weather got windy and cold later on, he got his first lake laps of the year in. Using Reddit forums and the RAGBRAI Facebook page to see how other people have prepared in the past, it was tough getting acclimated. But by late June, he was riding 54 miles in the wind. That included three times around the lake and going up and down some streets on the way back home. I think now Im fit enough that, my 50 miles in the wind wasnt easy, but by the end of it I still was able to go out with friends and do different things," Broshar said. "If I wouldve done that in March, April, May, it wouldve been day over. What's unique about Broshar is that, while for most people the completion of RAGBRAI is the end goal and what all that preparation is for, he is also using the challenge as a way to get in shape for certain bucket list travel items. In August he plans to do the Camino de Santiago, which is a month-long daily trek across northern Spain. Some other time in the future, he also hopes to make the Mt. Everest base camp trip, which is comprised of 18 days at high altitude. In the past, Broshar has done similar treks where he wasn't physically prepared. Referencing a two-day trip up a mountain in Indonesia, he said his legs turned to Jell-O and he could hardly get in and out of the shower. When he traveled to another island shortly after, the boat ledge was just about a foot off the ground. When he stepped off of it, Broshar fell to the ground with all of his bags and belongings. I learned my lesson that Im not just fit all the time," he said. "You kind of feel that when youre younger. At any moment youre like: oh, I can go do whatever. Now Im like, youve gotta make sure youre in shape for things. Broshar's love of travel stems from watching the History Channel as a kid. After learning about all that history, he wanted to see the locations where those events took place. He believes the idea of "being bit by the travel bug" is completely true, as those trips often give him something to look forward to. People hate airports and planes," Broshar said. "I love them, because it means Im going somewhere new. And as RAGBRAI is rapidly approaching, Broshar will be trying something new right here at home. Just a couple weeks after that 54 mile ride, Broshar shattered his personal record by going 62.33 miles in mid-July, which is a metric century ride. This came on the first ride after being sick for four or five days, but Broshar believes that that break was actually much needed. "It actually gave me some time to rest my tendons and things like that," he said. As the date gets closer and closer, Broshar will reduce the rides to 10 or 15 miles to manage the wear and tear. In the handful of days leading up to the start of the event, he won't do anything at all. And if you've heard anything about how RAGBRAI goes, training your liver is also a big part of the preparation. That is something that Broshar hasn't put much time into. As Im getting older I drink a lot less than I used to. A couple beers a day would be the absolute maximum. RAGBRAI is probably gonna hit me pretty hard with that from the videos Ive watched," Broshar said with a laugh. With several months of work put in up to this point, it's almost time to see just how ready Broshar really is. He believes that you can never be truly happy with your progress, especially if you've never participated in RAGBRAI before, but at this point you have to accept it. Following some of those longer rides, the reality of the situation would sink in for Broshar. Oh man, this was a long day and Im gonna have to do this seven days in a row," he said. "It starts to become a little more real. The Globe Gazette is working on a series of stories examining the leading causes of death in North Iowa over the last 20 years and more recently. We'll look at how North Iowa compares with the rest of the nation, and where it doesn't. Using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and interviews with local medical professionals, we will explore the impact of losing loved ones to disease and other causes. And we want your help. If you lost a loved one to cancer, heart disease, COVID or some other cause in recent years, we want to hear your story. Contact Globe Gazette reporter Abby Koch at (641) 421-0543 or abby.koch@globegazette.com and share your personal experience. If it hadn't been for the title, "A Skywalk to Nowhere", I'd say this past week's Globe-Gazette column was really about disappointment. The disappointment of the columnist, at long last revealed, with not only the seven member body seated at Mason City's table of governance, but also with the Pied Piper of Keokuk and the serpentine line of his followers we also pay the freight for. "A Skywalk to Nowhere"; by that title alone, one would expect that what follows would deliver the smack down so long deserved, from quarters painfully silent. Cream puffs and marshmallows come with the territory when access becomes more important than calling the crooks out. However, the column and more importantly the words of our citizens provided via direct commentary to the titled subject alone, have inspired me to share my thoughts on this with you once again for the 12th time in nine years right here on the opinion page. Those columns exhausted over 18,000 words and publically provided substantive retort and counterpoints to the capricious and whimsical local government pretext, rationale and guise relating to how your money has and will be spent on this great, powerful and spectacular River City Renaissance and its associated Hollywoodland. I have not read these columns or reviewed the research since submitted, so I thought maybe a saunter down memory lane may be a nudge to get our citizen masses to demand some long overdue answers from the most opaque and spendthrift city government in our history. "Doomed to Repeat the Past" May 23, 2017 "If you wander way into the southwest corner of the Southbridge Mall North Plaza you will find, in a nearly unreachable location, a plaque espousing the leadership and perseverance virtues of Mayor Ken Kew." "This is forever in bronze and given by the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors on May 23, 1987. Eight years later, less time than it took to pull it all off right in front of you, Southbridge was bankrupt. As disturbing as that may be, the most ludicrous accolade states, "This (sic) event marked the culmination of a dramatic return to a vibrant downtown and a strong, diversified industrial base." How did I miss all of this "Vibrant Downtown? Strong Diversified Industrial Base?" And if I did miss it, where did it disappear to? A mayor pushing through a pet project wanting a legacy that stole our culture, tax dollars and has been a divisive controversy in Mason City for over 40 years." For those of you too young to remember, Mayor Kew was the father of the project that built Southbridge Mall, at a total cost imposed on Mason Cityans starting in 1977 and we are still paying today as River City Renaissance is just a continuation of the original bad idea. As my mentor Yogi Berra taught me, as has been the case many times, Mason City has had to witness, and worse yet, pay for; "Deja vu All Over Again." In the archives there are a good number of columns that take a whack at the approach, if not the premise of the project "River City Renaissance" from October 2017, just before the "LANDSLIDE Referendum Vote" to more recent observations and concerns in 2022. Pay special attention to the absolute buffoonery of the guys that were elected to govern for all of us, and whom also chose a circus tent full of developer clowns, of which I have recently said "couldn't build a sand castle on a beach " November 3, 2021. In October 2017, there began a public relations campaign to ensure citizens were promised and told exactly what the City's unofficial surveys informed the RCR confederacy that you, the electorate had to hear in order for you to stay home and not cast your vote against the project. "RCR Public Forum-PowerPoint Presentation-2017-42 ppgs." The promises of City Hall kept you home sitting on your precious vote. This presentation sold this community a project, unrecognizable today in both specifics and costs, through extensive media coverage that was the voice box of the RCR Cabal. So, are the citizens of Mason City "Doomed to Repeat the Past"? Friends and neighbors, the omnishamble being shoved down our throats prove that we already are living it. And we are still staying home. We cant continue this way, Mayor Bill Schickel said in a press briefing in 1990, during his first term as mayor. In 2004, Mayor Jean Marinos acknowledged in a guest editorial that it was a problem that needed fixing. In 2006, Mayor Roger Bang lamented that the problem continued to have Mason City moving in the wrong direction. In 2011, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, in his state of the city message, said a priority was placed on changing course. These city leaders, spanning more than 30 years, were all addressing the same issue Mason Citys declining population. Whats the matter with Mason City? According to census figures, the population was 20,065 in 1920 and inched upward in the next several decades but remained in the 23,000 to 27,000 range for four decades. In 1960, the city hit its high mark of 30,642 marking 40 years of incremental growth. Since that time, the population has decreased in every census period except one; there was an increase between 1990 and 2000 from 29,040 to 29,172 which City Councilman Ken Lee described at the time as meaningless. The latest population figures show the city at 27,138 the lowest since 1940. Whats the matter with Mason City? Time out for a personal note: I have lived in Mason City for 36 years, raised a family here, enjoyed all the amenities the city offers and thats one area that continues to grow and have done my share of volunteering to help the city prosper. So I am not anti-Mason City. But, as author Hari Kunzro notes in a recent issue of Harpers magazine, Facts, notoriously, do not care about our feelings. And the facts are that in a recent survey that included 21 Iowa cities, ranging in population from Urbandale, 45,923 to Norwalk, 13,609, Mason City was one of four cities that decreased in population in the past 20 years, going down 6.9 percent. Other cities that lost population are Clinton, 11.7 percent; Burlington, 11.4 percent; and Fort Dodge, 5.2 percent. The largest growth in the past 20 years has been in Waukee, up 374 percent to 26,495, followed by North Liberty, up 280.7 percent, to 20,875; and Grimes, up 211 percent, to 15,949, all of this extracted from www.biggestuscities.com. Mason City continues to add new businesses, see existing businesses expand and closed businesses reopening. It continues to improve quality of life such as the new kayak park and the multi-million-dollar expansion at the high school. We are fortunate to have a new arena, new music pavilion, an airport, great medical facilities, a thriving community college, wonderful parks, playgrounds, museum, library and Events Center (fairgrounds), The Historic Park Inn hotel, The Music Man Square as well as three seasons that are pretty darn enjoyable not bad for a town of 27,000. But still population growth means economic growth and economic growth means more jobs, a lower tax base and a more inviting place for people to relocate. We have more to offer than a lot of other cities so how come others are growing and we are not? Whats the missing ingredient? Whats the matter with Mason City? People smarter than me have been trying to answer that question for decades. Re: The workers at Bell Manufacturing will shortly go on strike unless the [ #permalink For the question workers at Bell Manufacturing:ths gist of this arguments is that Bell industries is about to have a strike so-->sell subsidiaries -->increase worker wages Talking about the future-Out of scope for conclusion questions If this is true the argument collapses One simple understanding is that it will increase the wage by selling the subsidiaries.Option C is the only option within the scope We are not provided any information that whether president has the authority or not.So out of scope Out of scope GMAT OAK I have started an initiative of providing completely free of cost GMAT coaching. Please feel free to contact @+91-7875875495 For more info and our introduction information,please search us on youtube with :GMAT Oak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpwUf1lBQ1w Signature Read More The workers at Bell Manufacturing will shortly go on strike unless the management increases their wages. As Bells president is well aware, however, in order to increase the workers wages, Bell would have to sell off some of its subsidiaries. So, some of Bells subsidiaries will be sold.The conclusion above is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?(A) Bell Manufacturing will begin to suffer increased losses.(B) Bells management will refuse to increase its workers wages.(C) The workers at Bell Manufacturing will not be going on strike.(D) Bells president has the authority to offer the workers their desired wage increase.(E) Bells workers will not accept a package of improved benefits in place of their desired wage increase.(A) Bell Manufacturing will begin to suffer increased losses.(B) Bells management will refuse to increase its workers wages.(C) The workers at Bell Manufacturing will not be going on strike.(D) Bells president has the authority to offer the workers their desired wage increase.(E) Bells workers will not accept a package of improved benefits in place of their desired wage increase._________________ DANVILLE, Va. COVID-19 cases may be higher now than last summer, but the landscape is far different. From the public health response to the general populations mood, the reaction to a positive COVID-19 test is quite the contrast nowadays. Also, hospitalization rates are lower. As of Friday, Sovah Health was treating about a dozen patients for COVID-19 between its facilities in Danville and Martinsville, according to spokesperson Corey Santoriello. This summer, we also have effective antivirals, COVID-19 vaccinations for children and plentiful at-home COVID-19 testing options, Krysta McKenna Luzynski, a senior epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health, told the Register & Bee on Friday. These advances allow us to enjoy a return to normalcy that we did not have last summer. That doesnt mean COVID-19 has gone. In fact, after a brief decline, the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District is now back in a slow growth trajectory, meaning cases are inching upward. We cannot completely forget about the virus just yet, Luzynski said. New variants continue to emerge, and we want to continue to protect those at risk for serious illness and complications from COVID-19. The latest variant this one called BA.5 is now dominant in Virginia, according to Fridays interim report from the University of Virginias Biocomplexity Institute. These subvariants of the original menacing omicron version could cause a slight rise in cases in the coming months. The dominant BA.5 and its cousin BA.4 are able to cause infections in people who have previously suffered a bout with COVID-19 in addition to those who are vaccinated, UVa reported. Danville is now in the medium community level for COVID-19, a three-tier system the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention debuted earlier this year. In this level, masks are recommended for people who are considered at high risk for illness. Pittsylvania County is in the lowest level, but neighboring Halifax County is in the highest category, the one that suggests residents wear face masks in public settings. The reason for the broad range is because of how the CDC factors the categories. This is based on an algorithm factoring in new reported cases per 100,000 residents and the percent of staffed inpatient beds in use by COVID-19 patients, Luzynski explained. Using other methods of comparing the two areas, the results may be different. For example, the CDCs old method was to track transmission levels. Based on that map which is still updated nearly every locality in Virginia is in the highest risk for COVID-19 spread. It is important to remember that humans are not stationary beings, Luzynski said. For instance, we may live in one county and work in another. Instead of relying solely on the community level of just one county, the regional pattern as a whole should be examined. Simply put, the risk for spreading the virus remains, even if the outcomes hospitalizations and deaths are less severe. Locally, Pittsylvania County recorded two more deaths from COVID-19 last week, however those likely occurred weeks ago. Residents of high and medium community level counties should take appropriate precautions, UVa researchers warned in Fridays report. In addition, anyone eligible for a fourth vaccination dose should also get boosted as soon as possible, they said. DANVILLE, Va. Gods Pit Crew a Danville-based disaster relief organization is deploying volunteers and staff members to Buchanan County in southwest Virginia after dramatic flooding hit the area Tuesday night. A deluge of rain created heavy flooding that destroyed homes, caused landslides and blocked roads. Our hearts go out to those impacted by these terrible floods, Gods Pit Crew COO Brandon Nuckles said in a statement. There is so much destruction and many people need help. A team was expected to travel to the area and stay through Tuesday to help survivors. Members will do things like cut trees, remove debris and muck out and dry flooded homes, a release stated. We are praying for them and are grateful to be able to respond with trained volunteers and supplies to serve them in their time of need, Nuckles said. Gods Pit Crew also plans to send a tractor-trailer load of emergency supplies along with the groups signature Blessing Buckets that contain food, personal and hygiene items, and a Bible. This comes on top of continuing efforts to help elsewhere in the country. Volunteers recently rebuilt two homes for Kentucky families impacted by deadly tornadoes in December. Three more homes are expected to be constructed next month in Kentucky and Tennessee. Also, Gods Pit Crew provided a new mobile home for a Pembroke, Georgia, family following a tornado there in April. The organization reported the familys mobile home rolled with them inside, but everyone recovered with only minor injuries. STOKESDALE Ontex, a leading international supplier of disposable hygiene products, celebrated its grand opening Wednesday with state and regional economic development officials, pledging to fatten rural Rockingham Countys economy with more than 400 jobs and millions in investments. A Belgium-born company, Ontex specializes in manufacturing retailer brands and its own label of products, including adult and baby diapers and feminine hygiene products. Its the first manufacturer to make a home at Rockingham Countys newest industrial estate, Carroll Industrial Developments South Rockingham Corporate Park at 9300 NC-65. With manufacturing facilities in 20 other countries, the Stokesdale plant serves as Ontexs first production site in the United States. And is positioned to quickly and efficiently meet the global retailers needs, company officials said. Rockingham County is proud to support the expansion of Ontex to our area, which not only supports the needs of individuals around the world, but creates jobs for our residents here at home, said Kevin Berger, chairman of the county board of commissioners. We look forward to supporting Ontexs success for many years to come. In May of 2020, Ontex announced its plans to locate here. The company further promised to invest $96 million in the county and create 403 new jobs. Since then, production has officially begun with more than 100 new workers, Ontex officials said Wednesday. More hires are expected and the company is recruiting for various positions and shifts as it expands production, officials said. To accommodate the massive plant, the park made sweeping expansions to its infrastructure, economic development officials said. Water and sewer line extensions were funded by North Carolina Department of Commerces Rural Infrastructure Authority, and Golden Leaf Foundation funded the parks 500,000 gallon water tank. Such moves will help lure more manufacturers to the site, developers and county officials contend. The Golden LEAF Foundation is excited to celebrate the grand opening of Ontex in Rockingham County, said Golden LEAF President and CEO Scott T. Hamilton. We look forward to the hundreds of new, quality jobs for Rockingham County and its surrounding residents. The House committee on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurgency, whose hearings resume this week, has produced impressive evidence that could allow prosecutors to argue that former President Donald Trump committed crimes as he tried to overturn the 2020 election. Thanks to the hearings, we now know more clearly that Trump tried to bully Vice President Mike Pence into blocking Congress count of electoral votes, tried to bully Justice Department officials into declaring the election fraudulent even though they knew it wasnt and stood by with seeming approval while his armed supporters sacked the Capitol. All of which has led many ordinary citizens and not just Trump-haters to wonder: Why isnt Attorney General Merrick Garland prosecuting this man? The answer is both complicated and simple. Indicting a former president for trying to subvert a presidential election is harder than it looks. Its definitely not a slam-dunk, Paul Rosenzweig, a former federal prosecutor (and anti-Trump Republican), told me last week. It will require tough decisions. The problem isnt lack of evidence. The former Trump aides who have testified before the House committee and been interviewed by the FBI have taken care of that. The problem, Rosenzweig and other former prosecutors said, is that convincing a jury that Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt will still be difficult especially when the former president, armed with good lawyers, can challenge that evidence. We know from the polls that about 30% of the American people think Trump did nothing wrong on Jan. 6, Rosenzweig said. Thirty percent of a jury is three or four people. I think getting a unanimous conviction will be nearly impossible, even in the liberal District of Columbia. And a trial that ends in Trumps acquittal, he warned, would backfire. It would not only have the effect of giving Trump impunity, he said, it would give him impunity and an aura of invincibility. Others disagree. Donald B. Ayer, another Republican former prosecutor, thinks a conviction would be possible. Trump was ready to have Mike Pence be killed, Ayer said. You tell that story to a jury, and I think you win. But Ayer notes that Justice Department regulations require that prosecutors believe they have a high probability of winning a conviction before they can indict. By that standard, what Garland is doing is both correct and by the book. Hes investigating aggressively but prosecuting cautiously. Justice Department lawyers have served subpoenas on Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman, lawyers who advised Trump on his schemes, and on pro-Trump activists who organized bogus slates of alternative electors in swing states like Arizona and Georgia. Last month, FBI agents searched the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official who pushed colleagues to endorse Trumps claims of voter fraud. And prosecutors have indicted leaders of the right-wing Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militias on charges of seditious conspiracy in connection with Jan. 6. All of which suggests that the Justice Department is pursuing a traditional organized-crime model in its investigation: prosecuting small fish to build cases against the higher-ups. Even so, Trump will be able to argue in his defense that he lacked criminal intent, by claiming either that he genuinely believed the election had been stolen or did not know that interfering with Congress could be against the law. The most likely charges against Trump are conspiracy to defraud the United States, a broad statute that covers almost any illegitimate interference with government operations, and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. There is also a broader policy question surrounding a decision to indict a former president, an action no prosecutor has taken before: Would it be in the national interest? Indicting a past and possible future political adversary of the current president would be a cataclysmic event, Jack Goldsmith, a former Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration, warned last month. It would be seen by many as politicized retribution. The prosecution would take many years to conclude (and would) deeply affect the next election. Others lawyers, both Republicans and Democrats, disagree vigorously. Its essential that Trump be prosecuted, if only to deter him and future presidential candidates from trying to do this again, Norman Eisen, a former Obama administration official, argued. It would do terrible damage to allow a former president to walk free after committing acts for which anyone else would be indicted. Those debates dont amount to a conclusive argument against prosecuting Trump. But they do add up to a list of reasons why Garland should avoid a rush to judgment while his investigators do their work and that, to all appearances, is precisely what hes doing. GREENSBORO Former Greensboro Fire Chief Ray Flowers died Saturday after a short illness, the fire department said. Flowers, who served from 1993-99, was the citys first Black fire chief. He joined the fire department in 1961 when he was 21, the Greensboro Fire Department said in a news release announcing his death. An N.C. A&T graduate, Flowers was one of the first group of African American firefighters hired and was assigned to Station 4 on Gorrell Street after completing training. He became a captain in 1975, battalion chief four years later and was named deputy chief in 1988 before being picked to lead the department in 1993. During his tenure as chief, he started an educational program for fire personnel and initiated closed circuit television fire training. After being named chief, Flowers told the News & Record he was a lucky man. Sometimes I dont think its right that anybody should enjoy his work this much, he said. He also talked about the No. 1 priority for firefighters. Thats saving lives. Thats what a firefighter does. Its routine. And it takes a tremendously motivated, dedicated group of people to do that, he said. Thats why I get excited just coming to work every morning. Fire Station 7, where he had been a driver early in his career, was dedicated to Flowers last year in December. He attended the ceremony with family and friends to accept the honor, the fire department said. It is a sad day for the City of Greensboro and the Greensboro Fire Department, Greensboro Fire Chief Jim Robinson said in the release. Chief Flowers represents everything that is right with public safety and the Greensboro Fire Department. The U.S. Forest Service and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation responded Saturday afternoon to a fire in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness. As of 6:50 p.m., the Moors Mountain fire was reported to be at 115 acres and was in heavy timber, according to https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/. Forest officials said about 6:40 p.m. that smokejumpers were responding. They also said a long-term strategy for fighting the blaze will be developed Sunday morning. The cause of the fire was not listed. York Volunteer Fire Department was initially dispatched around 3:50 p.m. after multiple callers reported seeing a plume of smoke around the Hunters Gulch trailhead near Nelson, southeast of the blaze. Dispatch then advised at 3:58 p.m. that a DNRC air attack was en route. West Valley Volunteer Fire was also paged, but by 4:30 p.m., USFS said it had primary jurisdiction and would assemble resources to respond. The York commander reported to dispatch the fire is burning on "the highest peak in that wilderness." USFS Helena District Ranger Kathy Bushnell said in a phone interview around 5 p.m. that about 20 acres were actively burning in the wilderness. "We're using aircraft to get an accurate size of the fire," Bushnell said, to determine the size of the ground response. The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office said no residences in that area are threatened. Staff Writer Phil Drake contributed to this story. Editor's note -- This story has been updated to correct information about the estimated size of the fire. From cutthroat trout to grizzly bear, Montana is home to some of our nations most cherished fish and wildlife. But right now, more than 120 species across the state are at heightened risk of extinction and need our help, as they face threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, prolonged drought and intensifying fires. Its part of a larger national trend where more than one-third of Americas wildlife are edging toward extinction. Fortunately, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help save Montanas incredibly rich biodiversity through a bipartisan bill in Congress called the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act. The bill is designed to fund proactive, collaborative, and locally-led efforts to help recover at-risk fish, wildlife, and plant species. Montana will receive more than $28 million annually. Its a solution that matches the magnitude of the wildlife crisis. The Recovering America's Wildlife Act has incredible bipartisan momentum. The House passed the bill in June, on a bipartisan basis. The bill has 35 cosponsors in the Senate, including 16 Republicans. With Senator Tester as a current co-sponsor, we need support from Senator Daines to get it across the finish line. Heres why the bill makes sense for Montana: We can build upon the locally-driven and collaborative successes that have been the hallmark of Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. For decades, the agency has done innovative work with the fees and taxes paid by hunters and anglers to restore game and fish species, like elk and arctic grayling. With 16 species in Montana already federally listed as threatened and endangered and dozens more headed that way unless we act, we need collaborative recovery successes more than ever. Prolonged drought and raging wildfires coupled with Montanas growth and the accompanying increase in water use require new innovative solutions to keep Montanas fish and wildlife thriving. Thats where the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act comes in. It prioritizes proactive, local collaboration and innovation to save the full diversity of wildlife, rather than waiting until species decline until the point where primarily federal regulation is needed. Its the ultimate ounce of prevention. The $28 million annually for Montana would unleash a new era of conservation for westslope cutthroat trout, sage-grouse, and dozens of other species. Further, the bill will also provide funding to Montanas twelve federally-recognized Tribes, who are responsible for managing millions of acres but have never had dedicated resources. This collaborative, non-regulatory, locally-driven approach of the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act should appeal to the common-sense conservatism of Senator Steve Daines. Were hopeful that he will co-sponsor the bill and support it once it is on the floor. After all, what would Montana be without its wildlife? Outdoor recreation thats largely dependent upon healthy wildlife populations contributes more than $7 billion annually to Montanas economy. The state has awe-inspiring public lands and waterways, but it's majestic wildlife that truly brings them to life. Inaction is the ally of extinction. We urge Montanas leaders to seize this incredible opportunity to save wildlife through collaboration by helping pass the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act. DECATUR The Decatur Police Department record for driving under the influence arrests is the highest in the state among municipal police departments, yet again. City police recorded 353 arrests for 2021 as logged by The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, which describes itself as a citizen activist group that monitors the numbers. And Decatur police had topped the AAIM DUI arrest charts for the previous year too, with 344 arrests. AAIM also reported that the Macon County Sheriffs Office did well in 2021 DUI arrest totals, finishing fourth among sheriffs departments, with 218 arrests. McLean County came in fifth on 179 arrests, while Bloomington recorded 252 DUI arrests in 2021, coming in at No. 6 on the list. Bloomington was also No. 6 the year before, with 254 DUI arrests in 2020. Chicago, because of its vast size, is judged in its own category, and the Windy City saw its impaired driver arrests actually fall by 27.6% to 1,622 in 2021, compared to 2,240 in 2020. Illinois State Police DUI arrest numbers, by contrast, were up 10.9% to 6,596 in 2021, compared to 5,947 the year before. And while AAIM wishes all the arrest numbers were even higher, it says the totals achieved matter because they represent dangerous drivers taken off the roads. Progress has been made to help eliminate the devastation caused by impaired driving in Illinois, said Rita Kreslin, AAIM executive director. While frustratingly slow, many lives have been saved. Decatur Police Chief Shane Brandel said removing DUI drivers remains a top priority. I am proud of the men and women of DPD for their efforts, he added. This is their accomplishment. AAIM said the single cop with the most DUI arrests in 2021 was Illinois State Trooper Eric David with 298. DECATUR A Decatur woman is jailed after police said she fought efforts to serve a shelter care warrant to take a baby from her home. The warrant, designed to protect the welfare of a child, was being served the morning of July 13 by Macon County Sheriffs Office deputies accompanying a DCFS investigator, a sworn affidavit said. Police had arrived with the investigator at a house in the 1100 block of East Elmhurst Avenue but had been refused entry. Deputy Chad Wayne said he had to force his way inside and found the 29-year-old woman hiding in a back bedroom closet. Wayne, who did not describe the womans relationship to the baby, said she gave him a false name and told him the baby was not in the house. The woman then yelled at him that he had to leave and shoved him backward with her hands, Wayne said. At this time I could see a juvenile holding a baby to his chest under the bed, the deputy added. (The woman) then began shoving me several times in an attempt to keep me from addressing the children hidden under the bed. During the altercation (the woman) grabbed (the baby) and attempted to flee the residence. Wayne said he ended up holding onto the struggling woman by her hair to keep her from fleeing, and kept holding on until she finally gave the baby to another juvenile who was present. He said she continued to struggle until she was threatened with being shot with a stun gun and was then arrested. She was booked on preliminary charges of aggravated battery to a peace officer, resisting and obstructing a peace officer and obstructing identification. A check of Macon County Jail records Sunday showed she remained in custody with bail set at $15,000, requiring her to post a bond of $1,500 to be freed. All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorneys office. DECATUR Police report that a surveillance operation resulted in the arrest of a Decatur man they have identified as a serial thief of vehicle catalytic converters. A sworn affidavit from the Decatur Police Department said the 35-year-old man had first been stopped and arrested July 2 in a vehicle loaded with six catalytic converters as well as a power saw. He had also been stopped and arrested by police July 13 and, again, his vehicle was found to be loaded up with six catalytic converters, numerous power tools and a Sawzall tool. Detective Todd Koester, who signed the affidavit, said the man has a track record of burglary and other crimes. The detective said police had been keeping a close eye on him because they suspected him of being involved in catalytic converter thefts at various locations around Central Illinois. It should be noted that in the Decatur area, as well as Central Illinois, catalytic converters have been stolen with a great deal of frequency due to metals in the catalytic converter that are valuable, Koester said. Criminals who steal catalytic converters often use saws to cut the catalytic converters from vehicles. Due to the amount of catalytic converter thefts in the Decatur area, Decatur Police Street Crimes Detectives secured electronic surveillance on a black colored Toyota Corolla (used by the suspect). Koester said the same man is believed responsible for converter thefts, and the theft of an entire diesel exhaust system, from trucks parked on the lot of Schmidys Machinery off U.S. 51 near Clinton, which was targeted in early July. And the detective said the man had been stopped and questioned by the University of Illinois Police in Springfield after a traffic stop July 12 found him with a Sawzall cutter in his car. At the time, Koester said, the man had claimed to be a carpenter and said the power saw was used in his job. The suspect has now been booked on preliminary charges of possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools. A check of Macon County Jail records Sunday showed he remained in custody with bail set at $500,000, requiring him to post a bond of $50,000 to be freed. As well as a long criminal history, Macon County Circuit Court records show that, at the time of his arrest, the man had been out on bond and awaiting trials on three charges of burglary and two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle. He is also facing trials on charges of dealing in methamphetamine and possession of the drug. All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorneys office. Before his flight home Saturday from a tour through Southwest Virginia, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner delivered an oversized copy of a $15 million check for planned improvements at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. Ending a three-day swing in the region, Warner, D-Va., said federal funding to the local airport comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Its a $1.2 trillion package to improve the nations roads, bridges, rails and other core structures, signed into law last November. For 40 years in this country, weve been talking about needing to invest in roads and rail and broadband and airports and water and sewer, Warner said. Instead of talking about infrastructure, we actually put our money where our mouth is, and this check is part of the results. The $15 million will be spent on improvements to security screening checkpoints, thereby expediting and improving the customer experience, said Mike Stewart, airport executive director. The federal governments help is huge, Stewart said. We need all the help we can get. The project is in the planning stages and it will be a year or so before construction starts, Stewart said. Out of the trillion-dollar nationwide infrastructure plan, almost $400 million was guaranteed to Virginia airports, Warner said. Further federal money could be won for regional infrastructure through competitive grants, he said. Whats really, really important is weve got to improve the customer experience and the number of flights out here in Roanoke, Warner said. One of the things that Im concerned about is the leakage of traffic down to Charlotte, or even sometimes people are going cross-country, driving all the way up to Dulles [in Northern Virginia]. If Roanokes airport can improve the customer experience and open an additional gate, that could bring lower fares and more flights, he said. This is one of those self-fulfilling prophecies, Warner said. Build it, and theyll come. Saturday was Warners second visit to Roanoke since April, when he walked a low-water bridge along the greenway in support of the infrastructure act. Local and state politicians joined him alongside airport executives for a 30-minute meeting that was closed to the public. Some pretty exciting stuff. Ill let the community share with you at an appropriate time, Warner said of the closed-doors discussion. This is a group that doesnt lack forward vision. Hows that for a teaser? Other windfall to Virginia from the federal infrastructure act during the next five years includes an estimated $7.7 billion for highways and bridges, and $1.2 billion for improving public transportation options. I heard about a book that came out in 2021, a compilation of recollections and reflections of 20 years in Southern Africa Zimbabwe, Bophuthatswana, Botswana, and South Africa by Baptist missionaries Rose Ann and Roger Childres of Icard. The self-published Two More into Southern Africa is an easy read full of challenges, new friendships, hard work, dedication, and unwavering faith. Readers find humor and fright, venomous snakes and angry baboons, deaths and births, car thefts and murder, witch doctors, gangs, and unexpected culture-fueled behaviors and habits. Throughout are two big-hearted, patient people who left home in 1982 for what they thought would be two years of service, but Africa got into their blood and they into Africa. The couples missionary work began after owning and managing the popular Hickory Bible Center bookstore for 12 years. Said Rose Ann, In 1982, the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention decided they could use us because we had bookstore experience. First, they assigned us to Jerusalem, but that changed, and they wanted us to go to Zimbabwe to manage the bookstores that were there. God was in it, said Roger about their decision to go. When we were in the New York airport getting ready to leave America, we looked at each other and said, What in the world are we doing? But we never looked back. In their mid-40s at the time, the couple left two grown children, a grandchild, parents, friends, a comfortable home, a thriving business which they sold two years later and a host of simple luxuries. Within days of their arrival in Zimbabwe, the assignment changed to working at the Baptist publishing house, printing Sunday school materials, gospel tracts, songbooks, and so forth all in multiple languages, some for other mission groups. Rose Ann and Roger were considered volunteers and received a small stipend, housing, and transportation. Two years later, they returned to the United States to train to become full-time missionaries. After six months, they were on their way back to Zimbabwe to serve in the publishing house five more years. Roger was the director; Rose Ann worked in the office. The [Zimbabwe people] were very open to the gospel, said Roger. Their culture is that theyll give you a hearing. They are very agreeable. There were always other Americans around, other missionaries, U.S. government people, and those from different agencies, such as the Peace Corps. When it became too difficult to get work permits from the Zimbabwe government, the Childreses prayed about God moving us, said Rose Ann. They werent ready to give up on Africa. Its dust gets in your nostrils, said Rose Ann. You come to love it. An opening presented itself in Bophuthatswana to serve in the publications work and direct the Setswana Language Centre where missionaries came to learn language and culture to serve in Botswana and South Africa, wrote Rose Ann in a summary of her and Rogers African appointments. Locals did the teaching. For a year, studying eight or more hours a day, the Childreses studied the language Setswana. On the weekends, they engaged in activities with their teacher so they could practice Setswana and learn the culture: weddings, funerals, shopping, etc. The Childreses language teacher, Madame Bertha, who spoke five African languages, became one of Rose Anns best friends. On one occasion, Madame Bertha took Rose Ann and Roger to a village to meet a woman whod just lost her husband. Hed been the villages chief. Neither of the womans sons wanted the job, so, according to village custom, the woman became the new chief. The Childreses lived in a village. When you live in a village, Rose Ann began, everyone knows who you are. Like living in a glass house. We were outsiders, but we built relationships. In 1992, the mission board asked the Childreses to move the language center and publications to Botswana, so we could better serve the Batswana people and the missionaries serving among them, Rose Ann wrote. Two years later, Rose Ann and Roger were asked to go to Johannesburg, South Africa, to be directors of the Baptist guest house and for Roger to work as mission business manager for South Africa. It was the most unsafe place we lived in Africa because of crime, said Rose Ann. We felt safer in villages. We served there until July 1998. We began to get restless, Roger shared, and for the first time, we were burnt out. We wanted to go back to the African people, to the village. They asked the mission if they could move back to Botswana. Their request granted, they became partnership/volunteer coordinators for that area as well as coordinating publication of literature and other church supplies and tracts in the Setswana and Kalanga languages. It was like coming home again, said Roger in the book. In the village of Mogoditswana they worked with the church and an African pastor and were involved in various activities, such as Rose Ann teaching sewing and English classes and both Childreses ministering to AIDS orphans and street children. It wasnt unusual for the Childres home to be filled with teenagers who came for food, fun, and Bible lessons. Rose Ann and Roger fulfilled a stateside mission board assignment from late 2000 to late 2001 and then retired from full-time career service in January 2002. They werent finished, however. In 2003, they worked as volunteers in Cape Town, South Africa, for six months in the strategy coordinators office, and then in 2005, they were back in Zimbabwe and the publishing house for six months to cover for missionaries on furlough. During this time, they returned to ministering to AIDS orphans, among other out-of-office endeavors. In 2010, the Childreses, jokingly referred to by then as recycled missionaries by a friend, spent six weeks in South Africa and Zimbabwe, conducting community surveys, teaching arts and crafts skills to African women so they could earn money, and ministering through publications. Back on U.S. soil for good, Rose Ann and Roger visited 11 states in 10 months, giving 60 talks about their experiences, mission work, and the needs of the African people, particularly in Zimbabwe, where the couple had witnessed shortages of all kinds: food, fuel, water, electricity, and so on. Rose Ann and Roger said that during their decades in Southern Africa, they had good accommodations basic housing and most of the time, electricity and water. They spent months-long furloughs in the U.S. and enjoyed hosting family and friends who traveled to Southern Africa to visit them. One of Rose Ann and Rogers favorite activities was being counselors at an annual mission-hosted kids camp. Young people from 11 African countries attended the week-long event. To share a little of America with the children, the counselors served hamburgers and pizza and taught the youths how to play various American games. Roger said the biggest challenge of being a missionary was learning the language. Rose Ann added that figuring the right way to approach people took time. For example, one didnt meet someone on the street and say, Hi, how are you? and move on. You had a more in-depth discussion. And, there was getting used to the metric system. They had no trouble finding medical help when they needed it, and they ate well: fresh fruits and vegetables and cooking from scratch. Considering the challenges and dangers the Childreses faced, Two More into Southern Africa is upbeat, even funny in places, such as this excerpt Ill leave with you: Rose Ann has the distinct honor of being one of very few people who have gotten a speeding ticket on two different continents! One in Bophuthatswana doing 50 kilometers an hour in a 35 kilometer zone; it was a speed trap; the other one in our beloved South Carolina on the way to the beach! Salang sentle. (Setswana for stay well.) For a copy of Two More into Southern Africa, text Rose Ann Childres at 828-781-7524 or email rogroschil@gmail.com. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go toward mission outreach in Southern Africa. Are we sure were not at war in Ukraine? the title of a recent op-ed in the New York Times written by Bonnie Kristian questioned. The United States has supplied Ukrainian forces with extensive military aid. At what point does such support constitute being engaged in war? Given our level of indirect participation, Kristian argues that, at a minimum, U.S. involvement in Ukraine is not not war. If we have so far avoided calling it war and can continue to do so, maybe thats only because weve become so uncertain of the meaning of the word, she contends. War is more difficult to define than one might assume. Examining how influential thinkers have thought about the term, though, can provide some clarity. For English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, war consists, not in actually fighting, but in a known disposition thereto, during all time there is no assurance to the contrary. War, from this perspective, is a state of mind involving feelings of fear and insecurity. Actual violence is not necessary for war to occur, according to Hobbes. The Cold War, from this perspective, could qualify as having been a war despite the lack of direct militarized conflict between the U.S. and USSR due to the ever-present possibility of such engagement. Hobbes arguably defines war too broadly. The causes and consequences of physical violence versus psychological hostility and the possibility of violence can significantly differ. Extending the definition of war to include hostile perceptions without escalation to militarized conflict arguably stretches the concept too far. Rather than war being a state of mind, German military strategist Carl von Clausewitz viewed war as a rational behavioral process, a continuation of policy by other means. For Clausewitz, war consists of violent acts that political agents resort to when they cannot resolve their differences in other ways. What, specifically, are the other means that states use when negotiations fail? Australian international relations scholar Hedley Bull defines war as organized violence carried out by political units against each other. Limiting war to acts of violence, Bulls definition is more specific than Hobbes conceptualization of war. But viewing all violence (organized and carried out by political units against each other) as war may still be rendering the concept of war too broadly. Should violence involving few fatalities (such as skirmishes at a border) qualify as constituting war? Should non-lethal uses of force (such as bombing munition sites where no one is present) qualify as constituting war? Bulls definition could be circumscribed by defining war as follows: large-scale organized lethal violence carried out by political units against each other. Defining war in such a way arguably provides the needed specificity to distinguish war from other conflicts involving force that are not sustained or sufficiently deadly. But such a definition has limitations of its own. What constitutes large-scale lethal violence? At what point does lethality cross a threshold to qualify as engagement in war? Academics who lead the Correlates of War project, a large-scale data collection effort, have provided a clear cutoff point to separate wars from lower levels of force by defining war as a military conflict waged between (or among) national entities, at least one of which is a state which results in at least 1,000 battle deaths of military personnel (within a period of 12 months). One thousand battle deaths may seem like an arbitrary cutoff, and to be fair, to some extent it is. Why not 999 deaths or 1,001? Nonetheless, the definition allows for clear differentiation between large-scale conflicts and those involving fewer fatalities that we typically do not think of as constituting war. The conflict in Ukraine has far exceeded 1,000 battle deaths. Russia and Ukraine are clearly engaged in war with one another. But the United States has not been directly involved in militarized conflict with Russia. U.S. involvement with Ukraine to this point, though extensive, has not qualified as constituting engagement in war, according to the Correlates of War definition of the term. Even if we are not engaged in war yet, we could end up there if we are not careful. Ukraine is still in need of assistance to fend off Russian aggression. We should act boldly, but proceed with caution so that we do not unambiguously end up engaged in a war that we would rather avoid. On a recent camping trip to Kings Canyon National Park I had the opportunity to escape the light-polluted vistas of the city and look through a pair of binoculars at the stars under a dark Sierra Nevada sky. Above the forest and mountains I saw constellations and stars that are too faint to make out in Los Angeles, in details and colors that I cant usually distinguish. It has been a long time since Id had such a clear view of the night sky. This week, we all had a chance to see the universe more clearly with the release of the beautiful and dazzling first images of the distant and early universe from the James Webb Space Telescope. The first, known as Webbs First Deep Field, is a sharp and detailed image of a cluster of distant galaxies as they appeared 4.6 billion years ago. What puts it in perspective is that all that glittering detail is contained in an area of the sky as small as a grain of sand held at arms length. Outer space suddenly seems more crowded. Other images and data from the infrared telescope released in recent days include the Carina Nebula, where young stars are born, and the Southern Ring Nebula, a cloud of cosmic dust and gas expelled by a dying star about 2,000 light-years away. Webb also discovered evidence of water in the atmosphere of a hot gas giant planet, named WASP-96 b, that orbits a distant sun-like star. I was most interested to learn how useful the telescope will be for studying exoplanets which orbit stars outside of our solar system and help us understand how unique or common Earth-like planets really are. Webb is the first observatory that will allow us to explore worlds as small as ours, astronomer Nestor Espinoza with the Space Telescope Science Institute said during a NASA webcast Wednesday. But the Deep Field image, in particular, seems poised to join a short list of images from astronomy and space exploration that are so significant they have helped redefine our understanding of the universe and Earths place in it. They include the 1968 Earthrise photo from the Apollo 8 mission, which shows our planet as seen from lunar orbit, and the 1990 Pale Blue Dot photo taken by the Voyager 1 space probe, in which Earth appears as a mere speck in a vast expanse of outer space. For some, the takeaway from these new glimpses into deep space might be that Earth is small and inconsequential. That the more clearly we see the universe, in its rich vastness, the more our planet seems like an infinitesimal drop in a cosmic ocean. But for me, our growing understanding of the universe only reinforces the fact that Earth is our only home. Its still the only planet we know of that sustains life. Its protected by a thin and fragile atmosphere. Its in danger from climate change and other human-caused threats. Its still singular, precious and worth fighting for. ___ 2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. You have questions. I have some answers. Q: Like many others, Im unhappy about losing Magnum P.I. Is there any chance it will come back? A: Since I wrote about the cancellation of the CBS drama a month ago, the fate of the show starring Jay Hernandez changed, uh, dramatically. NBC has ordered 20 more episodes, with Deadline reporting that the episodes will be spread over two seasons. That will extend its life to six total seasons following the four on CBS with a chance for more. As I said before, the show is popular; financial dealings led to its bumpy renewal ride. Q: I am a huge fan of Charlie Cox. Love his work. I read that he made a film for Netflix. Would you know when it will be shown? A: Lots of people came to like Cox for his starring role as Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Netflixs Daredevil series as well as his reprising the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. He has an upcoming series for Netflix called Treason where he plays a British spy with a complicated past. (Cox is British.) Ive not seen an airdate, although some speculation has it arriving in 2023. There are also reports that Cox will be playing Daredevil again on Disney+ (now home to Daredevil reruns and other Marvel series originally made for Netflix). He could possibly be in his own series, in another Marvel show or, Marvel being Marvel, both. Q: When will a new season of The Amazing Race air? A: The latest season of the reality competition will begin Sept. 21 on CBS. Q: With the recent passing of Howard Hesseman and Frank Bonner, how many surviving stars of WKRP in Cincinnati are left? A: Most of them. From what I can find, we still have Gary Sandy (Andy Travis), Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap) and Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters). Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever) passed away in January, Bonner (Herb Tarlek) in 2021 and Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson) in 2003. Q: Years ago, I saw a movie (maybe from approximately the 1940s) about a Western cavalry fort (maybe from the late 1800s), from which troops rode out to deal with potential conflicts. The few women living at the fort worried each time troops departed, and I remember a memorable scene where three women, representing multiple generations, watched as troops departed. But I dont know the movies name. Do you? A: That was Fort Apache, from 1948, directed by John Ford and with a cast including John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple. (While the plot could have been from a lot of Westerns, you confirmed this was the film after I shared a clip of the scene you remember.) Q: I recently read a question and answer you received about the NBC drama ER. How could I watch? I would really love to see it from the beginning. A: While Pop TV carries reruns, if you want to watch from the beginning you can find the complete series on HBO Max, Hulu and Prime Video for a price. There are also DVDs, and you may want to see if your local library has them. Announcements 40 Plus Stage Company will hold auditions for the play Rhondas Rites of Passage from 7 to 9 p.m. July 25-26 at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, 750 Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem. The play, written by Grace Ellis and directed by Lara Ianni, is a comedy involving Rhonda Lee, a middle-aged woman who is finally seeking the acting career she abandoned earlier in life. The company is seeking an ensemble of collaborative, energetic actors with the ability to make big choices and a willingness to play. There are a variety of roles, and the company welcomes artists of all genders and ethnicities to read for any role that resonates with them. For information, visit tinyurl.com/2p8554br. * * * * Winston-Salem Writers has announced the following winners of the 2022 Flying South literary writing competition: Best in category for fiction and presidents favorite (combined $1,000 prize) was awarded to Nick Watson of Hilton Head Island, S.C., for The Old Man Who Thought He Could Become Garcia Marquez. Best in category for poetry ($500 prize) was awarded to Joyce Schmid of Palo Alto, Calif., for Waiting Room for the CVOR. Best in category for non-fiction ($500 prize) was awarded to Genevieve Allaire of Las Cruces, N.M., for The Guadalupe Confessionals. The 2022 edition of Flying South will feature the work of 36 writers. North Carolina writers whose works are featured in the anthology include John Haugh, Mark Smith-Soto and Anya Russian of Greensboro; Kathie Collins of East Bend; Matt Cheek of Charlotte; Leslie Parker of McLeansville; Bill Colvard of Jonesville; Kevin Winchester of Waxhaw; David Poston of Gastonia; Vivian Bikulege of Brevard; Jenny Bates of Germanton; JoAnn Hoffman of Cary; Laura Alderson of Raleigh; Sharon Howard of Boone; and Earl Huband of Durham. The books cover was designed by local artist and Winston-Salem Writers member Barbara Mellin. The anthology will be available in late August for purchase from online vendors including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million; at the Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors in downtown Winston-Salem Sept. 22-25; and on the Winston-Salem Writers website, wswriters.org. A book launch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Bookmarks bookstore, 634 W. Fourth St. (#110), Winston-Salem. For information, visit wswriters.org. * * * * Music Carolina SummerFest returns and celebrates its 15th season in Winston-Salem with an array of concerts, Aug. 7-Sept. 1. Artistic Directors Joe Mount and Matt Kendrick have announced this years schedule. Sponsored by Music Carolina, the Music Carolina SummerFest concerts will take place in different locations throughout Winston-Salem and feature a range of musical styles such as classical, jazz, tango, bossa nova, hip hop and opera. This year, SummerFest will present performances featuring more than 60 musicians, as well as seven dancers and two poets. The first concert, Jazz with Words, with Diana Tuffin, a vocalist, is set for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Piedmont Music Center, 212 N. Broad St. in Winston-Salem. For tickets and a full schedule, visit www.musiccarolina.org. Awards Co-adviser of Surry Community Colleges Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Kathleen Fowler, attended the organizations annual convention this spring, where she was recognized for her and her chapters accomplishments. The convention, PTK Catalyst, was held in Denver, Colo. Fowler won the Paragon Award for New Advisors and the Phi Theta Kappa Carolinas Region Horizon Award. Advisers who receive the Paragon Award are recognized for significant contributions to the growth of individual members, serve as the chapters advocate on campus and encourage the chapter to be involved on the local, regional and international level of the organization. The Horizon Award is given to advisors who participate in regional and international programs, as well as attain new levels of achievement in PTK programs. The additional award recognitions include: Three International Hallmark Trophies for 2020, four International Hallmark Trophies for 2022, six Regional Trophies including the 2022 Most Distinguished Chapter, Distinguished Theme Award for Honors in Action, Distinguished Honors in Action Project, Distinguished Chapter and seventh finalist for Most Distinguished Chapter of 1,300 Chapters. * * * * Many Surry Community College programs were recognized for 100 percent pass rates for first-time state licensure examinations during the Spring 2022 faculty/staff meeting. The N.C. Criminal Justice Standards Division announced the 2021 results of the Standards Examination for SCC Basic Law Enforcement Training students. Students in the Evening Program of BLET achieved a passing rate of 100 percent for first-time test takers. The Detention Officer Training Program students have also achieved a 100 percent pass rate for first-time test takers on the State of N.C. Criminal Justice Standards Division Examination for the fifth consecutive year. The Basic LIDAR Operator Certification students also achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the N.C. Criminal Justice Standards Division Speed Measurement Instrument Examination. BLET Director Jim McHone was presented with three resolutions for these achievements from the SCC Board of Trustees. The N.C. Board of Cosmetic Arts announced the 2021 Cosmetology State Board Results for SCC. The SCC Cosmetology program students have achieved a passing rate of 100 percent for first-time test takers on the Cosmetology licensure exam for the second consecutive year. Lead Cosmetology Instructor Robin Minton accepted a resolution from the SCC Board of Trustees on behalf of the cosmetology faculty. Other programs and individuals were recognized for their high standards and excellent work: The NC Department of Public Instruction announced that for the academic year of 2020-2021, Surry Early College High School of Design had a 100 percent graduation rate, surpassing the state average of 87 percent. SECHS also received the recognition and honor of being named a Signature School of the Piedmont. The NC Department of Public Instruction announced that for the academic year of 2020-2021, Yadkin Early College High School had a 100 percent graduation rate, surpassing the state average of 87 percent. Surry Cellars, the colleges Viticulture and Enology program winery, continually receives awards at local, state, national and international competitions. Since 2009, Surry Cellars has received 96 wine awards42 medals in North Carolina, 18 nationally and 18 internationally. In 2021, Surry Cellars won Best Sparkling for their Traminette Pet-Nat from NC Fine Wines for the fourth consecutive year. Surry Community College has been named a Military Friendly School for 2022-2023 and has been recognized as Military Friendly for the 11th year. Graduates College of Saint Rose, Kernersville: Brittany Jones, M.S. in education educational/school psychology Eastern Connecticut State University: Karla Pacheco-Sahagun of Thomasville, summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in new media studies; Charlotte Pacheco-Sahagun of Thomasville, summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre; Leeann Williams of Winston-Salem, Bachelor of Arts degree in political science Ithaca College, Winston-Salem: Violet Rumble, B.A. in English. The Citadel: Aidan Brady of Clemmons, Bachelor of Arts in political science; Jonathan Florian, Bachelor of Arts in intelligence and security studies Scholarships Kenny Arnold and Angela Gallagher, both students at Salem Colleges Martha H. Fleer Center for Adult Education, have been selected to receive Alpha Sigma Lambda scholarships. Alpha Sigma Lambda awarded a total of 21 scholarships nationwidesix valued at $3,000 each and 15 valued at $2,500for the 20222023 academic year. Arnold will receive a $2,500 Alpha Sigma Lambda scholarship. He is studying nonprofit management at Salem College and will graduate in spring 2023. He plans to pursue a Master of Social Work degree after graduation. Gallagher will receive a $3,000 Alpha Sigma Lambda named in honor of Paul F. Sable, PhD. She will graduate from Salem College in December 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in health humanities. After graduation, she will enroll in Brown Universitys Master of Science in healthcare leadership program. * * * * Each year, the Lewisville Civic Club selects three graduating high school seniors to receive a college scholarship, each in the amount of $1,500, for its Community Service and Leadership Award. In addition to academic accomplishments, the recipients have also spent hours completing service projects in the Lewisville community such as translating for Spanish speaking residents, veteran outreach and lobbying for womens equality. This year, the club recipients are West Forsyth High School graduate Olivia Harper Mock, who will study business and finance at N.C. State; Forsyth Country Day School graduates Sophia R Scherer, who will study computer science, economics and business at N.C. State; and Sarina Jarrahi Horner, who will study economics and political science at UNC-Chapel Hill. More than two weeks after Winston-Salem police said a man shot one of three men he claimed was assaulting him at Target on Hanes Mall Boulevard, no criminal charges have been filed, even though everyone involved has been identified. Kira Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Winston-Salem Police Department, said an active investigation is underway. She did not say whether criminal charges will be filed in the case. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill said Friday that his office has not made a decision on whether criminal charges should be filed. We are allowing WSPD to finish their investigation, he said. The June 28 gunfire inside Target prompted a rare late-night press conference 24 hours later from Police Chief Catrina Thompson, who urged citizens not to conduct their own investigations into online child predators but declined to disclose that the subject of the news conference was the Target assault. But on July 3, Winston-Salem police released additional details that made it appear that the Target assault was the reason behind the unusual the news conference. Police initially said that a man told them he was approached by three other men inside the store about 8:30 p.m. June 28, and that, after they started assaulting him, he pulled a gun and fired one time in an attempt to stop the assault. Dontaye Kentrell Wade, 25, who told police he fired the shot, told authorities that the three men continued to assault him, took his gun and ran out of the store. Wade told police that he drove home after the assault, then went to a local hospital to be examined. Police said Wades injuries were minor and that he was released from the hospital after getting treated. On July 3, Winston-Salem police said that investigators were able to identify the three men through interviews, social media and surveillance as Jay Cameron Carnicom, 28, of Freemont, Ohio; Joshua Alvin Michael Mundy, 29, of Freemont, Ohio; and Jason Doane Chipps, 37, of Marion. Police said the three men were part of a group called DAP, or Dads Against Predators, on social media. During the course of the investigation, it has been discovered the three males lured the victim to the Target utilizing a social media app called Meet Up, police said in a news release. Once the victim arrived inside the Target, the three males approached the victim and confronted him as to why he was at the Target. Police did not say why the three men targeted Wade. Wade has not been charged with any crime. One of the men was recording the interaction when Wade slapped the phone away, police said. During the ensuing fight, Wade brandished a handgun and fired once, striking Carnicom in the lower leg, police said. The men took Wades gun, ran out of Target and got into a vehicle with Ohio tags. Wade also ran out of the store but went to a Forsyth County hospital later that night for injuries he got in the assault, police said. Around 3:13 a.m. on June 29, police got information that led them to Wades gun on Sunderland Road. Then, at 11 a.m. June 29, Winston-Salem police were contacted by law enforcement in Ohio confirming Carnicom had arrived at a hospital there. He had a gunshot wound to his leg and he was treated and released from the hospital. At the news conference June 29, Thompson warned city residents that vigilante groups, including ones in the Triad, can create problems for law enforcement. The intentions of these groups may be honorable, Thompson said at the news conference at the Beaty Public Safety Training Center on Patterson Avenue. But members of these groups, Thompson said, dont have the training of law-enforcement officers, and their methods of investigation and gathering of evidence typically dont meet the requirements of a successful prosecution of these cases. She urged citizen groups to contact the Winston-Salem Police Department instead of taking matters into their own hands. An assistant chief of the Fremont Police Department told WGHP/Fox 8, the Winston-Salem Journals newsgathering partner, that he has dealt with DAP for years and that members have been banned from various grocery stores in the Ohio area because their meet-ups turn violent. WGHP/Fox 8 did not identify the assistant chief in its story. Mundy told WGHP/Fox 8 that he could not go into the details but said that his group is cooperating with the investigation. Mundy told WGHP/Fox 8 that he and the two other men did not do anything wrong. He and Carnicom also appeared Thursday on a YouTube show where they talked about the Winston-Salem incident. Both men said in the video that they were involved in the incident at Target and would no longer meet inside stores or in public places. Fremont police told WGHP/Fox 8 that Mundy and Carnicom have not been criminally charged in connection to DAP activities. Attorneys for Novant Health are denying allegations that three doctors at Forsyth Medical Center neglected and abandoned a 92-year-old woman who died a day after being brought to the hospital. The attorneys filed an official response July 5 in Forsyth Superior Court to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of Olivia B. Thompkins, who was the mother of Renita Thompkins-Linville. Thompkins-Linville became the first Black person to hold the position of Forsyth Countys clerk of superior court in 2019 after she was appointed. She unsuccessfully ran for re-election. Olivia Thompkins worked as a treasurer at the Kate Bitting Hospital Credit Union and business manager for the Reynolds Health Center in Winston-Salem. Her husband, the late David Thompkins, was the first Black person to be the executive director for the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem. Attorneys Harold and Harvey Kennedy represent Tina Thompkins, Olivia Thompkins daughter, who is the executor of her mothers estate, and filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Forsyth Superior Court on March 28. Olivia Thompkins was pronounced dead at 3:54 p.m. March 26, 2020. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Novant Health Inc.; Forsyth Medical Center; and three doctors, Dr. Gregory P. Tarleton, Dr. Francisca O. Aluya and Dr. Ryan T. Barnes. Attorneys Tamura D. Coffey, J. Rebekah Biggerstaff and Peyton M. Pawlik filed the answer to the lawsuit July 5 and asked a judge to dismiss the complaint. They denied all the allegations in the lawsuit and referenced Olivia Thompkins medical record as the best evidence of her care and treatment at Forsyth Medical Center. According to the lawsuit, Olivia Thompkins was taken to Forsyth Medical Center on the night of March 24, 2020. Tina Thompkins came to the hospital the next day and stayed with her until she died. The lawsuit alleges that she asked nurses to suction her mother after Olivia Thompkins started having trouble breathing. During the suctioning, Tina Thompkins noticed dark bloody mucous coming out of her mothers mouth. Tina Thompkins, the lawsuit said, asked the nurses for a doctor to evaluate her mother. The lawsuit said Tina Thompkins asked for a doctor eight different times after her mother started having problems breathing. According to the lawsuit, no physician ever came to Olivia Thompkins room. Tarleton, Aluya and Barnes were assigned to care for Olivia Thompkins, the lawsuit said. The physicians assigned to her care completely ignored her. They abandoned her, the lawsuit said. Late on the morning of March 26, 2020, a doctor did come to evaluate Olivia Thompkins, and she was immediately transferred to a respiratory unit and then rushed to the ICU, the lawsuit said. A few hours later, she was placed on life support. Before any of that happened, the lawsuit said, she was never put on a ventilator, despite having breathing problems. At 11:04 a.m. March 26, 2020, when she got to the ICU, her oxygen levels were in the 70s, which is a dangerously low level, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit said she was never treated for pneumonia. The lawsuit alleges that Tarleton, Aluya, Barnes and Novant Health acted with conscious and intentional disregard of and indifference to the rights and safety of Olivia B. Thompkins, and that the doctors participated in the willful and wanton conduct, as attending physicians. The lawsuit is asking for compensatory and punitive damages of more than $50,000. No trial date has been set. WASHINGTON Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week. Along with the weeks roll call votes, the House also passed the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act (H.R. 7535), to encourage the migration of federal government information technology systems to quantum-resistant cryptography. House votes CARIBBEAN TIES: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 1168), sponsored by Del. Stacey E. Plaskett, D-V.I., stating the need to strengthen U.S. economic partnerships with Caribbean countries. Plaskett said the partnerships support budding democracies at our doorstep and create mutually beneficial economic stability with our neighbors. The vote, on July 12, was 351 yeas to 64 nays. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Manning D-NC (6th) NAYS: Budd R-NC (13th) FEDERAL WORKER BENEFITS: The House has passed the First Responder Fair Return for Employees on Their Initial Retirement Earned Act (H.R. 521), sponsored by Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va. The bill would keep federal government workers classified as first responders for the purposes of receiving retirement benefits if those workers are disabled on the job and then move to non-first responder jobs within the federal government. Connolly said: We want to incentivize our first responders to continue their service to this nation. We shouldnt punish them for injuries they sustained protecting us. The vote, on July 12, was unanimous with 417 yeas. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) CYBERSECURITY TRAINING: The House has passed the National Computer Forensics Institute Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7174), sponsored by Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. The bill would reauthorize, through 2032, the U.S. Secret Services National Computer Forensics Institute, which trains state and local law enforcement agencies in addressing cybersecurity and electronic crime. The vote, on July 13, was 410 yeas to 16 nays. NOT VOTING: McHenry R-NC (10th) YEAS: Foxx R-NC (5th), Manning D-NC (6th) NAYS: Budd R-NC (13th) FENTANYL EXPOSURES: The House has passed the Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxics Act (H.R. 5274), sponsored by Rep. David P. Joyce, R-Ohio, to require the Customs and Border Protection agency to distribute containment devices to its workers to prevent their exposure to fentanyl. Joyce called the requirement a simple but necessary extension of the tools we provide those who defend our borders and help them do their jobs safely. The vote, on July 13, was unanimous with 429 yeas. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) ACTIVE SHOOTER ALERTS: The House has passed the Active Shooter Alert Act (H.R. 6538), sponsored by Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I. The bill would establish an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network at the Justice Department, and have the network make plans for sending alerts about active shooters by working with local and state governments. Cicilline said the network will provide access to an important tool for law enforcement departments across the country, regardless of their size or location. An opponent, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said state and local governments already had adequate alert systems, and called the bill another failed attempt by Democrats to do something about the surge in violence and crime across the country. The vote, on July 13, was 260 yeas to 169 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) VETERANS AND TOXINS: The House has passed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (S. 3373), sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., to increase medical benefits and treatments for military veterans who were exposed to toxins in Iraq and Afghanistan. A bill supporter, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., said it will help millions of veterans, servicemembers, survivors, and military families. The vote, on July 13, was 342 yeas to 88 nays. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) NAYS: Foxx R-NC (5th) MILITARY COMMISSIONS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would require the Defense Department to publish on the Internet the proceedings of military commissions. Schiff said the requirement would show the American people that we believe they have the right to observe military commission proceedings, including those against the individuals who planned the 9/11 attacks. An opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said: Letting hardened terrorists know there is a public audience for their hate will do far more harm than good. The vote, on July 13, was 218 yeas to 207 nays. NOT VOTING: McHenry R-NC (10th) NAYS: Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) CONTRACTOR LABOR PRACTICES: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would bar the Defense Department from awarding contracts to employers found to have recently engaged in unfair labor practices. Jones said taxpayer dollars should go to companies that are helping to build and strengthen our country, not tear it down. An opponent, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., said: This flawed blacklisting amendment will threaten federal contractors due process rights because a federal contractor could be prohibited from DOD contracts before a charge has been fully adjudicated. The vote, on July 13, was 221 yeas to 207 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) MILITARY LABOR STANDARDS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would give preferential treatment to potential Defense Department contractors who meet certain labor relations standards. Schakowsky said the amendment was needed to prevent contractors from harassing workers. An opponent, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., said that by favoring contractors who have signed neutrality agreements with workers who might unionize, the amendment would stifle employee free choice and prohibit employers from communicating with their employees about the downsides of union representation. The vote, on July 13, was 220 yeas to 209 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) MILITARY CONTRACTING: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would give preferential treatment to potential Defense Department construction contractors with a majority of their employees living near the planned construction project. Kim said the preferential treatment will help small businesses and highly skilled workers in the building trades access new opportunities and unlock the local economic potential of military bases across the country. An opponent, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., said it would increase time and money to an already difficult, lengthy, and often slow military construction process. The vote, on July 13, was 220 yeas to 207 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) MILITARY HARASSMENT CLAIMS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would require the military to complete its reviews of harassment and discrimination complaints within 6 months. Escobar said the time limit was needed because our servicemembers lack many of the protections and privileges that their civilian counterparts have when it comes to discrimination and harassment. An opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said that by overturning current military procedures for reviewing complaints, this amendment creates an existential threat to the good order and discipline of the military. The vote, on July 13, was 219 yeas to 209 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) MILITARY HARM TO CIVILIANS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would authorize up to $5 million of annual spending on programs to mitigate civilian harm from military actions. Khanna said the funding would help make sure we have the resources to track and report and minimize civilian casualties. An opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said it diverts critical dollars needed to ensure the readiness of our servicemembers to fulfill unnecessary paperwork requirements. The vote, on July 13, was 215 yeas to 212 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) NUCLEAR TESTS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would end limits on funding for the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Foster said of the need for increased funding: We must continue our efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons and continue longstanding commitments to our allies. An opponent, Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., said: This amendment would require American taxpayers to provide money to an organization for a treaty the United States is not even a party to. The vote, on July 13, was 216 yeas to 209 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) D.C. NATIONAL GUARD: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would give the mayor of Washington, D.C., authority over the Districts National Guard equal to authority the governors of the 50 states have over their National Guards. Norton said currently, presidential control over the D.C. National Guard creates a loophole in the Posse Comitatus Act which limits the militarys involvement in civil law enforcement. An opponent, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., said: The D.C. mayor must not have equal authorities as governors of states and territories have over their National Guards because the D.C. mayor is not a governor. The vote, on July 13, was 218 yeas to 209 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) WHITE SUPREMACY: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bradley Scott Schneider, D-Ill., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would require the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Department, and Defense Department to oppose white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity by agency employees. Schneider said: Extremism is a threat to us in all segments of society. There is no reason to believe that our military is any different. An opponent, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said: This amendment denigrates our men and women in the service. It is Orwellian in nature. The vote, on July 13, was 218 yeas to 208 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) DOMESTIC TERRORISM: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would require the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Department to send Congress a report on processes needed to improve their reports on domestic terrorism threats. Rice said the report would ensure that we give our agencies the tools they need to give us the best intelligence and information. An opponent, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said the amendment would enable the Biden administration to use existing counterterrorism resources as a tool to target and silence citizens who disagree with government actions. The vote, on July 13, was 220 yeas to 205 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) POSSE COMITATUS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), that would bar the use, in legal proceedings, of evidence obtained by military members in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which governs the involvement of the military in domestic law enforcement activities. Schiff said the measure would prevent any president of either party from unlawfully using the military as a domestic police force, and it would ensure that evidence obtained because of unlawful acts isnt used against any American. An opponent, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., raised concerns about the possible disuse of evidence regarding immigration law if members of the military were lawfully used for assistance at the border with Mexico. The vote, on July 14, was 215 yeas to 213 nays. NAYS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th) YEAS: Manning D-NC (6th) MILITARY SPENDING: The House has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900), sponsored by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., to authorize $850 billion of fiscal 2023 spending at the Defense Department and military construction programs, and prescribe military personnel levels for the year. Smith said of the need for the bill: The men and women who serve must have the tools and the support from us that they need to do that job. The vote, on July 14, was 329 yeas to 101 nays. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) 5G NETWORKS: The House has passed the Promoting United States International Leadership in 5G Act (H.R. 1934), sponsored by Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas, to require the president to form an interagency government working group for supporting U.S. 5th generation (5G) mobile telecommunications systems. A supporter, Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., said: This bill will help ensure that the United States is doing all we can to stop Russian and Chinese malign influence taking control of the worlds 5G networks. The vote, on July 14, was 405 yeas to 20 nays. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) SUDAN COUP: The House has passed a resolution (H. Con. Res. 59), sponsored by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., condemning last Octobers military coup in Sudan and calling for the restoration of the countrys constitutional leaders. The vote, on July 14, was 417 yeas to 7 nays. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) VETERANS RECORDS: The House has passed the Access for Veterans to Records Act (H.R. 7337), sponsored by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., to require the U.S. Office of the Archivist to send Congress a plan for ways to reduce the backlog of processing veterans requests for National Personnel Records Center documents, and authorize $60 million of spending on that effort. Maloney said the current backlog of about 500 thousand records requests has left veterans and their families struggling as they wait to receive material needed to access housing, healthcare, and other government services. The vote, on July 14, was 406 yeas to 21 nays. YEAS: McHenry R-NC (10th), Foxx R-NC (5th), Budd R-NC (13th), Manning D-NC (6th) Senate votes MILITARY READINESS: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Ashish Vazirani to be the Defense Departments Deputy Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness. Vazirani, a longtime management consultant and former naval officer, is a senior official at the A2O Strategies business consultancy, and previously was CEO of the National Military Family Association. The vote, on July 12, was 73 yeas to 21 nays. YEAS: Burr R-NC, Tillis R-NC BATF DIRECTOR: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Steven M. Dettelbach to be head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Dettelbach was a U.S. attorney in Ohio for most of the Obama administration and, since 2016, has been a partner at the BakerHostetler law firm. A supporter, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called Dettelbach a career prosecutor with decades of experience fighting crime, religion-motivated violence, gun trafficking, and he is a proven consensus-builder with bipartisan support. The vote, on July 12, was 48 yeas to 46 nays. NAYS: Burr R-NC, Tillis R-NC FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Michael Barr to be a member of the Federal Reserves board of governors for a 14-year term ending in 2032. Barr, an assistant secretary at the Treasury Department during part of the Obama administration, has since been a finance and public policy professor at the University of Michigan. A supporter, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said Barr has worked for a quarter century to make our financial system safer and fairer. The vote, on July 13, was 66 yeas to 28 nays. Barr was then confirmed, in a separate 66-28 vote, to also be the boards vice chairman for supervision for a four-year term. NAYS: Burr R-NC, Tillis R-NC EXPORT-IMPORT BANK: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Owen Herrnstadt to be a member of the board of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Herrnstadt, currently an executive at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, is also an employment and labor law professor at Georgetown University, and was formerly a Federal Reserve official. A supporter, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, praised Herrnsatdt as a 30-year-long labor activist, fighting for workers. The vote, on July 13, was 51 yeas to 44 nays. NAYS: Burr R-NC YEAS: Tillis R-NC CIA GENERAL COUNSEL: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Kate Heinzelman to be the Central Intelligence Agencys general counsel. Currently a senior aide in the attorney generals office, Heinzelman had been a partner at a Washington, D.C., law firm, and a legal official in the Obama administration in various roles. The vote, on July 14, was 50 yeas to 41 nays. YEAS: Burr R-NC, Tillis R-NC Targeted News Service The Winston-Salem Fire Department reported that firefighters rescued one person while they were trying to put out a fire in a townhouse about 8 p.m. Friday in the 300 block of Butler Avenue. Forsyth County EMS transported the victim to a local hospital. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Tabetha Childress, a spokeswoman for WSFD, said that there are no updates on the condition of the victim. "The victim was still conscious on the last report, Childress said. A long, long time ago, before Beyonce, before Madonna, I attended a small church in Nashville, Tenn., one member of a tightly-knit group of college students. We were an enthusiastic bunch, desiring an authentic and dynamic experience of community rather than being mere spectators in a weekly ritual. Though we usually traveled to church together in a bus, wed spread out in the sanctuary so that we could meet and befriend other members. This practice was welcomed especially by a group of elderly ladies who rode their own bus every Sunday from a nearby retirement community. It seemed to thrill them to be around younger folks like us. One Sunday morning, we students were excited because our friend Kathleens boyfriend, who lived out of state, came to visit. We all wanted to greet him and, you know, check him out. We clustered around them after the morning service. He was confident, had a good sense of humor and took the gentle scrutiny well. We were all impressed. At some point I noticed, among other groups bunched here and there, three of the elderly ladies sitting nearby. My impression was that one of them was upset and the other two were trying to console her. She was shaking her head, and I could just make out what she was saying: Its wrong. Its just wrong. Sometime later, I approached one of the ladies who had tried to console her and asked what had happened. She sighed deeply and told me, quietly, Shes upset because Kathleens boyfriend is Black. Most everyone else in the building, including Kathleen, was white. She continued: Its just the way she was raised. When youre taught something your whole life, its hard to change. So many thoughts ran through my mind. Mostly, I was grateful that in our church even among the elderly, even in the 1980s this disconcerting view didnt seem very widespread. And I was grateful that this ladys friends offered their comfort rather than their condemnation. She was more a victim of sour teaching teaching that created a problem for her where none actually existed than a perpetrator. Its hard today to imagine that segregation was once an issue that broiled through American churches. But many mainstream conservative churches fought to maintain the practice, referring to the Tower of Babel and beasts being made after their kind. Influential Christian pastor Bob Jones preached Acts 17:26: And he (God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places. A hundred years before that, of course, American churches wrestled with slavery, which led to the creation of the Southern Baptist denomination in 1845. Both Christianity and Slavery are from Heaven; both are blessings to humanity; both are to be perpetuated to the end of time, Southern Baptist Pastor Ebenezer W. Warren preached in 1861. To him and others, slavery wasnt just allowed it was required by God. By now, many of us have read about how the Christian view of abortion has changed over the years. The Southern Baptist Convention, for instance, passed a resolution supporting the practice in 1971 and another in 1974, shortly after Roe passed with the votes of five Republican-appointed justices. In a statement, the convention declared that religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court abortion decision. Churches even those that loathe the term evolve. The Southern Baptist Convention offered a formal apology for its support of slavery in 1995. Representatives of Bob Jones eponymous South Carolina university, founded in 1927, apologized for its racist policies, including segregation, in 2008. Many Christian churches today refuse to accept members of the LGBTQ community not only in their congregations, but simply as equal members of society. They can quote book, chapter and verse that command them to oppose gay and transgender people, to deny them simple human dignity and the right to make decisions about their own lives. They do so even after facing the most consequential moral questions of the 19th and 20th centuries, using what they consider to be an unerring guide the Bible and deciding wrongly. Dramatically so. Youd think that would lead them to practice a little humility. A little discernment. A little introspection. But no, theyve got proof texts. Just like the supporters of slavery and segregation. Thats different, critics will say. They were wrong. But they thought they were right. The Bible proved they were right. Maybe theres more to it than book, chapter and verse. Maybe there are broader principles to be applied, like, Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Maybe? After establishing in previous hearings that former President Trump had every reason to know that he lost the 2020 presidential election, the Jan. 6 committee tried on Tuesday to connect the dots to prove that he also purposely summoned what he knew would be a violent mob of extremist groups to prevent his ouster from the White House. The effort may not have been entirely successful the dots create more an impressionistic picture than a representational image. But the conclusions they did establish with many blanks filled in or reinforced by then-White House Counsel Pat Cipollone are still essential. One is Trumps inability to handle the truth of his electoral loss. Despite his claims to be a very stable genius and to be able to act in a presidential manner or, as Rep. Liz Cheney put it in her opening statement, President Trump is a 76-year-old man. He is not an impressionable child Trump was emotionally and temperamentally incapable of doing what so many of us have to do when life hands us lemons: suck it up and gracefully move on. Instead, he enlisted a mob of crazies in terms of fly-by-night attorney Sydney Powell, discredited former Gen. Michael Flynn and loose cannon Rudy Giuliani and in terms of the extremist groups he summoned to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with repeated inflammatory tweets and statements. And summon them he did the Proud Boys he previously told to stand back and stand by, the far-right militant Oath Keepers and others. Beyond that, we learned that the militia groups that coalesced around Trump are still a danger to America. The most dramatic testimony on Tuesday came from Jason Van Tatenhove, a former Oath Keepers spokesperson, and Stephen Ayres, a former Trump supporter who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection. I think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths, Van Tatenhove said, and what it was going to be was an armed revolution. I mean, people died that day. Law enforcement officers died that day. There was a gallows set up in front of the Capitol. This could have been the spark that started a new civil war and no one would have won there. Tatenhove described the group as becoming more radicalized over time one reason he quit and witnessing its founder, Stewart Rhodes, courting white nationalists and other racists. Stephen Ayres, a cabinetmaker and family man, said he was one of many who were riled up by Trump and were following what he said ahead of the insurrection. Doing so, he said, has cost him. Hes lost his job and his house and is currently under indictment for a number of federal crimes. Tens of thousands responded to Trumps call Be there, will be wild! including North Carolinians like Kernersville resident and local Proud Boys leader Charles Joseph Donohoe, who has pleaded guilty to two charges one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and is now cooperating with federal authorities. Nearly two dozen North Carolinians have been charged in connection with the insurrection. And Van Tatenhove is correct that the threat is not over and may, indeed, be more dangerous now. In light of his testimony, it should concern us that ProPublica last year identified some elected officials, including N.C. Reps. Mike Clampitt and Keith Kidwell, as members of Oath Keepers. It should also concern us that more members of extremist groups and more adherents to Trumps Big Lie of election fraud are running for office now. Incidentally, after his testimony, Ayers was seen approaching Capitol police officers in the audience, to whom he reportedly apologized for his role in the attack. This action exhibited more courage than that shown by any of the Trump sycophants in Congress who support him to this day. They should apologize to the American people for their role in promoting Trumps Big Lie and for downplaying the events of Jan. 6, 2021. As charges continue to be generated by the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump is said to be on the verge of announcing whether hell run for president again in 2024. The American people and the Department of Justice must decide whether they will allow that degree of deceit, moral failure and chaos anywhere near the White House once again. Friday was, in many ways, an ordinary night at Ravinia Park. Concertgoers arrived in hordes, folding chairs hooked over their shoulders and coolers bumping at their waists. Security was no tighter than in previous years just a quick bag check and a pace through a metal detector. In the Pavilion, concertgoers embraced and gossiped, many so engrossed in their conversations that they barely ducked back into their seats in time for the Chicago Symphony to finish tuning onstage. Advertisement I never see you, except here! a woman near me exclaimed to another. The unspoken subtext? A whole lot can change in a year. And sometimes less than that. Advertisement Eleven days had passed since a shooter opened fire on a July 4 parade in downtown Highland Park, making Ravinias home base the focus of international media attention. Chicago saw even more casualties from gun violence the same weekend seemingly to less uproar, as victims families have noted. For the grieving, 11 days is nothing and also, somehow, everything. It was hard to believe the CSOs season-opening concert on Friday was only Ravinias second since the park canceled or postponed events post-shooting the first being a visit by Shake Your Money Maker rockers the Black Crowes. Sundays previously scheduled CSO concert of Beethoven and Richard Strauss has since been rededicated to Highland Park residents, with fuller tributes planned then. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park July 15 for the orchestra's season opening concert. (Patrick Gipson / HANDOUT) Like Tuesdays Black Crowes concert, on Friday, only a brief greeting by Ravinia president and CEO Jeff Haydon directly addressed the violence in both the North Shore suburb and Chicago, encouraging audiences to donate to the Highland Park Community Foundations shooting response fund. And principal conductor Marin Alsop didnt address it at all, instead using her short remarks to prime audiences to the late composer Julia Perry (1924-1979), who wrote the evenings starter, Short Piece for Large Orchestra. It was as if the festival, like many of us, was still fumbling its way forward whatever that means. But, as the truism goes, music stepped in where words failed. In memory of the July 4 victims, the CSO and Alsop played Nimrod from Edward Elgars Enigma Variations, both sufficiently valedictory and familiar to audiences. In February, Alsop led the CSO in a striding, stately rendition of the same work at Orchestra Hall; performing it again in a dramatically different context, she began the movement at an even more fragile hush, cresting to a climax that sounded, appropriately, more fitful than triumphant. In the broadest possible strokes, the rest of the evening more or less followed suit. Fridays concert felt more like a release of anxious energy than a balm, setting off any emotional fireworks which lay dormant in the days following the massacre. Chief among the pyrotechnicians was Stewart Goodyear, headlining Ravinia for the first time in more than 20 years with Tchaikovskys larger-than-life Piano Concerto No. 1. The best of Goodyears interpretation scratched itches one didnt even know they had rolled chords in the first movement unfurled with a snap, and the pared-down pianism of the second movement came off as both intimate and sweetly cheeky. Conductor Marin Alsop and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park July 15. (Patrick Gipson / HANDOUT) But overall, the Canadian pianists performance was noticeably herky-jerky. Though sympathetic collaborators, Alsop and CSO struggled to catch Goodyear in soloist-tutti handoffs during the first movements most hectic moments, and neither pianist nor orchestra comfortably gelled with the rollicking tempo of the Allegro con fuoco. If razzle-dazzle is the Ravinia sets yardstick, however, Goodyear delivered on that front. The Pavilion gave him an extended standing ovation, interpolated by a couple futile calls for an encore. Goodyear, visibly sweaty in the muggy weather, graciously acknowledged the applause but retreated for much-deserved rest. Advertisement If a criticism could be lobbed at the CSOs Sheherazade Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakovs much-loved quasi-concerto based on One Thousand and One Nights its that it, too, sometimes felt rushed, not in tempo but transitions. An extroverted parks performance through and through, Alsops interpretation was short on sentimentality but delivered satisfyingly in verve, coloration and balance, aside from some woodwind overzealousness in the final bars. Associate concertmaster Stephanie Jeong gave a captivating, singular performance as the yarn-spinning Sheherazade, her solos limber and richly expressive. Her colleagues matched her rhetorical flair in their own spotlights: bassoonist Keith Buncke expertly sculpted his second-movement solo, and the low brasss frightful outburst in the finale only accentuated this interpretations ambiguously shadowy ending. Principal cellist John Sharp merited more onstage acknowledgment than he received Friday night, for striking solos in both Sheherazade and the Tchaikovsky concerto. Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park July 15. (Patrick Gipson / HANDOUT) In a best-hits concert like this one, its high praise when the program rarity craters the biggest impact. Before Friday, the CSO had never played Julia Perrys Short Piece for Large Orchestra a tongue-in-cheek name for the stoic opus which Perry revisited throughout her career, and which has since become her most performed work. Like many Black composers of her generation, Perry found more opportunities in Europe than back home in the States, where racism constrained her professional prospects. A series of paralyzing strokes in the 1970s curtailed her career further and led to her premature death at 55. Alsop was the ideal matchmaker between the CSO and Perrys undersung modernist marvel, marrying might and devoted attention to detail. She brought out the works motivic tightness as if illuminating the score by backlight, even sneaking some dancing whimsy into the section just before the concluding Molto lento. A memorial concert this was not, and no requiem is Short Piece for Large Orchestra. But it did seem darkly apt that this most American of backstories hung over Perrys work, following Highland Parks most American of tragedies. Music may offer catharsis of all kinds, but sweet sounds wont shorten the long road ahead. The CSOs performance of the Alpine and Pastoral Symphonies will be dedicated to Highland Park residents. 5 p.m. July 17, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park (west parking lot), $15 lawn admission, $65 premium lawn blocks, $35-95 Pavilion seats; www.ravinia.org. Advertisement Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer. The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music coverage. The Chicago Tribune maintains complete editorial control over assignments and content. Mythologized firearms Thank you for taking a stand against the Republican love affair with firearms (Our view: Gun raffle is a mistake, July 14). I doubt they will get it. Rather than see firearms as dangerous, they seem to want us to think them to be benign or even beneficial. They seem to want everyone to accept their presence at the grocery store, at the bank, in the streets, anywhere people gather. But I doubt they would acknowledge that numbing us to the presence of firearms would assist the plans of the next mass shooters. They often turn to self-defense as their rationale, and self-defense is an adequate reason to own a firearm. But they actually go further. As demonstrated by Vernon Robinsons raffle plan, they imbue these instruments of death with a certain glee and enthusiasm that mock their claims to be pro-life. Anyone who truly believed that life is precious would rue instruments that end life not mythologize or celebrate them. This is but one aspect of the bankrupt, fever-dream philosophy of the Republican Party that rational people should reject to return our society to some semblance of peace. Howard Greene Winston-Salem Remember So our taxes will fund an artsy tribute to a seedy lawn pest (City OKs $1M for dandelion art July 2). Why not? Itll go well with our profligate City Councils other boondoggles, such as a renovated train station with no train service, a new pool house for a perennially closed pool and million-dollar hydroponic tomatoes. Voters, remember all this in the next elections. Stan Whitley Pfafftown Power grid technology The flawed Supreme Court ruling on West Virginia v. EPA makes it abundantly clear that we need comprehensive legislation to address the U.S. electric grid technology. Corporate profits overrule public safety. In 2021, Duke Energys ESG reported its power sources distribution: fracked gas 36%, nuclear 34.9%, coal 22.3%, wind 3.4%, solar 2.0%, hydro 1.3%. Coal and fracked gas make up 58.3% of Duke Energys grid despite the known environmental dangers. Unless we demand changes, corporations will continue to pollute because mitigation reduces profits. Given past coal ash track records, can we rely on energy companies to protect the environment? Radiation was also confirmed in groundwater around the Lake Norman plant in 2018. The Marshall coal-fired plant recorded levels of radium 2.5 times the federal drinking water standard. Thallium levels at the same plant were also 18 times the N.C. groundwater standard. Suddenly, a dip in the lake looks a lot less appealing! We, the customers, are left to live and play in these polluted areas and suffer health consequences. Furthermore, the growing weather extremes and increased demands make the current energy grid likely inefficient, non-resilient and undersized. There will be increased service failures. It is time to address an electric grid for the 21st century. It is time for all new electric capacity to be clean and carbon-based sources phased out. We must vote for local, state and federal representatives who support clean energy infrastructure and electric grid modernization now. Vote like your life depends on it. Cynthia Raynor Winston-Salem Insensitive Local GOP to raffle off guns, ammo (July 13). Really? I have been a registered Republican all my voting life and I cannot believe this level of insensitivity. I really hope their raffled guns and ammo dont kill someone. Lestine Hutchens Elkin More defense of dandelions A dandelion is not a noxious weed as the writer of the July 8 letter Welcome to Weed Town stated, but rather as the July 8 editorial In defense of dandelions stated, it is edible and more nutritious than most vegetables. And have you never seen a toddler pick a dandelion and squeal with delight and present to a parent with great joy? Or that same child pick a dandelion gone to seed and blow on it until all the seeds are dispersed? I think this public art will bring us much joy! Elizabeth Martin Winston-Salem Lincoln, Neb. (July 13, 2022) Andrew Warner, account director for Swanson Russell, has been named president of the Missouri-Kansas Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). NAMA is the premier organization for agri-marketing professionals and Im honored to have the opportunity to serve this chapter, Warner said. Agriculture is an important industry to all of us and being able to help the marketing professionals in this area is personally and professionally very satisfying to me. Warner has dedicated his 25-year career to developing successful strategic marketing campaigns in agriculture, animal health, healthcare and industrial manufacturing. He joined Swanson Russell four years ago, now directing several of the agencys ag-based clients in the livestock, seed and machinery sectors. The strength of NAMA depends on its chapters and volunteer leaders, said Deron Johnson, NAMA president. We are grateful to have Andrew serving as the leader of one of NAMAs largest chapters, and excited about his vision for serving our members. For more than 60 years, NAMA has provided education and insights that position its members for success, equipping them to deliver greater value for their companies and employers in a rapidly changing world. With more than 3,500 college students and professional members in 23 chapters across the country, NAMA helps members grow their agribusiness careers locally and nationally. Swanson Russell is a nationally recognized full-service branding, advertising and public relations agency in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. The agency partners with clients across many industries while specializing in agriculture, construction, landscape/turf, outdoor recreation and healthcare. To learn how Swanson Russell builds a Real Connection between brands and audiences, visit swansonrussell.com. In the Houses of Their Dead: The Lincolns, The Booths, and The Spirits by Terry Alford, Liveright Publishing Company, 298 pages, $27.95. Readers might assume that the lives of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth have been fully explored over the past century and a half. Authors from Carl Sandburg to Bill OReilly have described the pair, and actors from Henry Fonda to Daniel Day Lewis have attempted to capture Lincolns character. Yet, Terry Alford, a retired Virginia professor who has written a previous book on Booth, has managed to uncover fresh linkages between the two intertwined families which inexorably led to that fateful night in Fords Theatre. In his new book, In the Houses of Their the Dead. Alford avers that the Lincolns and the Booths both dabbled in spiritualism, a belief that the spirits of the dead could communicate with the living through a medium, and that supernatural sources could predict future fates. This reviewer has had an abiding interest in Lincolns assassination since viewing the grisly relics collected and displayed at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. Spiritualism was a common belief in the mid-19th century and persisted through the first world war and 1918 influenza pandemic when nearly every family was touched by the death of a loved one. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of its foremost proponents, and the subject has been reviewed in this space Oct. 16, 2017, with the book, Through a Glass Darkly. Both Lincoln and Booth were superstitious, believing in the power of omens, charms, and fortune-tellers. The Booths were a family of noted actors, especially Junius, the father, and his sons, Edwin and John. However, Junius, an alcoholic, was also intermittently deranged, even exhuming the corpse of a daughter who died of cholera with the goal of removing her impure blood to revive her. Edwin and John were idolized for their handsome appearances and thespian skills and the only childhood hint of future catastrophe was Johns ailurophobia, causing him to torture and kill cats. Lincoln, on the other hand, suffered from bouts of melancholia and premonitions of his own early death. His wife, Mary, was driven to the madhouse by the premature loss of three sons, Eddie, Willie and Tad, and her husband. She frequently invited mediums to the White House to commune with their ghosts. Remarkably, both Lincoln and Booth shared the same charlatan medium, Charles Colchester, who tried to warn Lincoln of his imminent danger. Another unlikely and omnipresent figure who flitted between the families like Forrest Gump was Adam Badeau, who had an unrequited love affair with Edwin Booth and attended Booths first wedding while also managing to be a trusted aide to Ulysses Grant and be present for the surrender at Appomattox. To summarize, this fascinating book contains a myriad of previously unknown connections between Lincoln and Booth which occurred both before and after the nefarious deed. It didn't take long for the November rematch between Mike Flood and Patty Pansing Brooks to begin to take shape. Flood's initial House vote against an active shooter alert bill was followed quickly by a vote against an abortion rights bill. Guns and abortion right out of the chute. Those are fundamental differences between Flood and Pansing Brooks and there will be more coming in a partisan Congress that is setting the stage for a battle for control of the House and the Senate during a dynamic election year. On Nov. 8, it is likely to be rural counties versus Lincoln once again in Nebraska's 1st Congressional District as it was in the dramatic division that emerged in the special election last month. Flood is clearly determined to make Lincoln more comfortable with him and Pansing Brooks knows that she will need all the votes she can gather in her home town to try to stave off the rural Republican tide that propelled Flood to victory in the special election on June 28. Pansing Brooks won Lancaster County by 10,050 votes while Flood racked up huge margins in 11 rural counties, seven of which he won with 82% of the vote or more. While Pansing Brooks has a strong base in her hometown, the rural vote in Lancaster County eats away at the urban margin. Jeff Fortenberry lost Lincoln in his last two congressional races, but it was a very close tally when all the votes were counted in Lancaster County. Kate Bolz defeated Fortenberry in Lancaster County by 746 votes in 2020 and Jessica McClure won by 1,575 in 2018. Those votes reflect much larger margins within Lincoln. And they help define the size of Pansing Brooks' margin within the city last month. While Pansing Brooks has developed her own carefully constructed message, which centered on abortion rights in June in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to wipe out Roe v. Wade a few days before the special election, the spotlight is likely to focus this summer on Flood's congressional record. And that could emerge as the crux of the general election battle. It's already creating and defining issues for November. * * * Charles Herbster has praised the dramatic change in Nebraska Republican Party leadership created by the uprising at the GOP state convention in Kearney a week ago. And Herbster suggests that Liberty Republicans and Patriot Republicans should be invited to participate now. Liberty Republicans are part of the Libertarian movement and their platform includes elimination of some federal agencies and an end to foreign aid. Patriot Republicans are a movement generally attached to former President Donald Trump. * * * Finishing up: * Why bother being president when you can be Joe Manchin and decide all the big stuff? * NASA's new telescopic look into space is mind-boggling, mentally overwhelming, a lesson in humility and a dramatic reminder of what we don't know. Like most of the big stuff. * Flood will be the new kid on the block when the Nebraska congressional delegation gathers once again at the Aerospace Museum in Ashland next month for the annual Chamber of Commerce legislative summit. The interaction on stage is always revealing -- and sometimes amusing. * The Republican Party revolution in Kearney has created a whole new political dynamic in the state, but probably has not impacted major statewide and congressional races. Maybe some legislative races? * It continues to seem that there really isn't a lot of concern for the lives of grandchildren and future generations in a Congress that refuses to take decisive action to combat, reduce or limit the impact of climate change. * OK, let's toast Frank Solich on the big stage at the Oklahoma game in Lincoln in September -- if he will let us. * What if Trump had gone to the Capitol on January 6th, as he clearly wanted to do? What would he have done? On a Saturday this March, Stephanie Nantkes walked into the Civic Center in downtown Seward and found a few dozen people gathered in the meeting room downstairs, heads bowed in prayer. She found Kirk Penner, running for re-election to the Nebraska State Board of Education. She found Jessie Bremer and Jacob Bierbaum, local school board candidates. She found a table of fellow teachers. Some retired, like her. Some still at it: grading essays, revising lesson plans and organizing field trips. Together, they waited for a new film called The Mind Polluters to begin a film that would eventually be publicly screened by Nebraska for Founders Values and the Protect Nebraska Children Coalition roughly two dozen times across the state, from Omaha to Gordon. The lights were dimmed. The projector turned on. Let me ask you a question , Mark Archer, the films director and narrator, begins. What if I told you that your child was being not only sexually harassed, but shown pornography in an effort to groom them for sexual activity? What if they were being groomed for homosexual activity? What if they were being groomed for sex with pedophiles . He speaks slowly, softly. Concerned. Now here's the big question: What if I told you all these things were happening to your child in their school classroom? Nantkes watched as speakers rifled accusations at government schooling systems at teachers like herself, she felt. Months later, Nantkes, mother of former ACLU of Nebraska director Danielle Conrad, struggled to articulate the depths of her bewilderment. A horror film, she called it. How insane is this? she asked. There isnt one fact behind what they were saying. She hadnt spent 40 years teaching in Nebraskas public schools and served two terms on the Seward school board only to have her lifes pursuit portrayed as the work of the Antichrist. And thats the proper definition , insists author Alex Newman near the films end. So parents, you have an obligation as a Christian to remove those children from that school. When the film ended and Penner rose to speak, Nantkes snapped. Boo! she yelled. Boo! Boo! She kept at it until the hosts tried and failed to usher her from the building. She dared them to call the police. They backed down. They were telling people lies about what I've loved my entire life, she says. And I will go down fighting for it. Leaders of Nebraskans for Founders Values and the Protect Nebraska Children Coalition rejected interview requests for this story, as did Nebraska Board of Education member Penner and state board candidates Elizabeth Tegtmeier, Marni Hodgen and Sherry Jones, who have been endorsed by the coalition and participated in a showing of the film. Any statements attributed to the PNCC or myself will be disavowed, wrote Sue Greenwald, retired pediatrician and Protect Nebraska Children Coalition member. If you would like to talk about the film, I would suggest you talk to the producers. Mark and Amber Archer, the Indiana-based husband-wife filmmaking duo who produced the film, also declined to comment. Doug Brady, candidate for the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties Coordinating Council, hosted an April viewing of The Mind Polluters in Bellevue. A real eye-opener, he said. A movie that tells a lot about whats actually going on in our school districts around here. * * * The Mind Polluters is the second feature-length film produced by the Archers. The movie alleges that government schools are grooming children through programs like comprehensive sex-ed and social-emotional learning, in addition to what speakers call pornographic childrens books. Overcoming the natural inhibitions that children have is the goal of both the sexual predator and the sexual educator, Amber Archer says. Breaking down the God-given barriers that children have toward sexual content and behavior is the key: the key to manipulation and ultimately enslavement The film doesnt interview any active public school teachers, administrators, academics or experts in public health or child psychological development. The Nebraska Department of Education and the Nebraska State Education Association the teachers union dont always see eye to eye. Both agree that The Mind Polluters has no basis in reality. This movie is pure propaganda, wrote NSEA President Jenni Benson in an email. I think it's detrimental to the schools, said David Jespersen, the Nebraska Department of Educations public information officer. I think it's detrimental to the teachers. And I think it's actually detrimental to society to be making these broad, baseless claims. Unlike the couples first film about disgraced Indiana doctor and abortion provider George Klopfer The Mind Polluters was prohibited from release on Amazon (Amazon could not be reached for comment). It costs $24.99 to rent on Vimeo. The Nebraskans for Founders Values (whose director, Mark Bonkiewicz, also stars in the film) and the Protect Nebraska Children Coalition began jointly screening The Mind Polluters in churches, libraries and community centers this spring, shortly after the Nebraska Board of Education voted to indefinitely postpone the states first-ever health education standards. State and local school board candidates endorsed by the groups appeared as guest speakers at these events. Word of the The Mind Polluters quickly spread on social media and bled into local school board meetings. Amanda Ripley, a Lincoln nurse and mother of two, streamed the movie online. She then publicly addressed the Lincoln Board of Education, certain the states proposed health standards would soon inch their way back into consideration. It would almost be negligent for anyone to vote yes or no on the proposed health standards without seeing this very comprehensive and well-sourced documentary, she told the school board last February. In a follow-up interview, Ripley said she hasnt personally seen any of the grooming activities alleged in Mind Polluters. She called the teachers at her kids public school lovely people and said she hasnt hosted a screening of the film because this does seem super extreme for Lincoln, Nebraska. It does seem to paint teachers in a bad light, she said. So if I were a teacher, would I be happy with that? No. But then prove yourself. Prove that youre better and can be trusted with our kids. Jespersen, at the Nebraska Department of Education, said theres no evidence to support the films accusations. He said Nebraska made headlines when similar baseless claims were aired in the Legislature. Repeating a rumor that spread from the coalition's Facebook page, Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard claimed public schools were providing litter boxes to furries, or children identifying as cats. Multiple school districts discredited the rumor. Bostelman apologized. If parents truly believe something's going on, it should be investigated. And if you think the administration is pushing it, then the Department of Education should get involved, Jespersen said. But we don't have those claims. If parents are morally opposed to part of a school's curriculum, they can typically opt their child out, he said. If they believe material is inappropriate, they can file notice with the school board and district for review. But we're just not aware of any of these things happening, he said. Even as it misleads, the film may have power because, in many ways, the United States has transformed. According to a recent Gallup poll, 7.1% of American adults now identify as LGBT, nearly twice as many as a decade ago. The number of LGBT teenagers is rising sharply. The countrys multiracial population is growing at an unprecedented rate. The percentage of white Americans is shrinking, and so is the percentage of self-identifying Christians. The world is becoming a frightening place to many because it is changing, said Rita Bennett, former Lincoln Education Association president, who opposes the documentary. Brady, candidate for the Learning Communitys Coordinating Council, agrees that things are changing. He said schools are pushing that change. He said lessons about gender and sexuality taught in schools are often inappropriate. Any knowledge about sex should be taught by parents, he said. Citing The Mind Polluters as evidence, he said schools are teaching children that its acceptable to have sex with adults. The big thing they always say is No means no and yes means yes, Brady said. Theyre telling a young child that is is OK for them to give permission to have sex, even to older people. Jill Brown, a Creighton University professor who teaches The Psychology of Gender, testified before the Legislatures Education Committee supporting the proposed health standards in February. She said Mind Polluters does a disservice to the real work of preventing sexual abuse, which many studies have shown can be significantly reduced when comprehensive sexual education is taught in schools. Many claims made in the film are disproven by current research. The film says every cell in your body testifies to the fact that you're either male or female. According to a United Nations report, up to 1.7% of the worlds population is born with intersex traits. The film says transgenderism is the result of trauma, confusion or whimsy. But numerous studies have shown otherwise. The film says childrens natural aversion to sex will prevent abuse. But the U.S. government reports nearly 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys experience sexual abuse every year. * * * After the Mind Polluters program in Seward was finished, Nantkes and other teachers from her table reconvened outside the Civic Center. They were shocked. Angry. One of them later compared it to stepping off a roller coaster. Your back is up against the wall, and they have you get out, and you're just wobbling around like, What just happened here? But they were also filled with conviction. All of them, Nantkes said, are hellbent on damning the flow of disinformation. Its a frustration shared by the Nebraska Department of Education. People see films like this and they wonder why teachers are having a hard time right now. This definitely contributes, Jespersen says. With everything that we're asking of teachers, we should be celebrating them, not using baseless claims to bring them down. Flatwater Free Press reporter Natalia Alamdari contributed to this report. The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Nebraska was involved in what President Herbert Hoover termed the Noble Experiment before Nebraska was even a territory, establishing Prohibition before the 18th Amendment was passed and ratified. Virtually every community, regardless of its size, has tackled prohibition with at least some success for various periods of time. Prohibitions era, though relatively short, filled Nebraska with stories about illegal stills, speakeasies, official corruption and bootleggers. Though some stories were only partially based on fact, one Omaha and Hastings-based woman became widely known as the Bootlegger Queen, with plenty of hard facts to substantiate her title. Twenty years before the formation of the Nebraska Territory, the national Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 (forbade) disposing of spiritous liquor to Indians. In 1855, an act that forbade the sale or manufacture of liquor proved unenforceable just as its predecessor. It was widely reported, with scant proof, that there was actually a bar in the basement of the territorial Capitol in Omaha. The Slocomb Act of 1881 allowed Nebraska cities to issue permits to sell alcohol for as little as $500, increasing in price depending on the size of the community. The Prohibition political party formed in Nebraska in 1884 and promoted Lincoln physician B.L. Paine as its candidate for governor. Though unsuccessful, the partys second gubernatorial candidate, Lincoln Mayor H.W. Hardy, received 8,175 votes of a total of 138,209. In 1909, Lincoln managed to vote the city dry by 349 votes, but their success proved fleeting, surviving only two years. Lucia (later known as Louise) Pirrucello was born in Italy, immigrating to the U.S. and Omaha in 1910 where the family lived in the Little Italy section of South Omaha. At the age of 13, Louise married Sebastino Vinciquerra, whose name she would sometimes retain through four marriages. Prior to the 18th Amendment, Nebraska established prohibition in May of 1917. By 1919, Louise had begun manufacturing and selling wine. Within a year, Omaha speakeasies could purchase a listing, virtually an advertisement, in the Police Annual for as little as $30. By 1922, Louise and her husband bragged publicly of making an amazing net profit of $45,000 in a year and a half. Along the way, she managed a sort of partnership with Earl Haning, a Prohibition agent, who skimmed, then turned over nearly a half-ton of sugar to their operation that was one of the principal ingredients of alcohol. Though still not considered major players, their business spread through mid-Nebraska and northern Kansas. In 1928, Louise divorced Vinciquerra, then married Earl Haning but kept the name Vinciquerra, though in many court documents she is called Louise Haning. After twice attempting to kill Louise, her first husband murdered Earl Haning. Stories become a bit fluid at that point, but in August of 1935, Louise moved to Hastings, where she managed or perhaps acquired a saloon named Andys Place, formerly called Ma Sharps, on east South Street. She proceeded to operate the saloon without the benefit of a license. A week later, Louise was in court, an event she managed to repeat often in rapid succession. One event that was carefully dated and covered in local media occurred in September of 1935, when her new $2,000 automobile hit two horses, one of which died instantly, the other euthanized. The newspaper reported Mrs. Hannings (sic) home now is Hastings. She recently moved here from Omaha to work in the Andrew J. Sharp beer tavern, which was closed by the Nebraska Liquor Commission shortly after she arrived even though Prohibition officially ended in December of 1933. After scores of arrests, Louise returned to Omaha in 1936 to run the Maple Grove Nightclub. A year later, she again remarried and moved to Bisbee, Arizona. In 1947, after being reported as a missing person, her body, which had been shot and burned, was discovered near Tombstone, Arizona. Prohibition spawned big investments in Omaha during its short existence. Several major illegal distilleries existed within the downtown area, one of the largest filled a four-floor building on the northwest corner of Ninth and Dodge streets. The combined production of those operations was said to be in the thousands of gallons per day. Bootleggers and saloons all paid protection. One of the most cited on the receiving end of these payoffs was Joe Potach, who was previously an Omaha policeman on the Morals Squad. During Prohibition, it was said whiskey could be purchased in any restaurant in Hastings with the exception of the YWCA cafeteria. In Omaha, the story goes that when asked where he could buy a drink, the man was directed to a millinery shop as being the only place in town you cant. National Prohibition, which was predicted to solve social problems, reduce taxes, improve health and reduce crime, failed and was even counterproductive. As wine-making increased dramatically, organized crime came into its own and prospered, corruption was rampant, and women began drinking in large numbers. Whatever the outcome, Nebraska was not only a player along with every other state, but faced the new, larger problems it created. Abortion-rights activists gather in front of the Supreme Court in May 2022 ahead of the Dobbs decision. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion has far-reaching personal and political implications and may help decide the midterm elections in November 2022. That influence extends to young peoples election participation. People ages 18 to 29 have historically been less likely to vote than older adults. But in recent years, they have been spurred to organize and vote by major national controversies, like school shootings and police violence against Black people. As a researcher with more than 20 years of experience tracking youth voting and examining young peoples political views and engagement, I believe that the fight over abortion rights now taking place in states has strong potential to motivate and mobilize young voters on both sides of the issue and that their participation could be decisive in key races around the country. Voters cast their ballots at Santa Monica College in September 2021 to vote on whether California Gov. Gavin Newsom should remain in office. Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Young people are supportive of abortion rights About 62% of Americans support abortions being legal in all or most cases, according to Pew Research polling from July 2022. But that view is even more widely held among people ages 18 to 29 70% of people in that age group support legal abortion. Other recent polling puts young peoples support for abortion even higher a CBS/YouGov survey conducted in June 2022, shortly after the Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision, found that 78% of young people favor legal abortion. Young people are also the most likely age group to disapprove of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion. Sixty-nine percent of young people disapprove of the ruling, compared with 60% of adults ages 30 to 49 and half of Americans older than 49. Women and people of color across all age groups especially Black and Asian Americans are also more likely than men and white people to disapprove of the Supreme Courts ruling. Thats notable because young women and young women of color, in particular, have led civic and electoral participation in recent years. Young women voted at a higher rate than young men in 2020. Young women of color were more likely to talk to their peers about politics, attend demonstrations and register others to vote than young white women. Nearly half of young women said that they supported or were active participants in the reproductive rights movement, according to my 2018 survey of people ages 18 to 24. Women of color were more likely to be involved in the reproductive rights movement than young white women, our survey found. Many young people want action on abortion For some young people, political engagement goes beyond abortion, as a spring 2022 Harvard poll found that about half of young people think the country is on the wrong track. And 41% of 18-to-29-year-olds surveyed in another poll say the Dobbs decision makes them more likely to vote in the midterms. In the Pew Research survey mentioned above, over two-thirds of those under 30 reported at least somewhat disapproving of the court decision. Other surveys suggest that specific policies and laws to protect abortion access are top priorities to young voters. When young people want action on issues they care about, like abortion, they can feel motivated to push political leaders. Their disappointment or disillusionment with particular politicians does not necessarily mean theyre disillusioned about their own political power. On the other hand, those who oppose abortion rights may now harbor positive feelings about politics: 19% of young people in the CBS/YouGov survey said they felt happy about the recent decision. In 2018, my survey of young people before that years midterm election found that feeling more disappointed or cynical about politics actually led to a higher, not lower, likelihood to vote. According to my estimates, the percentage of young people who voted more than doubled from the 2014 midterm election to the 2018 midterms rising from 13% to 28%. My research groups analyses suggest multiple reasons for this jump, including many groups starting voter registration much earlier in the year, and the youth-led activism after the Parkland school shooting. In 2020 a similar dynamic played out nationally following the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by police officers in Minneapolis. In a CIRCLE pre-election survey, young people ranked racism as the second-biggest issue that would influence their vote for president, just behind the environment and climate change. About 50% of youths voted during the 2020 election, compared with 39% of young people who did so in 2016. Two young political activists try to register college students at Auraria Campus, home to three universities, in Denver, Colo., in September 2020. Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images Youths can swing elections in key states The youth vote can decisively shape election results at every level. In 2020, for example, young people cast hundreds of thousands of votes in key battleground states like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia, helping President Joe Biden win all three states and Democratic senators win in Arizona and Georgia. Now that states are deciding on their own abortion laws, young voters ballots in gubernatorial and other state and local races may be especially critical in such places as Pennsylvania and Georgia, where new abortion restrictions are a possibility depending on election results. The potential for impact is there not just for the majority of young people who support abortion, but for the significant minority who oppose it 32% of people ages 18 to 29 in the CBS/YouGov poll said they approve of the Supreme Courts decision on abortion. Nevada, Maryland and Maine rank among the top 10 states where young people could decide governor races, according to my research. All three states have abortion protections in place, which could motivate young people to vote for candidates who share their position on abortion, whether for or against abortion rights. ___ CIRCLE team members Ruby Belle Booth, Megan Lam and Alberto Medina contributed to this analysis. Abby has worked on research projects funded by private foundations including: the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Youth Engagement Fund, the Democracy Fund, the Spencer Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the Knight Foundation, Tides Foundation, the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation. She is affiliated with Rock the Vote's Democracy Class (Advisory Council), Generation Citizen/Vote16USA (Advisory Board), and the Rural Youth Catalyst Project's Changing the Outcomes for Rural Youth Working Group. ___ UVALDE, Texas (AP) Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, but egregiously poor decision-making resulted in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman who took 21 lives was finally confronted and killed, according to a damning investigative report released Sunday. The nearly 80-page report was the first to criticize both state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in the South Texas town for the bewildering inaction by heavily armed officers as a gunman fired inside two fourth-grade classrooms at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and two teachers. Altogether, the report and more than three hours of newly released body camera footage from the May 24 tragedy amounted to the fullest account to date of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. Some families blasted police as cowards and demanded resignations. At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety," the report said. The gunman fired approximately 142 rounds inside the building and it is almost certain that at least 100 shots came before any officer entered, according to the report, which laid out in detail numerous failures. Among them: No one assumed command despite scores of officers being on the scene. The commander of a Border Patrol tactical team waited for a bullet-proof shield and working master key for the classroom, which may have not even been needed, before entering the classroom. A Uvalde Police Department officer said he heard about 911 calls that had come from inside the classroom, and that his understanding was the officers on one side of the building knew there were victims trapped inside. Still, no one tried to breach the classroom. The report the most complete account yet of the hesitant and haphazard response to the May 24 massacre was written by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives. Swiftly, the findings set in motion at least one fallout: Lt. Mariano Pargas, a Uvalde Police Department officer who was the city's acting police chief during the massacre, was placed on administrative leave. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said an investigation would be launched to determine whether Pargas should have taken command of the scene. He also disclosed for the first time that some officers had left the force since the shooting but did not provide an exact number, saying it was as many as three. Its a joke. Theyre a joke. Theyve got no business wearing a badge. None of them do, Vincent Salazar, grandfather of 11-year-old Layla Salazar, who was among those killed, said Sunday. Anger flashed in Uvalde even over how the report was rolled out: Tina Quintanilla-Taylor, whose daughter survived the shooting, shouted at the three-member Texas House committee as they left a news conference after the findings were released. Committee members had invited families of the victims to discuss the report privately, but Quintanilla-Taylor said the committee should have taken questions from the community, not just the media. Im pissed. They need to come back and give us their undivided attention, she said later. These leaders are not leaders, she said. According to the report, 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school. The overwhelming majority of those who responded were federal and state law enforcement. That included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials. Other than the attacker, the Committee did not find any villains in the course of its investigation, the report said. There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making. The report noted that many of the hundreds of law enforcement responders who rushed to the school were better trained and equipped than the school district police which the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state police force, previously faulted for not going into the room sooner. Investigators said it was not their job to determine whether officers should be held accountable, saying that decisions rests with each law enforcement agency. Prior to Sunday, only one of the hundreds of officers on the scene Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief was known to have been on leave. Everyone who came on the scene talked about this being chaotic, said Texas state Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican who led the investigation. Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol did not immediately return requests for comment Sunday. The report followed weeks of closed-door interviews with more than 40 people, including witnesses and law enforcement who were on the scene of the shooting. No single officer has received as much scrutiny since the shooting as Arredondo, who also resigned from his newly appointed seat on the City Council after the shooting. Arredondo told the committee he treated the shooter as barricaded subject," according to the report, and defended never treating the scene as an active-shooter situation because he did not have visual contact with the gunman. Arredondo also tried to find a key for the classrooms, but no one ever bothered to see if the doors were locked, according to the report. Arredondos search for a key consumed his attention and wasted precious time, delaying the breach of the classrooms," the report read. The report criticized as lackadaisical the approach of the hundreds of officers who surrounded the school and said that they should have recognized that Arredondo remaining in the school without reliable communication was inconsistent with him being the scene commander. The report concluded that some officers waited because they relied on bad information while others had enough information to know better. Hours after the report was released, Uvalde officials separately made public for the first time hours of body camera footage from the city's police officers who responded to the attack. It includes video of several officers reacting to word from a dispatcher, roughly 30 minutes after the shooting began, that a child in the room had called 911. The room is full of victims. Child 911 call, an officer says. Other body camera video from Uvalde Staff Sgt.. Eduardo Canales, the head of the city's SWAT team, shows the officer approaching the classrooms when gunfire rings out at 11:37 a.m. Canales asks if hes bleeding, and later says hes bleeding from his ear. A minute later, Canales says: Dude, weve got to get in there. Weve got to get in there, he just keeps shooting. Weve got to get in there. Another officer can be heard saying DPS is sending their people. It is 72 minutes later, at 12:50 p.m., when officers finally breach the classrooms and kill the shooter. Calls for police accountability have grown in Uvalde since the shooting. The report is the result of one of several investigations into the shooting, including another led by the Justice Department. A report earlier this month by tactical experts at Texas State University alleged that a Uvalde police officer had a chance to stop the gunman before he went inside the school armed with an AR-15. But in an example of the conflicting statements and disputed accounts since the shooting, McLaughlin has said that never happened. Officers told the committee that the person they thought was the gunman was actually a school coach. The earlier report had been done at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which McLaughlin has increasingly criticized and accused of trying to minimize the role of its troopers during the massacre. Steve McCraw, the head of Texas DPS, has called the police response an abject failure. The committee didnt receive medical evidence to show that police breaching the classroom sooner would have saved lives, but it concluded that it is plausible that some victims could have survived if they had not had to wait 73 additional minutes for rescue. Michael Brown, whose 9-year-old son was in the cafeteria at Robb Elementary on the day of the shooting and survived, came to the committees news conference Sunday carrying signs saying We Want Accountability and Prosecute Pete Arredondo. Brown said he has not yet read the report but already knows enough to say that police have blood on their hands. Its disgusting. Disgusting, he said. Theyre cowards. Weber reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed from Dallas. More on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings Of Nebraskas 29 species of snakes, only four of them are venomous: the prairie rattlesnake, western massasauga rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake and copperhead. Generally found in the western half of Nebraska, the prairie rattlesnake has the widest range of the four, while the others are restricted to the southeast. All four are pit vipers. Vipers are a large group of snakes in the family Viperidae and are found all over the world. Within that family is the sub-family Crotalinae, also known as the pit vipers. Pit vipers are distinguished by the specialized pit organ on either side of the head. These essentially are infrared receptors that detect heat energy. These vipers see the world through light and heat. The receptors can detect warm-blooded and cold-blooded prey, but they are more responsive to warm-blooded animals. Prairie rattlesnake: This is the most common venomous snake in Nebraska. It prefers short and mixed-grass prairies with rocky outcrops or canyons. It easily is recognizable by its light brown, gray or dark brown blotchy skin pattern and a distinctive triangular-shaped head with pits between the eyes and lips. During breeding season, like other rattlesnakes, males often compete in combat rituals where they intertwine and try to knock each other to the ground for the right to breed with females. Females then give birth the following summer to eight to 18 live babies, as the species does not lay eggs. Some evidence supports those females show parental care, which is highly unusual for snakes. Western massasauga rattlesnake: The western massasauga, Nebraskas smallest pit viper, is found in the southeastern wet prairies and grasslands with wetland associations. It relies heavily on crayfish burrows, which they use for hibernation during the winter. Due to draining and conversion of wet prairies to agricultural fields, this snakes habitat has been heavily reduced. The massasauga now is one of two state-listed threatened reptile species. Like other pit vipers, the massasauga gives birth to live young in August or early September. It often is mistaken for the nonvenomous fox snake or water snake due to its body size, small head and small rattle. Massasaugas also do not hold their rattles as high in the air as other rattlesnake species. So if you cant identify a snake, leave it alone and give it plenty of space. Timber rattlesnake: The timber rattlesnake, Nebraskas largest venomous snake, is light or dark brown with a series of black cross bands down the length of its body. Nebraska timbers have a reddish-brown stripe extending from head to tail. The tail is nearly always jet black and ends with a lighter colored rattle. This snake is found in extreme southeastern Nebraska, in deciduous woodlands with exposed clearings of rocky outcrops. After emerging from hibernation, it can travel up to 2 miles or more to feed and fight for potential mates. Like other rattlesnakes, once mated, females can delay the fertilization of their eggs and give birth to live young the following September or October. Copperhead: This snake gets its name from its copper-red color and has a pattern of lighter colored bands that when viewed from above resemble hourglasses. In Nebraska, the cross bands often are edged with white. The head is much wider than the neck so that it can accommodate venom glands in the cheeks. These snakes are found in extreme Southeast Nebraska in wooded areas with rocky outcrops. A shooter opened fire on a 17-year-old boy, wounding him, in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Saturday night, Chicago police said. The shooting, which took place in the 1300 block of North Homan Avenue around 7:50 p.m., resulted in a gunshot wound to the 17-year-olds groin. Advertisement Paramedics took the teen to Humboldt Park Health, formerly Norwegian American Hospital, where he was listed in good condition. The shooting remains under investigation by detectives, according to police. July 11-15 This list is not comprehensive. Municipalities are listed as they appear on the criminal complaint. Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To see mugshots of the accused, visit journaltimes.com/gallery. Additional information about the complaints can be found at: journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts. Angel Alderete Sr., 1600 block of West Boulevard, Racine, operate motor vehicle while revoked. Anarion N. Benjamin, Zion, Illinois, obstructing an officer. Junior A. Calderon-Aguilar, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hit and run (injury), obstructing an officer. Keleaf P. Carothers, 3200 block of Kearney Avenue, Racine, deliver designer drugs (between 3-10 grams, possession with intent to deliver/distribute a controlled substance on or near a park), manufacture/deliver THC (less than or equal to 200 grams, possession with intent to deliver/distribute a controlled substance on or near a park). Oriece W. Carothers, 3200 block of Kearney Avenue, Mount Pleasant, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture THC (between 1,000-2,500 grams, use of a dangerous weapon). Tara L. Combs, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, possession of methamphetamine, misdemeanor battery. Zedtric D. Cottingham, 2500 block of 21st Street, Racine, failure to report to jail. Shantrice P. Craig, 900 block of Hamilton Street, Racine, felony personal ID theft (financial gain). Patrice M. Cunningham, 1800 block of West Sixth Street, Racine, physical abuse of child (intentionally cause bodily harm). Stephon D. Currie, North Chicago, Illinois, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanor bail jumping. Daniel J. Downey, 600 block of Foxtree Circle, Burlington, strangulation and suffocation, misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor bail jumping. Daniel L. Dunum, 900 block of Superior Street, Racine, obstructing an officer, disorderly conduct. Joseph A. Flowers, 900 block of 18th Street, Racine, possession of THC. Jamauel A. Ford, 1800 block of Roosevelt Avenue, Racine, carrying a concealed weapon, obstructing an officer, attempt first degree intentional homicide (use of a dangerous weapon), first degree recklessly endangering safety (use of a dangerous weapon). James D. Fuerstenau, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (3rd offense, general alcohol concentration enhancer), operate motor vehicle while revoked, misdemeanor bail jumping. Melissa R. Gibson, 4300 block of Kennedy Drive, Racine, possession of methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia. Keshari D. Gordon, 700 block of 17th Street, Racine, possession with intent to deliver fentanyl (greater than 50 grams), possession with intent to deliver/distribute/manufacture THC (less than or equal to 200 grams), possession of drug paraphernalia. Devontae D. Gray, 1400 block of West Street, Racine, operate motor vehicle while revoked. Gabriel S. Henderson, 1800 block of Center Street, Racine, operate motor vehicle while revoked, failure to install ignition interlock device, misdemeanor bail jumping. Tina (aka X Kenesha) M. Higginbottom, 1000 block of Pearl Street, Racine, disorderly conduct (use of a dangerous weapon). Monica M. Hoffmann, 4800 block of Kinzie Avenue, Racine, disorderly conduct. Lee D. Holton, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operate motor vehicle while revoked. Chester K. Isom, 700 block of Villa Street, Racine, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (5th or 6th offense, general alcohol concentration enhancer). Kenneth Johnson, 1600 block of Boyd Avenue, Racine, felony bail jumping, misdemeanor retail theft (intentionally take less than or equal to $500). Gregory I. Johnson-Russell, 1700 block of Packard Avenue, Racine, strangulation and suffocation (domestic abuse assessments), substantial battery (domestic abuse assessments), criminal damage to property (domestic abuse assessments), disorderly conduct (domestic abuse assessments). Lewis Anthony Johnston, 100 block of South Summerset Drive, Mount Pleasant, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct. Leon Kahill, 2000 block of Douglas Avenue, Racine, disorderly conduct, misdemeanor bail jumping. Emonjae James Kinney, 1100 block of Park Avenue, Racine, receiving stolen property (less than $2,500). Trevor James Klingbeil, 1300 block of Center Street, Union Grove, possession of narcotic drugs, misdemeanor bail jumping. Billie J. Lacy, 1900 block of Washington Avenue, Racine, misdemeanor theft (intentionally take less than or equal to $500), disorderly conduct. Ruben Leal, 1300 block of Chatham Street, Racine, strangulation and suffocation (domestic abuse assessments), misdemeanor battery (domestic abuse assessments), disorderly conduct (domestic abuse assessments). Waylon J. Lenfestey, 4300 block of 75th Street, Kenosha, misdemeanor theft, felony bail jumping. Tremayne D. Martin, 3500 block of 59th Street, Kenosha, possession of THC. Dandre I. Martinez, 2400 block of Mount Pleasant Street, Racine, operating a motor vehicle without owners consent, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct (domestic abuse assessments), misdemeanor battery (domestic abuse assessments). Donnie J. Maynor, 500 block of Edgewood Drive, Burlington, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony bail jumping. Jacob C. Miller, 2000 block of Gilson Street, Racine, felony bail jumping, resisting an officer. Dennis (aka Jermie Shine) A. Myles, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, possession of THC, misdemeanor bail jumping. Cale Rafe Neff, 13600 block of Bell Road, Caledonia, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (4th offense, general alcohol concentration enhancer), failure to install ignition interlock device, operate motor vehicle while revoked. Stephon E. Obor, 4700 block of Indian Hills Drive, Mount Pleasant, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct. Melissa A. Padilla, 2000 block of Racine Street, Racine, possession of narcotic drugs, possession of methamphetamine, possession of THC, felony bail jumping. Jordan D. Parker, 33600 block of Contour Drive, Burlington, manufacture/deliver LSD (less than or equal to 1 gram), misdemeanor bail jumping, possession of THC, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (2nd offense), felony bail jumping. Damian D. Patton, Waukegan, Illinois, possession with intent to deliver/distribute/manufacture THC (less than or equal to 200 grams), possession with intent to deliver narcotics, obstructing an officer. Paul (aka Joshua Pickard) Allen Puchter, 2900 block of Fleetwood Drive, Racine, first degree child sexual assault (sexual contact with a child under age 13), second degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age. Sarah B. Reidenbach, 900 block of Hastings Court, Sturtevant, possession of narcotic drugs, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possess/illegally obtained prescription. Jose M. Rodriguez, 400 block of 7th Street, Racine, tampering with a global positioning system tracking device. Cheyenne A. Roushia, 800 block of 53rd Drive, Union Grove, misdemeanor battery (use of a dangerous weapon). Jamie D. Siler Jr., 700 block of Sheridan Road, Kenosha, armed robbery (violent crime in a school zone), attempt robbery (violent crime in a school zone), possession of a firearm by adjudicated delinquent. Daiquon R. Tanner, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, possession of THC, obstructing an officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to install ignition interlock device, operate motor vehicle while revoked. Mary A. Thornton, 5800 block of Lincoln Village Drive, Mount Pleasant, disorderly conduct. Leonard S. Tobias, 4200 block of Victory Avenue, Racine, misdemeanor theft. Carmelo Torres, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, possession of cocaine, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia. Deserez A. Turner, 1900 block of Howe Street, Racine, possession of THC, felony bail jumping, misdemeanor bail jumping. Lekecha M. Turner, 1900 block of Howe Street, Racine, possession of cocaine, obstructing an officer. Andrew S. Uick, 4200 block of Maryland Avenue, Racine, disorderly conduct (domestic abuse assessments). Rodrigo Ramirez Zuniga, 2300 block of Washington Avenue, Racine, possession of THC, misdemeanor bail jumping. MILWAUKEE The sky above Veterans Park was filled with cheers, screams, laughs and 34 different handmade flying contraptions Saturday as Milwaukee hosted its first-ever Redbull Flugtag. More than 50,000 spectators packed the area. Out of the 34 teams competing, one group from Sturtevant put on a show for the (flightless) birds. Whats a flugtag? Local teams are challenged to create a flying vehicle by hand, using the combined effort of engineering, craftiness and creativity. The use of motors, batteries or other methods of non-manmade motion is prohibited from the Flugtag (pronounced floog-tag). The Flugtag, German for Flying Day, is an event that Redbull has held in over 60 cities across the globe since its inaugural event in 1992 in Vienna, Austria. The goal of the Flugtag is to fly a vehicle off a 26.2-foot ramp over Lake Michigan. The vehicles in the competition very seldom achieve flight, but the winner is measured by the distance the vehicle goes. Other categories groups can win are pageantry and craft design, as well as a new award this year given to five teams based on sustainability. Local team For your Emusement was one of the 34 teams to participate in the Flugtag, consisting of Rachel Rolfsmeier, Kristin Beasley, Zephaniah Knottnerus, Erik Ritter and Austin Lankford, who are all co-workers at Skydive Midwest, located in Yorkville. The group has never participated in a Flugtag before but have all been avid fans, watching past competitions before entering. The name For your Emusement is partially inspired by the fact that the owners of Skydive Midwest, Keith and Megan George, own an emu farm in Burlington. Another factor in the name is in recognition of The Great Emu War, a military operation that took place in 1932 to combat the growing population of emus in the Campion district of Western Australia. The conflict ended in failure for the Australian government and reported casualties for emu populations to be under 50 to over 500. Were trying to raise awareness for that and to bring justice to the emus, Lankford said. Along with the farm, we just want to help the species thrive so we brought that into our theme. Rolfsmeier served as team captain and pilot of the craft, while the other members were considered the ground crew. While none of the team pilot for Skydive Midwest yet, most of the team members are used to being in the sky, while Ritter prefers to stick to the ground fixing the planes. Ritter said he lost a lot of sleep watching past Flugtag events to get the design of the craft right. We kind of based it off of the wings of one of the airplanes we have here (at Skydive Midwest), the 182, and kind of went with the emu theme, Ritter said. We made the frame out of metal and added flight controls and everything, so we are hoping it is going to fly. Rachel is definitely hoping its going to fly, Beasley added. When the contraption was pushed off the structure in Lake Michigan, it didnt exactly fly. For Your Emusement ended the day going 18 feet from the ramp down into Lake Michigan; i.e. it fell further (26.2 feet) than it glided. The team Flight for Your Right to Party won the Flugtag; the teams contraption soared more than 66 feet. That team also took home a sustainability award. We feel exhilarated right now, Flight for Your Right to Party team member Scott Rademaker said. This will go down as one of the best moments in our lives and it was made even better that we were able to do it together, as best friends. Valhalla! Conception to construction of the For Your Emusement vehicle took an estimated two months. The team worked on finishing touches up until 10 p.m. Thursday night. The team tested the vehicle using Skydive Midwests runway to ensure the wings of the craft achieved lift. It is a single-use aircraft, and we have a single-use pilot as well, Lankford said, causing the group to laugh. We were hoping to give flight to a flightless bird, Rolfsmeier said, but in the end we were a little disappointed. Im supporting Tom Nelson, county executive of Outagamie County since 2011 and state representative for six years before that, in the upcoming Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Nelson is a true public servant of the old school. His commitment to working families and rural Wisconsin, based on his upbringing as a fifth generation Wisconsinite, is heartfelt and real. Nelson grew up at a time when the greatness of Wisconsin was still in the common memory. Products from Wisconsin -- agricultural, industrial and intellectual -- were known throughout the country and around the world for their quality and value. Wisconsin was known for its work ethic, friendly people and natural beauty. Wisconsin politicians, educators and business leaders believed in public service and embodied the faith of neighboring U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., We all do better when we all do better. Nelson understands why it is necessary for working people to have elected representatives who are committed to their well-being. He knows from experience how government works and how important it is, especially to the most vulnerable. Nelson can help restore our faith in the decency of our neighbors and the purpose of our government. Jim Hirsch, Madison 1. Yes. The new high school has made it a must. Thousands of people are impacted.. 2. Yes. Even if it means revising some budgets, these entities must move on the project. 3. No. Its been known for years that the road was a problem.. Why the urgency now? 4. No. If prioritizing the road means more taxes, forget it. The project will just have to wait. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say until school has been in session for a few months. Vote View Results Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. The picturesque covered bridge in suburban Long Grove has once again been struck by an overzealous motorist in an oversized vehicle. The latest incident involved an 11-foot tall U-Haul truck traveling east on Robert Parker Coffin Road, which hit the covered bridge Saturday morning, officials said. The historic bridges roof rises up to a height of 8 feet 6 inches and signage for at least two blocks makes the bridges clearance quite clear, according to Village Manager Greg Jackson. Advertisement Yet, its the 35th time the bridge has been hit by a vehicle that failed to clear the height restriction since the bridges reconstruction in August 2020, said Chris Covelli, deputy chief of the Lake County sheriffs office. That means in the 23 months since the bridge was outfitted with steel under the wooden beams, it has been hit an average of 1.5 times a month, the first of which came less than 24 hours after the bridge reconstruction was complete. It is marked extremely well that theres low clearance, Covelli said. Its very difficult for drivers to miss; however, several have not heeded the signage. Advertisement After the U-haul hit the bridge around 9:30 a.m., it took about an hour for a tow service operator to pull the truck free from under the bridges covering, Covelli added. New paint at the bottom-right foot support of the historic Long Grove Bridge marks accident repairs in March 2022. (Gregory Harutunian / Lake County News-Sun) Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. > I shake my head. I cannot believe that people still attempt to cross that bridge knowing how well its marked, Jackson said. An inspector concluded the bridge sustained no structural damage, and the bridge was reopened at 2 p.m. Saturday. The 50-year-old U-Haul driver, a man from Lisle, received a citation for failing to comply with the signage, Covelli said. He is due in court in September and, according to Jackson, could be subject to a $750 fine. Jackson said the village is looking at other options to prevent future incidents, such as an overhead detection device. But that comes with bells and lights, and thatd sit in the middle of a residential neighborhood as well, he said. So there could be some issues there. Another option, Jackson said, would be to add a clearance bar such as the ones used in city parking garages. But that presents an aesthetic problem, he added, especially considering the bridge is part of the National Register of Historic Places. Besides, if drivers are unable or unwilling to heed the current warning signs and risk damage to their vehicle as well as the threat of a fine, its unclear if adding even more in the way of deterrence will prevent crash No. 36. LEXINGTON Lexington Girl Scout Taya Berry has earned the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts USA by creating communication books for non-verbal students in the Lexington High School district. Berry was one of 22 Girl Scouts from the Spirit of Nebraska to earn the highest award possible, the Gold Award. The Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska stated that Berry, created books for every STAR classroom in her school district to help facilitate communication between nonverbal students, other students, and staff. It makes me feel proud to earn such a prestigious award, Berry said, at the same time I am giving back to the community. This years Spirit of Nebraska Gold Award Girl Scouts made meaningful, lasting change in childhood literacy, inclusivity through education, mental health awareness, women empowerment, and more, the Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska press release stated. Using strategic thinking, collaboration, problem solving and time management, Gold Award Girl Scouts addressed pressing issues becoming the future leaders the world needs, the release concluded. According to Girl Scouts USA, only 5.4 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the award. The Gold Award is often compared to the Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts of America. Becoming eligible is no small task, one has to complete two Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador Journeys or complete one Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador Journey and have earned a Silver Award. After this point, a Girl Scout has to plan and implement a Take Action project that reaches beyond the organization and provides a sustainable lasting benefit to the larger community. It requires a minimum of 80 hours of work in planning and actually completing the project. All of these hours must be completed by the awardee, and it is encouraged that the girl uses troop members and others from the community to help her. Plans must be developed with the aid of an advisor, then a project proposal must be submitted and approved by the girl's local council before starting the project, and a final report submitted and approved after the project's completion. The Gold Award emblem is presented as a pin resembling an eight-pointed gold star with rays radiating from a central, polished trefoil. The award was originally created in 1980. Berrys idea was to create communication books for each different school building in the Lexington Public Schools district. She said she got the idea through babysitting several children who were non-verbal and interacting with different people through Unified Bowling and Circle of Friends. She got to work on the project around the end of May 2021, she created eight books for all ages, they contain pictures with corresponding words, allowing non-verbal students to more effectively communicate. The pictures display emotions, places in the school, the community and different phrases. I want everyone to be able to communicate, Berry said. She said she made the books in such a way as to allow teachers to add more pages with even more phrases, pictures, etc., in the future if needed. Teachers have told Berry they really like, the books and they are serving their intended purpose. Berry met the 80 hour requirement for the project and was recently interviewed by judges who asked her about the projects sustainability and local impact. They also wanted to make sure she was on the right track and that the project fit all of the parameters. Berry said last year, Its pretty rare to be awarded. In utero, an umbilical cord is the babys lifeline and after birth, it still has the potential to sustain life. Rather than cutting the cord immediately, Dr. Dennis Costakos, neonatologist at Mayo Clinic Health System La Crosse, advocates for delaying clamping for 30 seconds to a minute to increase distribution of blood to the infant rather than leaving this precious blood in the placenta. Clamped at 10 to 15 seconds, 67% of the umbilical cord blood will go directly to the infant, a percentage that increases to 80% at the 60-second mark. Costakos implemented delayed cord clamping at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse in 2006 after presenting his research. The process has been around for hundreds of years but was not always common. In the 1960s, early cord clamping was the norm due to concerns about maternal and infant outcomes, but studies over the decades led to making delayed clamping standard some 50 years later. For babies born at full term, the extra blood can improve iron stores and may enhance development. For babies born prematurely, waiting to clamp can decrease risk of some potentially life threatening complications of being born earlier than full term. Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Obstetric Practice and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend delayed cord clamping, with a 2012 systematic review of 15 studies showing a wait of 30 to 180 seconds had significant health benefits for preterm infants. Among the infants studied, cord blood was found to improve transitional circulation and red blood cell volume, and reduce the chances of necrotizing enterocolitis (inflammation of intestinal tissue) and intraventricular hemorrhage. It is possible there will be enough cord blood to both stay with the baby and be saved or donated. The cord blood can be stored in a private bank for use to help a family member with a qualifying condition, or donated to a public cord blood bank to aid in treating others. If a sibling is currently suffering from leukemia, sickle cell disease, Hodgkins lymphoma or thalassemia, physicians may after discussion with the siblings care team and looking at the best treatment options recommended saving it for the sister or brother. Cord blood banking for personal use is not recommended, as it is a highly costly service up to $2,000 to start, and additional fees of around $100 annually and not covered by insurance. The chance that the baby may later need their own stems cells is miniscule, and if requiring medical intervention a donors stem cells would likely be used. The chances that you would ever call for the cord blood would not be more than one in 10,000, maybe even as low as one in 250,000, Costakos says. Donations, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration, are in need. Around 70% of patients do not have a fully matched family member, and for them A transplant of bone marrow or cord blood from an unrelated donor may be their only transplant option. The National Cord Blood Inventory aims to collect and store at least 150,000 new cord blood units, with donations from members of diverse racial and ethnic groups especially needed. Donating, however, may not be feasible. Costakos notes moms-to-be could be disqualified from donating to public banks due to existing health conditions, and travel would be necessary as there are no collection centers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Should they opt in to bank or donate, parents must express their wishes to save the cord blood in advance. The collection process is painless for the baby, Costakos says, as there are no nerve fibers in the umbilical cord. Blood is drained from the umbilical cord with a needle, and a special collection bag is attached, Costakos says. After the bag is sealed, the placenta is delivered. The process takes about 10 minutes. In some cases, immediate cord clamping may be necessary, such as if the cord placenta has already separated from the baby. This condition, called abruptio placenta, can interrupt or prevent oxygen and nutrient supply to the baby and cause the mother to bleed excessively. For more information on cord blood donation, visit https://bloodstemcell.hrsa.gov/. In June, Minnesota State College Southeast hosted two summer camps for high school students. The students explored a range of career options, technical and trade experiences, and college classes. Ive never seen a CNC machine before and I found it interesting, said one student. Also, we got to make cool coins! Welding was very fun, and it brightened my future ahead, said another. Southeast Explorers Camp (June 13-17) was a five-day residential experience that drew 22 students from across the Southeast region, nearby Wisconsin, the Twin Cities and beyond. The students stayed in the dorms at Winona State University and enjoyed activities on campus and off including canoeing at Whitewater State Park. Camp Trade and Technology (June 21-23) was an opportunity to explore several career fields with half-day sessions offered in CNC machining, construction, electronics, mechatronics, auto body repair and automotive tech. Participants could select which sessions they wanted to attend they could choose only one or attend all six, according to their interests. While Southeast Explorers Camp offered a residential experience and Camp Trade and Technology was broken into shorter sessions, both camps gave high school students a glimpse of the college experience and a view toward future career paths. The camps were made possible by the generous support of Ashley Furniture Industries and The Ron & Joyce Wanek Foundation, so the students were able to participate at no cost. We are grateful to Ashley and to the Wanek Foundation, not only for their support of these camps, but for their commitment to providing opportunities to engage young people in career and technical education experiences, said Josiah Litant, MSC Southeast Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Executive Director of MSC Southeast Foundation. They share our belief that education at a technical and community college is a pathway to prosperity for students, and we are deeply appreciative of their partnership and investment in our community. MSC Southeast was able to bring Camp Trade and Technology (Camp T&T) back to campus after missing the past two years due to Covid. Camp T&T is a great opportunity for high school students to explore multiple career paths, working with our faculty to complete hands-on projects in our state-of-the-art labs, said Calvin Clemons, director of trade and technology. Southeast Explorers Camp is a totally new program, organized by Pao Vue, director of equity and inclusion. Southeast Explorers attracted students from rural and urban locations, representing a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Further, many of the students would be first in their families to attend college, said Pao Vue. We had two goals: to expose students to potential career pathways at MSC Southeast, and to show students that Southeast Minnesota is a great place to attend college and ultimately live. Biology instructor Elizabeth Micheel took Southeast Explorers students to a nearby stream and pond to collect invertebrates and water samples. The purpose was to determine the environmental health of the water. It was wonderful to see the students so engaged. Some jumped right in the water and were very happy to learn that there are careers where they can be out in nature every day, she said. It brought a smile to my face as I heard several rounds of Look! Look what I found! from students that day. Students in both camps explored CNC Machine Tool with instructor Todd Ives. They learned what CNC machining is, and that everything they come in contact with was produced from a machine shop at some level, he said. They were engaged, eager and ready to try new things. This was a great opportunity to expose students to a variety of trades programs that some never knew existed. Southeast Explorers students had positive comments to share about the sessions they attended. I was able to do the hands-on experience, said one welding student. Another added, I like working with my hands to do things. Following the nursing session, one student said, It was fun and a great learning experience, while another simply exclaimed, My future job! Calvin Clemons said, After Camp T & T, all the students said that they learned something new and that the camp was fun and engaging, he commented. Additionally, several students expressed interest in attending our college after high school graduation and continuing their education in one of the technical programs they experienced. A Winona man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday for his role in the stabbing death of another man last year. Sean Michael Emmons, 38, pleaded guilty in May to felony second-degree murder in Winona County District Court as part of a plea deal that dismissed a felony second-degree assault charge and eight other charges in five unrelated cases in Winona and Olmsted counties. Emmons stabbed a man in the leg in September 2021. The man died four days later and an autopsy concluded that the man died as a result of complications of a stab wound of the left lower extremity. Emmons, who has been in custody since his arrest in November 2021, was credited 301 days for time served by District Judge Mary Leahy. Leahy also ordered Emmons to pay restitution, though no restitution amounts have been decided. He will serve a little over seven years of his sentence in prison and the rest on supervised released, in accordance with Minnesota statute. Winona police were called on Sept. 13, 2021, to an apartment on East Ninth Street in Winona for a medical situation. Officers met with a man, who is not named in court documents, who told them he had been stabbed by Emmons two days earlier. Law enforcement only obtained limited information from (the man) as (the man) appeared to be in excruciating pain, the criminal complaint states. When law enforcement attempted to interview (the man) at the hospital, (the man) was on oxygen and semiconscious. On Sept. 14, officers learned the man had been intubated and was unable to talk. He died the following day. A witness told police that the man had texted him the day of the alleged incident and said he had been stabbed by Emmons. When the person went to the mans residence, the man reportedly said a second person had been in the apartment that day and had passed out on the bed. Emmons reportedly broke into the apartment through a front window, punched the man out of a dead sleep and stabbed him in the knee, according to the criminal complaint. The man did not immediately seek medical attention, but the witness told police they called 911 two days after the incident after finding the man jaundiced, freezing cold and sweaty, according to the complaint. Hong Kong: Over 3.3k COVID-19 cases recorded The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 3,313 additional locally acquired COVID-19 cases, of which 1,313 were directly identified through nucleic acid tests and 2,000 via rapid antigen tests that were verified. Separately, 173 imported cases were reported. The centre added that five care homes have identified positive cases involving residents and workers. Moreover, two primary schools reported positive cases and as a result, the classes concerned will suspend face-to-face lessons for a week. Meanwhile, the Government made a restriction-testing declaration to cover Him Yat House of Yat Tung (II) Estate in Tung Chung, requiring people in the restricted area to undergo compulsory testing before the specified deadline. As there were positive sewage test results with relatively high viral loads in several residential buildings in Eastern, Wan Chai, Yau Tsim Mong and Kwai Tsing districts, the respective district offices will distribute COVID-19 rapid test kits to relevant residents as well as cleaning workers and property management staff working there. For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Governments dedicated webpage. This story has been published on: 2022-07-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The city's cooling ordinance was developed after three seniors died at the James Sneider Apartments in Rogers Park in May during a week of record-breaking heat. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Q. What does the citys new cooling ordinance do? A. On June 22, 2022, the City of Chicago adopted a new ordinance commonly referred to as the Cooling Ordinance. The cooling ordinance modifies the cooling requirements for high-rise residential buildings, including apartment, condominium and community associations as well as residential cooperatives in Chicago that are over 80 feet tall or have more than 100 dwelling units. The cooling ordinance was adopted on the heels of a heatwave in May that resulted in the deaths of three residents of a senior living facility in Chicago. Advertisement Applicable residential buildings must maintain at least one indoor common area cooling space that is accessible to all residents when the heat index exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the cooling and dehumidification system is not available in each dwelling unit. The cooling space must have cooling and dehumidification equipment capable of maintaining a room temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit and 50% relative humidity (i.e., air conditioning) when the outdoor temperature is 92 degrees Fahrenheit and the mean coincident wet bulb temperature is 74 degrees Fahrenheit. The ordinance requires installation of temporary equipment for the cooling space by July 1, and permanent equipment by May 1, 2024. Q. It is widely understood that the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act requires condominium associations to reasonably accommodate mental disabilities by allowing an emotional support animal to be kept in a unit to ameliorate a residents disability. However, can the board restrict emotional support animals to certain areas of the common elements to accommodate residents who have severe cat and dog allergies? Advertisement A. There is a well-established body of case law interpreting the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act that allows persons with mental handicaps to keep an emotional support animal in their unit, even in a no-pet building. However, at the same time, case law holds that while reasonable accommodations are required, some accommodations may not be reasonable under the circumstances, and some may not be necessary for the laudable goal of inclusion. The doctrine of reasonable accommodation does not require thateverything humanly possible be done to accommodate a person with disabilities when there are adverse consequences to other residents. The cost to other property owners and the condominium association must be balanced against the benefits to the requesting individual. When granting an accommodation to allow an emotional support animal in a unit, condominium boards have some latitude to establish reasonable guidelines that balance the severe allergies of an individual resident. It is a case-by-case analysis and solution. Q. I own a condominium and several units in our association were recently destroyed in a fire. Rebuilding of the units is estimated to take 12 months or longer. The affected unit owners have asked if they can withhold their units monthly assessments until their units are rebuilt, however, that will result in a budget shortfall for the association. Are unit owners whose units were destroyed by fire entitled to withhold their monthly assessments until the units are rebuilt? A. Section 9(a) of the Condominium Act requires all unit owners to pay their proportionate share of the common expenses. In fact, section 18(o) of the Condominium Act prohibits a condominium board from forbearing the payment of assessments by a unit owner, which means a board cannot simply write off or reduce a unit owners assessment obligation. Assessments are calculated based on a units pro-rata share of the budget. The budget is the estimate of costs for administering the common elements of the association including maintenance, repair and replacement, security of the common elements, payment of insurance policy premiums and etc. All units must pay their assessment obligation in full even if a unit was destroyed by fire. Got a question for the Condo Adviser? Email ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com. Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news. A man has been charged with first-degree murder after his mother was found dead in an apartment on the East Side of Aurora Friday morning, police said. Abel Quinones-Herstad, 20, of the first block of Jackson Place in Aurora, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Aurora police said in a press release Saturday. Advertisement A nationwide extraditable arrest warrant has been issued for Quinones-Herstad, who is currently in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail in Wisconsin. He will be extradited to Kane County at a later date, officials said. At approximately 8:30 a.m. Friday, Aurora police received a call from a man who reported that his brother arrived at his home and told him that he had done something bad to their mother, the release stated. Advertisement Police officers were dispatched to the apartment of Edith Gonzalez-Alarcon, 55, in the first block of Jackson Place, and found her dead inside, officials said. Officers immediately requested Aurora police dispatch to contact the police department in West Allis, Wisconsin, to have them respond to the reported location of Quinones-Herstad and detain him. The West Allis Police Department took the man into custody without incident, according to the release. Aurora police detectives responded to the scene and began investigating the specific circumstances of the incident, and evidence technicians also responded to identify and collect forensic evidence, police said. Officers and detectives also conducted a canvass of the neighborhood to collect potential information from neighbors to assist with the investigation. Detectives also went to the West Allis Police Department to interview the suspect and collect potential physical evidence, according to the release. The Kane County Coroners Office will schedule an autopsy in the coming days to determine the exact cause and manner of the womans death, officials said. Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the Aurora Police Departments Investigations Division at 630-256-5500, or to call Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000 to report information regarding the incident anonymously. The surface of Utah's Great Salt Lake dropped to its lowest recorded level this July. Researchers and politicians are worried about serious threats to animals and people who live near it. The nearby city of Salt Lake City is already facing dust storms. Experts fear these storms, which blow dirt into the air, could get worse. Scientist Kevin Perry has studied the lake for years. He said, "To save the Great Salt Lake, so that we don't become Dust Lake City, is to make achoice that the lake is valuable and that the lake needs to have water put into it." For years, water that would have gone to the lake has been used for drinking water, industry and agriculture. In addition, an ongoing drought a long period of time with not enough rain - has reduced the lakes water level. On July 3, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said that the surface of the lake fell to the lowest level since records began in 1847. Water levels are expected to decrease further until the autumn or early winter. The lake now contains about one-fourth of the water it contained when it was at its highest level in 1987. The lake has lost nearly half its average surface area. This means about 2,000 square kilometers of lakebed have been exposed. Dried out earth that used to be underwater has created dust clouds that contain calcium, sulfur and arsenic. Arsenic is an element linked to cancer and developmental problems in unborn babies. Exposed lakebed also has chemicals left over from copper and silver mining. Perry told the Reuters news agency, "If you breathe that dust over an extended period of time, like decades or longer, then it can lead to increases in different types of cancer...cardiovascular disease, diabetes and such." People are not the only ones at risk. Underwater reef-like structures are home to a micro-organism that is food for brine shrimp, which are an important food for birds. But the reef-like structures dry out and turn gray when exposed to air. An estimated 10 million birds of more than 330 species travel through or live at the lake each year, said Max Malmquist. He is with the National Audubon Society, an environmental group. The shrimp are also harvested and are valued at millions of dollars. Officials estimate that economic activity from the lake is worth up to $2 billion each year. Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed 11 new laws dealing with water policy in the last lawmaking season, or legislative session. Long-term answers will require agriculture, industry, and cities to use less water. Utah State Representative Tim Hawkes said there is political pressure to do something. "As we hit these new record lows, we start to run the risk that all of those values that we derive from the Great Salt Lake could be at risk," he said. Im Ashley Thompson. Nathan Frandino reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story lakebed n. the floor or bottom of a lake expose v. to leave (something) without covering or protection reef n. a long line of rocks or coral or a high area of sand near the surface of the water in the ocean brine shrimp n. a small kind of shrimp that live in salt lakes species n. biology : a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants : a group of related animals or plants that is smaller than a genus derive v. to take or get (something) from (something else); to have something as a source : to come from something Satellite images suggest that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit record levels in the first half of 2022. The images were recorded between January and June. They show about 4,000 square kilometers of new destruction. That is more destruction than has been measured in any six-month period during the seven years Brazil has been keeping such records. The information confirms that deforestation is continually happening during the rainy season. Deforestation is historically higher in the second half of the year when it is drier and people can travel more easily in the Amazon. Brazil also is set to hold presidential elections in October. The process usually causes reductions in law enforcement in the Amazon. President Jair Bolsonaro is seeking a second 4-year term. Current public opinion studies show his opponent, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, ahead in the race. Brazils nonprofit Amazon Environmental Research Institute, or IPAM examined the images. It said they show that the area destroyed in the first half of 2022 was 80 percent larger than that destroyed in the first half of 2018. Bolsonaro took office in 2019. Around half of the activity happened on public lands, IPAM said. In Brazil, people often illegally seize public land with the expectation that the areas will become legal farmland in the future. Other illegal property and timber deals along with a lack of law enforcement add to the increasing deforestation rates, said Ane Alencar, IPAMs science director. Those who control the Amazon dont want it preserved, Alencar told The Associated Press. The standing forest has no value in todays Amazon." Amazonas state lost the greatest number of trees to the recent cutting, the report said. Deforestation in Para and Mato Grosso states have historically registered more tree loss. Experts say that development is worrisome because Amazonas is deep in the rainforest and has remained mainly untouched compared to other Amazon areas. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story timber n. wood that is used for building preserve v. to keep something the same or prevent it from being damaged or destroyed _______________________________________________________________ What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 1. Write your comment in the box. 2. Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 3. Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with D on it. It is free. Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here. Japanese researchers have released plans to recreate Earths level of gravity on the moon. The effort aims to support plans by the United States and other nations to establish long-term bases for humans on the moon. The low gravity on the moon would affect humans living there in important ways. The American space agency NASA notes that gravity on the surface of the moon is one-sixth the gravity we experience on Earth. How to make gravity Designers working on plans to recreate Earths level of gravity, known as 1 g, on the moon are proposing the use of a centrifugal system. Centrifugal force is created by circular motion. A centrifuge machine turns very fast to force material in it away from a center or axis point, NASA explains. This planned system would create artificial gravity within an enclosed space on the moons surface. The project is a partnership between researchers at Japans Kyoto University and engineers at Japanese building company Kajima. The researchers said a centrifugal system could also work on Mars. The two organizations recently announced they will launch a joint study on developing the living environments. Humanity is now moving from the era of staying in space to the era of living on the Moon and Mars, said a statement issued by Kyoto Universitys SIC Human Spaceology Center. The researchers said they plan to develop an infrastructure to support human life on the moon and Mars. This would involve building artificial gravity habitats in both places. The huge, planned structures will be designed with living spaces, as well as small forests and waterfronts. The team is calling its moon project Lunar Glass. It says a simplified version of the structure could be built on the moon by 2050. Yosuke Yamashiki is the director of the SIC Human Spaceology Center. He told Japans Asahi Shimbun newspaper, There is no plan like this in other countries space development plans." Yamashiki added that the plan represents important technologies that will permit humans to move to space for long periods. U.S., Russia, China plan long-term space projects The American space agency NASA plans on returning humans to the moon as early as 2025 as part of its Artemis program. The program also calls for establishing a long-term base on the moon that could one day launch astronauts to Mars. Last year, China and Russia signed an agreement to set up an international lunar research station on the surface of the moon. And American billionaire and SpaceX chief Elon Musk has said he wants to launch humans to Mars on his companys rockets by 2030. Why is gravity important for humans? The Japanese researchers say one of the main purposes of the artificial gravity environments is to permit people to stay on the moon or Mars without suffering bad physical effects. Several studies have shown that the human body can be harmed by the lack of gravity in space. The team said in a statement that an artificial gravity environment could make it possible for humans to give birth on places like the moon or Mars. In addition, children could develop and grow normally. The researchers note, however, that much study and testing will be needed to identify the true health benefits of artificial gravity in space. By living in such environments, human beings will be able to have children without anxiety and maintain a physical condition that allows them to return to Earth at any time, the researchers said. Another part of the project involves plans to build a transportation system to travel between Earth, the moon and Mars. The so-called Hexagon Space Track would use the same artificial gravity technology as the proposed structures, the researchers said. The system would be designed to permit vehicles to stop at stations built on satellites orbiting the moon or Mars. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Kyoto University, Kajima, Reuters and NASA. Quiz - Japanese Researchers Plan to Recreate Earths Gravity on Moon Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story axis n. an imaginary, central line around which an object turns artificial adj. not natural, but made by people era n. a period of time in history that is special for a particular reason infrastructure n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country or area habitat n. the natural environment of a plant or animal benefit n. a helpful or good effect anxiety n. the feeling of being very worried allow v. to permit _________________________________________________________________ What do you think of living in space for long periods of time? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 1. Write your comment in the box. 2. Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 3. Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with D on it. It is free. Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here. A 64-year-old Flossmoor woman was shot three times by police Sunday as she advanced toward officers with a knife, police said Thursday. The woman, Madeline Miller, was pronounced dead at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, and state police are investigating the shooting, which occurred when Flossmoor police responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 1400 block of Joyce Drive. Advertisement Flossmoor police initially offered few details, saying that commenting on the case would compromise the independent state police investigation. But they released body camera video Thursday and a statement saying officers responded shortly after noon Sunday to a domestic disturbance, with a report that an individual, later identified as Miller, was believed to be armed and dangerous and was threatening and attacking a female family member with a knife. Advertisement Madeline Miller, 64, was shot and killed by Flossmoor police after officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at her home on July 10, 2022. (Chicago Tribune Handout) Police heard arguing and commotion inside the residence, and after announcing their presence, a woman using a walker opened the door for officers, police said. A female family member began yelling shes trying to kill me, and she and the woman in the walker moved out of the way for officers, police said. Miller emerged from around a corner, holding a large kitchen knife, and quickly ran at the officers with the knife pointed in their direction, police said. Officers retreated back onto a driveway and ordered Miller to drop the knife, which she refused to do and continued to advance toward the officers at a quick pace, according to the statement. One officer fired a single shot, hitting Miller in the arm, and when she continued to advance toward that officer, with the knife raised, the second officer fired two shots, hitting the woman in the torso, police said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The officers rendered medical help and called for paramedics. A female family member who was injured in the domestic disturbance was taken to an area hospital, police said. The events were captured on the officers body-worn cameras as well as their squad car dashboard cameras, police said. An interior security camera recorded the earlier domestic disturbance, police said. The responding officers have been placed on administrative leave per departmental policy, police said. Advertisement Miller was pronounced dead shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. Family members have not returned messages this week regarding the shooting. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting. Flossmoor police Chief Tod Kamleiter said Thursday the department was not providing any other information. mnolan@tribpub.com Editors note: This SOS column is one in an occasional series highlighting companies that prove themselves unresponsive, unhelpful or uninterested in explaining themselves. Tech giants Google and Meta offer a lot of online, automated help for customers who run into trouble with their products. But good luck finding an actual, named human employee to do what the machines cant (or wont). Chris Hornung, 70, formerly of rural Verona, emailed SOS in March to say YouTube had been double-billing him for his single YouTube account for more than a year, and after trying to get the problem straightened out with his credit card company, the credit card company suggested he take it up with YouTubes parent company, Google, directly. That was easier said than done. Im wondering if the customer service department is a test bed for their AI (artificial intelligence) software because their email responses have been polite but predictable and unhelpful, he said. They seem to be one big machine thats bulletproof except when its not. Hornung said hed been filing objections to the extra bills with his credit card company, which would alert Google only to see Google reject the objections and reinstate the charges. I dont know why anyone would need two identical streaming subscriptions, Hornung said. Besides, Google should be able to see if one of the accounts is being used. Heres a catch: According to Google, I have only one account, so I dont have any idea how they can bill on the first of the month and the 17th. SOS began its series of failed attempt to help Hornung on April 11, when it emailed folks at Google. It emailed again on April 20 and May 4, when it also posted on Googles and YouTubes Facebook pages, tweeted YouTube and spent 23 minutes on hold at Googles California headquarters without ever speaking to anyone. YouTubes nameless tweeter responded with a link to online help. Theyll get actual human help by reaching out to us via twitter or by contacting our live support here, it said. Googles press office similarly emailed a link to online help. Hornung dutifully tried both; they didnt help and he reported no actual human contact. I ended up canceling the credit card that was attached to the duplicate billings and reinstating one subscription, but they still owe me 14 months of payments, Hornung said on May 24. Welcome to the world of machines gone astray. So Meta Chris Monge, 53, of Lodi, had spent eight months trying to get Facebook to reinstate his hacked account before he contacted SOS on April 18. Someone changed the email address associated with the page, he said. I emailed a copy of my photo ID as well as other info asking for help to an email address for Facebook but have not gotten a response. SOS similarly got no response from Facebook or parent company Meta to emails to Facebook on April 20 and May 4. Ditto to posts or messages to two Facebook Facebook pages at least not from a human. In one case, it appeared a bot responded: Were slowly learning how to better respond to all types of requests, but dont have more information on that right now (sad face emoji). Check out our Help Center for additional support or choose from our options below. SOS let Monge know as much on May 27, and Monge said hed report back if I ever get in touch with anybody. Monge works in insurance and said on June 14 that what pains me the most about my situation is that to control my business pages I need to be able to log in personally because Im the administrator. Without access to my profile, my business pages are effectively dead, he said. Send us an SOS Since September 2007, SOS has helped save Wisconsin State Journal readers more than $203,798.63 and solved hundreds of problems. You can send an SOS using any of these methods: Email: sos@madison.com Online form: http://go.madison.com/sendSOS Phone: 608-252-6198 Mail: SOS, Wisconsin State Journal, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708 Donald was enabled from the beginning. Mary L. Trump, Too Much and Never Enough Liz Cheney sure called that one. Tuesday afternoon, in her opening statement at the latest hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Wyoming congresswoman advised America of a change in strategy by Donald Trumps would-be defenders. Having once embraced an ineffectual policy of deny and delay, they were taking a new tack, she said: Now the argument seems to be that President Trump was manipulated by others outside the administration, that he was persuaded to ignore his closest advisers and that he was incapable of telling right from wrong. She said this at 1:07 Eastern Daylight Time. Sure enough, less than an hour and a half later, here came Geraldo Rivera, one of Trumps ardent protectors, illustrating Cheneys point to a fare-thee-well. He tweeted: Before he fell under malignant influence of a trio of fringe advisers President Trump told me on November 13, 2020 he was a realist and would do the right thing. I assumed he meant he would concede if there was clear proof he lost. Instead, he led us to Constitutional crisis. Fell ... under ... malignant ... influence. You might want to let that one soak for a minute. It is the kind of thing you say when your teenager is caught smoking behind the bleachers. Hes been running with a bad crowd, you might tell your spouse. He fell under malignant influence. The obvious problem with that: Trump is closer to 80 than to 18. Or as Cheney herself put it, President Trump is a 76-year-old man. He is not an impressionable child. More to the point, he was caught, not smoking behind the bleachers, but trying to overthrow the U.S. government. And, not for nothing, but he was president of the United States at the time. Yet here comes Rivera, the same guy who once blamed Trayvon Martin for his own death because he wore a hoodie in the rain! trotting out this lame excuse to deflect from Trump blame he obviously and richly deserves. Fell under malignant influence. Just curious: How many friends do you have, gentle reader much less mere advisers who could influence you to plot a coup against the U.S. government? How weak-minded would you have to be? That such shabby and absurd reasoning passes as strategy within the walls of Trump World suggests not just how desperate things are in there, but how detached from reality the people inside have become. And it speaks to the crying need to hold this thug accountable for once in his life. One hopes the Justice Department is taking notes. In old horror movies, the mad scientist would build a monster on a electrified slab using nuts and bolts and spare parts from discarded corpses. But as the book quoted at the top makes clear, the way you really build a monster is to take a child and tell him yes. All the time, nothing but yes. Excuse his failings, minimize his mistakes, shield him from blame, never allow any sense of guilt or remorse to work their corrective magic. Then, give him power. Youve now got a monster that would make Godzilla turn tail. One often gets the sense people in Trump World dont communicate with that monster so much as manage him, try to keep his perpetual Vesuvius of anger and id corked until they are safely out of range. One is reminded of that classic The Twilight Zone episode where Billy Mumy played a willful child with godlike powers, and the adults were forced to tiptoe around him, smiling strained smiles they did not feel, constantly assuring the brat his every wish and whim was golden, under threat of oblivion or pain. They had to act like crazy was normal. Surely, the citizens of Trump World can relate. Probably, in his deepest heart, even Rivera. Fell under malignant influence, he says. Somebody get that man a mirror. Because that description certainly fits someone here. But his name isnt Trump. Banning drop boxes for absentee ballots across Wisconsin was rash and unnecessary. And comparing them to the dictatorship of the late Saddam Hussein in Iraq is absurd and reckless. Thats what Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley just did. Voting drop boxes were a convenient way to cast ballots during the pandemic, when the coronavirus was spreading fast and killing thousands of Wisconsin residents, especially the elderly. Many voters of all ages and political leanings found drop boxes helpful. They improved participation in our democracy with no credible evidence of fraud. Yet an aggressive state Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision July 8, needlessly prohibited ballot drop boxes. What happened to judicial restraint? State law doesnt specifically say anything about drop boxes for absentee ballots. So why read something into the law that isnt there? Bradley even suggested, in her majority opinion, that banning the secured boxes will help prevent rigged voting similar to Iraq, where Hussein won with a manufactured 100% of the vote. Her rhetoric was over the top something youd expect from a hyper-partisan politician, not a high-court judge. More than 500 ballot drop boxes appeared across the state in 2020 after COVID-19 emerged as the worst pandemic in a century. The boxes enjoyed bipartisan support including from As sembly Speaker Robin Vos and other Republicans. They made sense because public health officials were recommending people stay at least 6 feet apart to reduce the spread of the disease. Election officials tightly secured the drop boxes to the ground or buildings. In Madison, they were placed outside fire stations staffed through the night. Their contents were just as safe if not more so than ballots dropped into mailboxes. The drop boxes simply removed the middle man and sped up delivery. Election officials regularly checked the boxes and took them to municipal offices for safe storage. Voters didnt have to worry about ballots being lost in the mail or delayed. Many people didnt even leave their vehicle to drop in a ballot. They pulled up, rolled down their window and deposited it like mailing an important bill or letter. The end of drop boxes for ballots in Wisconsin wont change much. Mailboxes are still conveniently located in lots of neighborhoods. And you can still drop off ballots often curbside to poll workers at your clerks office. Thanks to vaccines and other precautions against COVID, many voters are now comfortable casting ballots in person. The courts decision isnt the end of democracy any more than it was a threat to fair elections. But its still disappointing. Voting should be as easy as possible while still being secure. Thats what drop boxes ensured, despite former President Donald Trumps endless and baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud that he imagined to salve his ego. Trump lost the 2020 election, fair and square. Recounts, audits and legal decisions have proven President Joe Biden won. The real threat to our democracy is Trump, a losing candidate who still wont concede defeat. Trumps outrageous behavior in trying to reverse a legitimate election and the will of the people draws a much closer comparison to dictatorships than any of Wisconsins careful election procedures. Ballot drop boxes were good for democracy. Many voters will miss them. The only positive thing about their absence will be that Trumps cowardly apologists in Wisconsin will have one less innocuous procedure to complain about as a distraction from Trumps failings. Wisconsin State Journal editorial board The views expressed in the editorials are shaped by the board, independent of news coverage decisions elsewhere in the newspaper. STAFF MEMBERS KELLY LECKER, Executive editor SCOTT MILFRED, Editorial page editor PHIL HANDS, Editorial cartoonist COMMUNITY MEMBERS JANINE GESKE SUSAN SCHMITZ TWIN FALLS A high school career technical education program that has gotten a whole lot of teenagers thinking seriously about numbers has been awarded a recognition for its work in boosting participation, training, and delivering credits towards post-secondary degrees. Lorraine Rapp and Lori Peterson accepted the Exemplary Program award for the Applied Accounting Program at Twin Falls High School. The award was presented during the Connect professional development summer conference, hosted by the Idaho Department of Educations division of Career and Technical Education. Rapp, who has taught at Twin Falls High School for 20 of her 30 years as an instructor of accounting, said it was both the higher than average achievements of the students in the program, as well as the ways in which students took advantage of opportunities to network in to the business world, through organizations, partnerships with businesses, job shadowing, and making connections. Our mission in our program is to give them confidence to pursue whatever area, and basic professional skills, Rapp said. Were always trying to be innovative and keep up with new curriculum, new technology, and integrate that into our program. It changes every year, and throughout the year. Rapp teaches Accounting 1 and Accounting 2, which is a college-level dual-enrollment course and offers college credits toward an Associates degree, which more and more students in Twin Falls are earning when they graduate High School. Earning college credits has a certain kind of appeal, as does the option of earning nationally recognized certificates such as Microsoft Office, National Financial Literacy, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program certificates. In the business world those certificates can be expensive, but high schoolers can elect to take advantage of the State Department of Educations offer to pick up the tab on them. One of the criteria for the award was how students engage with organizations outside of the classroom. More than just earning a grade or scoring well on tests, the students in the CTE programs are able to connect with various organizations, like Business Professionals of America, National Leadership Council, as well as organizations around the community, across the state, and even nationwide. Students in the Applied Accounting Program also partner with community organizations like the Optimists Club and the Special Olympics. The class often takes field trips to bankruptcy court, or to open houses to meet with realtors and mortgage loan officers. We try to take the classroom to the business world, so-to-speak, and give them these opportunities. Rapp said. Lori Peterson, who teaches Information Systems in the Applied Accounting Program, said the opportunities give students a chance to explore how different business and industry fields actually work. They let kids get a taste of what awaits them after high school, she said. I would say a majority of our kids who go through the program do not become accountants, Peterson said. But they come out of there with the leadership qualities and the confidence to achieve whatever it is that they want to do. I would say just guessing that many of them are entrepreneurs. They probably go on to major in business, maybe advanced degrees, but I could foresee many of them becoming employers, Peterson said. Its multi-faceted. For all the innovation and change that the program goes through each year which is nearly constant being recognized for their efforts feels good, said Rapp. I think (Lori and I) are both very thankful for the recognition, Rapp said. We really need to give kudos to our parents for encouraging their kids to take our classes. We need to acknowledge our principals at our school, and obviously our school district. The award was presented during the Connect professional development summer conference, hosted by the Idaho Department of Educations Career and Technical Education division. San Miguel said the conference is a place for programs to share what theyve done to evolve and enhance ways to give students more workforce training and job readiness by the time they graduate. We try to highlight programs for the year that have been innovative, or been able to achieve success, and be able to share that with others in the industry, said Adrian San Miguel, IDE CTE Chief Program Officer. San Miguel said the CTE has grown a lot in recent years, with addition of funding from Department of Education, Advanced opportunities added funding to allow students to take certifications before they leave high school. With the growth in Idaho the number of employers that have moved in and the need for these technical and skilled trades, shortage-wise I think businesses are hungry to find students with some kind of transferable skill and getting those industry certifications, San Miguel said. In the quest to produce world-class, job-ready workforce, the Career and Technical Education has flourished in Idaho lately. In Twin Falls School District, 2,196 students or 64% of high school students attended one of the 120 CTE courses in the district. This spring, 36 seniors received an associates degree along with their high school diploma. The delegates of the Idaho Republican Party attending the state convention will decide in the next two days whether to approve a rule disqualifying voters affiliated with other parties from registering as Republicans to vote in the partys primary elections. The Idaho GOP closed its primary process starting in 2012 so that only registered Republicans can vote for the candidate they want to advance to the general election where Republicans dominate so heavily that a primary win often guarantees election to a seat. The proposed rule was drafted by Branden Durst, a former Democratic legislator who joined the Republican party in 2020 and ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for superintendent of public instruction in the May primary. The rule passed out of the GOP convention committee on Thursday and will need a majority of affirmative votes from the party delegates to be officially adopted. Durst told the Idaho Capital Sun he wasnt in a position to talk about the rule until Saturday. The rule states that county and legislative district central committees can determine the political affiliation of people who file or intend to file as candidates for the Republican Party. It outlines how a voter can be disqualified from registering with the Idaho Republican Party, such as those who: Affiliated less than 12 months before the next primary election held in an even-numbered year Disaffiliated with the Republican Party at any time in the past 39 months Financially supported more than one candidate of a different political party for office less than 25 months before the primary Affiliated with any other political party less than 25 months before the primary Voted in a primary or caucus for any other political party less than 25 months before the primary The proposed rule didnt specify how the party would police its voters affiliation history or campaign contributions. It did not specify who would be responsible for that task. Tyler Kelly, executive director of the Idaho Republican Party, said there is usually a hot topic at the convention each year it is held, and hes not surprised the rule made it out of committee. But he hopes the majority of the delegates dont adopt it. Its my hope that the party errs on the side of inclusion, Kelly said. I think it becomes difficult when the party starts determining who can and cannot register. Its my belief, and (GOP Chairman Tom Lunas) belief as well, that we should err on the side of inclusion at all times. Durst lost to former Idaho State Board of Education president Debbie Critchfield and said the day after the primary that the Republican Party must address its Democrat primary crossover problem. He and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who lost her bid for governor to Gov. Brad Little in the primary, both claimed tens of thousands of Democrats crossed over to vote in the primary. Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck said in May that those numbers were not reflected in the voter rolls. The Idaho Democratic Party has an open primary, allowing any registered voter to participate. Democratic Party spokesperson Avery Roberts said the proposed rule is particularly egregious coming from Durst. From his extremist views on reproductive rights to his efforts to defund public education, its clear Durst is not a Democrat. What isnt clear is why he thinks he should get special treatment, Roberts said in a statement. He certainly didnt wait 25 months after losing a Democratic primary in Washington state to rise through the ranks of the Idaho Republican Party. Durst ran a losing legislative campaign as a Democrat in Washington in 2016. Two years later, he ran a losing campaign for Boise School District trustee, a nonpartisan seat. The Idaho GOP convention will continue through Saturday evening, during which time party delegates will vote on proposed rules, resolutions and changes to the party platform. The delegates will also elect party officers, including the chairperson, on Saturday. Motions have been filed from the defense attorneys of Lori Vallow Daybell to seek clarification in the language in the grand jury indictment against her and her husband, Chad Daybell. Lori Daybells defense team argues that two of the counts listed in the indictment are too complicated because they each include two separate allegations. Counts one and three in the official indictment, which was filed on May 25, 2021, are both labeled, Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception. Count one against the Daybells indicts them for alleged conspiracy to commit the first-degree murder of 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and grand theft by deception, for wrongfully continuing to collect five monthly Social Security Survivor benefits on behalf of Tylee. Count three indicts the couple for alleged conspiracy to commit the first-degree murder of 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow and grand theft by deception, for wrongfully continuing to collect four monthly Social Security benefit checks on behalf of JJ, and four monthly Social Security child-in-care payments. According to Idaho Code, an indictment must be direct and certain. The defense argues that because there are two separate crimes, a jury could be confused on how to rule for two crimes when both of them are included in one count. The defense asks that the grand jury re-deliberate and amend the indictment so that both alleged crimes are their own count. According to the motions filed, the crimes as currently stated do not meet the elements of a single crime, but in fact, lumps two crimes into one allegation making it a general felony for possible punishment purposes at sentencing. The defense also argues that although there is a punishment for each of the charges on their own, there is no single punishment for the two charges lumped together. Lori and Chad Daybell are charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of JJ and Tylee two of Loris children and Chads first wife, Tammy Daybell. They have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty against both. The Daybells are scheduled to stand trial together on Jan. 9, 2023, in Boise. TWIN FALLS Solar-powered cars raced into town Saturday, powered not only by the sun, but by groups of bright college students from the U.S. and Canada. It was part of the American Solar Challenge that started July 9 in Independence, Missouri, then followed the Oregon Trail to Twin Falls. Racers stopped at checkpoints and stage stops along the way. The final stage started Saturday in Pocatello and ended at the finish line at the Herrett Center for Arts and Science on the College of Southern Idaho campus. Herrett Center Director Joey Heck said he was ecstatic that Twin Falls was chosen as the final destination. The finish line location is a big deal, Heck said. The teams finish the week-long race in a culmination of months of design, build, and qualifying trials, and celebrate the successful completion of the competition at a photo-friendly finish line featuring checkered flags, black and white stripes, pomp, fanfare, and general racing pageantry. The nine solar cars began pulling into the Herrett Center parking lot at about noon, accompanied by applause, high fives and hugs between members of their respective support teams. This race isnt just about racing. Its about designing and building the vehicles as well. Students built this program from the ground up, Logan Richardson of the Appalachian State team told the Times-News. Richardson assisted with developing the speedometer, navigation system and communication systems for his teams car. Although his team had many positive moments along the 1,400-mile journey, the mechanical and electrical systems had a few hiccups along the way. But that didnt get the team down. Kudos to our electronic and mechanical teams, Richardson said. We are proud of the race we ran; we came together. Appalachian State started its solar car program in 2013. It can take two years for students to get a car ready for competition. This years race featured college students from around the country and Canada, including teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkley. Teams performed well for the race and developed a camaraderie as they followed the Oregon Trail, Appalachian State team member Kiernan Presler-Marshall said. We did pretty well; only one ox died, Presler-Marshall said. The Iowa State University team was forced to withdraw from the race due to vehicle problems. Richardson said he envisions a time when technology will improve to the point where solar cars will be manufactured and made available to the general public. Race officials agreed that solar cars have improved significantly since races started in 1995. Steven Day recalled a race decades ago in which teams faced cloudy, rainy weather obviously not conducive to solar cars that at times reduced cars speeds to about 5 mph. Some solar cars today can reportedly reach speeds in excess of 100 mph under the right conditions, although for the race, teams were required to obey speed limits and regulations limited the cars to 65 mph for the event. Average overall speeds for the cars were in the mid-30s. The race had two classes one for single-occupant vehicles and the other for multi-occupant vehicles with each class having its own regulations. The winner of the single-occupant vehicle class was determined based on the official mileage completed across stages of the event, including optimal mileage and reduced for any penalties incurred. For the multi-occupant vehicle class, additional considerations of energy efficiency and practicality factor into the overall score. The formula for naming the overall winners is complicated and scores werent released until Saturday night. The University of Minnesota was named the overall winner of the multi-occupant vehicle class, followed by Appalachian State and Polytechnic Montreal. MIT claimed the single-occupant class, followed by Principia and University of Kentucky. In order to qualify for the road race, teams vehicles were required to pass muster during a series of inspections and later having to compete at the three-day Formula Sun Grand Prix in Kansas, which involved driving the vehicles around a track for 24 hours. Two men accused of vandalizing an Olympia anti-hate mural in October were also arrested in North Idaho on suspicion of conspiring to riot at a pride event. The city of Olympia announced the mens arrests on Monday and noted they have known connections to Patriot Front, a white nationalist hate group. KING 5 TV reported their connection to the Idaho Pride event on Wednesday. Citing court documents, KING 5 reported Colton M. Brown and Spencer Simpson were identified on videos of the June 11 Idaho incident. That day, police in Coeur dAlene arrested 31 masked Patriot Front members in the citys downtown, The Idaho Statesman reported. Simpson attended a hearing in Olympia municipal court on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor crime of aiding and abetting graffiti, according to KING 5. Brown did not attend his hearing, so a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, according to KING 5. He was charged with the same crime. Neither of them have criminal convictions in Washington state, according to KING 5. The Olympia mural covered the front of a Fourth Avenue building that has since been demolished. It was created in 2014, in part in response to violent attacks outside Jakes, downtown Olympias only gay bar. The two men are accused of using stencils to spray paint Patriot Front over the mural. City staff and volunteers repainted the mural soon after. A new affordable housing project has been planned for the site of the demolished building. In the meantime, the mural has been kept in storage. Its unclear if and when the mural may return, but theres an active petition to bring the mural back. The petition also calls for several other Patriot Front members to be charged with crimes related to defacing the mural. On Monday, Olympia Police Chief Rich Allen said his department is working to identify others involved. Communist Chinas targeted aggression, propaganda belligerence and below the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economic corruption projects are finally producing diplomatic, political and military blowback. Xi Jinpings tyrannical clique ought to take a strategic pause meaning the self-proclaimed strategic geniuses should reconsider their self-defeating and ultimately self-destructive hostile behavior. My bet: Xi and the gang wont do it because they think theyre smarter than everyone else. Bet No. 2: Since theyre arrogant and isolated, theyll only get woke when war in Asia wreaks global economic devastation and leaves mainland China in chaos. As for economic corruption: The BRI is Chinas attempt to control world economic development. Sounds fabuloso to New York media but its corrupt and phony an economic attack on fragile states. Ask the Democratic Republic of Congo. Beijings Congo operations are scams designed to corner the world cobalt market. Congo is fighting back, albeit with limited legal means. Chinas Congo aggressions are obscure, its Asian depredations arent. Beijings regional aggression in Asia and global lies have seeded significant setbacks, diplomatic and military. In 1996 Beijing ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The treaty codified the geophysical conditions establishing sovereign control of territorial waters and rights in maritime Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). UNCLOS was designed to prevent and peacefully resolve disputes involving billions of dollars of maritime resources. But tyrants dont respect treaties. Vladimir Putin ignoring the 1994 Budapest Accord (assuring Ukrainian territorial integrity) is a recent example. More communist disappearing ink: In 2002, Beijing signed a declaration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in which the parties agreed to exercise self-restraint in the South China Sea and refrain from occupying uninhabited features. 2012: Beijing claimed 85% of the South China Seas 3.5 million square kilometers. In 2012 Scarborough Shoal was a South China Sea reef, a sea feature well inside long-recognized Filipino territory about 155 miles from the large inhabited Filipino island of Palawan. China? 750 miles away. But Chinese construction barges anchored around the shoal, poured concrete and created an island. According to Beijing: instant Chinese sovereign territory. Reality: imperialism with invading construction barges. In 2013 Manila filed a complaint with the Hagues Permanent Court of Arbitration. On July 12, 2016, they ruled that China had systematically violated essential provisions of the UNCLOS treaty at the expense of the Philippines. Chinas violations included stealing resources from Manilas maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and illegally encroaching on Filipino territory in the South China Sea (SCS). In blunt language, the Court concluded Chinas communist government had robbed the Philippines and launched a slow, calculated and highly illegal invasion of the SCS. On July 12, 2022 thats this year U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China to comply with a decision based on the UNCLOS treaty. Blinken was visiting the Philippines, but the date of the U.S. urge was no accident. The Courts 2016 ruling exposes the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) multidimensional imperialist expansion strategy and aggression as it occurred from the late 1990s through 2016. The ruling documented the CCPs utter disregard for international treaties and civilized diplomacy when they challenge CCP policy actions. China signed and then broke the UNCLOS treaty. China signed and then broke the Sino-British Treaty of 1984, which guaranteed Hong Kongs democratic autonomy through 2049. Evidence: Communist China cheats Congo and violates major treaties. Conclusion: it is a lawless and untrustworthy enemy. Now for the blowback. In 2007, The Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) held its first informal meeting. The Quads membership roll sends a diplomatic message: Japan, Australia, America and India. Japan pointed out all four nations regarded China as a disruptive actor in the Indo-Pacific; they had common interests. July 2022: deeds on the sea carry more weight than Blinkens words. The RIMPAC Rim of The Pacific a military exercise sponsored by the U.S. Navy is a physical real-world expression of commitment against aggression in the Pacific littoral. Twenty-six nations are participating in the exercise. The common enemy? Draw your own conclusion. In the 1990s, the sharp-witted Texan and renowned progressive writer Molly Ivins regaled (and appalled) readers with her reports on the tragicomic awfulness of George W. Bushs two terms as the Lone Star States governor. His tenure was notable for his deep ignorance, frat-boy arrogance and flagrant servility to corporate interests. But those very qualities made Americas moneyed powers decide that Wow! wouldnt he make a dandy president? Molly warned the general public about the folly of that choice, but in the 2000 race, Ws patrons stuffed him with money, buffed him up with a glossy coat of PR Shinola, pulled off a flagrant post-election political heist in Florida ... and squeegeed him, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft and that whole regime of horrors into office. Many Americans soon began expressing astonishment at how shallow, imperious, and dangerous Bush & Co. were proving to be, leading Molly to say with a heavy sigh: Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention. Dont look now, but another Texas gubernatorial goober, named Greg Abbott, is coming at you, insisting that he should be your next president. Sadly, Molly is gone, but I knew her well enough that I think I can speak for her on this matter of national import: Oh, hell no! Excuse the redundancy here, but right-wing extremism has become extremely extreme, and Abbott is vying to be the extremiest of all. A clue to his loopiness is his vituperative anti-abortion absolutism, forcing victims of rape to give birth to their rapists spawn. Not a problem, proclaimed Abbott, for hes the Lone Star Wizard. He declared that he intends to go out and arrest all rapists get this before they rape anyone! Abbott, a governor with no talent for governing, has run up a record noted for spectacular program failures, corporate bootlicking, widening inequality, corruption, political buffoonery... and so awful much more. If thats your idea of a president, there he is. Perhaps you remember Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOPs fringy, far-right-wing 1964 presidential nominee who famously said, Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Today, however, the core of the Republican Party has gone so far beyond the fringe that they would boo Goldwaters right-wingism as insufficiently rabid. Instead, their new rallying cry is: Nuttiness in the defense of extremism is no vice. The GOP as a whole has mutated from a conservative party with some extremist factions to effectively proclaiming itself the Party of Extremism. Its mainline officialdom (governors, congressional leaders, state reps, judges, party chairs, et al.) are no longer just winking at such antidemocratic, far-right groups as neo-Confederates, paranoid replacement theorists, secessionists and QAnon cultists they are openly embracing the crazy. Hoping to enlist the raw political fervor of dogmatic rightists, local, state and national Republican establishments are mainstreaming the extreme: Parroting many of those groups wilder claims, adopting their code words and endorsing their adherents for elected and appointed offices. And, of course, all of this fanatical horsepower is quietly being hitched to the partys true purpose of entrenching the supremacy of corporate and moneyed elites. Now, this extremism is about to erupt in the GOPs presidential primary, for a whole covey of these cooing right-wingers have fantasies of taking the groups radical agenda to the White House. All of them are trying to out-extreme each other with raw meat bigotry and autocratic posturing, but two wannabes have emerged as both the most bullish and bullying: Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida. For months, these big state governors have been locked in a far-right kook-off including outlawing free speech, banning books, viciously attacking immigrants, preempting local elections and governments and denying health care to poor people. Bear in mind that Abbott and DeSantis are not merely pontificating, posturing and promising what they might do in the White House; as governors theyre actually practicing it right now! I dont know if Abbott and DeSantis are the worst that the GOP will try to put in the Oval Office in 2024, but please pay attention now, for todays Republican elites intend to pull our democracy down into the plutocratic, autocratic and theocratic maelstrom they are creating. EDITORS NOTE: The Martinsville Bulletin will report court proceedings in Henry County and Martinsville district and circuit courts, except some juvenile cases and traffic citations other than DUI. Claims in civil suits may be reported, except in custody cases. The newspaper does not omit any names that qualify to be included. The information is compiled from court documents by the Bulletin. Another chapter in the story of a retired Henry County Sheriffs investigator, who was convicted of having his wife murdered, has come to a close. Collin Joshua Russell, 38, of Roanoke was scheduled for a three-day jury trial on Monday in Henry County Circuit Court on charges of first-degree murder, conspire to commit first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, grand larceny of a firearm, grand larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Instead, Russell pleaded guilty to amended charges of second-degree murder and conspire to commit second-degree murder. The grand larceny and firearms charges remained unchanged. A pre-sentence report was ordered, and Russell will be sentenced on Oct. 12. In addition to Russell, three other people were charged in the death of Pamela Morse, 63, who was found in her bed, dead of a gunshot wound to the head on May 13, 2020. Tanna Shelton Fitzgerald died in October 2020 while in the Henry County Jail after notifying deputies that she had taken an excessive amount of prescription blood pressure medication, a Henry County Sheriffs Office release stated. In February the former Henry County investigator, David Lee Morse, 67, of 1385 Wingfield Orchard Road, was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Casey Lynn Rogers, 28, of Roanoke, is scheduled for a five-day jury trial to begin Nov. 28 in Henry County Circuit Court on charges of first-degree murder, conspire to commit first-degree murder, grand larceny of a firearm, grand larceny of a motor vehicle, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a violent felon. David Morse was found guilty by Judge David Williams after a three-day trial that ended Dec. 1. In that trial, attorneys unraveled the twisted story involving the four people that ended with Pamela Morses death. Even though testimony proved Morse did not shoot his wife, he was convicted of her murder due to testimony indicating his deliberate behavior caused Pamelas death. Police testified at Morses trial that Morse was having a relationship with Fitzgerald and Morse conspired with Fitzgerald to employ the services of Russell and Rogers to have his wife killed while he was at work. Morse arrived home from work on March 13, 2020, and told investigators that he had found his wife in the bed, dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Fitzgerald, Rogers and Russell were found by police at a house at 525 Holley Ridge Road in Franklin County. Pamela Morses stolen Jeep was found on the property partially spray-painted, and a .357 magnum revolver was discovered unloaded in a green cardboard box nearby. David Morse retired from the Henry County Sheriffs Department more than a decade ago. He was among the investigators assigned to the still-unsolved shooting deaths of Michael, Mary and Jennifer Short in 2002. Virginias public school system was born 152 years ago this month. The occasion provides an opportunity to revisit the story of Virginias first superintendent of public instruction, William Henry Ruffner, who was also the architect of the public school system. The act passed by the General Assembly in 1870 was based upon his proposals. Ruffner (18241908) has been called the Horace Mann of the South, a reference to the Massachusetts lawyer and legislator who was our young nations first major advocate for public education. (It should be noted that he is not the only historical figure from the American South to bear that label. The Horace Mann of Virginia is perhaps more appropriate, and just about impossible to dispute.) A Lexington native, pastor and educator whose life story intersects with Washington and Lee University, Virginia Tech, Longwood University in Farmville and Roanoke College in Salem, Ruffner campaigned fiercely for the maintenance and survival of free public school against critics who saw free schools as an unnecessary burden on the states finances. A supporter of the Union who nonetheless served in the home guard when Virginia seceded to become part of the Confederacy, Ruffner wasnt an example of enlightened thinking on the defining issue of his age, the ownership of enslaved persons. A slave owner himself, Ruffner contended that the institution of slavery needed to come to an end, but for economic reasons, not moral reasons. He was unfortunately a believer in the innate superiority of the white race and a proponent of colonization a school of thought pushing the notion that free African Americans should emigrate to Africa rather than remain in the country. But unlike many of his white contemporaries, he believed free and enslaved Black Americans should be educated. He ran Sunday schools for African Americans in pre-Civil War Virginia, a practice at odds with the establishment, though he stated he was only providing oral instruction, as state law forbade that reading be taught to enslaved people. His views might have been influenced by his father Henry Ruffner, who was once president of Washington College now Washington and Lee but resigned after stirring controversy by authoring a paper advocating for the gradual emancipation of slaves in western Virginia.The public school system William Ruffner designed was segregated by race, which caused African American members of the General Assembly to vote against it in protest. Ruffner argued tensions would run too high if schools were integrated, though he articulated a belief that someday there would be no prejudice between the races. Though separate but equal ultimately proved a failure in practice, Ruffner at least had a goal of equal education for white and Black students, and he founded separate summer institutes for training white and Black teachers. Ruffner was a tireless advocate for free public school, defending it constantly against critics who considered it a waste of state money and who disapproved of educating Black students. Though the General Assembly replaced Ruffner in 1882, the institution he created endured and evolved. After a brief stint teaching at Roanoke College, Ruffner would end his career as principal of the State Female Normal School in Farmville, a teacher training school for white women created in 1884. Ruffner had long called for the establishment of such a school, though the General Assembly at first thwarted these ambitions. This Farmville school eventually became Longwood University. Here is a historical figure with personal flaws and wrongheaded views whose legacy nonetheless persists with every Virginia school bus ride and with every raised hand in a Virginia grade school classroom, the fruits of his vision continuing to benefit the people of the commonwealth long after his death. In 2022, Virginias superintendent of public instruction post is occupied by Jillian Balow, imported from Wyoming by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Her main qualification appears to be a worldview compatible with Youngkins pledge to end the teaching of divisive concepts which in practice appears aimed to muzzle any discussion of race and discrimination past and present in Virginia classrooms. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative nonprofit dedicated to promoting educational excellence that takes positions that align with Youngkins, such as advocacy for charter schools published a report in 2021, The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History. The reports introduction begins, Is America a racist country? Or the greatest nation on earth? Or both or neither or some of each? For the sake of our childrens education ... we need a more thoughtful and balanced starting point for the whole conversation one that leaves space for nuance, mutual understanding, and hope for the future. Nothing to argue with there. The nonpartisan report goes on to evaluate how K-12 standards for history and civics stack up in every state. Virginia received a B+ rating, which essentially amounts to good but needs improvement in a few specific areas. Wyoming, where Balow had served as Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2014, received an F in civics and history from this conservative think tank. Wyomings civics and U.S. History standards are inadequate, failing to offer even a basic outline of essential content, the report reads. We hope this is not an omen. It would be a travesty to see Virginias standards of education downgraded to appease ideological dogma, whether those dogmatic views come from right or left. One cant help but wonder: What would this administration find acceptable should a teacher choose to share the multifaceted history of William Henry Ruffner in the classroom? Would students be allowed to consider the whole man? - The Roanoke Times Saudi Arabia announced on Friday it will open its airspace for all air carriers that meet requirements of the authority for overflying. The decision was taken to complement the efforts aimed at consolidating the Kingdoms position as a global hub connecting three continents and to enhance international air connectivity, a statement from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said. The announcement, come ahead of US President Joe Bidens visit to Jeddah, ends the ban on flights to and from Israel. Biden is thus the first U.S. leader to travel directly from Israel to the Saudi kingdom. National security adviser Jake Sullivan commended the move, attributing the progress to Bidens diplomacy in the Middle East. The US administration hailed Saudi Arabias decision on the opening of its airspace, saying it paves the way for a more integrated, stable, and secure Middle East region. After visiting Israel and then the West Bank this week to meet with Palestinian leaders, Bidens next leg of the trip in Saudi Arabia will include a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. (AP)Officials in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are preparing for a long campaign against cholera, the water-borne disease that has sickened tens of thousands of people in the two neighboring Caribbean countries. Dominican Deputy Minister of Public Health Rafael Schiffino says the two governments are working on a project to wipe out the disease on Hispaniola by 2022. The plan will include substantial spending on clean water and sanitation. A bilateral meeting on the plan started Monday in the Dominican Republic. Cholera emerged suddenly in Haiti in October 2010. Experts say it was likely introduced by U.N. peacekeepers. Since then, the disease has killed 7,000 people and sickened about 300,000 in Haiti. There have been 22,000 cases and 350 deaths in the Dominican Republic. Explore further Seven cholera deaths in Dominican Republic Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Summer Genealogy Series: Census Through the Decades Join Missoula Public Library for our next genealogy program Census Through the Decades on July 18. Learn about each U.S. census from 1790 to 1950 and how to use the records in your family history research. This program will take place in Cooper Room A on Level Four of the library from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Registration is required. To register please visit: eventbrite.com/e/315657328567. Lego Club Join Missoula Public Library for Lego Club and build to your hearts content every Monday and Friday afternoon in the Imaginarium on Level Two. Drop in anytime on Mondays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. to create fantastic Lego structures! Tuesday Yoga at the Library Join Missoula Public Library Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Cooper Room A on Level Four of the library and end your day right with yoga. During this class led by local instructor Kristen Stoeger, 4-part yoga postures (breath work, mindful movement, meditation, and gratitude) are practiced to align, strengthen and promote flexibility in the body. Breathing techniques and meditation are also integrated. Participants can expect an emphasis on simplicity, repetition and ease of movement. Full-body relaxation and balance are the goals, as we make a full circuit of the bodys range of motion with standing and sitting postures, twists, forward folds and hip openers. This class is designed for basic skills and beginners are welcome! Space is limited and online registration is required. Please register at this link: registerfortuesdayyoga.eventbrite.com/. Participants must wear a mask during this class as well as sign a liability waiver prior to the session by downloading and printing it or by filling out a provided copy before class begins. Download the liability waiver here: tinyurl.com/5f5h4jvw. Participants are welcome to bring their own yoga mats or use mats that are provided. Summer Genealogy Series: Wednesday Webinar Montana Genealogy Treasures Join Missoula Public Library for a genealogy webinar from Legacy Family Tree presented by Janet Thompson. This program will take place on July 20 in Cooper Room A on the Fourth Floor of the library from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Registration is not required. Youre An Engineer Join your friends at Missoula Public Library in the Imaginarium on Level Two to build and create with Legos, oversized Building Blocks and our Rig-a-ma-Jig. The Rig-a-ma-Jig is a set of wooden planks with pulleys, oversized nuts and bolts and screws. Enjoy your own free building time or join in our building challenges. The next Youre An Engineer program takes place July 21 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tech Connect: Smartphones for Beginners Meet with a Missoula Public Library staff member on July 21 to learn about your phone in this new tech class Smartphones for Beginners. This class is for those who have new smartphones and just need the basics for proficient use. Participants are encouraged to bring their smartphone to class. Because of the wide variety of different brands and operating systems of smartphones, the class will cover universal settings and basic functions. Join us in the Blackfoot Board Room on Level Four of the library from 4 to 5 p.m. Oceans of Possibilities Summer Learning Program: Bram Brata Steel Drum Band Performance Missoula Public Library is thrilled to host the Washington-based steel drum band Bram Brata as part of our Summer Learning Program, Oceans of Possibilities. Join us on July 23 in the Cooper Room on Level Four of the library from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Bram Brata is the Tri-Cities Steel Band Associations senior drum band. The name Bram Brata is derived from two Trinidadian slang words meaning an unexpected party. Audiences find this name fitting as they enjoy the challenging and varied repertoire of Caribbean, Soca, jazz, popular and even classical music. Spontaneous dancing is welcome! This all-ages and family friendly program will equally delight young participants and those who are young at heart. Staff Review How to Hang a Witch (Book 1), by Adriana Mather 2016, Alfred A. Knopf Y MATHER HOW #1 If you know your Salem history, this authors name might give you a slight chill. Adrianas genetic roots go all the way back to Cotton Mather, often seen as a critical force in the anti-witch hysteria that took at least 25 lives in 1692-93. In the novel, teenage Samantha Mather is moved from New York to Salem and immediately becomes the enemy of the Descendants, a group of girls whose ancestors were the very people Cotton Mather believed were witches and deserved hanging. Sam struggles with these girls, her brittle stepmother, fears for her comatose father, the handsome ghost of a tragic Salem resident, and her growing alarm that a curse is causing the people around her to die. Could it be that a descendant of witch-hunter Cotton Mather is a witch herself? The teen angst is ripe and juicy here, but it seems well-earned by Samanthas experiences and well-balanced with the supernatural by the authors skillful choreographing of the plot. This novel would satisfy a lot of readers who like classic YA tropes served up with witchcraft frosting on top. From cutthroat trout to grizzly bear, Montana is home to some of our nations most cherished fish and wildlife. But right now, more than 120 species across the state are at heightened risk of extinction and need our help, as they face threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, prolonged drought and intensifying fires. Its part of a larger national trend where more than one-third of Americas wildlife are edging toward extinction. Fortunately, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help save Montanas incredibly rich biodiversity through a bipartisan bill in Congress called the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act. The bill is designed to fund proactive, collaborative, and locally led efforts to help recover at-risk fish, wildlife and plant species. Montana will receive more than $28 million annually. Its a solution that matches the magnitude of the wildlife crisis. The Recovering America's Wildlife Act has incredible bipartisan momentum. The House passed the bill in June, on a bipartisan basis. The bill has 35 co-sponsors in the Senate, including 16 Republicans. With Sen. Tester as a current co-sponsor, we need support from Sen. Daines to get it across the finish line. Heres why the bill makes sense for Montana: We can build upon the locally driven and collaborative successes that have been the hallmark of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. For decades, the agency has done innovative work with the fees and taxes paid by hunters and anglers to restore game and fish species such as elk and Arctic grayling. With 16 species in Montana already federally listed as threatened and endangered and dozens more headed that way unless we act, we need collaborative recovery successes more than ever. Prolonged drought and raging wildfires coupled with Montanas growth and the accompanying increase in water use requires new innovative solutions to keep Montanas fish and wildlife thriving. Thats where the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act comes in. It prioritizes proactive, local collaboration and innovation to save the full diversity of wildlife, rather than waiting until species decline until the point where primarily federal regulation is needed. Its the ultimate ounce of prevention. The $28 million annually for Montana would unleash a new era of conservation for westslope cutthroat trout, sage grouse, and dozens of other species. Further, the bill will also provide funding to Montanas 12 federally recognized tribes, who are responsible for managing millions of acres but have never had dedicated resources. This collaborative, non-regulatory, locally driven approach of the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act should appeal to the common-sense conservatism of Sen. Daines. Were hopeful that he will co-sponsor the bill and support it once it is on the floor. After all, what would Montana be without its wildlife? Outdoor recreation thats largely dependent upon healthy wildlife populations contributes more than $7 billion annually to Montanas economy. The state has awe-inspiring public lands and waterways, but it's majestic wildlife that truly brings them to life. Inaction is the ally of extinction. We urge Montanas leaders to seize this incredible opportunity to save wildlife through collaboration by helping pass the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act. Montanas elk population has tripled over the last 40 years. For decades we have exceeded the sustainable objective levels in most hunting districts. FWPs goal is 92,000 elk in Montana, but today there are an estimated 175,000. That excess elk population causes immense damage to family ranch operations in overpopulated areas, and its a problem that grows worse every year. Whats frustrating is we saw this problem coming years ago and set policy to address it. In 2003 I sponsored House Bill 42, which mandated that the Montana Fish & Game Commission use all management tools available to keep big-game populations at objective levels. That legislation specified that the commission should use liberalized harvests, game damage hunts, landowner permits, (and) animal relocation to reach objective. That hasnt happened. In fact, the commission has repeatedly rejected appeals to liberalize harvests in the most over-objective hunting districts. Earlier this year, the commission voted down a proposal to increase archery and rifle permits in several districts that are more than double their population objectives. Their decision came in response to intense lobbying to keep these hunting districts as exclusive trophy hunting areas. Nowhere in Montana law is the commission given the authority to prioritize areas for trophy hunting. The Legislature would never grant that authority because to do so would require ranchers in those areas to be singled out for disparate treatment. Trophy areas can only be created by limiting hunting opportunity, limited hunting opportunity leads to excessive elk populations, and excessive elk populations lead to extreme damage to crops, forage and feed. In other words, to create a trophy hunting area requires imposing undue expenses on a few unlucky ranchers singled out by the commission. Wildlife management shouldnt be a popularity contest or decided by who yells the loudest. But thats what its become. Instead of careful, science-based consideration of how best to utilize our resources, the commission is now only responsive to lobbying by sportsmen who want more elk and with bigger racks. HB 42 was intended to protect the rights of ranchers (who bear the costs of elk) against the wants of sportsmen (who are the beneficiaries of elk). The former are vastly outnumbered by the latter. Whats worse is the misalignment of incentives between those who benefit from huge elk herds and those who pay the cost. The policy set forth by the legislature is clear. Wildlife managers have a statutory obligation to protect the rights of the minority by minimizing the damages they incur. Thats supposed to be accomplished by setting a target population objective developed through a calculation of what the habitat can sustain and what landowners can tolerate. After the objective is set, management policy is supposed to use all tools available to bring the population level in line with the objective. None of this is happening. The commission has failed to follow the law and as a result theyve created immense damage to individual ranchers. This problem has been building for decades, and it has finally come to a head with a lawsuit filed by ranchers seeking to compel the commission to change their management practices. The Legislature can write laws, but its up to the executive branch to implement them. In this case, the Fish & Game Commission has failed in its duty to implement the law, resulting in excessive damages. To alleviate those damages, the only recourse is for those ranchers to seek relief from the judiciary. For the sake of Montanas elk herd and habitat, lets hope they prevail. If theres one thing that Montanans can agree on, its our fondness for wildlife. From eagles and ospreys to bull elk and bighorn sheep, we still have plenty of what so much of the country has lost. These natural riches are partly why were known as the Last Best Place. But it wasnt always this way. By the early decades of the 20th century, market hunting, poaching and habitat loss had driven many species to the brink of extinction. Then, in 1937, hunters asked the federal government to tax the sales of guns and ammunition and dedicate the money to improving conditions for wildlife and for hunters. Its called the Pittman Robertson Act. Anglers later stepped up with similar taxes on fishing and boating equipment under the Dingell Johnson Act Now, Rep. Matt Rosendale is co-sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the Pittman Robertson taxes and slash the Dingell Johnson taxes. If HR 8187 passes, Montanas wildlife, fish, hunters, anglers and outdoor businesses will suffer. And Rosendale has signed off on that. The bills main sponsor, another freshman representative who owns a gun store in Georgia, calls the bill the RETURN our Constitutional Rights Act. He argues that since the Second Amendment protects access to guns and ammunition, people shouldnt be taxed for constitutionally protected activities. Think about that for a minute. The First Amendment protects freedom of expression, but if you buy a book or a magazine in most states, you pay sales taxes. If you get your internet or TV news via cable, you pay a fee to the Federal Communications Commission. Your cell phone bill includes taxes. Rosendale said Tuesday during a telephone town hall meeting that he likes the bill because it will make guns and ammo cheaper. But the taxes certainly havent hampered sales. Between 2010 and 2020, domestic sales by American gunmakers doubled, from 2.25 million guns to 5.5 million, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. And for the last couple of years, ammunition was scarce all over the state. Lots of stores limit how much you can buy. And these two taxes pay big returns for Montana: $24.4 million in 2021. That money pays game wardens and biologists, protects habitat, restores streams and pays for shooting ranges and hunter safety courses. Not only hunters and anglers benefit. When you improve duck habitat, you make things better for cranes and warblers and red-winged blackbirds. When you protect winter range for elk, you protect open space. When you build or improve a boat ramp, you make it more enticing for visitors to stay an extra couple of days. Rosendale also said the bill would divert $800 million a year from another habitat and recreation fund, the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Thats 20% less than the hunting and angling taxes distributed nationwide in 2020. Plus, it shrivels by $800 million the amount of LWCF money available for things like parks and land access agreements and walking paths all over the country. Its like taking a dollar out of one pocket and putting eight dimes in another pocket. Montanas wildlife and the thousands of smalltown businesses that depend on that wildlife will lose big if Rosendale succeeds. Well see fewer access programs, less maintenance of public lands, fewer biologists on the ground. Our economy will take a hard ding. Our natural world will take a bigger one. At the town hall, Rosendale called it a win-win situation. The modified state budget that Gov. Roy Cooper signed on Monday includes more money for Burke County and some of its local governments and institutions. NC House Bill 103 tweaks the two-year budget of 2021. The local governments who will receive funds from the state for water and sewer infrastructure projects are: Burke County $1,118,247 City of Morganton $1,118,247 Town of Long View $250,000 The modified budget also allocates $36,243,000 in the Local Project Reserve in nonrecurring funds for grants to local governments and public entities for public purposes. Of that $36.2 million, Burke County will receive $1 million that it can use for whatever it chooses. Faculty and non-faculty staff of the states community colleges, including Western Piedmont Community College, will receive an across-the-board salary increase of 3.5%, as will employees of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, which has a location now in Morganton. The NC Department of Health and Human Services will receive $3,675,000 to repair and renovate the Avery Building on the Broughton Hospital campus. The department can use up to $365,000 of the funds for equipment. Similarly, the modification bill of the 2021-22 budget included $2 million to the NC Department of Public Instruction to repair and renovate the historic Superintendents House on the campus of the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Morganton. The renovation of the house will preserve and enhance the structure and site for the preservation and display of artifacts and exhibits related to the history of the school and other historic structures in the area, and for use as a multipurpose venue, the modified bill said. The 2021-22 budget that Cooper signed in December was amended to include $1.1 million for the Department of Public Instruction to repair and renovate the chapel on the campus of the North Carolina School for the Deaf. Other local items amended in the 2021-22 state budget include: The funds for East Burke Christian Ministries for $25,000 also can be used for equipment. The funds for Western Piedmont Council of Governments for $4.5 million also can be used for capital improvement projects currently underway. The grant for $15,000 that was originally earmarked for the Burke County Veterans Memorial will instead go to the city of Morganton to development a trail near the Catawba River. The modified two-year budget also includes money in the Administrative Office of the Courts budget to hire deputy or assistant clerks. The 25th judicial branch, which is made up of Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties, is allotted one new deputy or assistant clerk. The judicial district also was allotted one District Court coordinator position. In addition, the modified budget allocates funds for grants for EMS units and volunteer fire departments. Its been said every picture tells a story. The same could be said for the newest addition to the summer display at the Butte-Silver Bow Archives, Butte, Montana in World War II a WWII wall of names. It, too, has a story to tell. Word reached members of the Save the St. Lawrence Committee about the newest Archives display and they had something to contribute, a large plaque dedicated nearly 79 years ago to the men and women who served during WWII from the parish of St. Lawrence OToole Catholic Church in Walkerville. Many of the surnames are almost synonymous with Walkerville, including Dennehy, Bolton, Tomazich, Mansanti and Holland, just to name a few. The committee, led by Walkervilles mayor, John Ries, and long-time resident Trudy Tomazich, contacted the Archives to say Hey, we have this amazing memorial! Titled Pray for Them For God and Country, the Archives became the new proprietors of the 4-foot by 8-foot plaque, which had been hidden away in the church basement for decades. Work was needed to refurbish the wall of honor and two women at the Archives were up for the restoration task Cara Mooney and Jennifer Petersen. The plaque, made of pressed paper board coated in plastic, needed a deep cleaning. Dirt was embedded into the letters and extra care was taken in removing the debris. Mooney and Peterson were both a bit nervous using any sort of cleanser and decided plain water would be best, but used sporadically. Due to the plaques material, we didnt want to take any chances, explained Mooney. Petersen totally agreed. It was better to be safe than sorry, she said. Neither woman had ever worked with the type of plastic now presented and started off using a natural hair brush to loosen the dirt, then went on to a bristle brush. That worked better, said Mooney. As for the crevices, a toothbrush was the necessary tool. Both women were thrilled to be able to contribute to the project. This is what we do, said Petersen. Its great to have another item saved. Except for a few letters missing here and there, the plaque has aged fairly well and was not too difficult for the women to reassemble. Mooney described it as a basic conservation project. While it was a painstaking process, we are so happy to have it here, she said. Editor's note: This story is part one of a two-part series on the state of perinatal health care in Indian Country. Look out for part two, which will focus on maternal care, in Monday's paper and online at Missoulian.com BROWNING When Samantha Mack woke up one morning in 2013 and saw the snow, she grimaced. Mack, who was 19 and about 6 months pregnant with her first child, had a prenatal appointment scheduled at the Indian Health Service clinic in Lame Deer. The clinic was a little more than an hours drive from her home in Hysham, a southeast Montana town of 331. But the snow made the trip impossible. Mack canceled her appointment, and it took about a month for the clinic to reschedule. When the next appointment finally arrived, so too did the snow. Mack had to cancel again. Mack, who is Northern Cheyenne, felt anxious and started having nightmares about her unborn son. She still remembers dreaming that he was no longer alive, and in the weeks that followed, Mack was convinced a dead fetus was inside her. "It was really hard," she said. "I could sometimes feel him moving around, but as soon as he'd stop, I'd get worried. You always hear about people that lost their babies who say they felt those phantom movements. When he would stop moving, I would start thinking I had imagined his movements. My mind was playing tricks on me. I kept imagining he wasn't OK." The Indian Health Service (IHS) unit in Lame Deer was supposed to transfer Mack to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, as is customary, since the IHS facility is not equipped to deliver babies. But because Mack couldnt get to her appointments in Lame Deer, IHS never initiated the transfer. As a result, in her final three months of pregnancy she went without prenatal care. Mack isnt alone in her experiences. Obstetric care, especially specialized care, is limited in rural communities. On reservations in Montana, its nearly nonexistent. Most IHS facilities are not equipped to deliver babies. As a result, these clinics refer Native patients to larger hospitals, but the referral process is prone to failure. As a consequence of decades of disinvestment and oppressive federal policies, Native Americans are also more likely to have riskier pregnancies. If Native patients do get referred for specialized care, they must drive long distances to access it. Barriers to care compound during Montana winters. Heavy snowfall and below-freezing temperatures make travel dangerous and, at times, impossible. Native Americans have the highest poverty rate among all minority groups in the U.S. Many Native people living on reservations in Montana dont have reliable vehicles or cant afford to travel, especially when gas prices soar. As a result, many Native people go without prenatal care. When Indigenous people dont get the right care at the right time in the right place, mothers-to-be, their children, families and communities suffer. Typically, in the third trimester, pregnant people have more frequent checkups, sometimes weekly. During this time, providers usually monitor weight and blood pressure and conduct screening tests for gestational diabetes or iron deficiencies. Providers may also check the babys size and heart rate as well as its position and monitor any problems that might arise. Mack didnt receive that care. One morning, when she was helping her siblings prepare for school, her water broke. Did I just pee my pants? she wondered. Should I go to the hospital? Nobody had told her what to expect. Macks mom drove her to Billings, where they confirmed she was in labor. The doctors flooded her with questions. What tests had she done? Did she get the glucose test? Was she able to get IV antibiotics? But Mack couldnt give answers. With her gap in prenatal care, she didnt receive many of the standard tests. Unable to respond, Mack said she felt dumb. Im the one whos pregnant, she thought. Shouldnt I be able to answer them? Mack was relieved when her baby was born healthy, but other Native mothers and their children arent so lucky. The Supreme Courts decision to restrict abortion access has consequences for prenatal care everywhere. If more people become pregnant, more will seek care, potentially burdening hospitals and clinics even more. And if people arent able to terminate risky pregnancies, more will seek specialized care, which may or may not be available. The ripple effects will disproportionately hurt Indian Country, where prenatal and maternal care is virtually nonexistent and where Native people already must drive long distances for specialized care. Whats race got to do with it? Annie Glover, a senior research scientist at Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities at the University of Montana, said its critical for people to understand that racial disparities do not exist because of some kind of genetic marker that makes people of color at greater risk. Its most likely a compilation of factors that are related to historical trauma, generational trauma and that are related to access and care issues as well as socioeconomic issues, she said. Its all intertwined. When studying race, Glover said racism is always a variable. The U.S. government in the 1970s authorized the forced sterilization of Native women, prompting a mistrust of the medical system. Glover said documented and undocumented biases in the health-care system persist today. People of color, for example, are more likely to receive unnecessary C-sections. And Native people report getting substance-use screenings at higher rates than white individuals in Montana, though the screenings are meant to be universal. A study showed that about half of white medical students endorsed the false thick skin myth, which incorrectly states that Black skin is thicker than white skin and therefore Black patients feel less pain. Glover said perceived bias might also prompt pregnant people to bypass certain hospitals to get care at another. If youve lived with that kind of bias your whole life, you might feel that youre going to be profiled and you might have less trust, she said. And that can start a whole sequence of events where youre not getting the care you need because youre afraid to. Obstetric care in decline Access to hospital obstetric care which concerns childbirth and the care of a person giving birth in rural America is declining. One study found that 45% of rural counties had no hospital obstetric services at all. The same study revealed that from 2004 to 2014, 9% of rural counties in America lost all hospital obstetric services. Hospital obstetric units are expensive. They require comprehensive liability insurance that lasts at least 18 years, as a child has the ability to sue a facility for something related to their birth until that age. Experts say for these hospitals to break even on the money they spend on obstetric services, they need to see a certain number of births each year. But in rural communities where there might not be a lot of births, these facilities become especially hard to sustain. Logan Health in Cut Bank, formerly called Northern Rockies Medical Center, encountered this problem in 2019. Then-CEO Cherie Taylor told the Cut Bank Pioneer Press that only about 32 patients from Cut Bank and surrounding areas used the facility to give birth. But for the clinic to break even on its investment, it needed to see at least 50 births annually. Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Montana Hospital Association, said at places where more babies are delivered, there is a lower incidence of bad outcomes. So, if a hospital only delivers a few babies a year, insurance companies take notice. In the case of a bad outcome, a hospital will pay the award for pain and suffering and face higher insurance rates. If you have one bad outcome, the bottom line is it can impact the cost of insurance for everything that you provide within that facility, Rasmussen said. Hospitals also want their obstetric staff to be proficient, constantly refining their skills and staying up-to-date on the latest medical guidance, he added. That can be challenging when there arent many births. Additionally, Montana hospitals compete nationally and internationally for skilled medical professionals. Specialized providers dont always want to move to rural areas. If youre an obstetrician, you want to deliver babies, Rasmussen said. And moving to a remote community where youre not going to deliver many babies isnt what called you into the profession. What happens if something goes wrong? Indian Health Service (IHS), the federal agency responsible for providing medical care to federally recognized tribes, has seven service areas on reservations in Montana. Of those, only the Blackfeet Service Unit in Browning has a hospital obstetric unit. While many face barriers to care, at the Blackfeet IHS facility, a solution exists. The Crow/Northern Cheyenne IHS hospital once offered obstetric services, but in 2011 the Little Big Horn River flooded, surrounding the hospital with water and forcing it to close. When it reopened, obstetric services no longer were offered. Bryce Redgrave, IHS Billings area director, said after the flood, the facility lost key medical personnel that supported the obstetric program. Generally, people only give birth at IHS facilities without an obstetric unit in an emergency. IHS, which is chronically underfunded, reported that in 2017 and 2018 more than 90% of American Indian births occurred outside its federal facilities. Jade Sooktis, however, was among the 10%. Sooktis, who is Northern Cheyenne, drove from Billings to Lame Deer for what was supposed to be a quick weekend trip. But when she got to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, her water broke. There wasnt enough time for Sooktis, who was in her early 20s, to return to Billings for delivery. Instead, she rushed to the IHS clinic in Lame Deer. Sooktis knew the clinic wasnt specialized, and she was worried. What happens if something goes wrong? she remembers thinking. What if I need a specialty doctor? Where will I go? What will I do? Sooktis daughter was born healthy, but she still remembers the anxiety she felt at the clinic. I was very scared, she said. It was a pretty intense situation. I just cant afford to do this Because their facilities arent equipped, IHS often refers patients, especially those with high-risk pregnancies, to larger hospitals. But those transfers often dont go according to plan. When Mack became pregnant a second time, she went to the IHS clinic in Lame Deer right away. Shed had a pulmonary embolism a few months earlier and knew her pregnancy would be high-risk. She was determined to be on top of her care. The IHS doctors found a uterine hemorrhage and immediately transferred Mack to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings for specialized care. Thats when the issues started, Mack said. For the second time, it seemed there was a miscommunication surrounding her transfer from the Lame Deer IHS clinic to the Billings hospital. Mack suffered from morning sickness and was losing weight. The Billings doctors weighed Mack every time she came in for an appointment, and as she watched the number on the scale decrease, she wondered why no one said anything. At what point will they be concerned? Mack wondered. I was 23, and I was worried. But I didnt know how worried I should be because no one said anything. Mack suspects her doctors at St. Vincent Healthcare thought their sole job was to care for the baby. She thinks they may have assumed Mack had a separate doctor monitoring her condition. But that wasnt the case. Mack was already seeing a hematologist in Billings, and she didnt have the time or money to add another doctor in Lame Deer to her schedule. I had a hard time just trying to get those two appointments in Billings scheduled on the same day, she said, referencing her hematologist and prenatal appointments. When I had to make that trip to Billings every week, I was like, I just cant afford to do this. Tescha Hawley founder and executive director of Day Eagle Hope Project, an organization that helps rural Montanans navigate the complexities of the health care system said its not uncommon for the IHS referral process to fail. It happens all the time, she said. And its not just with maternal care. Their internal system is obviously broken. They dont communicate all the information that needs to be shared, and they have a high turnover rate so things just sit on desks and dont get processed in a timely manner. Hawley, a member of the Aaniiih and Nakoda tribes, said that while the process is frustrating and prone to failure, people are incentivized to seek care at IHS first because such a referral means the federal agency will pay for, or subsidize, the patients care elsewhere. Because six of the seven IHS facilities on Montana reservations dont have hospital obstetric units, people living on reservations must often travel long distances for adequate care. A study examining birth certificate data from 2014 through 2018 found that Indigenous people are 20 times more likely to give birth at a hospital without an obstetric unit, demonstrating that the lack of access to care influences where people give birth. American Indian people in Montana traveled significantly farther on average 24.2 minutes farther than white individuals to access obstetric care. Montana is the fourth largest state and the ninth least populated. The states remote infrastructure, complete with long, winding, unlit roads that often lack cell service makes travel difficult. Winter conditions can make it dangerous. If your closest facility or the facility that youve chosen to give birth is two or three hours away, either youre going to risk giving birth on the side of the road and make that drive when youre in labor or you have to plan your whole life around the fact that this is where you have to give birth, said Maggie Thorsen, an associate professor at Montana State University who co-authored the study. Thorsen said some people arrange hotel stays ahead of their due date to be closer to care but added the option is not available to people who cant afford a hotel, dont have a reliable car, have inflexible jobs, or have children in school. When people encounter these barriers, according to Thorsen, their choices get more constrained. When Sooktis was pregnant with her youngest daughter, she drove 104 miles one-way from her home in Lame Deer to Billings for prenatal care each week in her third trimester. Sooktis estimates she traveled 1,000 miles a month for care alone. Shes thankful she had a flexible job but acknowledged that many people dont. With soaring gas prices, Sooktis said she cant even imagine what it would be like now for pregnant women. When gas prices werent insane, just trying to save funds for gas, food and those appointments was hard, she said. In these current times, I just dont know how women are handling it. Hawley, who lives on the Fort Belknap Reservation, has done everything she can think of to help people in the area access high-quality care. Shes asked IHS to escort patients to larger hospitals in Havre, Great Falls or Billings for specialized care. Shes tried to raise money through her nonprofit to buy a vehicle so she could transport people to hospitals herself. She said people will donate $25 or $50 at a time, but it isnt enough to purchase a reliable vehicle. Sometimes, if Hawley has raised enough money, shell give gas cards to people seeking medical care. But that depends on if they have a reliable car, or if they have a car at all, she said, adding that about 40% of Fort Belknap Reservation residents live below poverty level. As Hawley put it, There are so many big barriers that its hard to help. When it comes to transportation, its a nightmare, and when you talk about maternal care, its next to nonexistent here, she said. We have no specialized care here. Hawley said most people at Fort Belknap will drive 80 to 100 miles northwest to Havre to give birth. But if people arent able to drive, she said, They simply go without care. Or they will only go when they absolutely need to, she said. The reality is when women dont get the quality care they need, that puts them at risk and it puts the unborn fetus at higher risk, too. Long distances to specialty care As of Thorsens study in 2018, Montana had three level three hospital obstetric facilities that could handle complex maternal and fetal medical conditions Benefis Health System in Great Falls, St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings and Missoula Community Medical Center. Rasmussen said Billings Clinic and Logan Health in Kalispell also provide level three maternal care. According to Thorsens study, Native Americans with risky pregnancies, on average, lived more than 3 hours from a level three hospital. Even when focusing on the white individuals living in the most remote rural areas" of Montana, Thorsens study found that high-risk Native Americans still traveled statistically significantly farther than white women to access the same level of care. A high-risk pregnant person living in Harlem on the Fort Belknap Reservation, for example, would travel 2 hours and 35 minutes to get specialty care at Benefis in Great Falls. Someone in Browning would travel 2 hours to get to Kalispell for high-level care. And someone living in Poplar on the Fort Peck Reservation would travel 4 hours and 33 minutes to get to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings. When Veronika Mack, Samanthas sister, started feeling contractions, she drove an hour from her home in Hysham to Billings. Id go up there, theyd check me, theyd keep me for a while, and nothing would happen, she said. For two days, Veronikas mother drove Veronika to Billings to get checked and drove an hour home to Hysham. Finally, after their third drive in three days, Veronika gave birth to her son just 17 minutes after setting foot in the emergency room. That one was definitely close, she said. When Veronika became pregnant again, she knew she didnt want to make the nerve-wracking and uncomfortable drives back and forth to the hospital. This time, she was induced and was able to stay at the hospital until she delivered. It was so nice, she recalled. I got to just stay there and not worry about if I was gonna make it. President Cyril Ramaphosa will soon announce a new plan to build a cleaner and more reliable electricity grid. Sunday Times reports that the president held several high-level meetings with top government officials and ministers over the past ten days. According to the report, the key proposals Ramaphosa is considering to resolve South Africas energy crisis include: Increasing the limit for embedded generation (or scrapping it altogether). Providing a temporary exemption from local content requirements for constructing new energy projects. Doing away with or relaxing Nersa registration processes to fast-track new renewable energy projects. Streamlining environmental and water approval processes for new renewable energy projects. Subsidising households and businesses to install roof solar panels and sell excess power to the grid. These proposals have primarily come from the National Planning Commission, which has called for the government to prioritise adding 10,000MW of wind and solar power and 5,000MW of battery storage. It has called on the South African government to declare an energy emergency to remove obstacles to building additional generating capacity. There will reportedly be permanent deployments of security personnel at major Eskom installations. This will be to defend against acts of grid sabotage and follows the recent strikes by unions Numsa and NUM. Ramaphosa has also reportedly consulted with independent energy experts to determine the best course of action. People are angry and unhappy, and they have a right to be because the load-shedding that we have had has really made a negative dent in our peoples confidence as well as on the economy, said Ramaphosa. The president spoke at the end of an Eskom tour of Tutuka power station yesterday. I am hopeful that as we address the problems and as we will tell them what our plans and proposals are, people will understand that we are serious in dealing with the issues of load-shedding and power generation for our economy. Launching a second Eskom This news follows Ramaphosa saying that creating a second Eskom to provide competition in the market is an idea worth considering. If we look at other countries like China, for instance, it has a number of state-owned electricity generating companies that even compete amongst themselves to bring prices down, Ramaphosa said at a South African Communist Party conference. He said that Eskom being South Africas only power utility presents a massive risk as is evident by the countrys current load-shedding crisis. That is why when comrade Gwede [Mantashe] flighted the idea of why not a second one which can be owned by the government?, I said thats not a bad idea, explained Ramaphosa. The message is clear: this is no time for business as usual. We need to act boldly to make load-shedding a thing of the past. Another idea to help fix Eskom was announced earlier this year by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan. He proposed that all South African SOEs including Eskom be housed under a single holding company. This would separate the states ownership functions from its policy-making and regulatory functions, minimise the scope for political interference, introduce greater professionalism, and manage the states assets in a way that protects shareholder value, Gordhan said. Gordhan believes this aligns with Ramaphosas stance that SOEs are vital to the South African economy, and would streamline organisations like Eskom without needing to privatise them. Digital labour platforms are rapidly transforming the world of work. Many governments in the global south have welcomed platforms that bring businesses, workers and consumers together, creating opportunities to reduce unemployment. But what happens when jobs are turned into tasks? Workers are increasingly managed by apps that allocate these tasks and monitor their performance. Platform workers face low pay, poor working conditions and algorithmic surveillance. The number of digital platforms has expanded rapidly over the past decade, a trend accelerated by Covid-19. Most are concentrated in just a few locations, among them the US, India and the UK. There is also a significant imbalance between the demand for digital workers based in the global north and the supply of workers in need of income opportunities, in the global south. There are two broad types of digital labour platforms. The first are location-based. They mediate tasks carried out in person at particular locations: delivering food, taxi services, domestic work and care services. The second are online web-based. They mediate tasks such as data categorisation and translation and editing services that can, in theory, be performed anywhere via the internet and remotely. While digital labour platforms create new opportunities for income, they also threaten to extend informality into new sectors through algorithmic insecurity. Claimed advantages Platform work is often seen to create opportunities that better suit workers skills, interests and schedules. This increased flexibility is said to provide workers, particularly women who have to balance paid and unpaid care work, with income opportunities and greater autonomy over their work. However, a growing body of evidence shows that the flexibility of many of these jobs comes at a cost to workers economic security and control over the work process. Many people are drawn to platform work because they aspire for the greater autonomy and control that comes from not having a boss. Yet, as Brazilian historian Lucas Santos shows in his research with food delivery workers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, riders soon realise that the feeling of freedom they associate with working for an app is more aspiration than reality. Indian sociologist Gayatri Nairs research shows that many gig workers in India are attracted to the initial facade of formality and respectability. Many women workers in Indias beauty sector see digital mediation via an app as creating a form of respectability that was not there before. But, Nair shows, earnings are meagre and many workers lack autonomy and control over their work. Digital labour platforms, she argues, are creating new forms of algorithmic insecurity in the form of surveillance, ratings, and arbitrary changes to remuneration. The reality of algorithmic control Digital labour platforms often deny any employment relation. They insist that they act simply as a mediator between businesses, workers and consumers. What distinguishes them from a traditional labour market intermediary is that what they mediate is a single task, activity or service rather than a job in the traditional sense. And though platforms are never fully autonomous, they manage workers and tasks using algorithms (computer programmed procedures). In so doing they minimise human interaction. This process of automating work processes and the coordination of tasks is often referred to as algorithmic management or algorithmic control. For example, food delivery workers in Sao Paulo and Johannesburg, South Africa receive automated instructions on their mobile phones about where to collect and drop off the food, and the route via GPS map they should take. South African sociologists Eddie Webster and Fikile Masikane show that digital labour platforms not only assign tasks: they also assess performance and determine pay. They have the power to deactivate or disconnect a worker from the platform, unilaterally terminating employment. Algorithmic management is invisible and inaccessible. It also controls all aspects of the work process. As Colombian sociologist Derly Yohanna Sanchez points out, this control extends to more than just the supply and demand for digital work. Platforms also control aspects of the work that are, she says, external to the digital market such as personal information and human resources. This can produce anti-competitive or discriminatory outcomes, or both. For example, platforms give customers, as Nair put it, full power to rate and review workers. This algorithmic disciplining of workers via customer ratings has minimised transparency and accountability. It has also created perverse information asymmetries, as noted by communications scholar Sai Amulya Kommarraju. These make it nearly impossible for workers to contest customer ratings or challenge the forms of algorithmic control they are subjected to. Resistance Although algorithmic control appears insurmountable, there is some evidence that workers are beginning to push back and fight for greater transparency and improved worker conditions. In December 2020, Uber drivers in Johannesburg, South Africa launched a protest by disabling the Uber app and not accepting requests for rides. Among the drivers complaints were the obscure way in which their accounts were blocked by Uber and the inequitable way in which the fees earned by drivers were unilaterally decided and implemented by Uber. There are also examples of workers forming platform cooperatives and demanding collective user rights over their data. If digital labour platforms are here to stay it is an imperative to build platforms and algorithms that prioritise the interests and needs of workers, not only business. Giving workers the right to access and have control over their data is, International Labour Organisation economist Uma Rani argues, one of the most important ways to empower worker control over algorithmic management. This will require both regulation and pressures from below, by consumers and workers. The Future of Work(ers) Research Programme at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand is hosting a seven-part dialogue series. The aim is to generate public debate on the relationship between digital technologies, the changing nature of work(ers) and the implications for inequality. The upcoming dialogue on Automation, labour-replacement and labour market restructuring will take place on 19 July from 3:30 to 5:00pm, SAST. To register click here. Hannah J. Dawson, Senior Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand and Ruth Castel-Branco, Research Manager, University of the Witwatersrand This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Local writers and book lovers will have more opportunities than ever to connect with authors during the 41st Napa Valley Writers Conference, slated for July 24-29 at Napa Valley Colleges main campus in Napa. Napa County poets may submit manuscripts for critique for a fee, the first time such a service has been offered to community residents as well as to students enrolled in the week-long conference. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. In addition, the conferences popular free afternoon seminars will expand to include a fourth session. For the series of nine public lectures and five readings held during the week, discounted admission is available to local students. The expansion is possible thanks to local support for the conferences second year following the global pandemic, said executive director Angela Pneuman. The conference has received a $7,500 Napa County Arts, Culture & Heritage grant from the Napa Valley Arts Council, and also enjoys support from individual benefactors, Pneuman said. The community housing program, which eases travel costs for conference scholarship students by pairing them with local hosts, is being revived this year. Community housing hosts receive free admission to the conferences public events. If you live in Napa Valley and would like to host a writer, email staff at info@napawritersconference.org. For more than 40 years, the conference has nurtured some of the most important and exciting new voices in literary fiction and poetry, and were gratified for the community support that helps keep our offerings strong, said Pneuman. Poetry manuscript reviews, based on a selection process, will be conducted by Didi Jackson, author of the poetry collection "Moon Jar." Jackson teaches creative writing at Vanderbilt University. For pricing details and to apply, email info@writersconference.org. Author Caroline Goodwin returns to lead a free, hour-long seminar at the McCarthy Library Community Room at NVC from Monday, July 25, through Wednesday, July 27, at 4:30 p.m. Each session will focus on the works of the two conference faculty authors who are slated to read from their work later in the evening. Goodwin is the author of the poetry collections "Custody of the Eyes," "The Paper Tree," and "Trap Line." She teaches at California College of the Arts and Stanford University. Poet Lynne Thompson will give a free talk titled On Literary Citizenship: Reflections from the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, on Thursday, July 28, at 4 p.m. in the McCarthy Library Community Room. Thompson is the author of three books of poetry, most recently "Fretwork," selected by Jane Hirshfield for the Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize. Visiting conference faculty who will give evening readings and daytime writing craft lectures are renowned authors and teachers from across the country. They include: -- Kevin Brockmeier, author of a memoir, three novels, and three story collections, including "The Ghost Variations" -- Lan Samantha Chang, director of the Iowa Writers Workshop and author of "The Family Chao" --Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Forrest Gander, author of 15 books of poetry, whose works of translation include "Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda Poems" --Bay Area poet and translator Jane Hirshfield, author of "Ledger," "The Beauty" and seven other collections of poetry -- Michelle Huneven, whose fifth novel, "Search," draws on her experiences as an award-winning restaurant reviewer and food writer -- Major Jackson, author of four books of poetry including the recent "The Absurd Man" and poetry editor of the Harvard Review -- Dana Levin, author of five books of poetry, most recently "Now Do You Know Where You Are" -- ZZ Packer, author of the short story collection "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere," who is at work on a nonfiction book about the death of Breonna Taylor -- Patricia Smith, author of eight books of poetry, co-author of "Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery," and four-time champion of the National Poetry Slam For a detailed schedule of events and author bios, visit www.napawritersconference.org. Public events Daytime lectures and evening readings open to the public will be held on the main campus of Napa Valley College, 2277 Napa-Vallejo Highway (Highway 221), Napa. Evening readings will be held Sunday, July 24, through Thursday, July 28, outdoors at the McCarthy Library Courtyard. The cost is $20 per person, with free admission for students. Free seminars prior to the readings will be held in the McCarthy Library Community Room on Monday, July 25, through Thursday, July 28. Daytime poetry, fiction and translation lectures will be held at NVCs Performing Arts Center. Admission to the daytime lectures costs $25 apiece, or $15 for students. Further details and author biographies are available on the conference website www.napawritersconference.org. The full lineup of public events and their campus locations is as follows: Sunday, July 24 -- 6:30 p.m.: Poet Dana Levin and fiction writer ZZ Packer will read following a half-hour wine reception; the evening's program will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, July 25 -- 9 a.m.: Patricia Smith's discussion of poetry at the Performing Arts Center -- 1:30 p.m.: Michelle Huneven's talk about fiction "The Work of Imagination" at the Performing Arts Center -- 3 p.m.: Forrest Gander's talk about translation, "The Rich Rewards of Translation," at the Performing Arts Center -- 4:30 p.m.: Caroline Goodwin will discuss the works of Jane Hirshfield and Kevin Brockmeier at the McCarthy Library Community Room -- 6:30 p.m.: Poet Jane Hirshfield and fiction writer Kevin Brockmeier will read following a half-hour wine reception at the McCarthy Library Courtyard Tuesday, July 26 -- 9 a.m.: Dana Levin will give a talk about poetry titled "House of Feels: Image & Transformation" at the Performing Arts Center -- 1:30 p.m.: ZZ Packer will give a talk about writing fiction titled Advanced Narrative Techniques at the Performing Arts Center -- 4:30 p.m.: Caroline Goodwin will discuss the works of Major Jackson and Lan Samantha Chang at the McCarthy Library Community Room -- 6:30 p.m.: Poet Major Jackson and fiction writer Lan Samantha Chang will read at 7 p.m. following a wine reception at the McCarthy Library Courtyard Wednesday, July 27 -- 9 a.m.: Jane Hirshfield will give a talk about poetry at the Performing Arts Center -- 1:30 p.m.: Kevin Brockmeier will give a talk about writing fiction titled An Animal Within to Give Its Blessing: On the Value of Nonhuman Creatures in Fiction at the Performing Arts Center -- 4:30 p.m.: Caroline Goodwin will discuss the works of Patricia Smith and Michelle Huneven at the McCarthy Library Community Room, Napa Valley College -- 5:30 p.m.: Poet Patricia Smith and fiction writer Michelle Huneven will read following a half-hour wine reception to open the event; the evening's program will begin at 6 p.m. in the McCarthy Library Courtyard Thursday, July 28 -- 9 a.m.: Major Jackson talks about Our Disenfranchised Sublime: Symmetry as Aesthetic Value in Poetry at the Performing Arts Center -- 1:30 p.m.: Lan Samantha Chang will talk about The Muddled Middle at the Performing Arts Center -- 4 p.m.: Special guest Lynne Thompson will give a talk titled On Literary Citizenship: Reflections from the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles at the McCarthy Library Community Room -- 6:30 p.m.: On the closing night of the conference, Forrest Gander will read poetry and translation and conference participants will present their best works at the McCarthy Library Courtyard For more about the conference's visiting faculty writers, and full details about the event schedule, visit napawritersconference.org. One year after Congress passed record funding in COVID-19 relief, a new analysis reveals that California school districts so far have spent little of it on efforts to address learning setbacks caused by the pandemic. This despite data that indicates that learning slowed, especially among the youngest students, and gaps in achievement between Black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian peers widened during distance learning in 2020-21. As Thomas Kane, the faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, wrote in a recent article in The Atlantic, "The achievement loss is far greater than most educators and parents seem to realize." Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. The analysis by the California School Boards Association, released earlier this month, represents the first comprehensive look at how the state's school districts have used a total of $40 billion in federal and state funding dedicated to helping them cope with COVID-19. It covered reports for spending through March 31. While the report clearly lays out how much money districts collectively have spent, it's less clear on what they specifically spent it on. In part, credit Congress for that. The spending categories that Congress set are broad and include the catchall wording "other evidence-based interventions" for the learning loss money and "other activities necessary to maintain operations" for all other rounds of funding. Most districts appear to have listed most of the money they spent in that all-but-the-kitchen-sink category, which could include raises and bonuses to retain staff. As a result, it's unclear from the statewide data whether many districts directed earlier rounds of COVID-19 funding to learning loss strategies or whether, consumed by staff shortages, the Omicron surge late last year and students' mental health needs, they have yet to make it a funding priority. Congress requires all districts to file quarterly spending reports. Poring over those, school boards association researchers were able to track the shift in priorities, from buying cleaning supplies and computer purchases in the pandemic's initial phase, to coronavirus testing and instructional support in 2021-22 after schools reopened, to more recent attention to mental health and, to an extent, learning loss. Napa Valley Unified School District draft budget anticipates no new layoffs in 2022-23 Thanks to one-time funding from the state and changes to how school funding is calculated, the Napa Valley Unified School District draft budget is anticipating no new layoffs in 2022-23. The analysis reveals whether districts are on track to meet spending deadlines. For the most part, they are; 89% of districts have spent almost all of the first round of federal funding, whose spending deadline is Feb. 1, 2023. The school boards association report said that Congress intentionally included open-ended categories in recognition that financial conditions and needs greatly varied among states and districts. Indeed, COVID-19's path has proven unpredictable during the past two years, with sudden surges of the Omicron and Delta variants forcing districts to alter their spending plans, said Troy Flint, spokesperson for the school boards association. "Flexibility is a crucial feature of these spending packages, not a bug," the report said. And it noted that especially small districts don't have the staff to do both time-consuming outreach to parents for their spending priorities, as required by Congress, and to regularly update spending for multiple, often intertwined, funding sources. But the result is also a lack of transparency, said Vince Stewart, vice president for policy and programs at the advocacy nonprofit Children Now. "We get it; schools have been dealing with a lot, and there was a concern to minimize additional reporting. But with billions and billions of dollars, we should be able to show how it is helping kids." The only way to know for certain how funding was used and who received the money would be to examine itemized spending receipts of each district and charter school, an undue burden for interested members of the public. The California Department of Education is required to monitor federal spending and to do spot audits of districts' spending. But in her own audit of the state's effort, State Auditor Elaine Howle criticized the department for not doing more audits and for not examining spending more closely. The department audited fewer than 1% of districts and charter schools in 2020-21. Howle called on the department to investigate districts that categorize the bulk of spending as "other activities," but the department, in its response, disagreed that should become a priority. Stewart also called on the department to do more. "There's nothing to stop the state from saying we want more details than the federal government requires," he said. "Money is being spent within the categories, but the state could ask, 'How is what are you spending on benefiting students?'" "It's advisable for school districts to go beyond the minimum reporting requirements to show that the money was spent wisely," Flint said. "That's part of good community engagement." Three rounds of federal funding The federal government funded two-thirds of California's K-12 COVID-19 aid and the state about a third. Altogether, this unprecedented multiyear crisis response equals about a third of total state funding this year for education from transitional kindergarten through the 12th grade. It started with $1.6 billion that Congress appropriated in March 2020; the latest is $7.9 billion that the Legislature approved last month as part of the state budget for 2022-23. The three primary rounds of federal relief over the course of 12 months were called the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund or ESSER I, II and III. Congress also allocated two rounds of discretionary funding to governors $700 million to California through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. Congress used the Title I formula, tied to a district's poverty rate, to distribute COVID-19 relief, so the amount per student varied widely from several hundred dollars per student to more than $11,000 per student in Los Angeles Unified. Many superintendents acknowledged in the school boards' survey that they have had difficulty spending all the COVID-19 money. They reported that they could not find enough qualified candidates to hire; 91% of those surveyed said filling vacant or new positions were moderately or very challenging barriers to using the money. And many employees who said they felt burned out from teaching during COVID-19 declined offers to work longer days or summer programs, they said. Superintendents also cited the challenges of one-time funding, which limits districts' ability to hire permanent staff, with the possibility of layoffs a few years later when funding ends. But some superintendents are rethinking their strategy now that they can count on blending multiple rounds of funding with later spending deadlines to extend hires. The $7.9 billion Learning Recovery Emergency Fund in the 2022-23 state budget can be spent through 2027-28, for example. The big prize The $15 billion authorized by Congress in 2021 through ESSER III is also known as the American Rescue Plan and was the single biggest infusion of pandemic-related relief. Districts must commit to spending 20% of that total, or $3 billion, to address learning loss. Permitted uses are broad: mental health supports, social and emotional learning, purposes associated with community schools, summer enrichment learning and tutoring. By March 31, school districts had spent only a sixth of the $15 billion in federal COVID-19 relief that Congress authorized a year earlier. And they had spent but a tenth of the $3 billion Congress designated to address setbacks in learning caused by the pandemic. So far, only 5% had been spent on tutoring, a priority of some parents and student advocates, and, as of this month, the Biden administration. Some districts may have stockpiled the American Rescue Plan funding, which can be spent through Jan. 31, 2025, and used COVID-19 money with earlier deadlines. That's what Jessica Gunderson, the new co-chief executive officer of the Partnership for Children and Youth, which advocates for summer and after-school programs, suspects is paying for programs this summer. The school boards association's analysis found that districts had spent only 4% of learning loss funding on summer learning as of March 31. Yet Gunderson said she has seen noticeably more districts offering summer enrichment programs this year. While some districts continue to offer only remediation, more are approaching summer creatively, through partnerships with community groups for fun activities that kids need following a stressful year. Some districts are sending kids to camps, like the University of the Pacific's Summer High School Institute, which 240 Lodi Unified students are attending, or the STEM-focused Camp Galileo, which operates at school sites in the Bay Area. The next quarterly COVID-19 spending reports may capture some of this activity or not, depending on how precisely districts fill them out. The school boards association's report is the first of three it plans to release. The second will report how districts have spent $6.6 billion in state COVID-19 funding approved in March 2021. The final report will be the result of a survey of about 200 superintendents and business officers. The data does not include spending of charter schools. A 240-legged millipede. A giant grasshopper. A spindly stickbug. And a hissing cockroach. Dozens of Napa kids got to touch, and even hold, these unusual insects during a recent event at the Napa library. The bugs came to the library from the Insect Discovery Lab in San Francisco. The educational outreach program was designed to inspire school-aged children about invertebrates and how to preserve the biological diversity on earth, said its website. Rose Cereda, 7, described her encounter Wednesday with a darkling beetle. I saw a cute little black bug on my hand, and it just stayed still, she said with excitement. More than an inch long, black and shiny, the beetle seemed completely at ease as it was gently held or touched by the young guests. And it was definitely Roses first time holding such a big beetle. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. The 7-year-old doesnt have any pet bugs at home, but I do have a toy pet fish. Her name is Glitter, but I changed it, so now its Sparkles. However, Rose said she has seen some wild bugs around her house, like a spider that bites you and makes a little itchy spot. Thomas Olson, 10, carefully touched the delicate legs of the darkling beetle as Insect Discovery Lab host Jordyn Manchester held the bug in her hand. What did it feel like? When it started to move, it tickled a little bit, said Thomas. Hes never seen a darkling beetle before, but we get a lot of stinkbugs at our house. Besides the beetle, Thomas said he was hoping to see a stick bug from the Insect Discovery Lab. Aleph Monge, 5, was one of the first in the group to meet the eastern lubber grasshopper. It looked a little bit like the character Hopper from A Bugs Life, but this bug actually cant fly. Instead, the grasshopper will often climb trees to eat tender, new leaves, according to a University of Florida entomology report. I put it in my hand, Aleph said of the grasshopper, which was about 3 inches long. It felt a little bit sticky. If he could touch or meet any other creature, hed like to see a tarantula, the youngster added. Athena Tolentino, 8, loves insects. I love that theyre cool and sometimes creepy, at the same time. The best thing about insects is that they come in all different shapes and sizes and have defense mechanisms of all kinds. Shes never held bugs this big, said Athena. I was really scared to hold them, but they turned out really, really cute. Fishing for fun (and more) at Camp di Rosa in south Napa Did you know that the di Rosa center is hosting art and nature camps this summer? This Napa youngster doesnt see a lot of bugs at home. Well, theres rolly pollies and ladybugs, she remembered. She once saw two scorpions at Connolly Ranch, said Athena. One was dead; one was alive." If she found a bug like these insects at home, instead of squishing it like some adults might be tempted to do, Athena said she would scoop it up and take it outside. Next up, the kids met a giant African millipede, which happens to have 240 miniature legs. The dark brown and black, worm-like creature featured a ribbed/segmented body that was about 8 inches long. As the millipede smoothly traveled from palm to palm, each bug admirer described the sensation differently. It felt like wheels on your hand, said one kid. It felt ticklish, said another. The millipede felt like Velcro on your hand, said Athena. I really liked his long body and his legs are teeny tiny. Hes like the dachshund dog, of insects, she said. When Manchester introduced the Madagascar hissing cockroach to the group, the host explained that the brown and black insect, more than 2 inches long, could scurry quite quickly. That meant being still while holding the bug was very important. If you are calm, the cockroach will be calm, she said. Visit the Napa library 580 Coombs St., Napa 707-253-4241 Summer events for kids: https://bit.ly/3aF1Ip5 countyofnapa.org/917/Napa The bug encounter is just one of several special events that the Napa downtown library is hosting this summer. Come July 20, the childrens librarian will host a storycraft time for kids ages 3 and older. On July 18, the library will host a family movie night featuring the animated film Luca. On July 21, kids ages 7 and older can meet up at the library to make an interactive slider card. For those children who complete the summer library adventure program, a reading rewards celebration will be held on July 26 at the library. Russia embassy: Russian citizen considered missing in Yerevan market blast is alive and well Yerevan subway operations resume Yerevan market explosion: 6 people still considered missing Georgia PM: Our thoughts and prayers are with families of those killed in Yerevan Yerevan market blast: 14 of 16 casualties identified, official says Georgia President: I stand with the people of Armenia Bloomberg: Jump in gas prices sent European electricity prices to a new record Armenia official: Pointless to say that Surmalu market was deliberately blown up Japan embassy expresses condolences over Yerevan market explosion No bombs found at 4 Yerevan subway stations, international airport Armenia, Russia defense ministers hold talks Shoigu says there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine Bomb threat at Yerevan international airport Putin: Russia will ensure its national interests, protection of allies US lifts F-35 flight ban Armenian Red Cross Society: 140 people asked for psychological service, 110 othersfor first aid, in 3 days 14 of Yerevan market blast casualties are identified Trump says after leaving Afghanistan, US left Taliban weapons worth $ 85 billion India blocks Azerbaijan's participation in upcoming BRICS summit as a guest Baku is concerned about safety of its diplomatic mission in London Yerevan explosion: 13 of 16 dead are identified, emergency ministry spokesperson says Iran responds to EU nuclear deal proposals Yerevan market explosion: 17 people considered missing, Armenia official says Yerevan explosion: 7 injured continue to receive hospital treatment Day of mourning to be declared in Armenia Newspaper: Unpunished crime gives birth to new, more catastrophic crime in Yerevan Bomb threat made at Yerevan subway Newspaper: Who is No. 1 accountable for Yerevan market tragedy? Yerevan market explosion: Fire extinguishing no longer being carried out, emergency minister says Yerevan market explosion death toll reaches 16 Armenia emergency minister: Rescuers removed young child, pregnant womans bodies from under rubble Yerevan explosion death toll climbs to 15 Yerevan market explosion death toll reaches 10 Yerevan explosion: 5 of 6 assumed missing Iranians are in Georgia, Armenia emergency ministry spokesman says Musk plans to build at least 1,000 starships to send groups of pioneers to Mars Russian DM: Ukraine is preparing large-scale provocations near Zaporizhzhia NPP Rescuers find another body from rubble of Surmalu shopping center Deputy Minister: Tomorrow it will be known when we can finish rescue work near Surmalu shopping center FBI and DHS say threat grows after search of Donald Trump's residence Armenian Emergency Ministry updates list of citizens missing in Surmalu explosion: Six Iranian and one Russian citizen Modi says they must transform India into developed country in next 25 years Ministry of Emergency Situations denies information about pregnant woman and her son found Myanmar Military Court hands down second sentence to Aung San Suu Kyi Head of Emergency Ministry unable to confirm another survivor has been pulled out of rubble German Chancellor: Visa ban for Russians must be discussed Rescuers hear sounds under rubble of Surmalu shopping center Emergencies Ministry: 22 people missing in Surmalu shopping center Bloomberg: Recession risk in eurozone has reached highest level since November 2020 Investigation into explosion in Surmalu shopping center continues Georgia's tourism revenues have exceeded pre-pandemic levels French Embassy expresses condolences to families of Surmalu explosion victims CSTO Secretary General sends condolences to Armenian Prime Minister over Surmalu trade center explosion Hungary and Turkey plan to launch joint drone production Russian-Armenian Humanitarian Response Center joins work to eliminate consequences of explosion in Surmalu Tesla has produced more than 3 million cars since company was founded Rescuers find another body under rubble of Surmalu shopping center Ministry of Emergencies presents new list: 21 people are missing from Surmalu shopping center Electricity bills in Germany will rise by another 480 euros year because of gas surcharge 12 injured in Surmalu shopping mall explosion remain in hospitals Media: Russia signs contract with Iran to buy 1,000 drones Armenian DM attends opening of Army 2022 exhibition at Patriot center near Moscow (PHOTOS) Former Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan released from jail China sends 30 aircraft and five warships to Taiwan Russian and Iranian citizens among those missing in Surmalu shopping center Lawlessness continues: Shots fired again in Yerevan India's prime minister promises that in 25 years India will be developed country Artsakh Internal Affairs Minister expresses readiness to assist colleagues from Armenia Court in Netherlands to rule on MH-17 case on November 17 Putin invites allies and partners to participate in military exercises Karabakh President: Protection of new corridor will be carried out by Russian peacekeepers Dollar rises, euro falls in Armenia Specialists say those injured in Yerevan market explosion are in satisfactory condition, health minister says Yerevan explosion: We have report about 19 confirmed missing, emergency ministry spokesperson says Yerevan explosion: One of the missing is Iran citizen Yerevan market explosion: 56 injured, 18 others considered missing Armenia Armed Forces General Staff chief on new weapons: We choose what our army needs Yerevan explosion: Search-and-rescue dogs found certain track, emergency ministry spokesman says Iran MFA: International borders need to be preserved Armenian member of Turkey parliament expresses condolences to people of Armenia Putin condoles with Pashinyan regarding Yerevan market explosion It is in Iraq's interest to continue to insist on rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to ease regional tensions, acting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said, AP reported. He said Iraq intends to maintain its role as host of talks between the two Middle Eastern neighbors. "Iraq has contributed to the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement and several meetings held have been successful and fruitful, there has been a great rapprochement," he said, adding that Iraq will continue to encourage dialogue between the two sides. Asked about the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab Gulf states, he said that it is not about Iraq, and he would not express an opinion. He noted that Iraq believes in the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries and non-interference of others in its affairs. Each country has its own policy, he said, adding that Saturday's summit in Jeddah did not address the issue. The Urumqi International Land Port Area in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is well on its way to becoming an important growth pole powering the region's opening-up and economic development. With a planned area of 67 square km containing the Urumqi China-Europe Railway Express Hub and a comprehensive bonded zone, the land port area stands as a landmark project in the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. When visiting the Urumqi International Land Port Area during his inspection tour in Xinjiang from Tuesday to Friday, President Xi Jinping noted that Xinjiang has morphed from a relatively enclosed hinterland into the forefront of opening up, as the country is promoting the expansion of opening up, the development of the western regions, and the joint building of the Belt and Road. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed advancing the building of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt and incorporating Xinjiang's regional opening-up strategy into the country's overall plan of westward opening up. He highlighted the importance of innovating the system for an open economy, boosting the building of large opening-up corridors, better utilizing both domestic and international markets and resources, and actively serving and integrating into the new pattern of development. Since its construction started in 2015, the land port area has absorbed over 30 billion yuan (about 4.44 billion U.S. dollars) in investment and attracted more than 340 enterprises. A cross-border e-commerce project has also been implemented there. By June 2022, the land port area had operated more than 5,900 China-Europe freight train trips via 21 routes linking 26 cities in 19 European and Asian countries and regions. The trains carry over 200 categories of goods, ranging from daily necessities and garments to mechanical equipment and building materials. The Belt and Road Initiative, which initiated a new prospect for China's opening up, has also provided unprecedented opportunities for Xinjiang, which is located at the heart of the ancient Silk Road. Since the opening of the China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train services, Horgos Port and Alataw Pass, both major rail ports in Xinjiang, have recorded a combined number of more than 50,000 inbound and outbound freight train trips. Meanwhile, the country has established 55 national-level opening-up and industry development platforms in Xinjiang. These include the economic development zones of Kashgar and Horgos, which have created favorable conditions for promoting investment and attracting industrial clusters. The region posted over 67.4 billion yuan in foreign trade value in the first five months of this year, up 30.9 percent year on year. Ankara rejected Liz Truss' tentative plan to send unwanted asylum seekers to Turkey hours after it was made public, the FT reported. The British foreign secretary, who claims to be the next Conservative prime minister, wanted to begin talks about sending migrants to countries such as Turkey after a deal with Rwanda, which received more than 100 million pounds in exchange for accepting deported refugees who cross the English Channel in small boats. Turkey responded to the offer by warning that the country would not become a "refugee camp or border guard" for any other country. "It is therefore out of question for Turkiye to shoulder more burden or to be a part of an initiative, at third countries' request, that does not comply with international regulations on right to asylum. Turkiye will neither be a refugee camp nor a border guard for any country. Turkiye will in no circumstances take over third countries' international obligations,"the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tanju Bilgic said. More than 14,000 refugees have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year, increasing political pressure on the government to address the problem. Despite the deal with the Kigali government, no refugees have yet been sent to Rwanda, in part because of successful legal proceedings. Govt to enhance national security education Govt to enhance national security education Education chief Christine Choi on Sunday said her bureau will beef up the teaching of the Constitution, Basic Law and national security for students as well as teachers. Choi said it is only natural to know more about the country and to want it to do well, adding that people should have the self-consciousness to respect the country's system. "We will update our curriculum, enhance our learning and teaching materials, [have] more teacher professional training, and more activities for our students to have knowledge about our country from different perspectives," Choi said after speaking on a Commercial Radio programme. "They have life-wide learning experiences, first-hand information they collect, and they have reflection after their learning. So I don't think there's brainwashing." The minister said her bureau will also fully sponsor a field trip to the mainland for every student, so that they can experience the countrys development for themselves. Choi said it is only right to let pupils know more about the country, and that misinterpretations in the past had caused problems. Students must learn about the history and characteristics of China's socialist system, Choi said, stressing that they must understand why it is suitable for the countrys 1.4 billion people. When asked about ways to cope with a brain drain, Choi said Hong Kong has a structural problem given the low birth rate and "other factors" it faces, and some teachers, such as those in English and IT, are making career changes. The minister stressed the government wants to offer a more stable school environment. She explained that in recent years, it has been relocating students to different districts, while combining and closing schools in places with lower student intake. Angry prosecutors united over possible sanctions: SJ Paul Lam says prosecutors are angry about the possibility of being sanctioned by the United States. File photo: RTHK Justice minister Paul Lam on Sunday said frontline prosecutors are up in arms after the United States said they could sanction them in a report which the Hong Kong government has condemned as an attempt to intimidate its lawyers. Last week, the American Congressional-Executive Commission on China in a report named 15 Hong Kong prosecutors, accusing them of infringing on the universal human rights of a wide range of Hong Kong people. The report said the international community should take action, including sanctions, to address what it called "the erosion of the rule of law and human rights", allegations denied by the government. Lam said in a TVB programme broadcast on Sunday that he and prosecutors are all angry about the possible sanctions, and he described the report as "despicable and shameless". "I had expected that they'll come after me, it's all part of the job. But I'm really angry, why do they target our frontline colleagues? They're only doing their job," he said. "What you're doing is you put pressure on this group of people, you want to make people afraid to join our team. But what I can say is, our colleagues have immediately become more united, because they're so angry. Why bully us?" Lam added the government has ways to protect officials so that they will not be affected by possible sanctions. The government had on Wednesday condemned the US report, saying it is spreading misinformation and attempting to intimidate prosecutors in Hong Kong. Iran "technically capable" of nuclear weapon: adviser Kamal Kharrazi says Tehran has yet to make a decision on whether to go ahead with building a bomb. File photo: AFP Iran is technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but has not decided whether to build one, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Qatar's al Jazeera TV on Sunday. Kamal Kharrazi spoke a day after US President Joe Biden ended his four-day trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, vowing to stop Iran from "acquiring a nuclear weapon." Kharrazi's comments were a rare suggestion that Iran might have an interest in nuclear weapons, which it has long denied seeking. "In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60 percent and we can easily produce 90 percent enriched uranium ... Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one," Kharrazi said. Iran is already enriching to up to 60 percent, far above a cap of 3.67 percent under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Uranium enriched to 90 percent is suitable for a nuclear bomb. In 2018, former US president Donald Trump ditched the nuclear pact, under which Iran curbed its uranium enrichment work, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. In reaction to Washington's withdrawal and its reimposition of harsh sanctions, Tehran started violating the pact's nuclear restrictions. Last year, Iran's intelligence minister said Western pressure could push Tehran to seek nuclear weapons, the development of which Khamenei banned in a fatwa, or religious decree, in the early 2000s. Iran says it is refining uranium only for civilian energy uses, and has said its breaches of the international deal are reversible if the United States lifts sanctions and rejoins the agreement. (Reuters) As per The Hollywood Reporter, Kodak was booked Friday into jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he awaits a bond hearing. The Florida Highway Patrol said in a release that troopers pulled Black over because he was driving a purple SUV with window tints that appeared darker than the legal limit. They detected a marijuana smell and then searched the SUV and found a small clear bag with 31 white tablets and almost $75,000 in cash. The tablets were later identified as oxycodone. Black's attorney, Bradford Cohen, said on Twitter that "there are always additional facts and circumstances that give rise to a defense, especially in this case." "We will get him a bond today and move forward with resolving the matter quickly," he said. Black was also arrested earlier this year in South Florida on trespassing charges. Prosecutors later declined to proceed with the case. For those unaware, Kodak was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2019 after pleading guilty to knowingly making false statements in order to unlawfully acquire firearms from a Miami-area gun shop. His sentence was later commuted in January 2021 by former U.S. President Donald J. Trump during the final days of his term. His White House administration described Kapri as "a prominent artist and community leader." (ANI) Robert Downey Jr. reportedly helped Armie Hammer in covering his rehabilitation expenses last year. As per People, the Avengers: Endgame star, who has been open in the past about his own battle with addiction, paid for a six-month Florida rehab stay for Hammer, 35, last year, as the Call Me by Your Name actor struggled with drug, alcohol and sex issues. A source close to both actors told the publication that Downey, 57, "is the pinnacle of when people in Hollywood are struggling." "They look to Robert as this beacon of someone who has overcome it [addiction] and is walking out on the other side and Robert takes that honor and responsibility very highly," the insider added. "He sees the strength that sobriety has given him and his family life and work life and he just wants to spread this message with other people, and it's not mutually exclusive to Armie," they say. "He's done this with a lot of people. He's been such a tremendous help for several people in Hollywood that people don't know about. He's really helped heal a lot of people" the source said. Hammer checked himself in at a rehab facility outside of Orlando on May 31 amid several months of sexual abuse allegations and has been getting treatment since then. The actor agreed to stay at the property as long as it takes him to get healthy. The 34-year-old actor has been in a custody battle in his and Elizabeth Chamber's ongoing divorce and has also been accused of several sexual assaults since January. Hammer was dropped from several movies including the much-anticipated 'The Offer', Jennifer Lopez's action-comedy 'Shotgun Wedding', the thriller drama 'Billion Dollar Spy' and the Broadway show 'The Minutes' in January after several women accused him on social media of sending them explicit messages about rape and cannibalism. (ANI) Actor Katrina Kaif's birthday vacation seemed to be a delightful one as she dropped some serene pictures enjoying herself with her "girls". "My girls" captioned the 'Phantom' actor on Instagram. The picture revealed Katrina having a gala time on a yacht. The actor was accompanied by two of her friends - a television host and anchor Mini Mathur and Bollywood filmmaker Karishma Kohli. All three ladies sported pristine white flowing dresses against the background of clear blue skies and waters. Actor Vicky Kaushal's brother, Sunny Kaushal also took to his Instagram to drop a picture of him and Katrina having a fun banter. Sunny wished Katrina a 'Happy Katrina week' as well, owing to the latter's birthday on July 16. Both Katrina and her brother-in-law, Sunny had big smiles on their faces as they whiled away their time on the yacht. The newlywed bride, Katrina looked drop-dead gorgeous in a long white dress, having see-through sleeves while Vicky's brother sported a breezy outfit of a patterned shirt and denim blue shorts. They seemed to be joking about something in the happy picture. Katrina recently celebrated her 39th birthday with fun and fervour sharing pictures of her trip to an undisclosed island. Katrina's husband-actor Vicky Kaushal also took to Instagram and shared a smiling image of his beloved wife on a beach. Vicky and Katrina got married in a magnificent wedding in Rajasthan on December 9, 2021, in the company of close friends and family. Prior to their marriage, neither Vicky nor Katrina commented on their relationship. Meanwhile, on the work front, Katrina will be seen sharing screen space with Vijay Sethupathi in 'Merry Christmas'. The upcoming film is being helmed by Sriram Raghavan. She also has 'Tiger 3' with Salman Khan in her kitty. (ANI) China's top legislator Li Zhanshu has stressed the implementation of a systematic, coordinated and special protection approach in drafting a new law on the ecological protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the remarks during a research tour in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region related to the legislation from Tuesday to Friday. Noting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau's special ecological status and its value to national and global ecological security, Li said the new law should embody the idea that ecological protection is the basic premise and the rigid constraint of the region's development. It should also implement the new development philosophy, adhere to a systemic, science-based and problem-solving approach to strengthen the protection, conservation, restoration and risk prevention and control of key ecological systems, said Li. During the stay in Tibet, Li also visited residential communities, the Potala Palace and temples, and held talks with local lawmakers. He called for efforts to further implement the Party's ethnic and religious work policies, to focus on safeguarding national unification and strengthening ethnic unity, and to ensure enduring social stability and long-term security and high-quality development. 'Bawaal' co-actors Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan treated fans with fun pictures after wrapping up their film shoot in Poland. Taking to their respective Instagram handles both Janhvi and Varun dropped pictures of the duo enjoying their time in Poland. "Instagram vs reality" captioned Janhvi, contrasting two pictures in two slides. In the first picture, Janhvi struck an alluring pose, resting one hand on Varun's shoulder as she faced the camera while Varun seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, staring up at the blue Poland sky. While Janhvi wore a pink-sleeved, graphic top with white printed shorts, Varun had a simple navy-blue vest on him with a pair of matching grey trousers. According to Janhvi, the first image was the Instagram version of their friendship. However, fans soon got to see the 'reality' of the duo in the next slide where Varun, was seated on the bonnet of a car as Janhvi was behind him, seemingly trying to call her co-star to help her get up as well. Instead, Varun appeared to be nonchalant, looking forward, enjoying the view, and giving a deaf ear to Janhvis' pleas. Apart from Janhvi, Varun also dropped some images on Instagram, featuring himself and Boney Kapoor's daughter., announcing the wrap-up of their shoot. "Hawaayein. Finished another sched in Krakow now on to the next," wrote Varun. Helmed by Nitesh Tiwari, 'Bawaal' is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and is a social drama. Recently both Varun and Janhvi announced that they had wrapped up their shoot for 'Bawaal' in Amsterdam and now the two have completed filming in Poland as well. 'Bawaal' marks the first collaboration of the lead cast Varun and Janhvi. The film is slated to hit the theatres on April 7, 2023. Meanwhile, talking about 'Dhadak' actor, Janhvi, she is soon to be seen in Sidharth Sengupta's upcoming comedy crime thriller 'GoodLuck Jerry'. The makers released the official trailer of the film on July 14 and have created quite a buzz. 'GoodLuck Jerry' is all set to premiere exclusively on the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar from July 29, 2022. On the other hand, Varun Dhawan will next be seen in Dinesh Vijan's horror-comedy film 'Bhediya' with Kriti Sanon, which is all geared up to hit the theatres on November 25, 2022. (ANI) According to The Hollywood Reporter, in honor of Ferrell's 55th birthday, Reynolds took to TikTok on Saturday to post a video paying tribute to a pivotal scene from the Saturday Night Live alum's popular 2008 comedy, 'Step Brothers'. Toward the end of the Adam McKay-directed film, Ferrell's character, Brennan, hits the stage at the Catalina Wine Mixer with stepbrother Dale (John C. Reilly) to perform a rendition of 'Por Ti Volare', a song initially popularized by Andrea Bocelli. In the video, Reynolds is seen smiling while the song plays in the background. Unlike in the film, where Ferrell sings the Spanish-language lyrics, Reynolds remains silent and appears confused about when to start singing. At the bottom of post was the message, "Happy Birthday, Will Ferrell!!!" The duo set to appear together in the upcoming Apple TV+ film 'Spirited', a musical retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Previously in November, Reynolds was scheduled to appear on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' on the same night that Will Ferrell was the announced guest on The Tonight Show. Instead, the two stars switched places, with Jimmy Kimmel asking Ferrell the questions he had supposedly planned to use for Reynolds, while Jimmy Fallon did the same bit with Reynolds, as per the Hollywood Reporter. (ANI) American media personality Kim Kardashian has touched down in Australia to visit her boyfriend Pete Davidson who is currently filming a project Down Under. According to E! News, the 41-year-old was clicked arriving at Cairns Airport in Queensland, Australia, where her boyfriend is filming the movie 'Wizards!' alongside Orlando Bloom. "Kim is heading to Australia to visit Pete this weekend. She wanted to spend time with her kids before she left and did some special travel with them. Now she's off to see Pete and is very excited." an insider told the outlet. The SKIMS founder was photographed deboarding her private jet on July 16, wearing an all-black ensemble, complete with oversized shades, and her platinum blonde hair up in a bun. The couple, who began dating last fall, have been physically apart for four weeks. While Pete has been busy working on the otherwise of the world, Kim has been showing her love from afar by way of social media. On July 11, the 'Kardashians' star posted a series of cute photos of the pair on Instagram, including pics of the two chilling by a pool and Kim resting her feet on her man's tattooed chest. As per E! News, in another snap, eagle-eyed fans noticed the 'Saturday Night Live' alum's new tattoo on his collarbone which reads the names 'Jasmine' and 'Aladdin' with an infinity sign in the middle, a tribute to their characters in an 'SNL' skit when Kim hosted the show back in October. It was during this sketch that they shared their first kiss. (ANI) Dealing with summons issued to a Delhi resident by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Delhi High Court noted that for the purposes of investigation, a police officer can require the attendance of a person situated within the limits of his own or adjoining police station but not beyond the territorial limits. "From the plain reading of the sub-section (1) of Section 160 CrPC, it is evident that for the purposes of investigation, a police officer can require attendance of a person situated within the limits of his own police station or that of the adjoining police station and not someone who is situated beyond the said territorial limits," Justice Poonam A. Bamba said in a recent order. The court was hearing the plea moved by a Noida-based investigative journalist and his media outlet who were seeking to quash the summons issued to him by the office of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Pampore. As per the petitioner, he prepared an article regarding the adoption of the children orphaned during Covid-19 for a price, which was later broadcast. On December 12 last year, the Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, Pulwama forwarded a written complaint to P.S. Pampore for registration of a formal case in the matter. Subsequently, the Sub Divisional Police Officer, Pampore issued a summon under Section 91 of CrPC to the media person to provide the footage of the video and complete details of the sting operation team for recording of their statements. Later, the media outlet received a notice under Section 91 CrPC from the Sub-Divisional Police Officer. In the plea, it was submitted that notice under Section 160(1) of the CrPC can only be issued to a person who is situated within the local jurisdiction of that police station or is within the adjoining police station. Therefore, a police station in Jammu and Kashmir could not have issued notice to the petitioners who are residents of Delhi and are outside the jurisdiction of the CWC. After hearing the submissions, the court quashed summons issued to them. "However, this shall not come in the way of the investigating agency to examine the petitioners as per law at Delhi, if so required. Nor shall quashing of the impugned summon would have any reflection on merits of the case," it noted. --IANS jw/vd ( 396 Words) 2022-07-16-20:34:02 (IANS) Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Saturday said that from hasty indiscriminate arrests, to difficulty in obtaining bail, the process leading to the prolonged incarceration of undertrials needs urgent attention. He added that prisons are "black boxes" and prisoners are "often unseen, unheard citizens". Delivering an address at the 18th All India Legal Services Authority, also attended by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, and senior judges of the top court, he said: "The challenges are huge. In our criminal justice system, the process is the punishment. From hasty indiscriminate arrests, to difficulty in obtaining bail, the process leading to the prolonged incarceration of undertrials needs urgent attention. "We need a holistic plan of action, to increase the efficiency of the administration of criminal justice. Training and sensitisation of the police and modernisation of the prison system is one facet of improving the administration of criminal justice. NALSA and legal service authorities need to focus on the above issues to determine how best they can help." Responding to the concerns expressed by Union Minister Rijiju on the huge case backlog in the country, Justice Ramana stressed that the non-filling up of judicial vacancies was the major reason for it. Rijiju said it was a matter of concern that over five crore cases are pending in courts across the country in the 75th year of independence and emphasised on coordinated efforts by judiciary and the executive to reduce pendency. "The pendency of cases in our country is touching five crore. What'll be the situation after 25 years? People ask me about as the Law Minister," he said. The Chief Justice said: "We judges also, when we go outside the country, face the same question, how many years..... You all know the reasons for pendency. I need not elaborate on it... You all know the major important reason is the non-filling up of the judicial vacancies and not improving the judicial infrastructure." He said the judiciary is always ahead in trying to resolve all these issues and his only request is that the government has to take up the filling up of vacancies, as well as providing infrastructure. He added that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is the best model and it is a success story and a suggestion for a Judicial Infrastructure Authority in the last Chief Justices' conference was made. "Unfortunately, it was not taken up. However, I hope and trust that the issue will be revisited," he said, also mentioning how NALSA was settling around two crore pre-litigating cases and one crore pending cases last year. Chief Justice Ramana cited that there are 6.1 lakh prisoners in 1,378 prisons and they are indeed one of the most vulnerable sections of our society."Prisons are black boxes. Prisoners are often unseen, unheard citizens. Prisons have different impacts on different categories of prisoners, particularly those belonging to marginalised communities," he said. He added that a grave issue affecting our criminal justice system is the high population of undertrials in prisons and out of 6.10 lakhs prisoners in India, around 80 per cent are under trial prisoners. --IANS ss/vd ( 531 Words) 2022-07-16-20:40:04 (IANS) The model code of conduct has come into force in village areas, Goa State Election Commissioner W.V. Ramanamurthy said at a press conference. The 186 panchayats have a total of 1,528 wards. "The filing of nominations for panchayat elections would be from July 18 to 25 and scrutiny of nominations will take place on July 26," he said adding withdrawal would be on July 27 and later the final list of candidates will be displayed. He said that a total 8,27,099 voters are eligible to cast votes, in which male voters are 4,01,725, female voters are 4,25,372, and two are of the third gender. "We have reserved 21 seats (1.37 per cent) for Schedule Caste, 187 (12.32 per cent) for Schedule Tribe and 307 (20.10 per cent) for OBCs," Ramanamurthy said. He said along with adequate police force, around 10,700 polling staff will be deployed for smooth conduct of elections. Ramanamurthy said that 30 out of 1,566 polling booths are identified as vulnerable and sensitive. --IANS sanjay/vd ( 208 Words) 2022-07-16-20:48:04 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday asked his party MPs to extend full support to NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu. "The daughter of Odisha Draupadi Murmu has been nominated to the highest office of our country. It is indeed a matter of honour and pride for our state. On behalf of the people of Odisha and BJD, we need to extend our full support to her candidature in the presidential election to be held on July 18," Patnaik told his party MPs. The Chief Minister held a meeting with the BJD MPs virtually to discuss issues to be raised during the monsoon session of parliament beginning from July 18. "We are neglected in matters of railways, banking, tele density, payment of coal royalty and clean energy cess and the construction of coastal highway. All the above critically important issues concerning the interest of Odisha need to be raised in the Parliament," Patnaik said in the meeting. The CM said during his meeting with the Prime Minister on May 30 at New Delhi, he had discussed several issues concerning the state's interest and sought the support of the central government on all the issues. "I would impress upon all of you to take up all the pending issues with the concerned ministries so that these are sorted out in a time bound manner," he told the BJD MPs. He also asked the MPs to peruse the union government about evacuation of 5 lakh MT of surplus fortified parboiled rice from the state for the crop season 21-22, withdrawal of export duty on the below 58 percent grade ore and pellets, sanction of 1.84 lakh PMAY (G) (special houses) to the cyclone Fani affected families, exemption of DMF trust from the purview of income tax from 2022-23 onwards. The BJD president further asked the MPs to peruse the centre for speeding up of pending railway projects in the state, implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations on minimum support price (MSP) for paddy in the interest of our farmers, 33 per cent reservation for women in both assembly and parliament and constitution of Odisha legislative council. "Our demand for special category status and inclusion of 'Ho' language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution needs to be followed up and pursued vigorously," he added. --IANS bbm/pgh ( 404 Words) 2022-07-16-20:50:01 (IANS) In an unprecedented case in the judicial history, a judge of the Calcutta High Court ordered a Superintendent of Police to personally supervise the investigation process on alleged abduction of a pig from district court premises. The order from Justice Shampa Sarkar, came on a petition by a group of lawyers practicing at Kalyani district court in Nadia district of West Bengal. The said pig, "Ghona" was brought up within the court premises and was pampered by all the lawyers practicing there. Recently, as alleged by the lawyers, a car came within the premises of the court, picked up Ghona and vanished from the scene. The lawyers immediately filed a complaint at the local police station. However, following the police's reluctance to trace the missing animal, these lawyers approached the bench of Justice Sarkar, who expressed displeasure over the police reluctance to trace Ghona, "since it was just a pig". Thereafter Justice Sarkar directed the Ranaghat Police District superintendent, Avijit Banerjee to personally supervise the investigation process in tracking Ghona. The lawyers claimed that the entire process of abduction of Ghona was recorded in the CCTV footage installed within the Kalyani court, with even the car in which Ghona was abducted identified. --IANS src/vd ( 218 Words) 2022-07-16-22:50:03 (IANS) In a shocking case of sexual assault, a 15-year-old minor girl was allegedly raped here by a 31-year-old man with the help of his wife, and three days later, the accused poured some substance into the victim's mouth after which she was hospitalised, the police said on Saturday. The accused, identified as Jai Prakash, working in a shoe factory, committed the heinous crime on July 2 in Delhi's Nangloi area. "On July 5, the accused Jai Prakash stopped the victim while she was on her way to home and forcibly poured some liquid into her mouth," Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Sameer Sharma said. The girl fell unconscious after reaching her home and was subsequently hospitalised. Jai Prakash has been apprehended by the police. The police got the information about the incident when the girl's brother made a PCR call on July 15. "The PCR call was marked to one female Sub Inspector for necessary action," DCP Sharma said. During enquiry, it was revealed that the victim was under treatment at AIIMS and was unfit for statement, however, on Saturday i.e. July 16, the doctor declared her fit for statement. "The statement of the victim was recorded today in the presence of an NGO member," the official said. Accordingly, based on her complaint, the police registered an FIR under section 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (rape) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and section 6 of the POCSO Act at the Nangloi police station. Meanwhile, the said incident was first brought to the light by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal who took cognizance of the matter and issued notice to the Delhi Police. Maliwal said that the DCW received a complaint regarding rape and attempt to murder of a 15-year-old girl. The father of the girl informed the Commission that he is a daily wage labourer and lives in Delhi along with his family. He informed that his daughter used to work in a shoe factory. The complainant alleged that one day, a contractor of the shoe factory took his daughter to his house on the pretext of his wife's illness and raped the girl. "He also alleged that on July 5, the accused forcibly made his daughter drink acid. The girl is presently admitted in the hospital in a very critical condition," Maliwal said. The Commission has sought the details of FIR registered and the accused arrested in the matter. --IANS uj/pgh ( 422 Words) 2022-07-16-23:04:01 (IANS) When West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was announced as the surprise choice of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the office of the Vice President, political observers in Kolkata, where he has spent the last three years engaged in an almost daily sparring match with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, started reading the signals being sent out by the BJP top brass. By naming Dhankhar, who was little known outside Jaipur and the city's legal fraternity till July 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in a way sounded the poll bugle for Rajasthan, where Assembly elections will be held next year, and Jats form a substantial vote bank. Analysts in Kolkata also see in the move a message being sent out to Banerjee -- that despite her evident displeasure at the governor's outbursts against her government, and the many representations made by Trinamool Congress MPs to Home Minister Amit Shah to have him removed from Raj Bhawan, Dhankar was being rewarded with a higher office. On previous occasions, there had been tiffs between the governor and the West Bengal government, like when Gopalkrishna Gandhi and the then Left Front chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, differed over the police firing at Nandigram in East Midnapore district of West Bengal on March 14, 2007, which resulted in the death of 14 persons. But never has the government-governor spat in West Bengal been a daily affair, as it happened during the tenure of Dhankhar. He was the first governor of the state in whose tenure the Raj Bhawan press conference became an almost daily affair, giving Dhankhar a platform to target the Trinamool dispensation. The chief minister, in an unprecedented move, responded by blocking Dhankhar from her Twitter handle. Dhankar is also the first governor to have expressed his displeasure with the state government via regular Twitter posts. What really irked the Trinamool Congress leadership was that Dhankhar had started firing similar salvos at official functions held in the West Bengal Assembly premises. The Assembly Speaker, Biman Banerjee, once even said that if this continued, he would have to contemplate restricting the governor's presence on the premises of the House, something that has never been heard of in a parliamentary democracy. A seasoned lawyer, Dhankhar has maintained that he has just been using his power and rights as a governor given by the Constitution, which no other governor had cared to do before him. In March this year, Dhankhar marked his presence in Jaipur as chief guest at a seminar on the 'Role of Governors and MLAs in Furtherance of Democracy', organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's Rajasthan chapter in the Assembly building. There, he poured his heart out, saying a governor is like a punching bag, who is invariably called an agent of the ruling party. He clarified that was not a "proactive governor" but a "copybook governor", who firmly believed in the rule of law. Dhankhar then surprised his audience by declaring: "People might not know it, but I do share a brother-and-sister kind of relationship with the chief minister," he said. "How can the governor and the chief minister fight in public?" he asked and added: "I have always tried and will continue to cooperate with the government, but this cooperation isn't possible with one hand. If there is no communication between the chief minister and the governor, then we will deviate from democracy." Before July 30, 2019, when he was appointed West Bengal Governor, Dhankhar wouldn't have even found an audience, having transitioned from being a follower of the late Jat leader Devi Lal, to becoming the minister of state for parliamentary affairs in the short-lived Chandra Shekhar government (1990-91), to finding himself drifting to the Congress, where he was ignored by Ashok Gehlot, and finally landing in the BJP in 2003, to be kept at a distance by the then state party supremo and chief minister, Vasundhara Raje. Born in a Jat family in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district on May 18, 1951, Dhankhar went to Sainik School, Chittorgarh, graduated from the University of Rajasthan, and became an acolyte of Devi Lal, who was served two terms as Chief Minister of Haryana and was the Deputy Prime Minister between 1989 and 1991, in the governments of V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar. In 1989, when the Janata Dal challenged Rajiv Gandhi under V.P. Singh's leadership, Dhankhar got the party's Lok Sabha ticket from Jhunjhunu, where he defeated the sitting MP (and decorated war hero) Mohammad Ayub Khan by an impressive margin of four lakh votes. Dhankhar was a member of the Ninth Lok Sabha (1989-91), and when Chandra Shekhar became Prime Minister for seven months (from November 1990 to June 1991), he was picked up for the lame-duck ministry. In the June 1991 general elections, Dhankhar could not retain his seat (Khan got re-elected and was made a minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government). With the political fortunes of his mentor, Devi Lal, on the decline, Dhankhar decided to join the Congress, which gave him an Assembly ticket and he got elected as the MLA from Kishangarh in Ajmer district in 1993. He served his full term in Rajasthan's 10th Legislative Assembly till 1998. That was the last public office he held till he was made West Bengal Governor. Of course, he did become the President of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association in the days when his political career wasn't heading anywhere, but it did not come with the perks, privileges and visibility associated with the occupant of Kolkata's Raj Bhawan, which was modelled after the family home of Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of the British Raj. The one-time acolyte of Devi Lal has found a political saviour in Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- not once, but twice. --IANS src/arc/srb ( 978 Words) 2022-07-16-23:22:01 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday directed TRS MPs to raise their voices in both Houses of the Parliament against the Central government's "partisan attitude" towards the state of Telangana. A meeting of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Parliamentary Party under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister concluded at Pragati Bhavan on Saturday ahead of the commencement of the parliamentary sessions. Rao said that they must stop the absurd attitude of the BJP, trampling on their rights, including the promises of state division, in coordination with the opposition MPs. The Chief Minister said due to the anti-people policies followed by the Central government, the development of the country is stalled in all areas. There is a need to fight against the BJP government at the Centre and directed the MPs to make both the Houses of the Parliament the right platforms for that, he said. "The Modi government has never encouraged Telangana, which is developing with economic discipline but is indulging in conspiracies to hinder development," KCR said. Rao said Telangana has a track record of repayment without a single day or a single paisa of default in the eight years of the state's formation, the Chief Minister explained to the MPs. "It is very sad to see that PM Modi has turned a blind eye on Telangana, which is progressing unopposed under the regime and wants to suppress Telangana economically in the name of rules," Rao said. "The BJP leadership should clarify how the decisions taken by the Centre against Telangana are reaching the BJP social media groups. It is a criminal act to deliberately leak information related to the financial affairs of the country and the states, and spread bad propaganda against the Telangana government," Rao said. He made it clear to the MPs that BJP should be exposed in both the Houses of Parliament for such bankrupt and stupid affairs. On this occasion, KCR said that whatever development is achieved in the country, it contributes to the country's GDP. He said there are only eight states in the country that contribute a large percentage to the country's GDP, and Telangana is one of them. How much has gone from Telangana to the Centre in eight years? How many funds have come to Telangana from the Centre? Rao asked. The Chief Minister said that "If we look at the figures, even the common man will understand the injustice of the Central government to Telangana." (ANI) The dispute between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter is taking many twists and turns. As per new reports, Musk recently, but before pulling out of the deal, sent a text to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal on June 28, informing him that the company's lawyers were trying to "cause trouble" after they sought information on the financial details that Musk was planning to complete the acquisition of Twitter. "Your lawyers are using these conversations to cause trouble. That needs to stop," Musk's text reportedly read. Musk sent the particular message after Twitter asked Musk how he would finance the Twitter deal. A few days ago, Twitter sued Musk after he decided to back out of the USD 44 billion takeover deal. As per The Verge, the lawsuit was filed in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday, accusing Musk of hypocrisy."Twitter brings this action to enjoin Musk from further breaches to compel Musk to fulfil his legal obligations and to compel consummation of the merger upon satisfaction of the few outstanding conditions," Twitter wrote in the lawsuit. The lawsuit marks the beginning of what could be a protracted legal battle as Twitter seeks to hold Musk to his deal to pay USD 54.20 per share for the company. Twitter, which is being repped by M&A powerhouse law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, alleged that Musk looked for an escape from the deal, which required a "material adverse effect" or breach of contract." Musk had to try to conjure one of those," the lawsuit stated. Musk announced the termination of a USD 44 billion Twitter purchase deal in a letter sent by Musk's team to Twitter earlier this month. Musk decided to suspend the deal due to multiple breaches of the purchase agreement. In April, Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at USD 54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately USD 44 billion. However, Musk put the deal on hold in May to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter's claim that less than 5 per cent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam. Back in June, Musk had openly accused the microblogging website of breaching the merger agreement and threatened to walk away and call off the acquisition of the social media company for not providing the data he has requested on spam and fake accounts. Musk alleged that Twitter is "actively resisting and thwarting his information rights" as outlined by the deal, CNN reported, citing the letter he sent to Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde. Musk demanded that Twitter turn over information about its testing methodologies to support its claims that bots and fake accounts constitute less than 5 per cent of the platform's active user base, a figure the company has consistently stated for years in boilerplate public disclosures. (ANI) District Magistrate of Uttarakhand's Haridwar on Sunday declared a six-day holiday in all the schools and Anganwadi centres of the district, in the increasing number of devotees for Kanwar Yatra and the possibility of the closure of the roads for the movement. The 'Kanwar Yatra' is an annual pilgrimage of Lord Shiva's devotees that started Thursday. The Kanwariyas (pilgrims) visit places like Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to fetch the holy water of River Ganga. They then worship Lord Shiva with the same water. As per the DM Vinay Shankar's orders, all the schools, government, non-government closed, private schools, Sanskrit schools, madrasas, and Anganwadi centres of the district will remain closed from July 20 to July 26. The pilgrimage is taking place this year after a restriction of two years, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The DM has also instructed the police to get the Kanwariyas registered. Earlier on Wednesday, the Uttarakhand administration had announced that pilgrims with swords, tridents and other such harmful objects will not be allowed during the Kanwar Yatra, and had declared to seize these objects at the border itself. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had said that the state government expect a footfall of more than 5 crore pilgrims during the holy month of Shravan, and assured that all arrangements for a safe Kanwar Yatra were made by the state administration. 'Sawan' (Shravan), which is considered to be the most auspicious month of the year, started on July 14 (Thursday). The month holds great significance for devotees of Lord Shiva, who is considered the Supreme Lord, the creator, protector, and destroyer of the universe, according to Hindu religious beliefs. During the month of Shravan, the devotees observe fasts on Mondays which are considered to be particularly auspicious days of the month. Lord Shiva is worshipped on Mondays throughout the year and the Mondays of this month are especially significant with the whole month being dedicated to the lord. The festival is celebrated predominantly in north India. This year Sawan started on July 14 and will end on August 12. Four Mondays fall during this period- July 18, July 25, August 1, and August 8. (ANI) After completing their Amarnath Yatra, pilgrims lauded the Jammu and Kashmir government for their efforts in providing a comfortable and hassle-free journey. Many pilgrims especially those who have been on Yatra for two or more times rated this Yatra as more comfortable and convenient. "Whatever problems we used to face earlier like traffic stranded due to broken roads, we didn't face it this time and we are really thankful to the Jammu and Kashmir government", said a pilgrim. Pilgrims also lauded the security forces for their efforts during the cloud burst and said the efficient action by the forces helped to resume Yatra around the cave shrine. Another pilgrim said, "This is the second time I am undertaking Amarnath Yatra and I am really pleased to see the good roads and facilities which are provided to the yatris. Fews days ago when there was a cloudburst, the Indian Army had taken quick steps to clear the way so that the pilgrims does not face any difficulties." Devotees appreciated all the arrangements ranging from on-line registration to unhindered travel, good infrastructure, tele -communication, boarding and lodging besides security, sanitation and medical facilities enroute the Yatra. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in collaboration with Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and Jammu and Kashmir's Directorate of Health Services-Kashmir (DHS-K) set up a Telemedicine (TM) Centre connecting the country's top hospitals to provide best possible health care services to the Amarnath pilgrims. he Telemedicine Centre has been set up at Panjtarni Base Camp. Earlier, the TM node at Baltal en route to Amarnath cave to provide TM services to Yatra pilgrims was set up on July 9 connecting medical experts from Base Camp to SKIMS. This facility is servicing pilgrims and provides real-time treatment for high-altitude and other ailments that pilgrims frequently face in the region. According to the pilgrims, despite of threats by the militants, the security arrangements were such that security forces allayed their all fears. Earlier, on Friday, the Yatra was suspended after the cloudburst incident. Sixteen people were dead and at least three dozen were missing after a cloudburst triggered flash floods near the cave shrine of Amarnath. The Indian Army inducted radars to trace survivors under the debris which was laid after a cloudburst struck the area near the holy shrine of Amarnath on Friday. Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha also visited a base camp in Pahalgam and met pilgrims. The Yatra began on June 29, from Jammu amid tight security arrangements made by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with the army and the local police. 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. (ANI) Just a day before July 18 Presidential polls in the country, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu will get full support from the Biju Janata Dal. In a series of tweets today, Patnaik, who is also the chief of BJD, said, "Addressed all BJD MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament commencing from 18th July. It is indeed a matter of honour and pride for our state that the daughter of Odisha, Droupadi Murmu has been nominated to the highest office of our country." "On behalf of the people of Odisha and BJD, we need to extend full support to her candidature in #PresidentialElection on 18th July. During my meeting with the PM on 30th May at New Delhi, I have discussed many issues concerning State's interest and sought GoI's support for them," he tweeted. Patnaik said that all the critically important issues concerning the interest of Odisha need to be raised in the Parliament. "I would impress upon all BJD MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to take up all the pending issues with the concerned ministries so that these are sorted out in a time-bound manner. All the critically important issues concerning the interest of #Odisha need to be raised in the Parliament," Patnaik tweeted. In June, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Election of the 16th President of India. The polls will be held on July 18. The counting will be taken up on July 21. The term of office of President Ram Nath Kovind will end on July 24. The President is elected by an electoral college comprising elected members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. It also includes the Legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry. Voting for the Vice Presidential election will be held on August 6. The BJP-led NDA has named tribal leader Droupadi Murmu as its presidential candidate. Also in the running is joint Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. Earlier in the day, the BJP named West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, a Jat leader from Rajasthan with socialist background, as the NDA's vice presidential candidate. Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda held a dinner meeting with party MPs and asked them to ensure 100 per cent voting in the upcoming presidential election, sources said. Nadda also instructed the MPs to take care that no mistake is made while casting votes in the presidential and vice presidential polls, they said. The BJP president asked the MPs to come prepared for the monsoon session of Parliament starting July 18 and avoid taking leave during the session. (ANI) Amidst the ongoing flood scenario in Telangana, state Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday visited Badrachalam to review the situation and water flow in the city via different modes. As per the information, KCR was earlier expected to visit the flood-affected area and conduct its aerial survey via a helicopter, but due to the bad weather conditions, he reached the area via a bus and enquired about flood situations there, while also interacting with the people in relief camps. KCR started his journey from Mulugu with his other officials. However, governor Soundararajan took the stock of the arrangements made by the people for their stay in relief camps, by boarding a train from Hyderabad on Saturday night and reaching the affected Badrachalam this morning. She was briefed on the information from the officials who received her at the railway station. Meanwhile on Saturday, Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to declare the Telangana floods a National Disaster, besides requesting the deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), financial compensation to farmers and kin of the deceased, and an immediate relief package of Rs 2000 crore for the repair and construction of roads damaged during floods. Due to continuous heavy rain for several days in the state, the water level in river Godavari was rising rapidly and hence reached the third warning level at Bhadrachalam on Thursday. As per KCR's orders to prevent epidemics from spreading due to floods, Health Minister Harish Rao also conducted a review meeting with the doctors and senior officials of the dispensaries in Godavari flood-inundated areas as a part of public health care. In view of the heavy rainfall in the state, the Telangana government on Thursday directed to identify and shift the people living in low-lying areas to the special camps. Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar held a teleconference with the Collectors, Superintendents of Police of Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu, Bhupalpally, and Peddapally districts, and other senior officials and reviewed the situation in the respective districts (on Thursday). During the conference, Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar said that with the water in the Godavari reaching alarming levels, an additional contingent plan should be formulated so as to ensure that all line departments were more vigilant and step up relief and rescue measures on war footing. In view of the continuous and heavy rains and inimical weather conditions, the state government had decided to extend the holidays for all educational institutions as they will now re-open on July 1. (ANI) Days before the trip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Telangana's Sircilla on July 21, state MLC K Kavitha on Sunday enquired about his whereabouts while mentioning that he would get to learn a lot from the state. "Anybody can learn from Telangana. They can learn from here and go, but my question is - Is Rahul Ji even in India? Where is he? That we want to know," MLC Kavitha said. Emphasising the Congress leader's unavailability, she said, "If he wants to come to Telangana's Sircilla, he has so much to learn and he can take that back to his own constituency as well. But I and the whole nation is wondering where is he right now?" she added. Notably, Gandhi is scheduled to visit Sircilla on July 21. Being asked about the TRS asking for flood relief from the Centre, the MLC told ANI, "Telangana was not allocated with any kind of flood relief fund, whereas other states have gotten their due share." Demanding that the Union government consider the emergency situation in Telangana, the MLC said, "It is a shared responsibility of both the Centre and the state after any disaster strikes. So, we sincerely urge the Central government to take cognisance of the situation and help the state out in this situation of distress." Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, urging him to declare the Telangana floods a National Disaster, besides requesting the deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), financial compensation to farmers and kin of the deceased, and an immediate relief package of Rs 2,000 crore for the repair and construction of roads damaged during floods. Due to continuous heavy rain for several days in the state, the water level in river Godavari was rising rapidly and hence reached the third warning level at Bhadrachalam on Thursday. (ANI) "Participated in #Bonalu festival celebrations at Mahakali Temple in Secunderabad," she tweeted. Bonalu is a Hindu festival celebrated in honour of Goddess Mahakali. The festivals are predominantly observed in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This festival is celebrated annually in Hyderabad in Ashadamasam of the Telugu calendar, which is around July or August. A large number of people take part in the celebrations and offer Bonam to the Mahankali Goddess. The devotees believe that the goddess keeps showering her blessings on her devotees for 250 years. "After bearing Covid-19 for two years, the worship of Jagan Mata has started from today with extreme enthusiasm. Lakhs of people come here to seek her blessings," a devotee told ANI. The celebrations take place annually and start from Sri Jagadamba Mahakali temple in Golconda and are celebrated even in other parts of the cities. This festival takes place for nine weeks. Special prayers are performed for the Goddess on the first and last day of the festival. (ANI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that free precaution doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered at 'Mohalla Clinics' as he appealed to all eligible citizens to get vaccinated. The chief minister said that only 10 per cent of people have taken the precaution doses of coronavirus vaccines in Delhi. The Precaution dose is the one which is taken by the individuals after the successful administration of both 1st and 2nd doses. "As per the data, only 10 per cent of the population (which has taken 1st dose) has been administered with the Precaution dose," Delhi CM said while addressing a press conference in New Delhi. "Total of 3.5 crore doses of the vaccine have been administered in Delhi, and the number of those who have got the precaution dose is 18.5 lakh. A total of 1.81 crore have been given first dose and 1.53 crore have received both doses," he said. Emphasising the capability of the Delhi government to provide around 1 lakh covid-19 vaccines doses in a day, in both government and private hospitals, the chief minister revealed that the precaution doses are free of cost for all eligible citizens of age more than 18 years, who have completed the six months of the second dose. He also said that the vaccine doses can be taken from the nearest Mohalla Clinics or any of the government vaccination centres. "I request to the senior citizens to get their second dose and precaution dose of Covid-19 because it can get fatal as they are often prone to other diseases like diabetes and blood pressure," Kejriwal added. He also offered the schools for providing assistance by arranging a camp for conducting the second dose administration in their schools. "I appeal to the children between age group 12 to 17 years and their parents to get your child's second dose of Covid-19 vaccine. I request the school authorities to approach the local district authorities, if they do so, we can help arrange a camp for administering the second dose in your school," he added. (ANI) Rowdy sheeter is the term given to any person having a criminal record. According to the Commissioner of Mangaluru police, they had fired two rounds-- one in the air and the other on the accused Mukhtar at around 6.45 am today. "The accused (Mukhtar) was taken to show a vehicle that was used in previous offences and other accused also. During the inspection, he attacked our staff and tried to run away," said N Shashikumar, Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru. "15 cases were registered against him and six other cases for which he could not be arrested for last 5 years, since 2017, Shashikumar added. Further information is awaited. (ANI) The world is now passing through the fourth industrial revolution marked by the fusion of digital, robotics, and biological technological advancements. Crosscutting technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), genetic engineering, and quantum computing have brought about transformative changes in social development. Young people have played an essential role in humanity's progress. For example, 23-year-old Isaac Newton invented the principles of motion and gravitation, which enabled the discovery of the steam engine and mechanized production of goods, ushering the world into the first industrial revolution. The second industrial revolution became possible when Michael Faraday invented electricity at 21. With the invention of semiconductors in the 1950s, the world moved into the electronic age that heralded the third industrial revolution. Last year, China proposed an initiative to hold a forum to inspire further the creativity of the young people across SCO countries. As a result, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held the Youth Technology and Innovation Forum in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in June. The forum recognized young people's crucial role in promoting development and prosperity due to their energy, innovation capability, and bold vision. Since its inception in 2001, the SCO has emerged as a model multifaceted regional body committed to promoting political stability, security, and economic cooperation. It has always upheld the Shanghai Spirit and conducted important theoretical and practical work for building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future. It has fostered further cooperation characterized by solidarity, inclusiveness, and mutual learning for countries with different social systems and development paths. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented health and economic challenges to the globalized world, reinforcing the importance of scientific and technical innovation and cooperation among nations. Given all this, efforts to promote cooperation among young people have become even more critical for the SCO members. The convention of this forum has facilitated member states better to understand the development trends of cutting-edge technologies and industries, offering a platform for discussing global innovation rules and innovation governance. Participants can share their innovative ideas and development philosophy, which could be helpful for them to jointly explore ways to tackle challenges facing the world, such as poverty reduction and sustainable development. It will also boost exchanges among countries in education, talent training, health, and information infrastructure construction. Innovation and entrepreneurship mark the progress and dynamism of a country, enabling it to address problems and promote economic growth. Seizing the opportunities that the SCO forum and related incubator programs have provided, the young generation that represents the future of a country and the world as a whole will be able to master more skills and raise their capacity for pursuing innovation. Under the SCO youth business cooperation framework, it is expected that more young people will have access to the imperative resources for innovation and entrepreneurship, such as capital, cutting-edge technologies, and a favorable environment. All this will stimulate their vitality so that they will thus serve as a bridge of friendship and solidarity and make their efforts to help deal with challenges facing development and governance. Ritu Raj Subedi is the Deputy Executive Editor of Rising Nepal. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. Protesters entered the school and vandalized school property and set ablaze school buses as they sought justice over the death of the Class 12 girl. On Sunday, more than a thousand people staged a protest in front of the school demanding justice for the student's death. Protesters pelted stones at the police van. Police tried to control the situation but the protestors damaged the police vehicle. A few policemen also sustained some injuries. Appealing for peace, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin tweeted, "Violence worries me. Accused will be punished when the police probe over the school girl's death ends. I have asked DGP, Home Secretary to travel to Kallakurichi. I request people to maintain peace." According to Police officials, "the deceased girl died by suicide on Tuesday night in the school premises and there was a note found in which it was alleged that two teachers from the school tortured her forcing them to study all the time." The student death case was registered under section 174 (unnatural death). (ANI) Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva is the opposition's joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election. "Opposition's candidate for the post of Vice President of India is to be Margaret Alva," said NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The announcement came a day after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate said West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be its candidate for the Vice Presidential election. "We tried to contact West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee but she was busy in some conference. We also tried to contact Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He announced support (for Yashwant Sinha) a few days ago & will announce his support (for Margaret Alva) soon," Pawar added. The opposition leaders finalised her name after a meeting held at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar which was attended by all major opposition parties including the Congress, TMC, CPIM, RJD, SP, and others. She has earlier served as the governor of Rajasthan. Margaret Alva was made Central Minister at the age of 42, which in those days was a rarity. Alva was born in Mangalore in 1942, grew up in different parts of the former Madras Presidency, and imbibed the culture of the state, parts of which now belong to Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Her father belonged to the Indian Civil Service. She was married into the Alva family, from Mangalore in South Canara, which has a composite culture. She was drawn into the political scene while staying with her in-laws, both parliamentarians. She was elected for four successive terms to the Rajya Sabha, and one term in the Lok Sabha. Alva assumed several responsibilities, under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao. Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, NDA Vice Presidential candidate Dhankhar completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh. After finishing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan. Despite being a first-generation professional, he became one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan. Dhankhar has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He entered public life after getting elected as a Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. Subsequently, he also served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district. In July 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal. Nominations for the vice-presidential polls slated to be held on August 6, began on Tuesday. The Election Commission made an announcement of the elections for the 16th vice president of India to take place on August 6, 2022. The ECI has also issued directions for Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to be the Returning Officer for the polls. The nomination papers for the above election can be submitted starting Saturday up to July 19, 2022. The scrutiny for the nominations will take place on July 20 and the final list will be published on July 22. As in the case of the election to the President of India, the eligible candidates will need to submit a few documents including a certified copy of the electoral roll with the name mentioned on it and an amount of Rs 15,000 at the time of submitting the nomination papers which shall be returned after the election process is over in case the candidate does not make it to the final list. In case of the election of the Vice President of India, voting will happen in the Parliament and members of the Rajya Sabha will participate in this election as the vice president is also the de facto chairman of the upper house. The poll for the upcoming vice president's election is slated to take place between 10 AM and 5 PM on August 6, 2022, and the results are expected to be out on the same day. In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India's 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022. Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election while Draupadi Murmu is National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential candidate. The Presidential election will take place on July 18. (ANI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said that he got to know about Chhattisgarh Cabinet minister TS Singh Deo's resignation through media reports. Baghel was attending a spiritual gathering organised by Sakal Jain Samaj and Chatur Mas Samiti. "I got to know about it from the media. There's absolute coordination and whatever issues are there, they can be discussed by sitting together," CM Baghel told the media," he said. "In today's gathering, we discussed about the upcoming presidential election, from July 20 Vidhan Sabha election will begin. We will be discussing about various issues which will come up during the discussion," he added. In June, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Election of the 16th President of India. The polls will be held on July 18. The counting will be taken up on July 21. The term of President Ram Nath Kovind will end on July 24. (ANI) Criticising the Centre over the alleged non-clearance of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Singapore to attend a global summit, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh on Sunday said blocking Kejriwal's visit is infringing on his right. The AAP MP said Kejriwal has been invited to the World Cities Summit to be held in Singapore later this month. Kejriwal is supposed to present the Delhi model at the global summit. He further lashed out at the Centre alleging the central government is misusing the agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against its political opponents. "ED and CBI are being misused including in the case of Satyendar Jain. ED's conviction rate is a bare 0.5 per cent. So it is clear that the agency is only being used to target the Opposition," Singh told reporters here. Notably, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court extended the judicial custody of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain till July 20, 2022, in a money laundering case. Jain was arrested by ED on May 30, 2022. Singh further alleged that the Punjab government is forced to buy costlier coal from a private entity. He said he would raise all these three issues in the Monsoon session in Parliament. "I put up three issues (ED and CBI, coal and Kejriwal not being allowed to attend World Cities Summit) I would like to be discussed in the parliament session. Not allowing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend the World City Summit is infringing on his right," added Singh. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday seeking permission to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore. In his letter to Modi, Kejriwal said, "The Government of Singapore has invited us to present Delhi Model in the global summit. During the summit, the Delhi model has to be presented in front of many big leaders of the world. Today the whole world wants to know about the Delhi model. This invitation is a matter of pride and honour for the country." "In such a situation, it is against the interest of the country to stop a Chief Minister from visiting such an important platform. Give permission as soon as possible so that I can elevate the name of the country in this summit," added Kejriwal. (ANI) The blood samples of the child, who was suspected to have contracted monkeypox in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada, have tested negative, said Superintendent GGH Hospital Nageshwara Rao. The samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune after the child was admitted to the hospital with Monkeypox symptoms at GGH hospital. His family was kept under home quarantine. They had travelled to India yesterday from Saudi Arabia. A team of the Union Health Ministry was rushed to Kerala after a confirmed case of monkeypox in the Kollam district was reported. The patient with monkeypox had arrived in Kerala from the UAE and tested positive for the viral disease on Thursday. He is currently in isolation undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The central government on Thursday wrote a letter to all the states and union territories, reiterating some of the key actions that are required to contain the spread of the disease. Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan cited the letter sent by the ministry on May 31 in which it had issued a comprehensive 'Guidelines for Management of Monkeypox Disease'. The health secretary asked all the states and union territories to take key actions like orientation and regular re-orientation of all key stakeholders including health screening teams at points of entry (PoEs), disease surveillance teams, doctors working in hospitals about common signs and symptoms, differential diagnosis, case definitions for s for suspect/probable/confirmed cases and contacts, contact tracing and other surveillance activities that need to be undertaken following the detection of a case, testing, IPC protocols, clinical management etc. According to World Health Organization (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. It is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from two to four weeks, WHO said. Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding. As reported by WHO, since January 1, 2022, and as of June 22, 2022, a total of 3,413 laboratory-confirmed cases of Monkeypox and one death have been reported to WHO from 50 countries/territories. The majority of these cases have been reported from the European Region (86 per cent) and the Americas (11 per cent). This points to a slow but sustained increase in the spread of cases globally. Considering this is the first time that cases and clusters are being reported concurrently in five WHO Regions, WHO has assessed the overall risk of spread of cases as "Moderate" at the global level. (ANI) The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will release the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) result on Sunday at 5 pm. Candidates who appeared for their class 10 exams can check their results at the official website. The result of ICSE Semester I exam was released on February 7 and now students can check the result of semester II Exam. The CISCE exam was held in May. The board had not released any hard copy of the Semester 1 exam result. However, the result will be made available to schools in the form of online transcripts and result tabulation. When and Where to Check Semester 2 Result Students who appeared for their class 10 exams can check their results today on the official website of the Council. Using the login id and password of the school principal, can check their respective results by logging in to the career portal of the school council. Candidates can check their individual score by visiting the official website of CISCE. Students will have to select the 'ICSE' option from the "Course Section", and then enter their Unique ID and Password to check their score. If the student is not satisfied with the scorecard of ICSE 10th result then, he can send the paper for re-check. Students have to pay Rs 1000 for each subject if applied for rechecking purposes. He can also request the rechecking from the official website. ICSE 10th Result 2022: How to check 10th result Step 1- First of all go to the official website cisce.org. Step 2- Click on the link "ICSE 10th Result 2022" on the home page. Step 3- Fill the requested information. Step 4- The result will be in front of you. Step 5- Download it. Step 6- If you want, you can take a printout for future reference. Meanwhile, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has announced that from next year the exams for ICSE and ISC levels will be conducted only once a year. (ANI) The Delhi Police recently solved the fake abduction case of an American woman within 24 hours of its registration. In the sensational blind case, the female tourist arrived in Delhi on May 3 and informed her family that she is in an unsafe environment and is being assaulted and beaten by an unidentified individual. She did not disclose her present location to her family. The complaint was forwarded by the US Embassy to New Delhi District police. "This case was reported after more than two and half months of the arrival of the victim in India. So, there was no scope of making efforts through CCTV footage. It was also not sure as to which part of India, the victim is. On the basis of technical surveillance and professional investigation, the victim has been recovered within 24 hours of reporting the incident to the police," said Amrutha Guguloth, Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi District. "The United States Embassy informed that a US resident, Miss Chloe Renee McLaughlin arrived in Delhi on May 3, 2022 where she was assaulted and beaten by an unidentified individual known to her and she is missing after reporting the incident to her family in the US. The victim has mentioned in the email that she is in an unsafe environment where she has encountered physical and emotional abuse," said DCP said. On July 10, the victim spoke to her mother Sandra McLaughlin via a video call on WhatsApp. The mother of the victim tried to gather some more information about her but an unknown individual entered the room and she could not disclose much. The United States Embassy showed its concern anticipating that the victim is either incapacitated or being prevented from contacting her family or Embassy. Accordingly, a case vide FIR No. 128/22, dated 15.07.2022, u/s 364/365 IPC was registered at Police Station Chanakya Puri, New Delhi and an investigation was taken up, added Amrutha Guguloth. In order to ascertain the present whereabouts of the girl, assistance was sought from Yahoo.com for providing the IP address used by the girl for sending an email to American Citizens Services on July 9. Further, the Bureau of Immigration was requested to provide the immigration form of the girl, to find her whereabouts. As per the immigration form details, she had given her staying address as Khasra No. 44 & 45, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. "A team was sent to the location to find it the address of Raddisson Blu Hotel. Enquiries were made at the hotel and it was found that no such person had checked in at the hotel. Thereafter, technical assistance was taken from Cyber Unit/New Delhi District to find out the IP addresses used by her WhatsApp number. On analysis of the information received from WhatsApp, it was found that the victim used Wi-Fi data of someone," the police added. Accordingly, the mobile number associated with the IP Address and the alternative mobile number mentioned in the CAF was obtained and details of this number were analyzed. Acting on this crucial tip, her friend's mobile number was put on surveillance. Based on these technical inputs and operational requirements various teams were formed and dispatched to suspected locations to locate the victim. As a result, the police team succeeded in apprehending one Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro alias Rechi (age - 31 years), a Nigerian national, from Gurugram, Haryana, IP Address of whose mobile was used by the girl while making the WhatsApp call to her mother. On sustained interrogation, he revealed the location of the girl and ultimately the girl was traced at E-707, H2O Imperia Residency, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi District. After the rescue and examination of the victim, it is revealed that she had staged the incident to emotionally blackmail her parents. It was also found that her Visa had expired on June 6. As per the investigation conducted so far, it is found that the victim had befriended Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro alias Rechi through Facebook and after her arrival in India she was staying with him. On further investigation, it is found that the Passport of Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro alias Rechi has expired. Legal action with respect to overstaying in India without a valid passport and valid visa is being taken against them, said police. It has been found that the victim is graduate from a USA university and she resides in Washington DC and her father is an ex-army officer. She has a passion for singing. Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro alias Rechi came to India in the year 2017 for pursuing a course in Network Administrator. He has also a passion for singing. After completion of the course, he started stage performance. Both of them have a passion for singing. Probably this is the main reason for their friendship, the DCP said. Further investigation of the case is in progress. (ANI) Scindia directed the officials in the meeting that, "there should be no compromise with the passengers' safety." Further he said, "safety is the top most paramount priority and directive has been issued by the ministry to adhere to strictness about the safety issues and maintain highest safety standards as per international norms." Earlier on Sunday, three aircraft of international carriers made emergency landings at various airports in the country in the last 48 hours, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines. A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.All emergency landings happened because of various technical issues. The Air Arabia aircraft while operating flight G9-426 from Sharjah to Cochin was involved in a Hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely on the runway. The aircraft has been towed to the bay. In another incident, on July 16, an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport due to a pressurisation issue. In a third similar incident, on July 15, an aircraft of Srilankan Airlines made an emergency landing at Chennai airport due to a Hydraulic issue. (ANI) Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted sanction of the prosecution to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against two people including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan and Mehboob Aalam for allegedly misusing their position and causing financial losses to the exchequer while serving as Chairman and CEO of the Delhi Waqf Board, respectively. Sources said, the LG granted the sanction under section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The offences include deliberate and criminal violation of rules, regulations and law and abuse of position and causing loss to the exchequer. The SDM (HQ), Revenue Department, Delhi Government had in November 2016, filed a complaint alleging arbitrary and illegal appointments to various existing and non-existing posts by Amanatullah Khan in Delhi Waqf Board. The CBI had undertaken thorough investigations that revealed sufficient prosecutable evidence of the commission of criminal offences and had sought prosecution sanction of the Lt Governor (the competent authority in such matters as per law established) in May 2022, sources added. On August 21, 2020, the Delhi High Court dismissed public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the public notice issued by the Delhi government nominating Khan for election to a member of the Delhi Wakf Board. In May this year, Khan was arrested over a protest against the anti-encroachment drive in Delhi's Madanpur Khadar area. He was later granted bail by the Saket court. Khan was booked allegedly for rioting and obstructing South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials during the anti-encroachment drive. (ANI) Amid the ongoing crisis within the Goa Congress unit, the party on Sunday removed former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat as a permanent invitee to Congress Working Committee (CWC). "Congress President has removed Digambar Kamat from his current position as Permanent lnvitee to Congress Working Committee with immediate effect," read a Congress notification. Former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat called for introspection within the party citing losses in elections and defections. Earlier on Wednesday, responding to the "anti-party" charge against him, Kamat said that he will face it stating that he has worked for the party with sincerity. The remarks of the Congress leader came after allegations were levelled against him of hatching a conspiracy to split the party. "I worked for the party with sincerity. Congress has to do a lot of introspection as we are losing so many polls and leaders are leaving us," he told ANI on Tuesday. Kamat further said that he had opportunities in the past "if he wanted to take action", however, he stayed with the party, yet was rewarded with the disqualification petition. Notably, Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary CT Ravi, who is also the party's Goa in charge, on Monday claimed that 11 MLAs of the Goa Congress are ready to leave the party and join the BJP. "11 MLAs of Goa Congress are ready to leave Congress and join us as soon as possible. Many leaders and legislators of Congress are in contact with the BJP and will hopefully join the BJP shortly," said CT Ravi. The Goa Congress on Monday said it was seeking disqualification of two of its leaders - Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat - from the Assembly over allegations that the two senior functionaries were trying to engineer defections in the opposition camp for a switchover to the BJP. This came as five Goa Congress MLAs, who went incommunicado a day before, attended the state Assembly proceedings on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday, and claimed there was "nothing wrong" in the opposition party. On Sunday, out of the total 11 Congress MLAs in the state, five -- Michael Lobo, Digambar Kamat, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai and Delialah Lobo -- had gone incommunicado, a senior party leader earlier said. The Congress subsequently removed Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the 40-member state Assembly. Congress's Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao had alleged that "Lobo and Kamat were hatching a conspiracy by hobnobbing with the BJP to engineer a split in the Congress." The developments come amid the Congress party's upcoming 'Bharat Jodo Padayatra', a campaign aiming to boost the presence of the Congress party in Karnataka ahead of next year's Assembly elections. (ANI) South Africa: Jessie Duarte: A revolutionary dynamite President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the late struggle stalwart, ambassador and ANC Deputy Secretary General, Yasmin Jessie Duarte, as a faithful, dedicated and fiercely loyal leader a revolutionary dynamite. Although Duarte has been gravely ill for several months, the President said that it is difficult to comprehend that someone with such vitality and such spirit has departed this earth. The President was delivering a eulogy at the funeral service of Duarte who succumbed to a battle with cancer at the age of 68 on the early hours of Sunday morning. Duarte, who was accorded a special official funeral Category 2, was laid to rest on Sunday afternoon, according to Muslim rites at the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg. She has served, as South Africas Ambassador to the Republic of Mozambique between 1999 and 2003 and was a long-time anti-apartheid activist who served as Special Assistant to former President Nelson Mandela and struggle stalwart, Walter Sisulu. At the time of her untimely passing, Daurte served as the Deputy Secretary General and Acting Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC). For close on 10 years, she served as ANC Deputy Secretary General. For 25 years, she served on its National Executive Committee. Moreover, from the years of her youth to her final days, she served the people of South Africa with dedication, with humility and with a passion that is all too rare. She worked alongside great leaders of our struggle, the President said. President Ramaphosa said that throughout her life, Duarte was an organiser who mobilised women across the country to resist the restrictions imposed upon them by a racist and sexist political system and a patriarchal society. We remember the courage with which she spoke against the abuse of women not just by the apartheid security forces, but within the ranks of the liberation movement itself. Even in the democratic era, Jessie was relentless in advancing the position of women in all areas of public and private life, he said. The President said that she confronted the patriarchal attitudes and practices that sought to diminish the role and contribution of women in Parliament, in government and across society. The President said that Duarte worked alongside great leaders of our struggle and learned the politics of liberation from leaders like Mama Albertina Sisulu, Oom Beyers Naude and Madiba. From them, he said, she imbibed the qualities of revolutionary leadership, qualities that she was able to demonstrate in every position she occupied. Despite the great qualities she learnt, the President said she always found a way to mix the qualities with her own dynamism. As we worked with her we have gotten to realise the truism in the saying dynamites come in small packages. Jessie was a typical and quintessential dynamite, she was small, short and well packaged as a revolutionary dynamite, he said. Speaking about the attributes she possessed, the President said that Duarte was a unifier who was always teaching, organising, mobilising. She embodied a politics that was neither divisive, mean, nor small. Her politics were empowering and unifying. She understood the immense power of a united people and a united movement, the President said. President Ramaphosa reflected that Duarte fought strongly against factionalism and disunity. She stood firm against those who would sow division, who were interested only in personal advancement, who pursued narrow interests to the neglect of the needs of the people, he said. The President called on everyone in Duartes memory to follow her example, and strive towards unity and common purpose. Let us build a united nation and a united movement founded on the principles of our democratic Constitution. May we all strive to honour her life by doing everything within our means, sparing neither strength nor courage, to achieve the free, united and equal society for which she so gallantly fought, the President said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2022-07-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Flash China's Hainan Airlines launched direct flights from China to Serbia on Saturday, as a welcome ceremony was held at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. "We will be able to attract even more tourists and businessmen from China, which will bring China even closer to Serbia," said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who attended the ceremony with several officials. The first flight arrived on Saturday morning from Beijing and was welcomed by Vucic and the officials. Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, who was among the passengers, also attended the ceremony. "Not only that the direct flight will boost people-to-people exchange, but it will open new opportunities for cooperation between the two sides in all areas," said Chen. "This flight will play a positive role in the cooperation between China and countries in the entire region, and thus the position of Serbia as a regional transport hub will be strengthened," she said. Hainan Airlines launched its first flight to Belgrade via Prague in September 2017, which was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the joint opposition candidate for Vice-President Margaret Alva is better than the ruling National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar. "Our candidate is from the minority and is better than their candidate. If they will support our candidate (Margaret Alva) then it will be a unanimous poll," Kharge told ANI. The Congress' leader's remarks came after Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda appealed to Opposition parties to support Jagdeep Dhankhar in Vice-Presidential polls. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Margaret Alva has been named as the Opposition's joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election. "Opposition's candidate for the post of Vice President of India is to be Margaret Alva," said NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The Opposition leaders finalised Alva's name after a meeting held at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar which was attended by all major opposition parties including the Congress, TMC, CPIM, RJD, SP, and others. Alva has earlier served as the governor of Rajasthan. Born in Mangalore in 1942, She was made Central Minister at the age of 42, which in those days was a rarity. Her father belonged to the Indian Civil Service. She was married into the Alva family, from Mangalore. She was elected for four successive terms to the Rajya Sabha, and one term in the Lok Sabha. Alva assumed several responsibilities, under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao. The announcement came a day after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be its candidate for the Vice Presidential election. Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, NDA Vice Presidential candidate Dhankhar completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh. After finishing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan. Despite being a first-generation professional, he became one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan. Dhankhar has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He entered public life after getting elected as a Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. Subsequently, he also served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district. In July 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal. Nominations for the vice-presidential polls slated to be held on August 6, began on Tuesday. The Election Commission made an announcement of the elections for the 16th vice president of India to take place on August 6, 2022. In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India's 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022. Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election while Draupadi Murmu is NDA's presidential candidate. The Presidential election will take place on July 18. (ANI) Earlier on Sunday, Dhankhar met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda in Delhi. He also called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The BJP on Saturday announced the name of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Vice Presidential election. Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday also extended support for Jagdeep Dhankhar in vice-presidential polls. The decision has been taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and sought support for Dhankhar, said official sources. Dhankhar was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal in 2019. Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Margaret Alva has been named as the Opposition's joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election. Alva will file her nomination on Tuesday. The Election Commission made an announcement of the elections for the 16th vice president of India to take place on August 6, 2022. In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India's 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022. Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election while Draupadi Murmu is NDA's presidential candidate. The Presidential election will take place on July 18. (ANI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Sunday said that in order to inculcate feeling of patriotism in every citizen of the country, the Central Government has announced a program 'Har Ghar Tiranga' under which every citizen of the country would put up the tricolour in his or her house. While talking to ANI, Thakur said, "In order to create a feeling of patriotism in every citizen of the country, the Central Government has announced an excellent program 'Har Ghar Tiranga' i.e. every citizen of the country should put up the tricolour in his house." "For this, the Home Minister held a meeting with all the Chief Ministers. A program has been set to hoist the tricolour in 20 crore houses across the country. Tomorrow we will hold a meeting with all the Deputy Commissioners to take the program forward," he added. On being asked about the rain alert issued for Himachal Pradesh, he said, "I have talked with commissioners and officers to be on alert and take this matter seriously and be prepared for the situation." On the vaccination of citizens with the COVID-19 booster dose, Thakur said, " I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the vaccines which are made in India is very important for the citizens of the whole country from the point of view of survival, it has proved to be effective." He added that today vaccination of 200 crores is completed in the country, which is a matter of pride. Himachal Pradesh was one of the first states in the country to complete the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination and the second dose too, he added. Earlier today, rain triggered flash-flood at the Sangla Valley in Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. (ANI) The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested two persons for robbing a man of Rs 34 lakh while he was riding a scooty, an official said on Sunday. The accused, identified as Sayed Imran and Rahul Sikka a.k.a. Punjabi, had planned robbery to compensate for their losses in their respective businesses, and to gain quick and easy money. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Amit Goel said the robbery incident took place on June 23 when the complainant Vicky Gupta was going to Punjabi Basti Ghanta Ghar, Subzi Mandi, Delhi from his office carrying Rs 34.17 lakhs. "As soon as he turned towards Shastri Nagar from Kamal T Point two persons came from his backside on Sarai Rohilla fly over on scooty and put their scooty in front of his two wheeler. Thereafter scooty driver came and stopped his scooty and pillion rider threatened to kill him and robbed the bag and fled away towards Shastri Nagar red light," DCP Goel said. Accordingly, the police registered an FIR under section 392 (Punishment for robbery) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sarai Rohilla police station and began the investigation. During the probe, a police team was constituted which conducted a local inquiry to gather vital clues related to the case as there was no clue about the assailants. "The team went through the criminal record of several persons who were active in the vicinity but found no clue. Thereafter, CCTV footage near the crime scene was collected and it revealed that two persons who were on TVS N torq scooty, had committed the crime," the DCP said. Raids were also conducted at all possible hideouts of the accused in Delhi-NCR, Kullu, Manali etc but all went in vain but finally after technical investigation and thorough questioning of several people, the accused's names were revealed and they were nabbed in Uttarakhand. The third accused, identified as Amir, along with his associates had planned the robbery and provided a stolen scooty for a sum of Rs 6,000 to the accused robbers from Jafarabad, Delhi. The robbed money was distributed by Amir, Sayed Imran, Rahul Sikka and the fourth accused, identified as Nadeem. The accused Amir and Nadeem hatched the whole conspiracy and are still at large. "Multiple raids are being conducted at all possible hideouts to nab them," the official added. --IANS uj/pgh ( 409 Words) 2022-07-17-19:16:02 (IANS) Two contractual workers were buried alive after a landslip occurred while they were working inside an underground for laying drainage pipelines. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Sunday at Suttur in Virduhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. The two were engaged in laying under ground drainage pipelines. Police said that the deceased N. Sakthivel (45) and K. Krishnamoorthy (51) are both residents of Kallakurichi. According to information available, 35 contractual workers were employed by an Andhra Pradesh-based private company for carrying out underground drainage pipelines. Seven workers including Sakthivel and Krishnamoorthy were working in the Mukkrundathal area in Suttur on Saturday night. In the early morning on Sunday, Sakthivel and Krishnamoorthy went inside the deep pit to join the pipeline, when a landslide occurred and both were buried alive. Fire and rescue force personnel and police reached the spot and the bodies of the two men could be pulled out after two hours. The bodies have been sent to the Virudhunagar Medical college hospital for postmortem and further investigation in the matter is on. --IANS aal/uk ( 192 Words) 2022-07-17-19:52:01 (IANS) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the biggest and most successful campaign of Covid vaccination has been conducted in India. He described the crossing of 200-crore doses of Covid vaccination as historic in the country as a result of the tireless hard work of the Corona warriors under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He further said that the Government of India has launched the Covid Vaccination Amrit Mahotsav. Under this, free publication dose is being given to all the beneficiaries in the age group of 18 to 59. He also said that vaccination is necessary for the prevention of Covid. All necessary arrangements have been made by the state government for this. Appealing to the people of the state, Dhami said that vaccination is our biggest weapon in the fight against the corona epidemic and all the people of the state who are above the age of 18 must be a part of the Covid precaution dose campaign and get the Covid vaccine. He also urged people to encourage other people for vaccination He said that in the last two years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we fought against the Corona epidemic with a stoicism. Under his leadership, a great campaign of Covid vaccination was launched in India, as well as the work of distributing the vaccine by India across the world. (ANI) Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan who attended the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting on Sunday, said he is not part of NDA or any alliance. NDA ministers and leaders held a meeting at Parliament on Sunday ahead of the monsoon session starting on Monday. Chirag Paswan also attended the meeting. "NDA's meeting was held to discuss the presidential polls. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) supported NDA's candidate Droupadi Murmu. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has always worked to bring the poor, backwards, tribals and Dalits to the mainstream," Paswan told mediapersons here after the meeting. Asked about his future course of action, Paswan said, "We will contest the Bihar elections in an alliance, But presently I am not part of any alliance. Today, I am neither with NDA nor with UPA or any Maha Gathbandhan. With whom I'll forge alliance will be announced only before elections." Meanwhile, Union Minister Ram Das Athawale who also attended the NDA's meeting said, "It is a good thing Congress Party have given the ticket to Margaret Alva for Vice President. She is a senior leader of the Congress Party. Despite of everything, NDA has a majority and by giving a ticket to Margaret Alva is not a solution for Congress. NDA's presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar will win." Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said there is no chance of the Opposition candidate to win the vice presidential polls since the NDA enjoys the majority. "We have a majority and there is no chance for any other candidate (to win). It would have been better if the opposition conducted the election unopposed," Shekhawat told ANI. The Congress-led opposition has fielded former Union minister Yashwant Sinha against Draupadi Murmufor the presidential election on July 18. The counting will be taken up on July 21. The term of office of President Ram Nath Kovind will end on July 24. Murmu is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President. The voting for the next President of India will start on July 18 while counting will take place on July 21. The BJP on Saturday announced the name of former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the NDA candidate for the Vice Presidential election. Dhankhar, who resigned as West Bengal Governor on Sunday will file his nomination on Monday. Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Margaret Alva has been named as the Opposition's joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election.Alva will file her nomination on Tuesday. (ANI) Lok Sabha member from Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri constituency and DMK leader, S. Senthilkumar has objected to the 'Bhoomi Pooja' of a road project by a Hindu priest, and scolded the officials for inviting only a Hindu priest. The MP shouted at an official, and sought to know why the 'Imam' and Christian priest were not present. He also asked for the presence of atheist leaders as well as Dravidar Kazhagam representatives. "Do you have instructions or not that the government functions should not be held like this. Are you aware or not?" he asked an official. The MP also urged the authorities present to clean everything -- presumably the pooja materials that the Hindu priest had brought for the Bhoomi Pooja on Saturday. The official at whom the MP shouted was identified as the Executive Engineer of Public Works Department. The DMK leader also later shared a short video of the episode in his Twitter handle. He was heard saying: "Trying to keep my cool... at times, they make me lose my patience." Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has objected to the MP's behaviour. The party's Tamil Nadu unit vice president Narayanan Thirupathy questioned Senthilkumar whether he would have reacted in the same manner had an Imam been present, and would have conducted rituals according to the Muslim belief. The BJP leader called for the MP to apologise to the public for "disrespecting people's faith". In a tweet, the BJP leader wrote: "I strongly condemn@DrSenthil_MDRD for Hindu beliefs and rituals at a workplace where poojas were about to be performed by the workers to their beliefs. His abuse and behaviour have once confirmed that @arivalayam is an anti-Hindu party." --IANS aal/pgh ( 294 Words) 2022-07-17-21:04:03 (IANS) Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that the state has a coalition government and it is not being run by those from the "original BJP". Speaking to ANI, the state Congress president said, "It's not the original Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Legislators government, it's a government of all party MLAs, it's a coalition government in the state." He claimed that there were a lot of issues within the ruling party as those who have gone to the BJP from Congress and JD(S) constitute over 60 per cent of the government, and the long-time party loyalists feel that they are being sidelined. "There is fear in the BJP that there are a lot of internal problems, that's the reason their national leaders are repeatedly coming and holding discussions. Original BJP is not running this government, it is a coalition government," Shivakumar said. He further said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai came from a different party and those who came with CM from Janata Dal, are about 30 per cent, those who have gone from Congress are 30 per cent and BJP (original) are about 30 per cent. "Basavaraj Bommai came from a different party, those who came with CM from Janata Dal are about 30 per cent, those who have gone from Congress are 30 per cent and BJP original are about 30 per cent. There are a lot of internal issues and there is a lot of scarcity and fear between them as original BJP, people feel that the government is being run by outsiders who came during operation lotus," Shivakumar told ANI. (ANI) A small group of Sri Lankan protestors in the US had gathered outside the residence of Manoj Rajapaksa, son of ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in Los Angeles, shouting slogans to ask his father to return home, who fled to Singapore. The protest took place ahead of the resignation of Rajapaksa on July 13, reported The Sunday Morning. The protester said that President Gotabaya had to step down from the president's position and the money which he is owning is the money of the Sri Lankans which has to be returned. "We are in the Los Angeles Sunland neighborhood. We are in front of the house of Gotabaya Rakapaksa's son, Manoj Rajapaksa. He has stolen money from the people of Sri Lanka and bought this luxury property. This is our money. This is our property. There are only a few of us here today but if your father will not leave his office, we will come here in the thousands," the protestors had said. However, Sri Lankan Twitter users criticized the protest saying Manoj Rajapaksa has not been political and his life in the US is not linked to his father's politics. Protestors claimed that Manoj Rajapaksa had no place to stay when he first arrived in the US, but now he owns several houses within the US itself, reported The Sunday Morning. "How is it possible to buy such properties that value so much within a very small time period? This is a peaceful protest and the son has to tell the father to step down as soon as possible." The protestors also wanted Manoj Rajapaksa to declare his assets and threatened to bring legal action against him if it was not done. Rajapaksa, 73, had gone into hiding after protesters stormed his residence on July 9 and he had announced that he will hand over his resignation letter on Wednesday (July 13). Earlier, Rajapaksa along with his wife escaped to the Maldives and from there they went to Singapore. Rajapaksa's resignation came after thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday. Sri Lanka's multiple crises have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the collapse of the crucial tourism industry, which provides foreign currency for imported fuel and medical supplies, and rocked by the supply chain crisis precipitated by the Ukraine war. Some 22 per cent of the population are food insecure and in need of assistance said the World Food Programme last month, and the UN has launched a joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan, requesting more than USD 47 million to aid around 1.7 million of the worst impacted. (ANI) Flash The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) on Saturday held an extraordinary conference of its Central Committee on Saturday to set out an action plan for 2023, the year in which the country's next general elections will be held. The party's honorary president Samdech Heng Samrin said, in his opening speech, that the CPP's landslide victory in the commune election last month clearly reflected people's confidence in the party's leadership and political programs. "We will strive to make our party even more victorious in the seventh National Assembly election in 2023," he said. Samrin, who is also president of the National Assembly, noted that the country's successful fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was a great achievement made by the CPP-led government in protecting people's lives and stabilizing the economy. The CPP extraordinary conference will last two days. It is presided over by CPP's president Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who is the prime minister of Cambodia, and was on the first day attended by more than 3,400 party members from across the country. The party's current central committee consists of 865 members. The CPP has ruled the country since 1979. General elections are held every five years in the Southeast Asian country. Sri Lanka's main Opposition leader and front-runner in the race for the next President, Sajith Premadasa on Sunday expressed his concerns over the Presidential polls and said that the current parliament does not represent the majority opinion of the people as it is composed of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's legislative majority. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Premadasa said, "Right now, what you have is a Parliament that does not represent the majority opinion of the people of the ground. So, they will have to think far and think aloud as to how they will use their vote." Speaking on the election procedure for President, Premadasa said that the 225 parliamentarians which are composed of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's majority in the Legislative Assembly, will decide the destiny of approx 22 million Sri Lankans. "Usually, the President of Sri Lanka is chosen by the people... 22 million people are the voters, who have reached the age of voting, all have to choose their President. Right now, what we have is 225 parliamentarians choosing the President and this parliament is composed of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's legislative majority. So it is from that particular composition that President will be chosen," the opposition leader said. Underscoring the country's economic crisis, Premadasa said that he had a plan to recover from the crisis and further said that he had been informing the government for the past 3 years to not take ill-advised economic steps, which granted tax benefits to super-rich people. "They never listened and we are in a devastating state right now," he added. Premadasa advised that the country needs a fresh election to ensure that the entire system gets corrected. Premadasa praised the Indian government and said, "We admire the gracious effort of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his government and the people of India for the tremendous support they have given us in terms of meeting the basic human needs of the people of our country. And we are so grateful and we continue to seek India's help and support in this regard." Earlier, on Friday, Sri Lanka's main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa announced that he will contest the Presidential elections. Taking to Twitter, Sajith Premadasa wrote, "I am contesting to be the President. The electorate is confined to 225 MPs with the GR (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) coalition dominating the numbers. Even though it is an uphill struggle, I am convinced that truth will prevail." As the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned from office, in accordance with the Constitution, the Parliament will meet next week and take steps to elect a new President, read a special statement by acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe. This comes as Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court has issued an interim order that prevented former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country without the court's permission until July 28. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday was sworn in as the interim President after Parliament Speaker Abeywardena accepted the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Gotabaya Rajapaksa submitted his resignation letter Thursday after arriving in Singapore, officially vacating the post of President. (ANI) Baghlan's head of the information and culture directorate Malawi Mustafa Hashemi said that a bus, carrying passengers from Kabul to Balkh, collided with a truck near the city of Pul-e-Khumri at around 2 am on Saturday, TOLO News reported. "I was sleeping when the accident happened," said Herat resident Mohammad Nabi, who was wounded during the incident. Nabi said that he was travelling to Samangan from Kabul adding that his son and his brother were also wounded, local media reported. "During the trip, I was falling asleep and the incident happened," said another passenger Ali Mohammad. The officials added that the people who were injured during the incident were taken to two hospitals in Baghlan and Samangan provinces. Baghlan Hospital's head Mohammad Anwar Wardak said, "We admitted 15 injured, including a child and a woman. Some of the wounded were discharged." The officials added that the incident resulted in eight casualties. At least four people were wounded when a vehicle lost its control in the Doshi district in Baghlan on Friday evening, local media reported. In a similar incident, three people were killed in a road accident that took place in Baghlan province in May, media reported citing traffic police. The incident took place in Baghlan-e-Markazi district, Xinhua News Agency reported quoting Qari Nazir Abidi, traffic police. (ANI) Afghanistan's acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said that the ban on USD 7 billion Afghanistan's assets was unjust and called on the US to release the assets. Addressing a gathering in Khost province of Afghanistan, Haqqani said that the formation of an inclusive government will come into effect itself whenever "the western ideology" is removed from Afghanistan, TOLO News reported. "Did they achieve anything over the past 20 years? Now, they have frozen the Afghans' assets and have taken revenge on a certain number of people. You fought against them for 20 years," Haqqani said. Haqqani said that the formation of an inclusive government takes a long time adding that the country should not wait for recognition and that essential steps needed to be taken, local media reported. "We say don't shout for an inclusive government desperately. Be patient. Once the ideology of paganism is eliminated and Afghans are adjusted to their national and Islamic identity, the inclusivity will be ensured itself," he added. Haqqani said that the country won't pose threat to any other countries and asked for similar engagement from them. "We don't say we oppose Pakistan, Iran, China, or anyone else. We Afghans have given our test and we assure them there will be no threat from our side but we ask for a similar engagement," Haqqani said. The interior minister urged the nation to stay united and accept each other, it added. Earlier, in the month of June, the Taliban official Amir Khan Muttaqi, along with his delegation, left for Qatar to discuss with the US officials the release of withheld Afghan assets. At the same time, US sources claimed that Joe Biden's administration was working with the Taliban on a mechanism that would provide Afghanistan access to the monetary reserves of the central bank, reported Khaama Press citing The Washington Post. After the Taliban seized the nation by force last year, the US froze Afghan reserves. The militants-turned-politicians are currently working to restore the nation's economy which has been ravaged by sanctions imposed and isolation. Earlier, the Taliban had warned that it will 'reconsider' policy toward the US if it does not receive its full USD 7 billion frozen assets. US President Joe Biden decided to split USD 7 billion of the frozen Afghan assets to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and compensate victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. (ANI) Non-profit organizations and charities have raised concern over donor privacy laws in the US as China targets overseas dissenters. Jianli Yang, writing in Real Clear Policy said that donor privacy in the United States is a life or death matter as they can face extreme consequences when they are identified by the Chinese government. On April 13, 2021, the Chinese government forced a businessman named Lee to appear on its central TV station and confess to a "crime" for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. His crime? Financially supporting Citizen Power Initiatives for China, a pro-democracy movement based in the United States and registered as a non-profit organization with the Internal Revenue Service. Jianli is the founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China. July 1, 2022 marked the one-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court's decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation vs Bonta. Regarded as one of the most important donor privacy cases in over 60 years, the ruling affirmed that all Americans should have the ability to exercise their First Amendment rights privately. Prior to the Supreme Court's ruling in Americans for Prosperity Foundation vs Bonta last summer, several states demanded that non-profits turn over their donor lists as a condition of registration and fundraising. In California, those lists were carelessly published online. The Supreme Court's decision brought an end to that practice - for now. However, some politicians and activists across the United States continue to press for the disclosure of non-profit donor and member lists despite the Court's pro-privacy decision. "It is no exaggeration to say that privacy is a matter of life and death for our members and donors as well as for our organization itself. Our work would be unsustainable without the ability to shield our supporters. The same is true for many other important causes supported by non-profits throughout the United States," said Jianli. Jianli, expressing his concern over the safety of donors said that he Citizen Power Initiatives for China in 2008 to advance human rights and a peaceful transition to democracy in China. "Unsurprisingly, our supporters, including those in America, can face extreme consequences when they are identified by the Chinese government. As a result, the privacy of our members is paramount to our organization's survival," said Jianli. "Yet increasingly, our privacy is threatened by lawmakers in the US If successful, their efforts would silence many voices and put brave people in danger," he added. US lawmakers are of the view that charitable donations decision was sweeping, but it could erode disclosure laws concerning political campaigns, too. They said it chilled the groups' ability to raise money and subjected donors to possible harassment. Jianli further shared his horrid experience which he faced while challenging Chinese oppression. "In the spring of 1989, I joined thousands of my fellow students in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to protest for democracy. On June 4, I watched in horror as government soldiers slaughtered thousands of peaceful demonstrators by firing at them with machine guns and rolling over them with tanks. I was among the fortunate who survived," said Jianli. Since then, as a student at UC Berkeley and later Harvard University, Jianli frequently testified before the US Congress, made appearances on television, and gave lectures on college campuses around the world. He engaged in discussions with American leaders on US-China policy and led a project that produced a draft constitution for a democratic China. "The Chinese government deemed me a traitor for my work and forbade me from entering the country. In the spring of 2002, I defied the entry ban to support grassroots activists in China's industrial northeast. Two weeks later, I was imprisoned,"said Jianli. For five years, he was detained in a Chinese prison, often in solitary confinement. Jianli's mental health deteriorated under the weight of prolonged isolation, repeated interrogations, and endless psychological and physical torture. "In 2007, thanks to overwhelming international support, I was freed and returned to the United States. Since then, I have recommitted myself to the hard work of advancing human rights and democracy in China. That work places me, and my organization, directly in the crosshairs of the Chinese government," said Jianli. In 2019, the Chinese Foreign Ministry smeared Citizen Power Initiatives for China as a hostile foreign force. Danger has also extended to other financial supporters, like Lee. A few other major contributors halted their support after learning the Chinese government had discovered their donations. Most people who want to support, including those living in the US, have some connection to China through their family, friends, or business. China has a long arm to harass and surveil overseas Chinese dissenters. Public exposure of supporters' identities by federal or state agencies in the United States would enable the Chinese government and others acting on its behalf to more easily threaten and harass supporters. Many people in the US have demurred from supporting our cause because of these fears, said Jianli. He expressed that such stories will give pause to politicians in the United States who seek to force non-profits to publicly expose their supporters when speaking on matters of public concern. (ANI) China neglected the atrocities on pro-democracy protestors in Myanmar during China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi's bilateral meeting with Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin. China is playing a spoiler in Myanmar's peace process, reported policy research group, Poreg as Communist China has neither interest nor liking for the democratic idiom. In the run-up to the Seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which the Myanmar junta had hosted at the ancient temple city of Bagan, there were high expectations that Beijing would encourage Yangon to return to the old days by sincerely implementing the peace process outlined by ASEAN. However, China values its own strategic interests and it has gone hawking the Belt and Road Initiative and played a spoiler in the democratic process, and peace, in Myanmar. China is indeed ready to ride roughshod over regional and global sentiments and to arbitrate with the ASEAN countries on behalf of the military Junta. Put simply, the Bamboo Capitalist is taking "advantage of Myanmar's current global adversities" to push ahead with its agenda, reported Poreg. Keeping the Junta in Naypyidaw in good humour matters. Not the aspirations and well-being of the people of Myanmar, particularly the youth who are baring their chests to the police brutalities. Both sides spoke highly of the progress made in "practical cooperation" between the two countries and agreed to speed up the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. The two foreign ministers also decided to ensure the smooth operation of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines and to implement a cross-border power grid deal. And resolved to discuss the "China-Myanmar Economic Corridor Plus" cooperation at an appropriate time to elevate bilateral cooperation. As noted at the outset, this interaction betrayed the expectations of global observers as well as other Lancang-Mekong Cooperation member-nations, reported Poreg. The Myanmar military Junta has created one of the biggest human catastrophes since it overthrew a democratically elected government more than a year ago. As of June 2022, about 2000 protestors were killed. About 11000 democracy campaigners are languishing in jails. The Junta has let loose a reign of repression to crush the "spring revolution", the popular name for democratic protests. Brute state power is on display with internet and social media blackouts, arrests on the charge of spreading disinformation and deployment of 'instigators' to engage in bloody clashes with pro-democracy protestors, reported Poreg. Yet, China is unwilling to look beyond its strategic interests in Myanmar. It has quietly replaced the phrase, 'Pauk-Phaw' in Sino-Myanmar ties with 'Pragmatism'. And is pursuing 'pro-active' relations with the junta. 'Pauk-Phaw' is a Myanmarese term that means 'fraternal', and it is often used to describe relations between siblings. Wang Yi commended "Pauk-Phaw" friendship and highlighted the four pillars of China-Myanmar relations, namely, political trust, mutually beneficial cooperation, people-to-people bonds and mutual learning in culture. He made no reference, however, to the democratic aspirations of the Myanmarese people. And was silent on the brutality of the military regime against its own people. (ANI) Namibian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah arrived in the national capital on Sunday for the CII-EXIM Bank Conclave. "Warm welcome to DPM & FM Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia in India. Her participation in CII-EXIM Bank Conclave and extensive engagements over the next few days will further deepen our relations with Namibia in all spheres," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet. The event is scheduled to take place between July 19-20 where both the countries, India and Africa will have the session on different topics under themes like "Building Financing Partnerships", "SERV Africa - Higher Education & Skill Development Partnership with Africa", Strengthening Value Chains in Agriculture & Food Processing Sector and many more. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and President of Confederation of Indian Industry Sanjiv Bajaj will also be present at the meeting. The CII- EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership was launched in the year 2005 with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Government of India, according to CII-EXIM Africa Conclave's official website. In the last sixteen editions, the Conclave has played a pivotal role in encouraging Indian companies to establish and grow their footprints in Africa. According to the website, the level of economic engagement between India and Africa has grown multi-dimensional and to reflect the changing contours of this dynamic relationship, the Conclave is being rechristened as "CII EXIM Bank Conclave on India Africa Growth Partnership" expanding the earlier focus on "Project Partnership". "The upcoming edition will focus on project exports, trade, investments, and exchange of knowledge and expertise creating shared value for business and industry at large between India and Africa," the website reads. The two-day event will take place at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. (ANI) Several human rights and education activists urged world leaders in an open letter recently to mount diplomatic pressure on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in the war-torn country as the Taliban's brutal regime in Afghanistan will soon complete a year in August. Young girls and women have been compromising with their aspirations as it has been almost 300 days since their development has been distorted, the activists said adding, that if this situation persists, their aims and hopes will suffer greatly, reported Khaama Press. World leaders, regional allies, and international organizations were urged in the letter to take serious actions to fulfil their commitments in order to promote and protect Afghan girls' rights, especially the right to education which was snatched away from them after the Taliban-led Afghan government banned the education for girls in classes 6 and above. Notably, the letter calls for solemn actions beyond a "declaration of solidarity" and only condemning the Taliban, demanding immediate financial assistance for Afghanistan's educational system. The letter also calls for funding for human rights organizations and the installation of alternative systems for girls' education in Afghanistan. "Although such actions (condemning and sharing sympathies) are done with good intentions, it appears that it does not make the Taliban accountable for ensuring the rights of women and girls," the letter read. Taliban has imposed draconian restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement for women and girls. The Taliban's decision to ban female students above grade six from going to school has drawn widespread criticism at the national and international levels. Further, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul in August last year has curtailed women's rights and freedoms, with women largely excluded from the workforce due to the economic crisis and restrictions. As a result of this, women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, deprived of the fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, work, public participation and health. Afghan women are staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives within 10 months of Afghanistan's takeover. According to HRW, women and girls are blocked from accessing health care as well. Reports suggest that women and girls facing violence have no escape route. Allowing girls into schools and other educational institutes has been one of the main demands of the international community. The majority of countries have refused to formally recognize the Taliban amid worries over their treatment of girls and women and other human rights issues. Women are no longer allowed to travel unless accompanied by men related to them and are being curtailed from wearing make-up as well as their reproductive rights. (ANI) United States has no strategy for rebooting its relationship with the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, and stopping the spread of Chinese money, influence, and critical military might in the region, media reports said. US faces a rising China in the Middle East region. During the time of Obama-Biden years, Washington failed to confront Beijing which is now offering an alternative to the United States in the Middle East region. Beijing sees US President Joe Biden as another symbol of America's overall decline and with this China sees a huge opportunity to pounce. China is already the biggest buyer of Saudi oil and wants nothing more than to displace us in the region in every possible way. The Chinese military already has a naval base close by in Djibouti and wants to start placing assets in the region to ensure oil flows are uninterrupted. US' relationship with Saudi Arabia took a hit when the US lifted sanctions from Iran for its nuclear program however, former President Donald Trump reimposed the sanctions. And now the US is again negotiating with Iran which only suggests that US foreign policy is everything confused. All of this might seem like the US is heading towards the normalization of ties with Riyadh. But it's a long road ahead. The latest trip of US President Joe Biden to Jeddah has done nothing to repair the relationship with the Saudis. It's questionable that the US can further its own national interests and ascend its global stature. As the US turns away from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, China has clearly moved in. The trip kicked off with the farcical fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, reported New York Post. Saudis, who, like many Mideast allies, feel abandoned by the United States. From running out of Afghanistan to empowering Iran to build a nuclear weapon, Biden has smashed to bits America's credibility in this still vital part of the world. The Saudis are not perfect allies however it is immensely important to cultivate relationships that are in Washington's best interest. Iran's leaders are chanting "death to America." And on the other hand, the US must not forget to keep Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait as a counterweight. Moreover, the US must also protect its most staunch ally, Israel. Abraham Accords, which the US-brokered between the Arab world and Israel are so important. The Trump Administration strengthened the relationship between Israel and the Arab world. But when Biden took office he said publicly that he wanted nothing to do with it all. His not-so-excellent adventure only showcases to the world how weak America has become under his leadership. Biden will be forced in private to beg and grovel for Saudi oil. Looking at the political angle of this, it seems that Biden is more afraid of the progressive wing of his party and their so-called green agenda than enriching not just Saudi Arabia but the other Gulf States as well. (ANI) US President Joe Biden who visited Saudi Arabia this week as part of his first Middle East trip as commander-in-chief discussed and analysed Afghan women's rights, which have been badly curtailed since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden and Mohammed bin Salman voiced support for addressing the needs and advancing Afghan people's rights, especially the rights of women and girls to education as well as the right to work for women, Khaama Press reported. Notably, the two parties emphasized the importance of strengthening Afghanistan's security and also stressed the significance of continuing to support humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. The talks come as the US's defence budget of USD 839 billion for 2023, once approved with the amendments, will bar the Pentagon from providing any form of aid to Afghanistan. Previously, Biden also issued a notice withdrawing the designation of Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, depriving the nation of the benefits of the designation. The Taliban took control of the government last August when the United States and its NATO allies withdrew their military troops. While the Taliban's all-male administration imposed severe restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan, including the mandatory hijab, travel restrictions, gender segregation rules, and the suspension of girls' schools, the US has made it clear that no legitimacy and recognition is possible until the Taliban form an inclusive government. The situation of women and girls in Afghanistan reflects systematic violations of rights directly resulting from the wilful adoption of measures and policies by the Taliban, aiming at erasing them completely from all spheres of public life. Afghan women had enjoyed unfettered freedom in the country for so many years but are now staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives within ten months of Afghanistan's takeover. (ANI) Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has blamed the previous governments for creating the imbalance in civil-military relations and asked the military to reconsider their decision to support the incumbent government. Speaking at a seminar on freedom of expression, a day ahead of crucial by-polls in Punjab, where his party is contesting 20 Punjab Assembly seats across the province, Imran Khan said that the previous governments of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) provided space to the establishments to save themselves from corruption cases, which created a gap between the civilian leadership and military, the Dawn reported. "Because of this imbalance, a situation has developed that now the establishment isn't realising the consequences of the actions it is committing," he said while referring to a crackdown against his party following his ouster as a result of the no-confidence motion. "We cannot afford a weak army... we have to protect it. If the distance between the army and the public keeps increasing, which it is, then it will eventually harm the army and Pakistan," he added. "Reinforcing a "failed" government would further widen the gap between the people and the establishment. The establishment should differentiate between constructive and damaging criticism," he added, referring to the current government of Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan is at a critical juncture and it was very important that the "right decisions" were made today, he said, adding that the establishments should reconsider their decision to support the incumbent government. Speaking of the forced disappearance of journalists, activists as well as students under his regime, Imran said that he was the most criticized PM but he was never afraid of the media and that his government had nothing to do with whisking people away or restrictions on media. "I never tried to bribe journalists or take action against them, but constructive criticism" was necessary," Imran said. "The trend of disappearing people started during the War on Terror. I was the first person to protest against this practice in 2003 after Aafia Siddiqui went missing. I did not know the point of view of the army till I came into power," Khan said, adding that he used to speak against these enforced disappearances because "there is nothing more painful" than seeing the relatives of missing persons coming to ask about their loved ones. "We came in the government and got to know that oftentimes people were picked up on the pretext of national security." PTI chief said that he spoke to Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa when Gen Faiz Hamid was the chief of the ISI, which resulted in the release of many forcibly disappeared people, the Dawn reported. "The army said the problem was regarding the judiciary," he said, adding that the explanation provided to him was that it was difficult to prosecute a terrorist in court due to a lack of evidence or witnesses. He claimed that an agreement was reached and his government was working on a bill that would have, at least, kept the families of the missing persons in the loop, the Dawn reported. Imran Khan also distanced his government from the abduction of journalists during the rule of the PTI government. "Shireen Mazari knows, it came up in cabinet three or four times that some journalist was picked up; no journalist was picked up on my instructions, the problem was something else," he said. 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) A Singaporean citizen has started an online petition to pressure Singapore Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam into investigating Sri Lanka's former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for money laundering. The petition by Raymond Ng was started on Change.org, a worldwide petition website, based in California, USA. Terming Singapore as a country with rule of law, Raymond Ng said that he has made a police report in Singapore, and he understands that Singapore Police Force needs to know how serious this is to start an investigation. He said that there is nobody in Singapore who is above the law. The Singaporean citizen further requested everyone to sign the petition and encourage the investigation. He stressed that he would submit this petition to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Minister Shanmugam to compel the investigation of this Sri Lankan President who is in Singapore now. He also gave a police report for reference. "Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has just landed on the Republic of Singapore around 7.17 pm. As a result of this, my loyalty to Singapore compels me to make a police report on this President. On potential breach of our Money Laundering Laws," it said. He listed the reasons and basis of the police report. At the outset, he said that Sri Lanka is now facing a serious shortage problem with respect to food, fuel and other basic necessities. In large part, it is seen as mismanagement of Sri Lankan Governmental Mismanagement, he noted adding that large amount of reserves amounting to billions of USD is involved. He also highlighted at the potential corruption problem, "which means the money the President brings with him to Republic of Singapore is highly suspicious as it may contain money belonging to Sri Lanka and not to the President." Raymond Ng said that Rajapaksa is considered a "Politically Exposed Person (PEP)", and that means the money "he has brought along with him or has transferred via the International SWIFT system must be carefully scrutinized to ensure all the money he has with him is totally legal, and that is earned through his salary as the President of Sri Lanka." He also raised questions if the custom check saw whether Gotabaya Rajapaksa was carrying cash or gold/silver. "I got to know that he has some expressed private lane which such checks may have been skipped," he said. The Singaporean citizen raised concerns over his mobile phones or computers for any potential cryptocurrencies that the Rajapaksa may be bringing along with him to Singapore. He stated that Rajapaksa must be investigated, and should any illegal activities are found he must be arrested and charged according to Singapore Laws. "We cannot allow laundered money to come to Singapore shores. Dear police officers, you must protect the great image that Singapore has. With all the good governance that we are known for, you can start to show this to the international community by investigating the Sri Lankan President." Notably, Sri Lanka's ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to Singapore amid protests demanding his resignation. (ANI) In continuation of China's debt-diplomacy with Pakistan, a Chinese company Yutong Bus, a large-scale modern Chinese manufacturing company specialising in bus production, has accepted the offer to set up a public transport plant in Sindh. The plant would either be set up in Karachi or Hyderabad. It is to be constructed on 15 to 18 acres of land. Libijian, Consulate General of China to Karachi, in a tweet wrote, "Great news and congratulations! Yutong Bus for setting up transport plant in Karachi or Hyderabad." The development took place during a meeting between Provincial Minister for Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon and Paul Zhang, Country Manager of Yutong Bus China. Zhang was also accompanied by Service Head Yutong Wayner Wang, China Economic Net (CEN) reported. "The meeting agreed to prepare a concrete proposal in this regard by next week," according to a statement. "The transport department is making every effort to attract foreign investors to set up a public transport plant in Sindh", according to the provincial minister. Meanwhile, Chinese debt-trap diplomacy could eventually exploit the textile industry in Pakistan to reap by proxy the benefit of the European Union's GSP+ which benefits Islamabad from zero duty on several products. Pakistan may fall into a debt trap like Sri Lanka owing to its economic ties with China. Pakistan's already fragile economy suffered another setback when recently China demanded repayment, by November 2023, of USD 55.6 million for the Lahore Orange Line Project, an Italian publication, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported. Meanwhile, at the end of March, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell by a massive USD 2.915 billion, due to the repayment of external debt. Thus, Pakistan faces a bleak economic future in as far as relations with China are concerned. The Chinese company, China-Railway North Industries Corporation (CR-NORINCO) which completed the Lahore Orange Line Project in 2020 has demanded from the Punjab Mass Transit Authority, an outstanding sum of USD 45.3 million by the end of March 2023 and the remaining outstanding USD 10.5 million by the end of the year. CR-NORINCO has insisted that all dues be repaid before the expiry of the contract on 16 November 2023, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported. China has made a hard bargain with Pakistan when it comes to paybacks on its loans and other investments in Pakistan. In the fiscal year 2021-2022, Pakistan paid around USD 150 million towards interest to China for using a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility. In the financial year 2019-2020, Pakistan paid USD 120 million towards interest on a USD 3 billion loan. The Chinese demand for the Lahore Line payment was made in the first week of April 2022 when the new political dispensation under PM Shahbaz Sharif had just stepped into office. Earlier, at the beginning of March 2022, China acceded to Pakistan's request to roll over a whopping USD 4.2 billion debt repayment to provide a major relief for its all-weather ally. China has been quite stringent in recovering money from Pakistan. Take Pakistan's energy sector for instance, where Chinese investors have repeatedly insisted on resolving issues relating to existing project sponsors in order to attract fresh investment. Some Chinese projects in Pakistan are facing problems in securing insurance for their loans in China due to Pakistan's massive energy sector circular debt of about USD 14 billion, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported. Pakistan has to pay around USD 1.3 billion to Chinese power producers and so far only USD 280 million has been paid. Another example of hard bargaining by China over monetary dealings vis-a-vis Pakistan is well documented in the case of the Dasu Dam Project. Last year, China demanded USD 38 million towards compensation for the families of 36 engineers who had died in the Dasu Dam terror attack. Compensation was made a precondition for the resumption of work on the project. To placate China, Pakistan subsequently agreed to pay USD 11.6 million as compensation. Pakistan's fundamental challenge is that its economy is sinking and needs an infusion of funds to survive. While China is heavily responsible for Pakistan's debt problem, it is the mishandling of Pakistan's economy by successive governments that have led to the current impasse. (ANI) The plant would either be set up in Karachi or Hyderabad. It is to be constructed on 15 to 18 acres of land. Libijian, Consulate General of China to Karachi, in a tweet wrote, "Great news and congratulations! Yutong Bus for setting up transport plant in Karachi or Hyderabad." The development took place during a meeting between Provincial Minister for Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon and Paul Zhang, Country Manager of Yutong Bus China. Zhang was also accompanied by Service Head Yutong Wayner Wang, China Economic Net (CEN) reported. "The meeting agreed to prepare a concrete proposal in this regard by next week," according to a statement. "The transport department is making every effort to attract foreign investors to set up a public transport plant in Sindh", according to the provincial minister. Meanwhile, Chinese debt-trap diplomacy could eventually exploit the textile industry in Pakistan to reap by proxy the benefit of the European Union's GSP+ which benefits Islamabad from zero duty on several products. Pakistan may fall into a debt trap like Sri Lanka owing to its economic ties with China. Pakistan's already fragile economy suffered another setback when recently China demanded repayment, by November 2023, of USD 55.6 million for the Lahore Orange Line Project, an Italian publication, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported. Meanwhile, at the end of March, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell by a massive USD 2.915 billion, due to the repayment of external debt. Thus, Pakistan faces a bleak economic future in as far as relations with China are concerned. The Chinese company, China-Railway North Industries Corporation (CR-NORINCO) which completed the Lahore Orange Line Project in 2020 has demanded from the Punjab Mass Transit Authority, an outstanding sum of USD 45.3 million by the end of March 2023 and the remaining outstanding USD 10.5 million by the end of the year. CR-NORINCO has insisted that all dues be repaid before the expiry of the contract on 16 November 2023, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported. China has made a hard bargain with Pakistan when it comes to paybacks on its loans and other investments in Pakistan. In the fiscal year 2021-2022, Pakistan paid around USD 150 million towards interest to China for using a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility. In the financial year 2019-2020, Pakistan paid USD 120 million towards interest on a USD 3 billion loan. The Chinese demand for the Lahore Line payment was made in the first week of April 2022 when the new political dispensation under PM Shahbaz Sharif had just stepped into office. Earlier, at the beginning of March 2022, China acceded to Pakistan's request to roll over a whopping USD 4.2 billion debt repayment to provide a major relief for its all-weather ally. China has been quite stringent in recovering money from Pakistan. Take Pakistan's energy sector for instance, where Chinese investors have repeatedly insisted on resolving issues relating to existing project sponsors in order to attract fresh investment. Some Chinese projects in Pakistan are facing problems in securing insurance for their loans in China due to Pakistan's massive energy sector circular debt of about USD 14 billion, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported. Pakistan has to pay around USD 1.3 billion to Chinese power producers and so far only USD 280 million has been paid. Another example of hard bargaining by China over monetary dealings vis-a-vis Pakistan is well documented in the case of the Dasu Dam Project. Last year, China demanded USD 38 million towards compensation for the families of 36 engineers who had died in the Dasu Dam terror attack. Compensation was made a precondition for the resumption of work on the project. To placate China, Pakistan subsequently agreed to pay USD 11.6 million as compensation. Pakistan's fundamental challenge is that its economy is sinking and needs an infusion of funds to survive. While China is heavily responsible for Pakistan's debt problem, it is the mishandling of Pakistan's economy by successive governments that have led to the current impasse. (ANI) As the vote counting for Pakistan's Punjab bypolls is on, all major local media channels are reporting that the country's former Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI is leading in 17 seats of the 20 provincial seats. As per these reports, the massive alliance of big leaders like Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, PM Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is nearing a big defeat in the province. There are only 2 seats where PLM-N is leading and 1 seat for Independent. Punjab was under the control of the PTI party until April when then-Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar resigned after the federal parliament took up a no-confidence against Khan. The PTI's subsequent nominee for the position was defeated as a faction among the party's state lawmakers voted for the PML-N's candidate instead. Khan then successfully petitioned the Election Commission of Pakistan to remove the state assembly lawmakers for illegally voting against the party's directive, leaving 20 seats vacant. It will be a close race as Sharif's party currently holds 165 seats while PTI controls 163. Sharif controls the assembly with coalition members. The polling began at 8 am and continued till 5 pm but in several districts polling was stopped due to clashes, reported Dunya News. 20 seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) "de-seated" 25 PTI dissident lawmakers on May 23 for voting against PML-N's Hamza Shahbaz in the Punjab chief minister's election. By-elections were held in 20 constituencies of Punjab Assembly including polling stations PP-7 Rawalpindi, PP-83 Khushab, PP-90 Bhakkar, PP-97 Faisalabad; PP-125, PP-127 Jhang, PP-140 Sheikhupura,PP-158, 167,168,170 Lahore;PP-167, Lahore, PP-202 Sahiwa,; PP-217 Multan, PP-224 Lodhran, PP-228 Lodhran, PP-237 Bahawalnagar, PP-272,273 Muzaffargarh,PP-282 Layyah and PP-288 Dera Ghazi Khan. A total of 4.57 million registered voters, including 2.46 million women, were eligible to cast ballot in the by-polls. As many as 3140 polling stations, including 731 male, 700 female and 1700 combined polling stations had been established across the 20 constituencies. A total of 9,562 polling booths had been set up for the by-polls. The ECP had declared 1204 polling stations sensitive and 696 highly sensitive. Polling stations from Lahore and Multan had also been declared sensitive. Provincial Election Commissioner Saeed Gul had said that the Election Commission was completely neutral and there was no truth in the allegations, they were working according to the Constitution and the law. The Punjab Assembly has a total of 371 members, of which 20 seats are vacant at the moment, bringing the total number of MPAs in the Punjab Assembly down to 351. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill was arrested from Muzaffargarh on Monday for allegedly carrying and displaying weapons on his visit to polling stations during the Punjab by-elections. The former federal minister was arrested as he was caught brandishing weapons on his visit to polling stations PP-272 and PP-73. Right after the news of Gill's arrest surfaced, PTI leaders took to Twitter to criticize the move and branded it an attempt to "rig the elections". PTI chief Imran Khan said, "These fascist tactics will not work and our people will not be deterred from exercising their right to vote." In another tweet later, he demanded the courts to "open now" and act against the brazen violations of the Supreme Court's orders and electoral rules. As per the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), "Carriage and display of all kinds of lethal weapons and firearms shall not be allowed in public meetings and processions and official regulations in respect thereof shall be strictly observed. Aerial firing, use of crackers and other explosives at public meetings shall not be allowed." This is a part of ECP's election code of conduct for political parties and candidates, reported Dawn. While speaking with media, the district police officer of Muzaffargarh said that Gill was taken into custody from a factory owned by PTI candidate Muazzam Ali along with his guards. They have been taken to an undisclosed location, he said. No first information report (FIR) has been registered so far. As per the visuals circulated on television, Gill can be seen with guards clad in Frontier Corps uniform. It is interesting to note that even before his arrest, Gill had tweeted that he was ready to get arrested. "Before you reach anyone else, I am presenting myself for arrest," he tweeted, claiming he was "trapped in a factory". "Imran Khan's soldier is not afraid of such tactics. We did not come to do terrorism." Earlier, in another similar instance, in a video posted on his YouTube channel, Gill alleged that polling agents in Muzaffargarh's PP-272 had not been allowed to enter the polling stations. "We reached out to the ECP but they refuted the complaints. Now, they have sent police to take my guards. What is their purpose? They want to arrest me," he said. "So, I will do you a favour and present myself for arrest," the PTI leader said. "As long as I am standing here, I won't let you arrest anyone." (ANI) Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that Antonov An-12, a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. As per the Xinhua report, the crash occurred near the Greek city of Kavala, Serbia's Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said at a news conference on Sunday. Ukrainian spokesman Nikolenko said a preliminary investigation found a failure in one of the plane's engines, which likely caused the crash. Taking to his Facebook account, Nikolenko said that the crew members on board the Antonov An-12 plane were Ukrainian nationals. The aircraft was a commercial flight on route Serbia-Jordan-Bangladesh and was carrying dangerous cargo, he added. According to Stefanovic, the Ukrainian-operated cargo plane was carrying around 11 tons of weapons, particularly landmines, to Bangladesh when it crashed on Saturday night, Xinhua reported. Kyiv has set up an operational headquarters at the Consulate of Ukraine in the second largest Greek city of Thessaloniki after the accident, the spokesman said, adding that representatives of the Ukrainian consulate have already arrived at the crash site. (ANI) In the wake of rising arms smuggling in Ukraine amid its ongoing conflict with Russia, the European Union [EU] Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson announced said that arms smuggling will "feed into violence in the criminal networks in European Union as she announced a support hub in Moldova on July 11 to tackle the situation. The EU Support Hub for Internal Security and Border Management will focus on preventing weapons to battle organized crime from war-torn Ukraine majority of which are supplied by NATO members from being smuggled out of Ukraine and ending up with criminal gangs, EUobserver reported. Such smuggling will "feed into violence in the criminal networks in European Union," Johansson said, adding that the hub will be a "one-stop-shop" allowing the EU's border guard agency Frontex to support local border agencies, and will enable Europol to share information. Highlighting the discrepancies in the arms-dealing process, an EU official said, "It is hard to avoid weapons-smuggling. We try to keep track of them, but I would be lying if I said we will succeed. We failed after the war in Yugoslavia, and we can't prevent it now," speaking anonymously, to EUobserver. Further, Aija Kalnaja, interim head of Frontex, said Moldova was chosen as a base of operations "because this is where the trafficking of weapons can come mostly." Increasing local capacity and countering human trafficking, each member state will also deploy law enforcement officers to the hub's head office which will be operating from the Moldovan capital Chisinau, said the EU Home Affairs Commissioner. As per the reports by EUobserver, Ukraine has a long history of illegal arms trade with the most prominent case being that of the MV Faina, a Ukrainian cargo ship that was caught trafficking tanks, artillery and AKM assault rifles to Sudan in 2009. The incident came to light when the ship was captured by Somali pirates. Notably, the new hub comes amid urgent pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to boost weapons and ammunition supplies to help counter Russian advances in the country's east and south. Washington's heavy outpour of missiles, rockets, and artilleries to war-torn Ukraine recently has raised fears of the powerful weapons entering Ukraine's illicit arms market and that some of them could also re-emerge in faraway conflicts for decades to come. President Joe Biden is expected to sign a USD 40 billion security-assistance package in the upcoming days amid urgent pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to provide artillery needed to counter Russian forces in the country's east and south. The emergency spending bill awaiting approval in the US Senate will cement Ukraine's status as the world's single largest recipient of US security assistance, receiving more in 2022 than the United States ever provided to Afghanistan, Iraq or Israel in a single year. The bill will also add to the stocks of weapons the US already committed to Ukraine, including 1,400 Stinger antiaircraft systems, 5,500 antitank missiles, 700 Switchblade drones, 90 long-range Howitzers artillery systems, 7,000 small arms, 50,000,000 rounds of ammunition, and numerous other mines, explosives and laser-guided rocket systems. (ANI) Tehran [Iran], July 17 (ANI/Xinhua): The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday dismissed US President Joe Biden's recent claims over Iran's nuclear activity as a "failed policy of promoting Iranophobia," which seeks to cause tensions and crises in the region. Biden's anti-Iran remarks, which were made during his Middle East visit, are "part of Washington's policy of inciting sedition and fomenting tensions in the region," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. Citing the dark American record and history of hostility toward other countries, Kanaani noted that the United States invaded and occupied a number of regional countries and has sold numerous weapons, and is constantly interfering in regional states' internal affairs. Nasser Kanaani reaffirmed Iran's strategic policy of seeking to use nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes within the framework of the international rules and regulations, saying Iran is committed to the continuation of the talks on the removal of the sanctions and revival of a 2015 nuclear deal. He stressed Iran's principled and constructive policy of welcoming dialogues with neighbours and regional initiatives, expressing hope that "regional governments are expected to take constructive steps in favour of collective security, peace, stability, and development." The United States pledged not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon even at the cost of using "all elements of its national power," affirming its commitment to work together with other partners "to confront Iran's aggression and destabilizing activities," Biden said in a US-Israel joint declaration in Jerusalem on Thursday. (ANI/Xinhua) Claiming that the majority of revenue for US-based law firm -- Paul Hastings LLP -- comes from China, some reports say that Beijing is trying to infiltrate the US judicial system. Paul Hasting LLP is a global law firm based in the United States. Some social media handlers have claimed Chinese Communist Party's infiltration in the US Judicial System. These people made these claims by giving an example of Paul Hastings LLP's revenue from China. They claim that there is evidence to support their arguments. Meanwhile, a grand jury in the United States has indicted five people for 'stalking, harassing, and spying' on behalf of China in connection with a scheme to silence critics of the Chinese government. "A federal grand jury in Brooklyn returned a superseding indictment yesterday charging five defendants, including one current federal law enforcement officer and one retired federal law enforcement officer, with various crimes pertaining to a transnational repression scheme orchestrated on behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC)," the US Justice Department said in a press statement on July 7. Defendants Fan "Frank" Liu, 62, of Jericho, New York; Matthew Ziburis, 49, of Oyster Bay, New York; and Qiang "Jason" Sun, 40, of the PRC were charged in March 2022 with allegedly perpetrating a transnational repression scheme that targeted U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government. Among other items, these defendants allegedly plotted to destroy the artwork of a PRC national residing in Los Angeles, who was critical of the PRC government and planted surveillance equipment in the artist's workplace and car to spy on him from the PRC. Liu and Ziburis were arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint in March 2022, while Sun remains at large. The superseding indictment adds two new defendants, Craig Miller and Derrick Taylor, to the scheme. Miller is a 15-year employee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), currently assigned as a deportation officer to DHS's Emergency Relief Operations in Minneapolis, and Taylor is a retired DHS law enforcement agent who presently works as a private investigator in Irvine, California. Miller and Taylor are charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence after they were approached by FBI agents and asked about their procurement and dissemination of sensitive and confidential information from a restricted federal law enforcement database regarding U.S.-based dissidents from the PRC. Both Miller and Taylor were arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint in June 2022. "We will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression, including views the PRC government wants to silence," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. "As charged, these individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here. The defendants include two sworn law enforcement officers who chose to forsake their oaths and violate the law. This indictment is the next step in holding all of these defendants responsible for their crimes." Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, said, "This case exposes attempts by the government of the PRC to suppress dissenting voices within the United States. Actions taken by the defendants - two of which are current or former federal law enforcement officers - demonstrate how the PRC seeks to stalk, intimidate, and silence those who oppose it." "The FBI battles transnational repression because it is an evil in its own right, and an assault on the freedoms of an open society. Our community's safety and our nation's security were jeopardized by this criminal behavior, and we remain dedicated to combating transnational repression and bringing to justice those that perpetrate it." According to the Justice Department, Liu and Ziburis are charged with conspiring to act as agents of the PRC government. Liu, Ziburis and Sun are charged with conspiring to commit interstate harassment and criminal use of a means of identification. Liu and Sun are charged with conspiring to bribe a federal official in connection with their scheme to obtain the tax returns of a pro-democracy activist residing in the United States. Both Miller and Taylor are charged with obstruction of justice, while Taylor is charged with making a false statement to the FBI. If convicted, Liu faces up to 30 years' imprisonment; Ziburis, Sun and Taylor face up to 25 years' imprisonment; and Miller faces up to 20 years' imprisonment. The defendants will be arraigned at a later date. (ANI) Taking a dig at Biden's recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a virtual meeting with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, called on the US to refrain from "meddling" in the internal affairs of the Middle East on Friday. Blaming the US for attempting to transform the region based on their own standards, Wang Yi called on the United States and other Western nations to truly respect the national sovereignty of countries in the Middle East, report the China Daily. They should contribute more to peace and development in the Middle East by listening to the needs of people in the region, he said, adding that China would continue to speak up for Syria in safeguarding its sovereign independence, territorial integrity and national dignity. He further called for the international community to provide Syria with humanitarian assistance and said that China firmly supports people in the Middle East in independently exploring the path of development and solving regional security issues through unity and self-improvement while he continued to take a dig at the US. China would like to strengthen coordination with all parties concerned to promote the Palestinian issue to be reincorporated into the priority of the international agenda, the Chinese Foreign Minister added. As the Palestinian issue is the core of the issues in the Middle East, Wang said it should not be forgotten by the international community, still less marginalized. The hardship suffered by Palestinian people should not be allowed to continue, he added. The Syrian Foreign Minister, Mekdad too extended his support for China and said that the rumours spread by the US and Western countries on China's Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet will be broken into pieces. China's growing influence poses a threat to the dominance of the existing superpower country, the US and also threatens the peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. The Communist nation has become the world's second-largest economy, third strongest military power and global hegemony in the 21st century and is now challenging the dominance of the existing superpower, the USA. Chinese Communist Party is 101-year-old and adopted predatory economic practices like providing huge subsidies, low taxes and cheap finances to Chinese companies. China uses trade, investments, loans and tourists as tools to make countries dependent countries. From a military point of view, China has been building its military power since the 1990s and during the last six years, China has spent more than USD 1 trillion on its military. (ANI) The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) called Bushra Khan on July 20, The News International reported. The call-up notice has stated that Bushra was a shareholder in different companies owned by Farah. Earlier, the Bureau had summoned Farah Gogi, her husband Ahsan Iqbal Jamil and others on the same date. It had also summoned Farah Khan's manager, cashier and bankers, The News International reported. NAB-DG Lahore has been ordered to initiate an inquiry against Farah Khan, who left Pakistan for Dubai amid corruption allegations, Dawn reported. "Huge turnover amounting to Rs 847 million was found in her (Farah Khan/Gogi bank) account during the last three years," a press release issued by NAB was quoted as saying. "These credits were received in her personal account and withdrawn immediately after credit within a short time period," the release further stated. "Moreover, she has been frequently travelling to foreign jurisdictions; nine times to the USA and six times to the UAE," it added. According to the NAB, several "adverse" media reports were also found where Farah -- referred to in the statement as Farhat Shahzadi (alias Farah Khan/Gogi) was alleged to "being involved in (acquiring) assets beyond legal means". Meanwhile, Farah Gogi was illegally allotted an industrial plot worth PRs 600 million for PRs 83 million. Sources said the two officials were accused of illegally allotting the plot to Farah Gogi and her mother's company Al-Mu'az Dairy, reported The News International. Former chief executive officer of Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) Rana Yousuf and Secretary Special Economic Zone Committee Maqsood Ahmed have been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Establishment in a case of illegal allotment of an industrial plot to Farah Gogi. (ANI) One person is dead and another is injured after a motorcycle crash in Warren County Friday night. Thomas Williams, 32, and Elizabeth Herlinger, 34, were traveling on State Route 28 in Harlon Township on a motorcycle when Williams lost control, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol. Troopers said this caused the motorcycle to slide into the guardrail, throwing both Williams and Herlinger from the bike according to Ohio State Highway Patrol. Williams and Herlinger were taken to Miami Valley Hospital by CareFlight where Williams was pronounced dead. >> Man dies after being hit by vehicle in Clermont Co.; Suspect flees scene Troopers have not released information about Herlingers condition. The crash remains under investigation by the Lebanon Post of OSHP. Kendall Jenner, Kim Kardashian, and Julia Fox have all worn the bleached eyebrow trend. John Shearer/Getty Images, George Pimentel/WireImage/Getty Images, Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Celebrities have been wearing bleached eyebrows since the 1990s. Madonna embraced the look back in 1992, and many have followed suit since then. Kim Kardashian, Julia Fox, and Lady Gaga are among those to have bleached their brows recently. Bleached eyebrows became a trend in the 1990s, according to W Magazine. Madonna rocked the look at a book party in New York in 1992, and it's drastically different to how her brows look these days. Madonna photographed in New York in 1992, left, and in 2012, right. Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images, Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images Source: W Magazine Jared Leto attended a screening of "Urban Legend" with bleached eyebrows and matching hair in 1998. Jared Leto at a screening of "Urban Legend" in Westwood, California, in 1998, left, and in 2019, right. Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, xelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images Cate Blanchett's eyebrows were barely visible at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. Cate Blanchett at Cannes Film Festival in 2006, left, and at Rome Film Festival in 2018. Gianfranco Calcagno/FilmMagic/Getty Images, Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images The trend has resurfaced among celebrities and models in recent years. Cara Delevingne walked the runway with bleached brows for Paris Fashion Week in 2014. Cara Delevingne walked the runway during the Givenchy show for Paris Fashion Week 2014, left, and photographed again for Paris Fashion Week 2022. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images Lady Gaga looked almost unrecognizable when she tried out the trend for an appearance in Hollywood in 2016. Lady Gaga photographed at the Hollywood Palladium in 2016, and in 2022, right. Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images, Samir Hussein/Getty Images Katy Perry paired blunt bangs with bleached eyebrows at the 2016 Met Gala, "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology." Katy Perry at the Met Gala in 2016, and at the same event in 2022. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, James Devaney/GC Images/Getty Images Also at the Met Gala that year, Kim Kardashian embraced bleached eyebrows with slicked back hair. Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala in 2016, and photographed in 2022. George Pimentel/WireImage/Getty Images, Robert Kamau/GC Images/Getty Images Kendall Jenner paired bleached eyebrows with a two-piece sheer Prada gown at the Met Gala 2022. Kendall Jenner at the 2022 Met Gala, left, and photographed in LA in June 2022, right. John Shearer/Getty Images, RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Source: Insider Maisie Williams has worn bleached eyebrows to several events in 2022, including to the London premiere of "Pistol" in May. It's a contrast to the darker, bushier brows she was previously known for. Maisie Williams attends the premiere of "Pistol" in London in May 2022, left, and at the Emmy Awards 2019, right. Lia Toby/Getty Images, John Shearer/Getty Images Julia Fox wore her signature dramatic eye makeup with bleached brows at the Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture fall/winter 2022 show in July. Julia Fox attends the Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture show in July, left, and during Paris Fashion Week in January. Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images, Edward Berthelot/Getty Images Read the original article on Insider Three people were hospitalized after a car crashed into the front of a Citizens Bank in Porter Square, according to Cambridge police. Police believe the operator of the 2022 Toyota Highlander was an Uber driver and was transporting two people when the car accelerated and crashed into the Cambridge bank. The 66-year-old Uber driver and two passengers were transported to Mass General Hospital with minor injuries. According to police the driver stayed on the scene and cooperated with investigators. There is no indication that the driver was impaired or distracted at the time of the crash, police say. The incident remains under investigation. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW A member of the LAPD sits inside his squad car, parked outside their headquarters on 1st St. in downtown Los Angeles. Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images California authorities announced they've cracked four decades-old cold cases using DNA evidence. A 75-year-old suspect was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, in the brutal murders of three women and one teen girl. Police said solving the case involved "investigative and forensic work over decades." Authorities have arrested a 75-year-old Texas man in the cold case murders of three women and a teenage girl, citing DNA evidence linking the suspect to the grisly crimes. Billy Ray Richardson is accused of killing 25-year-old Beverly Cruse, 22-year-old Debra Cruse, 15-year-old Kari Leander, and 28-year-old Trina Wilson. All four victims were raped, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The Cruses and Leander were killed in 1980, while Wilson was killed in 1995, prosecutors said. They accused Richardson of shooting each of the Cruses in the head three times, strangling Leander to death, and slitting Wilson's throat. "I want to commend the tenacious and dedicated work of those who helped solve these horrific crimes," LA County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. "I cannot imagine the pain that these families have endured. Their loss is immeasurable. We hope that together we can bring justice to the families who have endured so much and have waited years for this moment." Richardson is now charged with four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances of multiple murders and murder in the commission of rape, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. The LAPD added that cracking the case involved "investigative and forensic work over decades." According to the Los Angeles Times, Beverly and Debra Cruse's brother found both sisters dead in the bedroom of Beverly's apartment after not hearing from them for several days. Leander was killed after she and her friend hitchhiked from Brentwood to Hollywood with a man who called himself Ken. Though Ken dropped Leander's friend back home safely, Leander stayed with Ken to "keep partying." Her dead body was found just five hours after her friend last saw her, according to the LA Times. Story continues Details on Wilson's 1995 death weren't immediately available. Richardson was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, and is being extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial, police said. Publicly available court records didn't detail whether Richardson has a lawyer. Read the original article on Insider Agnes Scott College announced on Tuesday that it has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation. The grant will fund the Acknowledging our Past: Acting Now for A Transformed Future project. Dr. Yves-Rose Porcena, project lead and vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the college, said this project comprises two parts that were designed to elevate the lives of Blacks, Indigenous people, and people of color. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] This project is a two-part initiative, designed to elevate the lives of Black, Indigenous, and people of color artisans and workers who built Agnes Scotts campus and the city of Decatur, said Porcena. The second part of the initiative involves launching strategies to ensure that the contributions of the aforementioned individuals are not erased. Strategies will include research and documentation of the colleges and Decaturs racial histories, educational programming and inclusive leadership training. This exploration project will also include opportunities for Agnes Scotts students and faculty to work with local organizations and community partners. TRENDING STORIES: The project will also provide opportunities to partner with the City of Decatur, which celebrates the 200th anniversary of its founding in October 2023. Agnes Scott President Leocadia I. Zak said the college is thrilled to receive the grant. Agnes Scott College has received seven grants from the Mellon Foundation since 1970. We are thrilled to receive this grant from the Mellon Foundation, said Zak. This funding will further prepare our students to think deeply, engage the social challenges of their times and ultimately claim their places in a more inclusive and equitable workplace, community and world. Story continues Activities for this project will begin in July 2022 and conclude in the summer of 2025. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: RAF FAIRFORD, England The Air Force is trying to find ways to speed delivery of the E-7 Wedgetail, but the services top acquisition official said July 16 there may not be much that can be done. The Air Force in April chose the Boeing-made Wedgetail to be its next battle management and command and control aircraft, replacing part of its aging E-3 Airborne Warning and Control fleet. But the service said in the announcement the first rapid prototype E-7 would be delivered in fiscal 2027, following a contract award to Boeing in fiscal 2023. The Air Force wants to retire 15 of its 31 decades-old AWACS in 2023, years before the first E-7s anticipated delivery, generating concern among lawmakers like Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., about a potential capability gap. In a roundtable with reporters at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in England, Andrew Hunter, assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, sought to temper expectations about how much the process could be expedited. I dont know that ultimately, theres a huge opportunity to dramatically accelerate achieving initial operational capability for the Wedgetail, he said. Adapting used airframes likely isnt an option, Hunter said. While the Wedgetail is based on Boeings 737 air frame, it has a unique combination of components that means there arent many used airframes the government could acquire. The Wedgetail acquisition will also require software development, making use of open systems architecture, Hunter said. This software development will also take time, he said, but when Boeing has the first new Wedgetail air frame built and ready to be missionized, the Air Force will be ready to load that equipment. Were going to have this as something that works in a completely integrated way with our Air Force fleet, Hunter said. He noted the Air Force has learned a great deal in recent years from mistakes made in the FAA certification process, such as underestimating the information the FAA would need and subsequently delaying the MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopters certification. While Hunter said he isnt taking that part of the process for granted, he said hes confident the FAA will certify the new E-7s. Story continues The FAA is required to review the avionics and other systems of new military aircraft and certify they are safe and functional before the aircraft can be delivered. In the May hearing in which Duckworth raised concerns about the timing of the Wedgetail delivery, Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, Hunters military deputy, said the Air Force might be able to buy E-7s more quickly once the certification process is done. But he also cautioned not to rush the contract process. The U.S. Air Force is talking to its Australian and British counterparts to learn how it can accelerate the process, he said. The Royal Australian Air Force has flown the Wedgetail for years, and the Royal Air Force has bought Wedgetails and is expected to start flying them next year. The Air Force has also consulted the Navy, whose P-8 Poseidon is a modified 737 like the Wedgetail. Theres a community of interest around that aircraft, and that gives us some opportunity to work with our partners to get to the right answer, Hunter said. While the E-7 is a nearly two-decade old model, Hunter said it will provide a modern and considerable upgrade in capability from the aging E-3 Sentry. And its use of modular open systems architecture will allow its software-oriented radar systems to be regularly upgraded. The capability is impressive, Hunter said. Its a night and day difference. Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey blasted GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake over her 2020 election claims. Lake, who is backed by Trump, has continued to contend that the presidential election was stolen. Ducey has endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson, a lawyer and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents. Arizona GOP Gov. Doug Ducey on Sunday slammed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for her repeated claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," the two-term governor said that Lake who is backed by former President Donald Trump was being dishonest with voters and said her allegations about the election were an "act." "Kari Lake is misleading voters with no evidence," he said. "She's been tagged by her opponents with a nickname, 'Fake Lake,' which seems to be sticking and actually doing some damage. Karrin Taylor Robson started from zero and now this is a margin-of-error race." Ducey, who is term-limited and cannot seek reelection this year, has diverged from Trump and endorsed one of Lake's GOP primary challengers, Karrin Taylor Robson, a lawyer and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents. The governor called Robinson "the real conservative" in the Republican contest and praised her for having "pro-gun" and "pro-life" positions. "I think Karrin Taylor Robson will be the best person to be a fresh new leader for the state of Arizona," he said during the interview. "Her opponent, on the other hand, bears no resemblance her campaign or even her personal interactions with me to anything she's done over the past 30 years." "This is all an act. She's been putting on a show for some time now, and we'll see if the voters of Arizona buy it," he added. In the 2020 presidential election, which saw now-President Joe Biden narrowly win Arizona over Trump, Ducey rejected the former president's entreaties to block the certification of the election results. Lake, who was formerly a television journalist, rose to prominence in the Republican race as a candidate who embraced Trump's election claims, even without verifiable evidence of mass fraud. Story continues An audit of the results from Maricopa County, Ariz., conducted by the firm Cyber Ninjas last year reaffirmed that Biden carried the state's largest county. But Lake has continued to feed into unproven theories about the election. In late June, Lake needled Robson after she declined to raise her hand during a PBS Republican gubernatorial debate when the candidates were asked if the 2020 election was "corrupt" and "stolen." "Only one #AZGOV Candidate REFUSED to raise her hand: Karrin Taylor Robson. Disqualifying," she tweeted. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, has sought to use Lake's views on the election to depict the Republican as outside the political mainstream in the increasingly purple state. "Voting in Arizona has started, and Trump is rallying voters again for his favorite Big Lie advocate @KariLake," she tweeted earlier this month. "Anyone who wants sanity over chaos, make sure your voice is heard too." The party primaries will be held on August 2. Read the original article on Business Insider Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Bernie Sanders says Joe Manchin is "intentionally sabotaging" President Biden's legislative agenda. While on ABC, Sanders said Manchin doesn't represent "working families in West Virginia or America." Manchin last week threw cold water on a climate and tax plan that Democrats spent weeks negotiating. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday blasted Sen. Joe Manchin after the West Virginia Democrat sunk the Democratic-led climate and tax bill that the party had been negotiating for weeks. While speaking with ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz, the Vermont lawmaker decried Manchin's stance that he could no longer support the legislation due to his concerns over inflation and said the lawmaker was "sabotaging" President Joe Biden's agenda. And he became visibly animated when Raddatz said that Manchin "abruptly" ended talks with Democratic leaders regarding the bill. "Senator Joe Manchin, of course abruptly pulled the plug this week on the Democratic plan," Raddatz said before Sanders interjected. "He didn't abruptly do anything," Sanders said. "He has sabotaged the president's agenda." He continued: "If you check the record six months ago, I made it clear that you have people like Manchin and [Arizona Sen. Kyrsten] Sinema to a lesser degree who are intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda, what the American people want, what a majority of us in the Democratic caucus want. Nothing new about this." Sanders then laced into Manchin's political fundraising, pointing out his ties to the energy industry which holds immense sway in West Virginia and Republican donors. "This is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money ... a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires," he said. When Raddatz countered that Manchin said he wanted to act in the best interest of West Virginia given that inflation last month rose 9.1 percent from a year earlier, Sanders replied: "Really? Really?" During a Friday interview with West Virginia broadcaster Hoppy Kercheval, Manchin said he told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York that he wanted to see July's inflation figures next month before taking any further action on the bill. Story continues "I said, 'Chuck until we see the July inflation figures, until we see the July Federal Reserve rates, interest rates, then let's wait until that comes out so we know that we were going down the path that won't be inflammatory to add more to inflation. Inflation is absolutely killing many, many people,'" he said during the interview, pointing to higher food and fuel costs. Sanders on Sunday was not impressed with Manchin's reasoning regarding the proposed bill. "Same nonsense that Manchin has been talking about for a year," he told Raddatz. "You ask the people of West Virginia whether they want to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and eyeglasses. Ask the people of West Virginia whether or not all people should have health care as a human right, like in every other country on Earth." "In my humble opinion, Manchin represents the very wealthiest people in this country, not working families in West Virginia or America," he added. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told Politico last week that Manchin could no longer be trusted. "Senator Manchin has said a lot of things," she expressed. "Every time what he makes clear, over and over again, is that he can't close a deal and that you can't trust what he says." Last December, Manchin tanked the party's expansive Build Back Better legislation, which was intended to be a multitrillion-dollar social-spending bill that would have established universal pre-K, renewed monthly child tax credit payments to families for another year, and tackled climate change, among other provisions. Democrats sought to pass the bill through the reconciliation process, but with Manchin effectively holding veto power in the evenly-divided Senate, he scuttled the legislation much to the dismay of Biden and congressional Democrats despite the White House and party leaders having worked to make major concessions to win his support. Biden on Friday urged Democrats to pass a slimmed-down bill focused on health care provisions and federal deficit reduction. Read the original article on Business Insider President Biden early Sunday disputed an account that he did not accuse Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a private meeting with the nations de facto leader on Friday. Saudi Arabias foreign minister, who was present during the meeting with the crown prince, said Biden did not confront the crown prince about Khashoggis murder. Speaking to reporters after he returned from his trip to the Middle East, Biden responded, No when asked if the foreign minister was telling the truth. Biden on Friday said he raised the 2018 murder and added that he told the crown prince he thought he was responsible for it. I indicated I thought he was, Biden said. He said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible. Weeks ahead of departing on the trip, the president was criticized for appearing to curry favor with a controversial leader with a dismal human rights record in order to possibly ramp up oil production to lower gas prices during an election year. U.S. intelligence has concluded the crown prince was behind the brutal slaying of Khashoggi in a report that Biden agreed to publicize. Biden was photographed fist-bumping the crown prince at the royal palace in Jeddah, drawing a round of criticism, including from Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan, who said it projected a level of intimacy far worse than a handshake. The first bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake it was shameful, Ryan said in a statement. Biden on Sunday also deflected the accusations about the fist bump. Why dont you guys talk about something that matters? the president told reporters when asked if he regretted the greeting. Im happy to answer a question that matters. Biden emerged from the meeting without an immediate deliverable on oil production but said he was optimistic about developments in the coming weeks. The White House is eyeing an August meeting with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group that influences global oil supply and of which Saudi Arabia is a de facto leader. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. As a researcher in a health-care-related field, I am keenly aware of how frequently economics enters the discussion these days. I am a biomedical engineer who works with patients using orthopedic devices: prosthetics, such as an artificial limb; and orthotics, which help improve the function of an intact limb, like a knee brace or custom shoe insert. In recent years, these devices have become far more complex and technologically advanced, to the point where they can sense walking patterns and modify their function accordingly. Others contain motorized components to add power. With increased complexity comes increased cost, so it has become important from a health-care economics perspective to measure and document improved outcomes related to more expensive devices. Those of us who do this research know theres an added layer of scrutiny. If my lab research determines that patients have a more biomechanically sound walking pattern with knee brace A versus brace B, not only are clinicians interested, but so are insurance companies. The comment that made me question everything Several years ago, I had helped organize a group of experts to assess the state of the science in microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees, which adjust the stiffness in the knee joint depending on what the user is doing. A comment from one orthopedic surgeon on the panel made me realize Id been missing part of the equation in my own studies. He raised the potential for something called confirmation bias the tendency for a person to actually experience what he or she expects when a user is wearing an advanced prosthetic knee. The remark made me aware just how possible it is for a patient using an advanced, expensive orthopedic device to report that its better just because its more advanced regardless of its actual function. Patients might even move differently while using it, all because they think it is better. Suddenly, I questioned the way I measure outcomes in my own research. Story continues When in doubt, test Of course, as a researcher, my solution to a question like this is to launch a study. Along with a masters student in our lab, Brittany Balsamo, I decided to find out what would happen if people thought they were wearing an advanced orthopedic device when, actually, it was just a standard knee brace. Id never done a project involving deception before, so I was, perhaps perversely, more than a little excited. We tested confirmation bias in 18 healthy young adults wearing two identical, standard, off-the-shelf hinged knee braces to see whether biases might affect their perception and their movement. Though the two braces were the same, we jazzed up the appearance of one of them and added an LED circuit, switch and USB port. We told the healthy volunteers that we were testing a prototype of a new knee brace designed to dynamically alter its stiffness based on the wearers movement patterns. We showed them a mock-up flyer (entirely false) showing some baseline data on the new brace and listing its benefits. We gave them an idea of how much more it would cost, and told them wed be measuring their walking in the new brace compared to the same manufacturers standard model. Then, we gave them a survey to assess their expectations. Before using the braces, the majority of the subjects expressed a preference for the so-called computerized brace. They expected it to be better in appearance, stabilization, comfort and function in various types of sports. Next, we measured their walking in the lab in both braces using a multi-camera system that gives detailed information about 3D movement. After the trial, the subjects expressed an even stronger preference for the computerized brace, even though, unbeknownst to them, both braces were functionally identical. But did they walk differently? When we analyzed the gait data, we found that despite their perceptions, the subjects walked remarkably similarly in both types of braces. I was shocked with how identical the walking patterns were. Average stride length was exactly the same to the millimeter. The amount of knee bending was only one-tenth of one degree different. Because the subjects were healthy young adults, we did not expect major differences in gait. What was most interesting was that 83% of subjects thought the computerized brace performed better, even though they had walked identically in both. Moreover, subjects were less concerned with the purported increased cost of the computerized brace after they used it, thinking the benefits were worth it, even when there were none. In the end, I realized just how important it is to consider cognitive biases when testing advanced orthopedic devices, particularly if Im using patient-reported outcomes. Established techniques like placebos and blinding are challenging to implement with these devices, but it helps to know that confirmation bias may be present with orthopedic devices. And as complexity grows, it will be more important to find ways to avoid it. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Read more: Mark Geil 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. Two families displaced. Half a million dollars in damage. And one dramatic rescue. That was the tally at 22 Norton Street, after a fire broke out this morning sometime after 7 a.m. James Macdonnell lives next door and was awoken by an electrical smell coming through his air conditioner. I know what that means when theres an electrical smell like that, he said. Immediately I got up and turned off my air conditioner. I was kind of panicked because I thought my house was experiencing an electrical short of some sort. It wasnt. But after Macdonnell checked his own wiring, he searched for the source of the electrical odor outside. I opened the back door towards the house next door, and there was a wall of flames, he said. Big flames. It wasnt a little fire. It was big. James woke his brother Colin, and, after calling 911, the brothers attempted to douse the flames using garden hoses before firefighters arrived. James said the hot, dry conditions of the last month probably contributed to the speed of the fires spread. When I opened that back door, I looked and I went...whoa, he said. Trapped on the second floor of the burning house was a mother and her child. Fortunately, the tenant occupying the unit at the front of the house was an off-duty Boston firefighter. He was drawn outside after hearing a commotion, said Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke. He saw a woman on the second floor holding a baby, Burke said. She hung out the window and dropped the baby to him. The firefighter caught the child. The fact that he went to the location where the baby was, where the woman was it was amazing that he got there as fast as he did with the fire conditions around him, with the smoke conditions around him, Burke said. He got there just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, the childs mother jumped from the window as well. She was injured, Burke said, along with the childs father, who escaped via another route. Both parents were taken to the hospital. Burke said he believes their injuries to be non-life-threatening. Story continues Commissioner Burke updates the media on the 2 alarm fire on Norton St. An off duty Firefighter who lives in the Front apartment caught a baby that mother dropped from the second floor. ( pic on left ) The mother then jumped & father was transported with the @ BOSTON_EMS pic.twitter.com/NkMuikDRkT Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) July 17, 2022 Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Meghan Markles guest editorship of British Vogue in September 2019 came as a surprise to Buckingham Palace, a new book about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has claimed. The book by British journalist Tom Bower, titled Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, includes interviews from royal insiders into the rift between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family. While the book was written without the cooperation of the Sussexes, Bower claims to pull back the veil to reveal the process behind Meghans Forces for change issue of British Vogue. In an extract published in The Times, he wrote that Meghan saw no reason to inform Palace officials about her decision to become the first guest editor of the iconic fashion magazine. Editor-in-chief Edward Enninful played a key role in keeping the special edition under wraps, and spoke of secret meetings, phone calls and emails to orchestrate it. However, the secret was kept so well that Buckingham Palace was blindsided by the magazines publication, Bower wrote. It fell to Palace staff member Sara Latham, the head of communications of the Sussexes at the time, to mastermind [Meghans] latest publicity launch. According to the book, Meghan requested that Latham demand that the official publication date in Britain be delayed by one day to let publication in the US take the lead. Meghans order revealed that she was relying on her American advisers and hoped that a Palace request to Enninful would be obeyed, Bower wrote. But the request was rejected. Further demands from Buckingham Palace were communicated through Latham to Vogues team to terminate the magazines promotion, but were also refused. The special edition, which featured 15 women described as game changers including Jane Fonda, Joni Mitchell, Laverne Cox, Gemma Chan, and Greta Thunberg, went on the become British Vogues fastest selling issue in its history. Story continues The excerpt also revealed that Meghan wanted to feature on the cover, but the magazines editorial team convinced her otherwise because it would appear boastful. Instead, the cover featured a black-and-white grid of the 15 women who were honoured in the issue. A 16th spot on the cover showed a silver reflective mirror, to encourage [readers] to use your own platform to bring change. The Independent has contacted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Buckingham Palace for comment. When Ken Thomas was a Chicago police officer, a call sent him to a housing project apartment for a well-being check. He and his partner discovered two small children, but their mother was missing. She appeared about 20 minutes later, and they learned she had been on a higher floor, planning to kill herself, Thomas said. The officers did their best to persuade her not to, pointing out reasons for living like her children. A year later, when Thomas saw her, she told him: Officer Thomas, youre my dream maker. The nickname Dream Maker stuck. Its what Thomas still goes by in the mostly Black motorcycle club he started about 30 years ago, which now has 113 chapters in 38 states. That organization, the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Club, held its annual convention in Hampton this week. Helping others is core to the clubs mission, Thomas said Saturday. They also aim to tell the story of the Buffalo Soldiers Black members of the U.S. Cavalry who protected the west as the country expanded, beginning in 1866. The clubs members come from a wide range of professions and have an average age of 63. Im so proud of these individuals, Thomas said. This organization gave these mature individuals something to do. It gave them something to live for. Nathan Motown Mack, the groups president, rode his motorcycle for three days, including 18 hours in the rain, from El Paso, Texas. He said the club chose Hampton because of the need in the community. Thats one of the driving factors in the decision to pick a venue each year. Were just here to help in any way we can, he said. More than 1,500 of the clubs several thousand members signed up for the Hampton convention. They delivered food to residents of Bay Creek Apartments, a low income housing complex, and donated $10,000 to the Virginia Peninsula Food Bank. The Buffalo Soldiers also went to the Newport News youth detention center to speak with juveniles in a 21-day program. Mack, who said he grew up without a mother and father and was the first in his family to graduate high school, said he spoke about making good choices and doing the right thing. Story continues And they distributed more than 550 book bags filled with pens, paper and other supplies, Mack said. When Mack isnt running a motorcycle club, he writes contracts for the Army. He got involved with the group 15 years ago, and says he was attracted to its positive mission and wanted to give back. The Buffalo Soldiers name was chosen to keep alive a largely untold history. The solders were paid less than their white counterparts and their equipment was in worse condition, Mack said. When a new member joins, they are required to learn about one of the Buffalo Soldiers, said Lawrence Captain Hook Van Hook, the national chaplain. And they name a toy buffalo or a bugle after the person they selected. But the history is complicated: the Buffalo Soldiers fought Native Americans. They just did what they were told, and carried out the orders of the government, Mack said. It wasnt something that they all wanted to do, (but) something that they had to do. Anybody of any race is welcome, Mack said. The club also is active in Germany, where there is interest because Buffalo Soldiers served there during World War II. Faith is important to the group, too. Among the membership, there are many ministers and deacons who have to miss Sunday services as they travel home, Mack said. So on Saturday morning, the last programmed day of the convention, they held a bike blessing in the Hampton Roads Convention Center lot. We want to just bless you all in your travels, Van Hook said. Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck, who attended to deliver a proclamation, thanked them for their impact on the community during the convention. We love having you here, he said. Noble Brigham, noble.brigham@virginiamedia.com Ocean City paid tribute Sunday to a man who has been working to keep the beach safe for swimmers for a half century. Ocean City Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin has been patrolling the beach since the Watergate scandal broke and since the first scientific pocket calculator was introduced, officials said at a gathering Sunday. To mark the occasion, Arbin climbed atop a circa 1973 lifeguard stand to wave his flags. Jul. 16When Gary Kauffman first laid eyes on his 1959 Corvette, he didn't know quite what he was getting. The car had been driven only once in the 35 years it was stashed in a garage, and it needed a ton of work. But having since replaced parts ranging from the seats to the speedometer and giving it fresh coats of black and silver paint, Kauffman has it back to being a Chevrolet "icon," as he described it. And on Saturday he drove it from his home in York County to the Oley Fire Company Fairgrounds for the 42nd annual In-Vette-Tational held by the Reading Skyline Drive Corvette Club. Kauffman's car was one of more than 300 on display for the public and judged for more than 53 trophies, and his passion was typical of the owners who participated. Kauffman said he couldn't even count how many hours he put into restoring his Corvette. He said it remains a work in progress, but he spoke of how he enjoys that time immensely. "It's a labor of love," he said. While many of the cars entered were Corvettes, as the event's name implies, there was also a wide range of other vehicles ranging from old to new models for visitors to see and vote for. "It's cool that there are a lot of cars from different eras, from antiques to modern, and people have put a lot of effort and manual labor into them," said Bob Messner, event chairman. Those vehicles included the 1932 Studebaker formerly owned by Bob's father, Fred Messner, whose family donated it to the Antique Automobile Club of America's museum in Hershey after Fred passed away. The museum brought the car to the show for the day, and it was a popular stop for visitors because it has been so immaculately restored and is so rare. It was emotional for Bob to talk about how proud his father would be to see his beloved Studebaker on display. "He had no idea it would even be in a museum," Bob said. But while the classic vehicles were the main attraction Saturday, the event is much more than a car show, as it raises money for several local causes and brings the community together for a good time each year, Messner said. Story continues For example, the show each year awards $1,000 scholarships to three automotive mechanic or auto body students from Berks County. This year's recipients were Brenda Bravo of Muhlenberg Career and Technology Center, Dominic DiLello of Berks Career and Technology Center East, and Anthony Pasquale of Berks Career and Technology Center West. For being chosen, each got to design their own car show trophy and award it to their favorite vehicle. John Anaya of Ephrata came to the show with the 1971 Chevy Nova he bought 10 years ago and restored because it reminded him of a similar car he had as a younger man. "That was the last muscle car I had before children," he said. Anaya is now a grandfather, and he brought along his grandson Joshua Lawrence, 11, who is already helping with restorations. "Cars have always been a special part of my life," Lawrence said, and he therefore appreciated coming to the show. "It's awesome," he said. "No matter what make, model or year the car is, I don't even care. They're all interesting." Jul. 16CHIPPEWA FALLS The Chippewa Falls YMCA has started a 'Y on the Fly' program that allows the YMCA to be mobile and provide services to rural communities. The mobile YMCA program delivers games, activities and healthy snacks to children and their families in rural areas during the summer months. The YMCA van will be loaded with games and staff who will offer at least an hour of activities at each stop. Another 30 minutes will be spent preparing nutritious snacks with children. "The Y on the Fly program allows us to bring the YMCA to areas that don't have as many opportunities for youth and families to get active," said Carrie Mathwig, the Chippewa Falls YMCA's healthy living director. "Transportation to Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire can be a barrier for some, so we are going to bring the YMCA to them," she said. "These opportunities allow us to serve the health and well-being of our rural communities and provide fun activities for our youth and families to look forward to," Mathwig said. "We strive to reach beyond our buildings to serve and connect with our community." Following are the upcoming Y on the Fly events: Storytime in the Park at Riverview Park, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, 203 E. Mill Ave., Cadott. Y on the Fly at Lotz Park, 3 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, 215 E. Patten St., Boyd. Pirate-themed Kids Move and Y on the Fly, 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Thursday, 12 S. Bridge St., Chippewa Falls. Y on the Fly at Village Park, 10 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 26, 407 S. East St., New Auburn. Christmas in July at Stacker City Farmer's Market, 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, 113 N. Fifth St., Cornell. Y on the Fly events are free and open to the public. To learn more, visit ymca-cv.org/events. Community members, clergymen and out-of-town activists converged on Carver Village in west Savannah to call for widespread reform within the Savannah Police Department and for the resignation of Mayor Van Johnson in response to the June 24 killing of Saudi Arai Lee, who was shot by a Savannah police officer in broad daylight. Protestors called out the mayor's lack of response after five Black men were shot and killed by police officers in Savannah this year. Lee was the sixth man shot by police in Chatham County this year. Rev. Dwight Futch (Left) and Alan Mainor leading community members on their march for Saudi Aria Lee to city hall on Saturday, July 16, 2022 The first call for reform: Clergymen question officer training, call for Savannah police chief to step down Saudi Lee's killing: Man shot, killed in fifth police shooting in Savannah this year "The mayor don't do anything about reforming his police department," Elder James Johnson said at the pre-march press conference, in a parking lot at the intersection of Gwinnett Street and Stiles Avenue. "Then he needs to resign or he needs to be voted out. Just as simple as that." Chants proclaiming that "Van's got to go" rang through the humid morning air on Saturday as a group of eight protestors walked more than two miles from Carver Village to City Hall, with a caravan of 20-plus protestors riding behind them. Johnson refuted claims that he's done nothing to reform the criminal justice and police systems in Savannah, citing several programs and policies that have been implemented within the department since 2000. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, speaks at the Good Trouble Vigil Saturday night in Johnson Square. Mayor Van Johnson is campaigning the For The People Act. "I don't know what city they're living in," Johnson said of the protestors, "but police reform is something we're doing everyday." Johnson cited a recent vote to push starting officer salaries to $50,000, the newly created Behavioral Health Unit (which deals with individuals under mental distress or suffering from mental illness), improvements to the ShotSpotter system throughout downtown and the creation of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. Neighbors: officer harassed people for months before shooting Johnson said, "If any of our officers are liable, we will hold them accountable to the highest extent of the law." Story continues The shooting under scrutiny on Saturday was that of Saudi Lee, a 31-year-old Carver Village native who was known as a quiet presence by his family. His uncle, Timothy Lee, remembers how Saudi Lee would also greet him with a dap (colloquial handshake between men) and the words, "Stay safe." "And they shot him in the street," Timothy Lee said as he walked towards City Hall. According to reports, an officer approached Saudi Lee shortly before noon on June 24. Saudi Lee pulled his concealed weapons permit from his pocket and lifted his shirt to show the officer his gun, according to reports. Then, a short chase began, which ended in Saudi Lee dead from gunshot injuries. Timothy Lee, uncle of Saudi Arai Lee, shows an image of his nephew walking on the sidewalk, moments before his death, during a speech before marching to city hall on Saturday, July 16, 2022 Onlookers have a different story, one where Saudi Lee was on the sidewalk, and the officer turned his car around to cut the man off from crossing the street. "This picture was taken of the last 10 seconds of his life," Saudi Lee's uncle, Timothy Lee, told media members Saturday as he held up his phone, an image of Saudi Lee standing on a Carver Village street corner displayed on the screen. Timothy Lee said Ernest Ferguson, the officer who shot Saudi Lee, was known in the neighborhood for harassing Black men. "I've seen so many videos of him dragging people, throwing people up against the wall." Ferguson is on paid administrative leave while the Georgia Bureau of Investigations investigates the shooting. Uncle of Saudi Arai Lee, Timothy Lee, marching down Louisville Road towards city hall on Saturday, July 16, 2022 Internal conflict: Savannah Police dismissals in William Harvey's death highlight frustrations with leadership When Saudi Lee was killed, the Carver Village community rallied together to cry out for justice, his uncle said. "We are all family," Timothy Lee said of the historic community, which was created in the 1940s as housing for Black World War II veterans. He added that the past several months have brought heavy police presence to his neighborhood. Carver Village is on the precipice of change as the neighboring Enmarket Arena and Canal District is built out by the city. The 10,000-seat event space was long-called for by west Savannah community leaders, but now that the reality has brought millions of dollars in infrastructure investments and dozens of national acts, residents are fearful they will be displaced if the arena spurs gentrification in the area. Protest ended with promises for justice, community involvement While the march itself was a small group of impassioned protestors, led by Racial Justice Network leader and local pastor Alan Mainor, the group swelled to more than 30 people on the steps of Savannah City Hall Saturday afternoon, where chants and speeches rang out under the golden dome of Savannah's government. "We want justice!" the crowd yelled as tourists filtered by on foot, scooter and Segway. Elder Johnson called on the Savannah Police Department, GBI and the Chatham County District Attorney's Office to release the dashcam and bodycam footage from the shooting. Rev. Dwight Futch leading a prayer outside of city hall surrounded by community members and family of Saudi Arai Lee on Saturday, July 16, 2022 "If you have nothing to hide, then release the videos," Elder Johnson cried out through a megaphone. State law protects departments from having to release video that is part of an active investigation. Elder Johnson asked the clergymen in attendance Saturday to go back to their communities and get people involved ahead of a town hall planned for next weekend in Carver Village. He called on everyone in the city to rally for justice and reform in the wake of Saudi Lee's shooting. A rash of homicides have claimed the lives of 20 people this year, most of which stem from gun violence and have involved youth. Mayor Johnson said the influx of crime should not be ignored by the clergymen rallying against police shootings. "Black lives taken by Black lives in our streets need to matter, as well," Mayor Johnson said. Zoe covers growth and how it impacts communities in the Savannah area. Find her at znicholson@gannett.com, @zoenicholson_ on Twitter, and @zoenicholsonreporter on Instagram. This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Clergy call for mayor's resignation, police reform during Savannah protest Jul. 16The Coast Guard is searching for a 35-year-old fisherman who went missing early Saturday morning in the waters off South Padre Island. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi command center watchstanders received a call at 5 a.m. Saturday on from the master of the 65-foot commercial fishing vessel Santa Fe stating one of his crew members was missing 35 miles offshore Land Cut, the federal agency said in a news release. The missing Hispanic man is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs about 150 pounds and was last seen wearing a tank top and shorts. The man was reportedly not wearing a life jacket. According to the release, watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crews from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi and a Coast Guard Station South Padre Island 33-foot Special Purpose Craft Law Enforcement boat crew to search for the fisherman. Anyone with information that may assist search efforts should contact Sector Corpus Christi at (361) 939-0450. On a recent flight, the large muscular man seated in the middle seat next to me was looking at naked footage of himself on his phone. He was tilting his phone towards me and zooming in on his penis. Feeling extremely violated and fearful that he was going to touch me, I quietly got up to alert the flight attendant. They went to speak to the man, but they wouldnt reseat me. I didn't know what the passenger was capable of and worried that he would retaliate for telling on him. My fear was justified. Dismissing passengers is nothing new although The Federal Aviation Administration regulation part 121.421.ii states flight attendants must be trained in passenger handling, including the procedures to be followed in the case of deranged persons or other persons whose conduct might jeopardize safety. Travel safe: 17 CIA tips on how to think like a spy and stay safe while on vacation 'We have to be on guard a lot': Why safety comes first for so many LGBTQ travelers The FBI maintains jurisdiction over investigating crimes on U.S. aircraft, airspace or assaults involving American citizens. The FBI reported that inflight sexual assaults increased by 30% from 2018 to 2019. These statistics dont include unreported incidents or those handled by local law enforcement. The bureau determined sexual predators typically attack on long-haul flights when the cabin is dark, perhaps because of fellow passengers taking sleeping pills or consuming alcohol. Perpetrators target those covered with a blanket in the middle or window seats. What to do if you're assaulted in the air? If youre sexually abused on a plane, leave your seat as soon as possible and alert a crew member of the situation. If youre in the window or middle seat and trapped, press the call button to alert a crew member. Insist you be moved and refuse to return to your assigned seat upon landing. Lawyer Julie Hancock of Your Virtual Aid recommends making note of the full names of the flight crew to whom you disclosed your attack, especially if theyre less than helpful. Story continues The FBI advises passengers should demand that flight attendants make note of the identity of the alleged assailant. People move from their assigned seats, so its important the flight attendant records the name of the offender. Law enforcement should be called to meet the aircraft upon arrival, but the Association of Flight Attendants reported in 2017 that this happens less than half of the time. Request that the captain reports the incident to the airport police. Upon landing, law enforcement should be waiting at the gate to determine if an incident is criminal. Law enforcement should detain and question the attacker. Theyre supposed to notify the FBI, but if they dont, call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Many U.S. airports have an FBI satellite office, so FBI agents may also be there upon landing. Law enforcement may require a witness to identify the suspect and testify. Request the flight crew to ask passengers if they saw the predator touching you, evidence of a struggle, or overheard anything during the assault. Sexual harassment lawyer, Steven Azizi of Miracle Mile Law Group suggests asking if anyone videotaped the incident and trying to obtain the footage. Story continues below. 'Dont wait to file a police report' According to David Reischer of LegalAdvice.com, its important to immediately file a report at the airport when the plane lands. Dont wait to file a police report with your local authorities ... (as they) may not have the resources or authority to do any follow-up investigation, he said. Hancock suggests emailing someone you trust with a detailed account of what happened. You may need medical care. Sexual abuse on a flight may be accompanied by physical violence, so getting medical attention is vital, either on the flight or immediately upon landing, Azizi said. Law enforcement may collect your clothes to collect DNA samples as evidence. If youre taken to the hospital, request a rape kit. By seeking medical care itll be harder for the airline to deny the assault occurred, Azizi added. Commercial flights are not law-free zones and sexual abuse is a crime. Contact an attorney to discover your rights. A lawyer can help you receive compensation for your injuries and emotional distress caused by the abuse, Azizi said. If the airline provided an excessive amount of alcohol to the abuser, the passenger can argue that the airline played a substantial part in the misconduct. Reischer recommends filing a claim against all culpable parties. An experienced lawyer will file a claim against the airline carrier and the person or persons that acted unlawfully. Theyll bring a lawsuit for damages against any party that has potential liability, he said. Keep records of all correspondence from the airline. According to Hancock, the way the airline handles the situation may open them up to legal liability. You may have legal recourse if they dont take it seriously or do anything to help the situation, Hancock said. If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org/online and receive confidential support. Is there a perspective you'd like to add? This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sexual assault on a plane: What you can do while in the air, after A Myrtle Beach man was killed in an officer involved shooting Saturday in Georgetown, according to the county coroners office. James Frazier, 50, died at the scene of the shooting near Palm Street and Church Street, according to the offices Facebook post. Police have not identified how the officer was involved in Fraziers shooting. The name of the officer has not been released, and police have not said if the officer was injured. Shots were fired after noon, the post stated. After receiving a call at 1:45 p.m., Coroner Chase Ridgeway responded to the area. No additional details have been released about the manner of the shooting or what led up to it, but the coroners office has asked for thoughts and prayers for the Frazier family and the Georgetown Police Department. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating. He entered to rapturous applause, flattered his hosts shamelessly, told them about his political vision and sold them merchandise bearing his name. Tucker Carlsons appearance in Iowa on Friday looked like a presidential run, walked like a presidential run and quacked like a presidential run but was most certainly not a presidential run, at least as far as anyone knows. The Fox News host was the keynote speaker at the Family Leadership Summit, a gathering of more than 1,800 religious conservatives in Des Moines, Iowa, which every four years is the first state to have a say in picking the Republican presidential nominee. Related: A deadly ideology: how the great replacement theory went mainstream It was at the same forum in the same state seven years ago that businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump told the audience that Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a war hero instantly dooming his candidacy, or so everyone thought. Carlson, 53, another political neophyte and media celebrity, has been touted as a potential Trump heir who might launch a bid for the White House by stoking the same flames of populism, white identity politics and hunger for a man who says what he thinks the more outrageous the better. The New York Times has described Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News as what may be the most racist show in the history of cable news. It is also the most highly rated in prime time. Carlson describes white supremacy as a hoax but has become a prominent conduit for its talking points, suggesting that diversity is Americas biggest existential threat. He has notoriously promoted the far right great replacement theory, which holds that western elites are importing immigrant voters to usurp white people. Yet while he has embraced the nativist and liberal-taunting strains of the Make America great again movement, Carlson had been careful to keep some daylight between himself and Trump leading some to speculate that he is carving out his own lane. Story continues He could be a good president for sure, said Kent Proudfit, 70, attending Fridays Family Leadership Summit. I dont know if he would run but hes pretty popular. Hes got the biggest cable show in America right now. Id definitely vote for him. Proudfit, a retired hospital courier driver wearing a Trump 2024 revenge tour cap that he got for free, said he was untroubled by Carlsons lack of political experience. You dont always need to have somebody thats a politician; maybe somebody thats in business just like Trump was, Proudfit said. We need a businessman and hes done pretty good in business so thats where I would lean. At the conference, Carlsons warm-up acts were Kim Reynolds, Iowas governor, and Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving US senator in Iowa history, both of whom lauded the supreme courts decision to end the constitutional right to abortion. Taking the stage in a dark blue jacket, blue checkered shirt, blue-and-yellow striped tie and grey slacks, Carlson gave a 42-minute speech that ticked some of the boxes of a typical would-be candidate. There was personal biography (I was super unpopular in sixth grade because I had exactly the same views that I have now.), compliments to the hosts (Think Ive been to all 99 of your counties.) and swipes at the Democrats (The other side is so menacing and so scary at this point.). Carlson also sought to clean up past comments that could be used against him. He has been widely condemned for voicing support for Russia in its war on Ukraine as well as for Hungarys authoritarian leader Viktor Orban. Im not a Putin defender, despite what you may have heard, he said. I dont care one way or the other because hes not my president. He doesnt preside over my country and what he does in Ukraine, while I think historically significant, certainly significant to Ukrainians, is not more significant to me than what gas costs. In fact its not even in the same universe. There was a ripple of applause. Carlson continued: The rising price of fossil fuels is not an inconvenience. Its the whole story. ... Cheap energy, cheap fossil fuels make the difference between living in the Central African Republic and Des Moines. He also bore some stylistic similarities to Trump in digressive, meandering remarks, sometimes with flashes of sardonic humour, that were more evocative of a man venting in a bar late at night than a politician reading from a teleprompter. Noting how Iowans have long been besieged by eager candidates, Carlson quipped: I cannot even imagine being in my boxer shorts and, like, bumping into Beto ORourke. But he admitted that he is no Bible scholar and gave no hint of joining that throng as he expressed surprise at being invited to address the conference, saying: Then I thought, no, actually, Im the perfect person to come up here because I can give you advice for how to assess the sweaty people begging for your vote. Because if theres one group I know well, its politicians. He argued that Republicans should choose a candidate who pays attention to voters core concerns, such as the welfare of their children, and who does not care what the New York Times thinks. Carlsons speech went in esoteric directions, including reactionary gripes about modern architecture and an encounter with an underground bees nest. A participant attends Tucker Carlsons speech at Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Feszt on 7 August in Esztergom, Hungary. Photograph: Janos Kummer/Getty Images The TV host took familiar potshots at women who have abortions and transgender athletes before concluding: Twitter isnt real, OK? Its the domain of super unhappy people with empty personal lives and creepy political agendas. What matters to you is what matters to you and you have every right, in fact you have a constitutional duty, to tell your representative to represent you on those issues. The room erupted in whoops and applause from the conservative, overwhelmingly white audience that included many regular viewers of Tucker Carlson Tonight. Jim Hawkins, 77, retired from a career in education, said: He is probably one of the more fearless people to expose many of the false truths. Its very obvious that our press has a bias that leans toward liberalism. At first Hawkins was skeptical about Carlson running for president but then appeared to warm to the idea, saying, He would certainly outshine many of the people who would run against him through his intellect, his exposure to a variety of things. I could get behind that but he would leave a void in what hes doing now. Kyle Danilson, 16, wearing a white Tucker Carlson cap on sale in the lobby for $30, alongside water bottles for $20, said he had been watching Carlsons show since he was 14. Hes probably the number one reporter in conservative media, Danilson remarked. I agree with 75% of everything he says. If he wanted to run for president hed have the platform but I dont think he should or would. Hes more one to promote somebody else instead of promoting himself. Mary Jane Kolars, 71, watches Carlsons show widely condemned by fact checkers for spreading false conspiracy theories every night. I like that hes honest, she said. Hes exposing a lot of corruption in our country and hes not afraid to talk about whats really going on behind the scenes. But the retired substitute teacher and church secretary added: I wouldnt want him to run for president; I want Trump to. Tucker Carlson has his place and hes gifted in that area. I dont think hes gifted in running a country or dealing with foreign countries and making deals like Trump can make deals. Cindy Manning, 62, a teacher who watches the show almost every night, added: He could run for president. I dont know if thats in his interest at all but he would make a good candidate. He does lack some things that he would need but he would just have to surround himself with people that would help him. Tucker Carlson delivers a speech via a videolink at the Conservative Political Action Conference on 19 May in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Szilard Koszticsak/EPA Democrats appear poised to end the first-in-the-nation status of their Iowa caucuses but Republicans are expected to maintain the tradition. Potential 2024 contenders including former vice-president Mike Pence, ex-secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Senator Tom Cotton have been making visits to the Hawkeye state. Some observers suggest that Carlson, who was born to a wealthy family in San Francisco and attended a prestigious boarding school in Rhode Island, would struggle to appeal to Iowas conservative rural areas. Storm Lake Times newspaper editor Art Cullen said: It seems to me like Tom Cotton or Mike Pence is much more a fit for Iowa than, say, Tucker Carlson, a guy who used to wear a bow tie and natty suits and everything. He shows up in Des Moines and Tom Cotton shows up in that little dinky town where theres a lot of evangelicals. Carlsons brand of white nationalism would not necessarily be a vote winner here, Cullen added, saying, There was a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment stirred up by the likes of former congressman Steve King. But there isnt the kind of overt racism in Iowa that youll see in other places. Its a much subtler form of racism so I dont know if overt appeals are going to be that attractive. Carlson has described impoverished immigrants as making America poorer, dirtier, and more divided and dismissed people protesting the police murder of George Floyd in 2020 as criminal mobs. He has also sown doubts about coronavirus vaccines and claimed without evidence that the January 6 Capitol insurrection was a government false flag operation. All told, his Iowa trip is unlikely to quell speculation that he could seek the Republican nomination. Democratic National Committee adviser Kurt Bardella said: Tucker Carlson is someone who is very smart, a gifted performer, and would embody the absolute worst impulses of the Republican party come to life. He would in many ways become the living embodiment of the white grievances that seem to have overrun the platform of the Republican party. When you tune into his programming every night, really it is the white grievance hour. Bardella, a former Republican congressional aide, added: The white nationalist element within the party has grown larger and larger and more vocal and influential and visible. That would be a natural launching pad and constituency for a Tucker Carlson presidential bid. In many ways, think of Tucker Carlson as a more polished Steve Bannon. Just right out of central casting, someone who embodies all the destructive elements that Steve Bannon represents but in a much more presentable and polished way. England captain Courtney Lawes, centre, holds up the Ella-Mobbs Cup (Rick Rycroft/AP) (AP) Courtney Lawes saluted the fighting spirit that enabled England to withstand another Australia fightback and secure a series-clinching 21-17 victory in Sydney. Mirroring the second Test, England built a 21-10 lead through tries by Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith but then had to show resolve to weather a final-quarter assault from the Wallabies. Lawes and Luke Cowan-Dickie combined to claim the crucial turnover that relieved the pressure as Eddie Jones masterminded a second series victory over the team he coached from 2001 to 2005. It was tough. Ive spoken through the whole tour about how, as a team, we want to have that feeling of playing for each other, England captain Lawes said. When you are in those kind of scenarios, thats the only thing that gets you through. Your body is broken, youve played for 11 months, youre at the end of a tough tour and youre under the cosh. What are you going to do? Youre going to dig in for your mates. I think we showed what it means to us. (AP) Lawes revealed that England were motivated by the repeated claims made by Australia that they had been targeted off the ball as part of baiting tactics used by the tourists. Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou also said that he wanted to smash opposite number Ellis Genge. They give us a good bit of fuel in the press to be fair. They were talking smack about us. That motivated us a bit, Lawes said. Some people were targeting Gengey and some people were calling us Poms and whatnot. Its all good fuel for our tank and any good team uses that as motivation. (AP) Jones confirmed that the withdrawal of Danny Care in the 37th minute was tactical following an error-strewn display from the veteran scrum-half, who was replaced by the tidier Jack van Poortvliet. Six years ago Jones delivered a 3-0 whitewash of Australia and he admitted winning this series was every bit as satisfying. This was tougher. We had a more established team in 2016 coming on the back of the Grand Slam and coming on the back of the 2015 team, he said. Story continues We are nurturing this team at the moment. We have got a good group of senior players and we have got all these guys coming through, so it was an entirely different experience. We werent as prepared as we needed to be for the first Test because we didnt have enough time on the training paddock, which we dont control. "The development of the team has been outstanding." Hear from Eddie as he reflects on England's successful tour of Australia! https://t.co/4vlJ3x592g#AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/MMbw6avwan England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 16, 2022 But as the tour went on we got more cohesive, more together, understood how we needed to play. It was also a great tour for the boys. Australia had no problem creating chances but once again they could capitalise as another Test slipped through their fingers. Im disappointed because we gave away some soft points such as Marcus Smiths try. Weve got to look at ourselves because we had plenty of chances, head coach Dave Rennie said. Youve got be clinical and take your opportunities. I reckon were better than the result and better than the result last week. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday said Obergefell V. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court precedent that legalized same-sex marriage, should be overturned with states left to decide their own marriage laws. On his podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz, the Texas lawmaker compared Obergefell to Roe V. Wade, which the Supreme Court overturned last month, ending 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion. Obergefell, like Roe V. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nations history, Cruz said, arguing that marriage had always been left to the states, and the democratic process should have been allowed to continue at the state level. If you succeeded in convincing your fellow citizens, then your state would change the laws, he said. In Obergefell, the court said, No, we know better than you.' And now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage, he added. I think that decision was clearly wrong when it decided. It was the court overreaching. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who voted to overturn Roe V. Wade, wrote in his concurring opinion the court should reconsider Obergefell V. Hodges and two other precedents creating the right to contraception and the right to privacy in the bedroom. In his argument, Thomas questioned the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, which gives Americans the right to life and liberty without undue interference from the government. It has often been interpreted as a right to privacy. Thomas call to reconsider those cases shocked human rights activists and led to a petition to impeach him, which has so far collected more than one million signatures. Cruz last month called the overturning of Roe V. Wade a massive victory for life, adding that the ruling itself did not make abortion illegal, though it has allowed states to do so. What this decision does is leave abortion policy up to the states and returns power to the American peoplewhich is exactly how questions of abortion were handled before Roe, he said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is using federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to open a homeless shelter for individuals who "identify as LGBTQ+ in the District." The homeless shelter opened its doors on Thursday and Bowser attended a ribbon cutting at the building. A press release for the shelter's opening states that it's focused on providing housing and services to residents "who are experiencing homelessness and identify as LGBTQ+." The facility opened its doors after a ribbon cutting on July 14, according to a press release. CALIFORNIA OFFICIAL BLASTS LIBERAL LEADERS AFTER DISCOVERY OF HOMELESS BUNKER: THEY 'TURNED A BLIND EYE' WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 25: City officials including Mayor Muriel Bowser discuss the rising violence at a press conference, in Washington, DC. Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images The building where the homeless shelter is located was previously used for a family homeless shelter, according to the press release. "The building previously served as a family shelter, but as the District continues to drive down family homelessness and with new family shelters open citywide, was converted into a shelter dedicated to LGBTQ+ residents a population of residents who are disproportionately affected by homelessness," the press release states. According to the press release, the project was funded through a grant from the American Rescue Plan Act, which was passed in March 2021. SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR LONDON BREED DOWNPLAYS CRIME IN CITY AS RIGHT WING MEDIA NOISE WASHINGTON, USA - APRIL 22: Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a press conference after multiple people were injured in a shooting near the Edmund Burke School in Washington, D.C. on April 22, 2022 Photo by Bryan Dozier/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The homeless shelter will have 40 beds and also provide mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and medical services. "The Bowser Administration leveraged a grant through American Rescue Plan Act to establish and operate a 40-bed low-barrier emergency shelter for unaccompanied adults - 25 years of age and older - who identify as LGBTQ+ in the District. To meet the targeted needs of residents, the shelter will provide trauma-informed case management services, including mental health, substance abuse treatment, medical, and victims services," the press release states. Bowser said at a press conference that the shelter "embodies our DC values," according to FOX 5. Fox News reached out to Bowser's office for comment. A mother duck and her ducklings are back together thanks to the help of Dayton police and Dayton Public Schools staff. >> Area humane society takes in 12 beagles from 4,000 rescued from Virginia facility Officers teamed up with DPS staff to rescue three ducklings that fell through a sewer grate, according to a social media post from the police department. Two birds were quickly saved, but the third took some time and ingenuity, the post said. The police department shared a video showing how they were able to rescue the ducklings. Need a smile? A couple of our officers teamed up with folks from @DaytonSchools to rescue 3 ducklings that fell thru a sewer grate. 2 birds were quickly saved, but the third took some time & ingenuity. Thanks to Guy Fogle, MCESC for capturing the event. https://t.co/6vtHGbclFg Dayton Police Dept. (@DaytonPolice) July 16, 2022 Several residents of Chuhuyiv were injured after night shelling, three people died Read also: Russian invading forces attack Kharkiv overnight, says regional governor Chuhuiv Mayor Halyna Minayeva also reported that several buildings were destroyed in the attack. Read also: Russians shell Kharkiv Oblast, killing one, injuring two Specifically, a school, a hardware store, and several residential buildings were destroyed, said Minayeva. The resulting fire was raging across 40 square meters, and has since been extinguished. Help NV continue reporting on the Russian invasion Deputies are asking for your help in finding a missing woman out of Barrow County. Jessica Gill Wheeler, 37, was reported missing to the Barrow County Sheriffs Office. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Wheeler was last seen in the area of 560 8th Street, Staham, on July 16, 2022 at approximately 9:45 p.m. She was wearing a black spaghetti strap shirt and blue jeans. Wheeler is 56 and 120 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. TRENDING STORIES: If you have any information on Wheelers location, contact the Barrow County Sheriffs Office. IN OTHER NEWS: Zara Todd's view whilst being stuck on the EasyJet flight from Edinburgh to London. Zara Todd A woman said she and her partner were left on a plane without their wheelchairs for two hours. Zara Todd described being "tired, thirsty, uncomfortable" waiting at London's Gatwick Airport. Disabled passengers are being hit harder than other travelers by the chaos and delays in air travel. As airports across Europe and North America struggle with heightened demand and staff shortages, disabled travelers are being disproportionately being affected. Another example of this is Zara Todd and her partner, Alex Papanikolaou, who were stuck on a plane for two hours at a London airport while waiting for airline staff to bring their wheelchairs. Todd and Papanikolaou were flying with the budget airline EasyJet from Edinburgh, Scotland, to London Gatwick Airport on July 11. It was her birthday, Todd told Insider. People board an EasyJet flight at London's Gatwick Airport. Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images On arrival at Gatwick on Flight EZY808, the two were faced with a 100-minute wait longer than the total flight time of an hour and 30 minutes. Todd said she was "tired, thirsty, uncomfortable, and worried" as she waited, and called the trip a "pretty bad way to spend a birthday." Todd said that they "landed at Gatwick around 6:30 p.m., but it took until just after 8:00 p.m. for the baggage handlers to get the chairs off." "In this time the crew offered us water but I had to decline as the plane was delayed at Edinburgh for two hours, and because I can't go to the toilet on the airplane I don't risk drinking three hours before a flight," she said. She added that Papanikolaou is able to use plane bathrooms so could accept the water and, luckily, be more comfortable. "It was my birthday and due to both the delays of the flight and then the delays of the wheelchair I spent seven hours traveling from Edinburgh to London with very little liquid intake on a hot day and little food." In a statement to Insider, EasyJet said: "We're very sorry about the delay experienced by Ms. Todd when disembarking her flight and the difficulty this will have caused. Story continues "We understand how important it is to our customers traveling with their wheelchair that they are reunited with this as soon as possible after their flight, and so we are urgently investigating with our ground handling partner at Gatwick airport why her wheelchair was delayed in being offloaded." 'Literally being left behind' As chaotic air journeys increasingly become the norm this summer, disabled travels are often getting hit harder than others. James Taylor, an executive for the Scope disability charity, told The Guardian: "On planes we have seen too many examples of disabled people forced to wait a long time for assistance, causing discomfort, frustration and huge delays to their trips." "Disabled people are literally being left behind." There have been a number of reports of wheelchair users being stranded on planes recently. They include a paralyzed woman who was left for 95 minutes on a flight at Gatwick Airport, and the BBC correspondent Frank Gardner, who said the incident was his fifth. Read the original article on Business Insider ALONA MAZURENKO SATURDAY, 16 JULY 2022, 08:12 Over the course of the past 24 hours, 7 civilians have been killed and another 14 injured in Russian shelling of Donetsk Oblast. Source: Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "On 15 July, the Russians killed 7 civilians in Donetsk Oblast: 2 in Krasnohorivka, 1 in Sloviansk, 1 in Avdiivka, 1 in Zakitne, 1 in Hirnyk, and 1 in Ostrivske. Another 14 civilians sustained injuries. In addition, a person who had earlier sustained injuries in Luhansk Oblast died in Kostiantynivka yesterday." Details: Kyrylenko reiterated that it remains impossible to determine the number of casualties and fatalities in Mariupol and Volnovakha. The Hill The Trump Organizations chief financial officer is coming close to reaching a plea deal in a case investigating whether he funneled off-the-books income to himself and other executives at the company, but the potential deal reportedly does not bring prosecutors any closer to their main target: former President Trump. The New York Times reported Monday, Caleen Sisk, chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, visits the McCloud River in January. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Californias Chinook salmon havent been able to reach the McCloud River since 1942, when the construction of Shasta Dam blocked the fish from swimming upstream and sealed off their spawning areas in the cold mountain waters near Mt. Shasta. After 80 years, endangered winter-run Chinook are about to swim in the river once again. State and federal wildlife officials this week collected about 20,000 winter-run salmon eggs from the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery near Redding and drove them for three hours to a campground on the banks of the McCloud River. Members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, who have long sought to return salmon to the river where their ancestors lived, held a ceremony as the eggs arrived in a cooler. This is history for California that we've done this, said Caleen Sisk, the tribes chief and spiritual leader. It's a real blessing. During the ceremony this week, Sisk and others sang as two women carried the cooler with the salmon eggs, leading a procession around a fire as several children followed. Were asking that the river receive these eggs, Sisk said. And weve put down that song so that they have a fighting chance. For the Winnemem Wintu, salmon are central to their cultural and spiritual traditions. They call the river Winnemem Waywacket, and its the heart of their traditional homeland, which the tribe lost when the reservoir was filled. Whatever happens to the salmon happens to us, Sisk said. She said the tribe offered prayers for the salmon to survive. And the women and children welcomed the eggs, she said, to give them a female mothering kind of vibration. Two biologists lugged the cooler down a rocky slope to the riverbank and set it down next to specialized incubator tanks, where water flowing from the river was circulating through the system. Taylor Lipscomb, the hatcherys manager, reached into the cooler and lifted out a cup filled with orange salmon eggs, then handed it to one of the children. Story continues Each child participated, lowering a cupful into the water and tipping it until the eggs tumbled out and settled on a metal screen. As Sisk carried a cupful to the tank, she said she was talking to the eggs about their ancestors, the salmon that swam there long ago. And just trying to give them the courage and support, she said, that were here for them and were going to do the best that we can. Winter-run Chinook salmon are increasingly struggling to survive as global warming intensifies drought conditions and extreme heat. Last year, the water flowing from Shasta Dam got so warm that the Sacramento River turned lethal for winter-run salmon eggs. Most of the eggs and young fish died. State biologists estimated that only 2.56% of the eggs hatched and survived to swim downriver, one of the lowest estimates of egg-to-fry survival yet. State and federal officials have been working on plans to reintroduce the endangered fish to the McCloud River. They say the effort this summer is not yet a full-fledged reintroduction, but rather an urgent response to help the salmon during a third year of severe drought. The idea is that by moving some eggs to cooler waters, they will have better odds of surviving this summer. Once the eggs hatch, the tiny salmon, called fry, will make their way out of the incubator system through a pipe and swim into the river. Another shipment of 20,000 eggs will be delivered to the incubators on the riverbank in early August. Biologists plan to use traps in the river to collect the juvenile salmon and truck them downstream of the dam. Once released into the Sacramento River, the fish can migrate to the Pacific Ocean. The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is taking part in the effort along with officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Tribal members and state wildlife staff have been camping by the incubators to monitor the eggs as they develop. Chuck Bonham, director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, thanked the Winnemem Wintu Tribe for their guidance, which he said has helped shape the effort. In a statement, Bonham called the return of the eggs to the McCloud River historic and healing. For years, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe has advocated an approach to reintroducing salmon that would involve developing a swimway so that fish could travel upstream and downstream on their own around Shasta Dam. Shasta Dam stands 602 feet tall. Since its completion in 1945, the dam has blocked Chinook salmon from returning upstream to the cold spring-fed streams near Mt. Shasta where they once spawned. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The tribe also wants to use salmon that once lived in the Sacramento River but were transplanted to New Zealand more than a century ago. The salmon have been thriving in mountain rivers in New Zealand, and the Winnemem Wintu say those eggs should be brought back. Until recently, Sisk said she would oppose bringing hatchery-raised fish to the McCloud River. But she said the winter-run eggs are now in dire need of improved conditions, otherwise theyre going to disappear. I think it's the first step, Sisk said. We do have a working agreement to work on bringing our New Zealand eggs back still. And we should be able to do that within three years. She said the tribe also still wants to develop a passage route for fish, because they wouldnt want the salmon to be continually hauled by truck to reach their spawning habitat. For now, Sisk said shes concerned about the nonnative brown trout in the McCloud and the bass in Shasta Lake, both of which feed on baby salmon. She said she hopes the little Chinook will be able to grow enough in the McCloud to give them a chance at survival. Having young salmon in the McCloud River will enable scientists to monitor how the fish fare in their historical habitat. It's a glimmer of hope, Sisk said. It's really a dream come true. She said the effort came together quickly and she was stunned to see the children, including her 5-year-old granddaughter Maya, putting the eggs into the blue barrels. They have that connection now, she said. Its something theyll never forget their entire life. The eggs arrived at the start of the tribes seventh annual Run4Salmon, a 300-mile journey on foot, bicycle, horseback and boat, following the old path of the salmon from the McCloud River to San Francisco Bay. On Friday, Sisk and others were on an initial leg of the journey at Lake Shasta, some in a houseboat and others paddling a dugout canoe and kayaks. She said participants plan to kayak to Red Bluff, ride bikes to Colusa and then paddle in kayaks toward Sacramento. On July 31, they plan to finish their journey like the salmon, reaching the Pacific coast. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A fire in Winchester, Indiana Saturday night damaged a business and several other buildings nearby. A previous owner of the building said that this isnt the first fire thats happened there and shes worried for its future. >> PREVIOUS REPORTING: Firefighters battle blaze at building in Winchester, Indiana; investigation underway Both current and former owners of the building, located at 101 South Main Street, were there Sunday to take in the damage the fire had caused. Ronda Stanley, the former owner of the building, said her restaurant Round the Corner used to be there. Stanley owned the building for more than a decade, then sold it in 2016 to the current owner. While she owned the building, Stanley said there were a couple of accidental fires. >> Photos: Firefighters battle blaze at building in Winchester, Indiana With another fire happening Saturday, shes worried some of the building may have sustained too much damage to repair. When I got the call last night it still hurt a lot because this was my life for so many years. I wanted to tell her goodbye, Stanley said. Winchester Fire Department also said a firefighter was treated for heat-related symptoms from the fire. The current owner declined to talk on camera to News Center 7, but said she used the building as a space to hold events. She is unsure how she will be able to move forward after the damage caused by the fire. The fire still remains under investigation. Photo Courtesy: Terry White/ DJI Aerial Photography Photo Courtesy: Terry White/ DJI Aerial Photography Photo Courtesy: Terry White/ DJI Aerial Photography Photo Courtesy: Terry White/ DJI Aerial Photography Photo Courtesy: Terry White/ DJI Aerial Photography Photo Courtesy: Terry White/ DJI Aerial Photography A non-profit organization is concerned that new civics-education training for Florida teachers may push Christian nationalism and endanger the separation of church and state. The organization, Americans United For Separation of Church and State, said earlier this month that it wants to investigate whether the training was influenced by conservative Christian groups like Hillsdale College and the Koch-founded Bill of Rights Institute. Sign up here for The 74s daily newsletter. Donate here to support The 74's independent journalism. Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted his administrations effort to boost Floridas civics education, including revamping the civics standards in 2021, but some teachers claim that new civics training materials are skewed towards Christian and conservative ideology. The organization is starting out with a public records request with the Florida Department of Education, but may it may not end there. Americans United is considering all options. Were not going to sit by while politicians smuggle white Christian Nationalism into public school curriculums under the guise of good citizenship, Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser said in a press release. Late last month, the Miami Herald reported that some teachers from Broward County being trained to implement the new standards found the materials infused with a Christian and conservative ideology. The news organization shared the PowerPoint slides from a three-day training session. News4Jax reported that a St. Johns County teacher shared similar sentiments. More fire beneath that smoke Andrew Seidel, vice president for strategic communications of the church-state separation advocacy group, told the Phoenix the organization has been following Floridas civics curriculum for some time. The Florida Department of Education adopted new civics standards for K-12 schools in 2021. The training itself, to implement this curriculum, was alarming, so that suggests to us that theres a lot more fire beneath that smoke, Seidel said. Story continues The PowerPoint slides from the training claim, for example, that there is a misconception that the Founders desired a strict separation of church and state and that the Founders only wanted to protect Freedom of worship. Seidel is the author of The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American. The separation of church and state is a concept that is woven into the very fabric of our Republic and our Constitution, he told the Phoenix. There is no freedom of religion without a government thats free from religion. Provide that foundation DeSantis claims that if more people understood civics, there would be less division. Im confident that if we provide that foundation, these students as they become adults, theyre gonna be able to navigate a lot of the things that are going on, and make sense of a lot of the things that are going on, much better than probably my generation or certainly in more recent years, DeSantis said during a June 30 press conference in Sanford. And thats gonna pay a lot of dividends, he continued. I mean, quite frankly, if we did a better job of doing civics education, I dont think wed have as many divisions in our country as we have. Because theres a lot of people that you know that you dont have a common understanding of our constitutional structure, of our founding principles, and it makes it a lot harder to agree on different types of issues. Much of DeSantiss political image revolves around keeping so-called woke ideologies out of Florida schools, and he frequently recites the motto of education, not indoctrination during his appearances. DeSantis added during the press conference: History is good and bad. Theres all kinds of things that happen, but I think that the story is, is that because that we were founded differently on different ideas about God-given rights and the way the government, uh, the proper role of peoples lives, people have been able to triumph over a big, big challenges. Existential threat Seidel says his groups investigation will look into whether the civics training for teachers integrates Christian nationalism, which he says is an existential threat to our republic. Christian nationalism is fundamentally opposed to pluralist democracy and, if we are teaching that to children in the public schools we arent raising good citizens. Its the opposite to what DeSantis claims it the goal of this program, he said. Andrew Spar, president of the statewide teacher union, the Florida Education Association, also discussed the civics training. As I understand it from those teachers who attended that first training that they had on civics was that it wasnt just teaching about religion it was teaching in one way skewed to a specific religion, Spar told the Phoenix. And it really mischaracterized the founding of this country, where it said the founding of this country is based on religion. The founding of this country was actually based on escaping religious persecution, he continued. You know, I think our founding fathers were very deliberate in talking about religion not being so central in how our government functions. So you know, it is concerning. And its also concerning, and interesting, that, you know, this is coming from the governors administration where he keeps accusing teachers of indoctrinating kids but then clearly seems to wanna put out a civics class in which hes indoctrinating kids. Not everyone sees the civics training as a red flag yet. Bob Holladay, an adjunct professor at Tallahassee Community College, told the Phoenix that he is not worried about what he has seen so far regarding the civics training PowerPoint slides. Unless, and let me emphasize, unless K-12 teachers actually start getting penalized in some way for teaching, for emphasizing something different here. If that starts happening, you know, then theres some concern, Holladay said. I dont really see much evidence of that yet. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter. Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne arrives to be interviewed by the House committee investigating the Capitol riot on July 15, 2022. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Patrick Byrne testified before the House Jan. 6 committee on Friday. The former Overstock CEO testified behind closed doors for nearly eight hours, CNN reported. The panel is interested in a Dec. 2020 meeting Byrne had with Trump's inner circle. Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne testified before the House committee investigating the Capitol riot for nearly eight hours on Friday, CNN reported. The ally of former President Donald Trump entered the committee conference room just before 10 a.m. ET and left before 7 p.m. ET, taking an hour-long break for lunch, CNN reported. Byrne took short breaks from giving testimony behind closed doors to speak to his lawyer, CNN said. The testimony was recorded and transcribed, CNN reported. The committee met with Byrne to ask him about a meeting he had with Trump's inner circle on December 18, 2020, Time reported. The meeting saw Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former national security advisor under Trump, and Sidney Powell, one of Trump's personal attorneys at the time, discussing seizing voting machines and naming Powell as a special counsel to work on overturning the 2020 election, The New York Times reported. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat on the January 6 panel, said the meeting got so heated that aides could later hear screaming down the hallway. Cassidy Hutchinson, the White House aide who has since publicly testified against Trump, had described the six-hour meeting as "unhinged" at the time. According to CNN, the committee is interested in the meeting because of a tweet Trump sent the following day: "Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!" Byrne, who launched the furniture retailer Overstock in 1999, resigned as CEO in August 2019 after releasing a statement referencing the "Deep State" conspiracy theory. He also revealed that he had been in a relationship with Maria Butina, the Russian woman who was charged in 2018 with acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Byrne repeatedly pushed false claims that Trump won the 2020 election due to voter fraud. According to a blog post he published after the December meeting, he urged Trump to "find" adequate evidence of foreign interference in the election to give him the authority to direct a federal force to recount votes. Read the original article on Business Insider Former UConn star Tyrese Martin signed a multiyear deal with the NBAs Atlanta Hawks, the team announced on Saturday. Exact details of the contract were not released, per team policy. Through four games with the Hawks in the NBAs Las Vegas Summer League, Martin averaged 12 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 47.5% from the field. Martin was selected 51st overall by the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the NBA Draft but was quickly traded to Atlanta. The Hawks sent the No. 44 pick, Ryan Rollins, for the No. 51 pick and $2 million. After transferring from the University of Rhode Island before the 2020-21 season, the 6-foot-6 guard from Allentown, Pa., played two seasons with UConn. He averaged a career-high 13.6 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 43% from the 3-point line in the 2021-22 season. Barcelona midfielder and Manchester United transfer target Frenkie de Jong (Getty Images) Frenkie de Jong has been included in Barcelonas squad for their pre-season tour of the United States despite his transfer to Manchester United remaining unresolved. De Jong is Erik ten Hag's priority transfer target this summer and United have struck an initial 75m (63.5m) deal with Barcelona, with a further 10m (8.5m) in add-ons. Senior United officials travelled to Catalonia earlier this week to finalise a deal with Barcelona but the move is now held up due to contractual issues. De Jong is understood to be owed around 17m in deferred wages and is reluctant to leave Camp Nou before reaching an agreement on their payment. Barcelona have told De Jong that he has to leave this summer in order for the club to be able to balance their wage bill. Robert Lewandowski is expected to undergo a medical with Barcelona this weekend ahead of his move from Bayern Munich, while Raphinha's 55m deal to Camp Nou was completed on Friday. That is despite Barcelona amassing debts of 1.3bn and potential difficulties registering Lewandowksi, Raphinha and fellow new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen due to La Liga's financial fair play regulations. Barcelona officials have sought to ease the financial pressure on the club by selling of 10 per cent of their televison rights for the next 25 years. The sale of De Jong would help further, but the 25-year-old will travel with the rest of Xavi's squad to the United States for pre-season friendlies against Inter Miami, Barcelona, Juventus and New York Red Bulls. Other players that Barcelona are also willing to sell will not travel, including Martin Braithwaite, Riqui Puig, Samuel Umtiti and Oscar Mingueza. Editors note: This blotter is compiled from recent Gig Harbor police reports. Gig Harbor police received a call of a hold-up alarm earlier in the day July 12 alerting them of a robbery in progress at Columbia Bank, located at 5303 Point Fosdick Dr. NW. The suspect was described as a white male in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall with a thin build, blonde hair, and a distinctive neck tattoo of the word karma. He paced outside the bank before he walked in, passed a teller a note, took money and left the building. Surveillance camera footage showed the suspect on camera matched a suspect in a bank robbery June 30. A red pickup truck with an extended cab was seen across the street after the suspect fled on foot toward that location. The bank manager told officers the suspects note said: You have 2 minutes or my homies will run up in here, you dont want that. The Gig Harbor officer investigating the crime thought that the man likely was behind a string of similar bank robberies in Thurston and Pierce counties, including the bank robbery June 30 in Gig Harbor. This observation came from the neck tattoo, the red pickup and the note, which had similar verbiage as the other recent robberies. Hours after the July 12 robbery in Gig Harbor, tellers at a bank in Poulsbo reported a robbery at about 5 p.m. Deputies located the red pickup on state Route 3. It exited the highway in Silverdale and rear-ended another vehicle. Kitsap County Sheriffs Office deputies arrested the suspect after running the car off the road. In an interview with detectives, the suspect allegedly admitted to robbing six banks in Western Washington. Police called to dinner Gig Harbor police received a called a 10 p.m. July 14 for domestic violence incident at Bella Femmina Italian Restaurant, 3110 Harborview Dr. Once an officer arrived, they approached a man and woman who were behind a nearby business. Both of them denied anything physical had occurred and denied being in a relationship. Thats when the officers cleared the scene. Story continues About an hour later the officers were dispatched back to the Italian restaurant, where it was reported the woman was pushing customers inside. Once the officers arrived back on the scene they contacted the woman at the entrance and started talking to her. The other officer went inside to see what happened and saw the man exiting the bathroom. The man told the officer he wanted the woman arrested for assaulting him. The officer told him he would file a report and send it to the prosecutor who would make a decision about charges. The bartender at Bella Femmina told the officers the woman pushed several people and the restaurant wanted her gone. The woman was issued a trespass letter. She signed it and left the scene. Home Depot shoplifter While patrolling the parking lot of Home Depot at 5120 Borgen Boulevard around 8:40 p.m. July 8, Gig Harbor police noticed expired tags on a van. The van was reported to be unoccupied and the ignition was damaged. A records check listed the vehicle as recently involved in a shoplifting incident and a hit and run incident. The officer contacted a man who approached the van. Per identification given to the officer, a records check showed the man had approximately 10 warrants for his arrest. While on the scene the officer spoke to the management of Home Depot. The man was recognized by the staff as a frequent shoplifter who had been to the Gig Harbor Home Depot on multiple occasions. At the request of management the man was issued a written notice of trespass. Management also made the decision to call to have the van removed from the property. The officer transported the man to Kitsap County Jail where he was booked and advised to take care of his warrants. $1,000 bike stolen from YMCA Shortly after noon on July 12, a man noticed his $1,000 bike was missing off the bike rack at the YMCA, 10550 Harbor Hill Dr. While inside, he left his bike unlocked on the bike rack outside. A male suspect walked up and rode off on the bike, per security footage. The suspect was a white male, about 20, with short dark hair, who exited out of an older 2000s metallic lime green Honda. The vehicle had no license plates. The YMCA staff told the officer they recognized the suspect as someone who had arrived in a stolen vehicle and then stole a different one out of the parking lot, and left the original vehicle behind. The case is pending suspect identification. Vacuum heist While patrolling his regular assigned area July 12, a Gig Harbor police officer was advised of a shoplifting incident at Target, 11400 51st Ave., the day prior. The officer met with a store associate who provided him with a report for the incident. It stated an unknown suspect entered the building and made their way to the vacuum section of the store about 7:38 p.m. July 11. The male suspect used an unknown tool to smash a single case that held iROBOT vacuums. He proceeded to steal almost $1,500 in vacuums. The store associate said he recognized the suspect from the video footage and said the suspect had been coming into the store the past couple of days. The suspects identity remains unknown. The schoolgirl was attacked by a stranger as she walked home in Stevenage. (Getty) Police have launched an appeal after a 14-year-old girl was grabbed and raped by a stranger as she walked home. The schoolgirl was attacked in Broadwater Crescent, Stevenage, at around 11:30pm on Thursday, Hertfordshire Police said. She was walking past the alleyway near the Man In The Moon pub when an unknown male approached her before sexually assaulting her, the Force added. The victim is being supported by specially trained officers. Read more: Care home and ex-manager fined after rapist resident attacked dementia patient Police have launched an appeal to find the attacker. (Getty) The suspect was described as being of slim build, and around 5ft 9ins tall. He was said to have short brown hair and stubble and was wearing grey Nike joggers, a black zipped-up hoodie and white Nike trainers. Detective Inspector Michael Macbeth said: I understand this will be hugely concerning to the local community, and I would like to reassure you that we are conducting extensive enquiries in order to identify the offender. Read more: Retired farmer found guilty of murdering wife and dumping body in septic tank 40 years ago He added: If you believe you saw someone matching that description in the area around the time specified, please get in contact. If you were driving in the area around the time of the incident and have a dash cam, please check it and get in contact if you spot something that might help. Alternatively, if you have any information, please get in touch with police as soon as possible. Even something that may seem relatively minor or insignificant could be vital to our investigation. You can report information online or by calling 101, quoting crime reference 41/56457/22. Alternatively, you can stay anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at crimestoppers-uk.org. (iStock) Summer in the UK usually means one thing: heatwaves. British summertime is long-awaited after our lengthy cold winters, and yet we never seem to be properly prepared for the inevitable heatwave (or heatwaves if were lucky). Temperatures can reach up to 34C in some parts of the country, but how hot does it need to be before workers should be sent home by their employers? Heres everything you need to know: The guidance on workplace temperatures Employers have a legal obligation to ensure that the temperature in the workplace is reasonable, as outlined by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Not only do they have a responsibility to maintain a suitable temperature for their employees, but its also their duty to ensure that the air is clean and fresh. While there isnt a maximum temperature for the workplace as laid out by the government, efforts have been made in the past to put one into place. In 2006, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) released a briefing that highlighted the temperatures that it believes should be maintained in various workplaces as a matter of health and safety. The TUC stated that it believes a maximum temperature of 30C should be set by employers, with a maximum of 27C put into place for those doing strenuous work. The TUC added that employers should still aim to keep temperatures below 24C and note if employees express discomfort over the temperature. The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers recommends a working temperature of 13C for those undertaking heavy work in factories; 16C for those doing light work in factories; 18C for those working in hospital wards and shops; and 20C for those working in offices and dining rooms. The government has stated its recommended minimum temperatures for employees, with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommending a minimum temperature of 16C for workers and 13C for those carrying out manual work under its Approved Code of Practice. Story continues Despite the fact that a maximum temperature in the workplace hasnt become legalised in the UK, there are measures that employees can utilise if theyre of the opinion that their workplace has become too hot to handle. What to do if your workplace is too hot The government recommends that employees speak to their bosses if the temperature in their workplace is uncomfortable. According to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), employers should carry out a risk assessment for the health and safety of their workers in order to determine whether the workplace is a safe environment in which to work. The HSE states that employers must take six factors into account when assessing whether their workplace is a safe. These factors are: air temperature, radiant temperature, air velocity, humidity, what clothing they wear and the average rate at which they work. The HSE has created a thermal comfort checklist, which it recommends employers ask employees to fill out in order to determine whether they're experiencing thermal discomfort. If a worker ticks two or more of the "yes" options on the checklist, then they could be at risk of thermal discomfort. In this case, employers may need to carry out a more detailed risk assessment of the workplace. It is ultimately up to the employer to decide whether the circumstances arent suitable for work. However, it also depends on what kind of environment you work in. If working outdoors, its the employers responsibility to introduce rest breaks for their workers and encourage them to hydrate regularly. Furthermore, for those who typically wear business clothes to work, adopting a more casual dress code could prove essential for the overall wellbeing of employees. Here are some measures that employees can put into place to keep workplaces as cool as possible: Insulate exposed pipes that can become hot. Shade windows. Move workstations away from areas that are exposed to the sun or frequently become hot. Provide air conditioning or fans for employees. Provide thermometers so that workers can keep an eye on the temperature. Rotate workers if certain individuals are forced to cope with uncomfortable temperatures for prolonged periods of time. For all the latest news on the UK weather, click here. President Barham Salih of Iraq defended President Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia last week, citing the Saudi royal family's progress in modernizing the nation. The Saudi government at the moment is engaged in a significant program of modernization that needs to be watched closely and needs to be appreciated for its implications for the wider neighborhood, Salih said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Salih commended the crown prince for taking on extremist elements in his kingdom. Biden's trip has come under fire in the United States from both the left and the right, particularly given the widely seen image of Biden exchanging a fist bump Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince has been widely condemned for his record on human rights and his role in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Salih looked at it in practical terms. Look, at the end of the day, nations act upon their interest, he told Zakaria. Salih was elected president in 2018. Iraq's parliament elects its president, but efforts to hold a new election this year have repeatedly failed, due to boycotts by members of parliament. Democracy by nature is messy and difficult, he said. Salih said he still had hopes that democracy, established after the dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled by international forces in 2003, would prevail. We have not been able to bring to a closure and establish a new government, Salih said. Iraqi political actors have been engaged in all kinds of legal maneuvering through our Supreme Court. It is disappointing that we have not been able to bring it to a closure but we are trying hard. We're not fighting it in the streets; we're fighting it through the legal parliamentary system that we have, he said. An American lawyer who represented murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been sentenced to three years in prison in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after being detained at an airport amid President Joe Bidens controversial trip to the Middle East. Asim Ghafoor, a US citizen and Virginia-based civil rights attorney, was convicted of tax evasion and money laundering related to a tax evasion operation in the US, UAE state media WAM reported on Saturday. The Abu Dhabi Money Laundering Court sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of three million dirhams ($816,748 USD), then deportation from the UAE, two days after he was arrested at Dubai airport. State media said that his conviction came after US authorities reached out to their UAE counterparts for judicial assistance regarding their investigations of Mr Ghafoor for alleged tax evasion and making suspicious money transfers to the Middle Eastern country. The US has not confirmed this version of events.The Independent has reached out to the US State Department to verify this account. The State Department confirmed that it was aware of Mr Ghafoors detention in a statement on Saturday. It came as Mr Biden held a meeting with UAE President Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to further relations between the two nations. We are aware of the arrest of US citizen Asim Ghafoor in the UAE. We have raised his detention at senior levels with Emirati authorities and requested additional information. We are watching his case closely and providing appropriate consular support; consular officers from the US Embassy visited him today, a State Department spokesperson said. We have conveyed our expectation that Mr. Ghafoors rights to a fair and public hearing and to fair trial guarantees be fully respected and that he be treated humanely, as well as that US rights to consular access be fully respected. Earlier, US officials told reporters that there was no indication that it has anything to do with the Khashoggi issue. Story continues Asim Ghafoor has reportedly been sentenced to three years (The Intercept) Mr Ghafoor, who previously represented Mr Khashoggi, was detained in Dubai on Thursday while travelling to Istanbul for a family wedding. Human rights group, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said he was being held in a detention facility in Abu Dhabi on charges related to an in absentia conviction for money laundering. Mr Ghafoor reportedly had no prior knowledge of any conviction. The human rights group, of which Mr Ghafoor is a co-founder and board member, called on Mr Biden to raise the issue when he met with the UAE president in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. It is unclear if Mr Ghafoors detention was raised in what appeared to be a friendly meeting between the two leaders. During the meeting, Mr Biden formally invited his UAE counterpart, who took office in May, to visit the US this year. President Joe Biden meeting with President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Challenges you face today only make it a heck of a lot more important we spend time together, Mr Biden told him. I want to formally invite you to the States. The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment. The meeting came as Mr Biden met with several Middle East leaders as part of his four-day trip to the region, including the man believed to have ordered the hit on Mr Khashoggi. On 2 October 2018, Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and outspoken critic of the Saudi government, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. US intelligence agencies concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, had ordered his killing. Biden blamed Saudis crown prince for ordering murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (AFP via Getty Images) Mr Biden met with MBS on Friday during his controversial trip, telling reporters after that he had confronted the crown prince about his role in the murder. MBS denied any responsibility and fired back at the president with the USs own controversies. Saudi officials later claimed that they didnt hear Mr Biden raise Khashoggis death with the crown prince comments that the US president instantly said were untrue. Mr Bidens decision to visit Saudi Arabia and meet MBS has come under fire, particularly given Mr Bidens statements during his 2020 White House campaign that he would make Saudi Arabia a pariah. The president sparked further backlash when he greeted MBS with a friendly fist-bump at the start of their meeting on Friday. The indie band Japanese Breakfast has canceled a concert scheduled for September in Rochester, N.Y., after the group learned that the venue also plans to host an event backed by Michael Flynn next month. The group said in a tweet on Thursday that multiple people reached out to them to inform them that they were boycotting the Main Street Armory in Rochester because it was hosting an event of the ReAwaken America Tour, which includes a range of right-wing speakers like former Trump campaign consultant Roger Stone, Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The band said they were originally told that the ReAwaken America event was canceled, but later learned it was secretly still scheduled. They said they want to stand by their principles. Its a picket line we support and are not interested in crossing, they said. We are unfortunately unable to move the event to a different venue this time but we love Rochester and I am sure we will return someday soon. The venue, Main Street Armory, did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment. The ReAwaken America tour was organized by Clay Clark, a businessman from Tulsa, Okla., who originally organized the event in opposition to COVID-19 restrictions put in place during the pandemic. It was cosigned by Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser. Flynn resigned from his role in the Trump administration after a few weeks following news that Flynn allegedly misled administration officials on his communication with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office. Flynn most recently has become embroiled in controversy over his role in supporting the Trump campaigns efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Flynn reportedly met with Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, to discuss the possibility of the military seizing voting machines as part of the efforts to keep Trump in office. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A county Republican party in Kentucky has taken down a Facebook post from its page that said the confirmation of President Bidens nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) demonstrates the Jewish junta is getting stronger. The Bracken County Republican Party page made the post on Friday, calling the new ATF director, Steve Dettelbach, a Jewish anti-gun activist, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. The Senate confirmed Dettelbach on Tuesday by a mostly party-line vote of 48-46. He is the first Senate-confirmed director of the bureau since 2015. The Courier Journal reported that the post was taken down after the news outlet reached out to the county party chairwoman, Karin Kirkendol, about the post. Kirkendol did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment. She signed a Facebook post from the county party before noon Friday saying that the post does not represent the partys values. It was incredibly insensitive, she said. We will investigate how this occurred and we commit to tighter oversight of our social media going forward. Kirkendol told the Courier Journal that the page was hacked and said she decided to delete the county partys Facebook page entirely due to the hurtful nature of the article, and how much harm it was bringing to so many. She said the party did not publish anything antisemitic, and some of the partys members have Jewish heritage. Whoever hacked into our account meant to divide, she said. Lets not give them that satisfaction. The original post also criticized Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) for voting to confirm Dettelbach. It also attacked Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) for not attending the vote, a move the post said was an obvious tactical choice since they dont want to have to explain it to their heavily rural gun loving voters in the future. Kentucky GOP spokesman Sean Southard told The Hill that the state party condemns the post and wants to make clear that the post does not represent the partys values. Story continues Sara Klein Wagner, the president of the Jewish Federation of Louisville, told The Hill that she has reached out to Kirkendol and the two have traded messages. She said they will speak on Monday. While we are glad the antisemitic post on the Bracken County Republican Party Facebook page was taken down and an apology from their chair was given, we feel compelled to reiterate that antisemitism of this nature is dangerous, Wagner said. There is no place for it directed at our public officials or anyone in our communities. She said antisemitism has increased significantly in the past few years both in Kentucky and in general, and that a long history of antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories have led to violence. Wagner said the organization is encouraging the county party to use this opportunity to dispel antisemitic falsehoods from the post. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Former President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Joe Lombardo, Clark County sheriff and Republican candidate for Nevada governor, and republican Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt, in Las Vegas, on July 8, 2022. (Roger Kisby/The New York Times) Around 5 in the afternoon on Christmas Day in 2020, as many Americans were celebrating with family, President Donald Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on the phone with a little-known conservative lawyer who was encouraging his attempts to overturn the election, according to a memo the lawyer later wrote documenting the call. The lawyer, William Olson, was promoting several extreme ideas to the president. Olson later conceded that part of his plan could be regarded as tantamount to declaring martial law and that another aspect could invite comparisons with Watergate. The plan included tampering with the Justice Department and firing the acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, according to the Dec. 28 memo by Olson, titled Preserving Constitutional Order. Our little band of lawyers is working on a memorandum that explains exactly what you can do, Olson wrote in his memo, obtained by The New York Times, which he marked privileged and confidential and sent to the president. The media will call this martial law, he wrote, adding that that is fake news. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times The document highlights the previously unreported role of Olson in advising Trump as the president was increasingly turning to extreme, far-right figures outside the White House to pursue options that many of his official advisers had told him were impossible or unlawful, in an effort to cling to power. The involvement of a person like Olson, who now represents conspiracy theorist and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, underscores how the system that would normally insulate a president from rogue actors operating outside of official channels had broken down within weeks after the 2020 election. That left Trump in direct contact with people who promoted conspiracy theories or questionable legal ideas, telling him not only what he wanted to hear but also that they not the public servants advising him were the only ones he could trust. Story continues In our long conversation earlier this week, I could hear the shameful and dismissive attitude of the lawyer from White House Counsels Office toward you personally but more importantly toward the Office of the President of the United States itself, Olson wrote to Trump. This is unacceptable. It was not immediately clear how Olson, who practices law in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, arrived in Trumps orbit. Olson previously worked with Republican super political action committees and promoted a conspiracy theory that Vice President Kamala Harris is not eligible to be vice president, falsely claiming she is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. He and his firm have long represented Gun Owners of America, an advocacy group. According to his website, which displays a photograph of him shaking hands with President Richard Nixon, Olson was a White House intern in 1971. His 2020 memo was written 10 days after one of the most dramatic meetings ever held in the Trump White House, during which three of the presidents White House advisers vied at one point almost physically with outside actors to influence Trump. In that meeting, on Dec. 18, lawyer Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, pushed for Trump to seize voting machines and appoint Powell special counsel to investigate wild and groundless claims of voter fraud, even as White House lawyers fought back. But the document suggests that even after his aides had won that skirmish in the Oval Office, Trump continued to seek extreme legal advice that ran counter to the recommendations of the Justice Department and the counsels office. And the memo indicates that Trump was acting on the outside advice. At one point, it refers to the president urging Olson to contact the acting attorney general about having the Justice Department lend its credibility to Trumps legal efforts to invalidate the election results. A person familiar with the work of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol said the committee was aware that Olson was in contact with Trump and that it was exploring Olsons role in pushing forward plans to overturn the 2020 election. Olson did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment about the former presidents relationship with Olson. According to his memo, Olson was discussing with Trump the notion that the Justice Department would intercede with the Supreme Court to reverse his electoral defeat. The court had declined to hear a case that allies of Trump in Texas had brought challenging the election results in Pennsylvania, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing. Olson told Trump that he believed the Justice Department will do nothing except continue to run out the clock. While time to act was short when we spoke on Christmas Day, time is about to run out, he wrote. It was unclear which White House lawyer Olson described as dismissive in his memo. At the time, the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone; Patrick Philbin, his deputy; and another lawyer who did not work for the counsels office, Eric Herschmann, were working in tandem to push back on some of the more outlandish ideas being recommended. Cipollone and Herschmann had taken lead roles during the Dec. 18 White House meeting in countering Powell and Flynn. The feeling I had was that not just was he not offering you any options, but that he was there to make certain you did not consider any, Olson wrote, referring to the unnamed White House lawyer. But you do have options. Among those whom Olson mentioned as speaking to Trump about the Justice Department getting involved was Mark Martin, the former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. White House officials believed at the time that Martin was brought in through Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff. Olson urged Trump to hire another lawyer, Kurt Olsen, who had worked on the Texas case. As I emailed Molly Saturday morning, Olson wrote, referring to Trumps assistant, we began acting on your question about our team revising the complaint filed by Texas into what could be the first draft of a complaint filed by the United States. The lawyers with whom I have been working took on that task, and we now have a draft that could be presented to you to review, and by you to Mr. Rosen to edit, improve and file. In his memo, Olson recounted that during their discussions, he had told Trump that he had followed the presidents suggestion to call Rosen a few hours earlier requesting that the acting attorney general file a lawsuit to try to block Joe Bidens Electoral College victory. Trump, based on Olsons memo, was aware that Rosen was slow-walking his request. The suit was never filed; Rosen testified last month before the Jan. 6 committee that doing so was out of the bounds of the law. A spokesperson for Rosen said that he did not recall speaking with Olson but that it was accurate that the acting attorney general was against filing any lawsuits to interfere with the election results. At the time of the memo, Trump had decamped to Mar-a-Lago, but Olson encouraged him to return to Washington to fight the election results from his perch in the White House. Trump did so shortly thereafter, working through the holidays on challenging the election results. I do not believe you can do what is required to be done from Florida, Olson wrote to the president. And, it would send a message about your commitment to the task, to leave Mar-a-Lago to take charge at the White House. I urge you to return as soon as it can be arranged. Olson also encouraged Trump to fire or reassign Rosen should he not go along with the plans to use the Justice Department to challenge the election in court, though Olson acknowledged such action would draw negative news coverage. This step will likely bring on a thousand stories making an analogy to Saturday Night Massacre in 1973 when President Nixon ordered AG Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox as a special counsel investigating Watergate, he wrote. Olson also urged changes at the White House Counsels Office. He wrote that a new White House counsel should take steps to ensure a fair election count, though he conceded that would be seen by the news media as martial law. After Trump left office, Olson joined the legal team of Lindell, who has promoted a series of conspiracy theories about the election and has been sued for defamation by a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems. Lindell, who crashed the Oval Office in the final days of the presidency hoping that Trump would still take action related to the election, was adamant that Trump would be reinstated as president in 2021, something that was not possible. Lindell sued the Jan. 6 committee, seeking to block the panels subpoena to Verizon for his call logs. The suit, which Olson filed along with other lawyers, argued that Lindells communications about his objections to the 2020 election were protected speech, in part because they were tied to his religious beliefs. 2022 The New York Times Company This is not the first case of such a tragedy Read also: Three killed on Russian landing craft that struck mine near Mariupol, mayors advisor says A young man was killed by a mine on his birthday, Brathuck said. He has violated all prohibitions, all requirements and neglected security, because he wanted to go for a swim. Read also: One person dead after triggering mine while swimming in Black Sea near Odesa Bratchuk said that the mine explosion torn off a man's head. Details of the tragedy were also confirmed by the Operational Command South. This is not the first unfortunate death of a local swimmer in Odesa Oblast. Read also: Russian assault ship hits mine near Mariupol Odesa Oblast authorities Earlier on July 2 another man was killed by a mine while swimming in the sea in Odesa Oblast, and another person received a concussion and light scratches. And in Grybivtsi, a village in Odesa Oblast, a person died from the explosion of a Russian mine in the water on June 12. Help NV continue reporting on the Russian invasion BRISTOL From motivational speaking to motivational messages displayed on their luxury streetwear, a Bristol couple is using their pandemic idea to create change within their community. DK Movement, a luxury streetwear brand made from sustainable and recycled materials, came into fruition because of two things that had become important to Derek Jones and Kelly Houston: fashion and fitness. After seeing his mother struggle with drug addiction and his father with alcoholism, growing up in foster care and eventually fighting his own battle with alcohol, Jones, a Bristol native, decided to change his life around. He quit drinking, started exercising and began dating Houston, now his fiancee, who he met online. Houston is originally from New York. After traveling back and forth to see one another, Houston moved to Connecticut five years ago. Ive been into fashion and was in the fashion industry for 15 plus years modeling, the red carpet hostess, array of things, Houston said. So thats where the clothing line comes into play so we decided to do the clothing line. The couple created a YouTube Channel to share their stories. In 2020 during the pandemic, the trademark clothing line started with an online store at dkmovementbrand.com. However, Houston says that selling primarily online during the pandemic was hard. Customers wanted to feel and see the products they were purchasing. That is when a friend walked into Avrils Boutique and thought DK Movement would be a great addition to the Bristol clothing store. After their friend showed Brenda Jules, the owner Avrils Boutique, some of their work, Jules wanted to meet with the couple. Jules was in the process of rebranding her casual-wear line to luxury sneakers and thought DK Movement would be a great addition to the store. Houston thought that working with Jules would be a different, yet positive, experience. I never recall [a time] where I could go into a boutique and get luxury streetwear and get a pair of Balenciagas, a Louis Vuitton bag and get a whole outfit in one shop. Houston said. Story continues Now, the collaboration is working to bring fashion to the Bristol community and beyond. [Brenda is] big on helping, like we are. She gave us a chance in her store she housed us in her store, Houston said. The collaboration is going to be great because we have so many things that we want to do together within the community. Although Houston loves that they are giving back to the community, Jones wants to highlight one important aspect that the two brands have in common. There [are] not too many collaborations with African American business owners, Jones said. We thought that would also be another spotlight just to help to show the community that were also working together. Recognized by the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and ShopBlackCT, DK Movement often donates a portion of their profits and time to the Agape House, a Christian church in Bristol dedicated to helping the homeless. After participating in career day at the Boys and Girls Club in Bristol, the couple wanted to share the stories about their tough upbringing to give motivation to the younger generation. Part of our speech [was] letting each individual kid know they can do anything they want in their life, Jones said. Once you change your mindset, you can just do anything with positive thinking, goal setting and having a great vision. Houston believes that young children should have people that are in their community as an example for success. Being a model during Fashion Week has taught her not everything that glitters is gold, a message she shares with her two daughters. Dont live up to what you see on social media, Houston said. Look up to the people that you see within your community. DK Movement shares that they do not give advice just for show. The couple are business partners, lovers and each others biggest motivators. Houston says meeting Jones was one of the best things that has happened to her. Before meeting Jones, Houston also was an alcoholic. I havent drank in five years since I met Derek. He was already changing, he helped me change my life, Houston said. Together the couple plans to do more outreach to community members and plans to continue to share the brands slogan become your better self. DK Movement will have a booth at the House of Fire Ministries Small Business Expo located on 136 Riverside Ave in Bristol on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will also be at the Bridgeport Community Festival at McLevy Green Park on July 23 from noon to 8 p.m. and the Rockwell Summer Festival at 238 Jacobs Street in Bristol on Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Avrils Boutique is located on 912 Terryville Avenue Ave. in Bristol and is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The stores grand opening is on Aug. 19 from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Ahjane Forbes can be reached at aforbes@courant.com Maryland residents vote Tuesday in a quiet month for primaries as November's midterms inch closer. Democrats seek to replace Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, in the traditionally left-leaning state. Other races include a Senate primary and eight House races. Context July has been a lull for primary elections before the midterms. Maryland is the only state holding primary elections in July. The midterms, which mark the halfway point of President Joe Biden's presidency, are drawing closer. Thirty states have held their primary elections. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 8. Moderate Republican s try to steer away from Trump Hogan will leave office in January 2023 under term limits, opening a governor's seat in a state Biden carried by more than 30 percentage points in the 2020 election. During his tenure, Hogan enjoyed support from Maryland Democrats. He kept an arm's length from Donald Trump and has criticized the former president, who demands absolute loyalty from members of the GOP. Trump is eager to replace him with Dan Cox, a state representative who attempted to impeach Hogan over Marylands COVID-19 restrictions. On Jan. 6, 2021, Cox called Vice President Pence a traitor on Twitter for certifying the 2020 presidential election results. Hogan endorsed Kelly Schulz, a former official within his administration, for the nomination. The race is set up to be another battle between Trumps influence and the more moderate wing of the GOP trying to steer the party away from the former president. Kelly Schulz, who seeks the Republican nomination for governor of Maryland, has the endorsement of Gov. Larry Hogan, who can't run because of term limits. The gubernatorial race includes two lesser-known candidates, Robin Ficker, a disbarred attorney, and Joe Werner, an attorney entering Republican politics for the first time. The governorship In a poll from Goucher College conducted in March, Hogan had 71% approval among Republicans, 69% from independents and 61% from Democrats. Flipping the seat would add to the slate of 22 Democratic-led statehouses, especially important as Democrats look to reinforce abortion access at the state level after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which provided the constitutional right to an abortion. Story continues A crowded Democratic ballot for governor There are 10 candidates on the Democratic ballot for governor. Three front-runners have emerged as the likely candidate to take on the Republican nominee in November: Comptroller of Maryland Peter Franchot; former nonprofit CEO and author Wes Moore; and former chair of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez, who served as President Barack Obama's labor secretary. A Goucher College poll conducted in partnership with the Baltimore Banner and WYPR found a three-way statistical tie among Franchot, Moore and Perez among likely Democratic voters Franchot has 16%, and Moore and Perez poll at 14%. A safe Democratic Senate seat Incumbent Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen defends his seat in November. Republicans clamored to have Hogan run against Van Hollen. Hogan declined, giving the incumbent a relatively clear path to reelection. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as solidly Democratic. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., will defend the seat in the midterm elections in November. He can rest easy and get a good nights sleep tonight, Hogan joked about Van Hollen in February at a news conference. There are 10 candidates on the ballot for Republican voters to decide on a nominee to take on Van Hollen. Businessman James Tarantin is the only candidate to raise more than $100,000. Despite effort to undo election, Harris likely to remain Marylands only GOP member of Congress Democrats look to unseat Marylands only Republican representative, Andy Harris, in the 1st Congressional District where Trump won by 14 percentage points in the 2020 election. Harris runs unopposed in the solidly conservative districts Republican primary. According to the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Harris was one of at least 10 House Republicans who attended a meeting at the White House in December 2020 and discussed plans and pathways to overturn the 2020 election and keep Trump in office. Harris was one of 147 Republicans in Congress who voted to overturn election results after Jan. 6. Two Democrats vie for the nomination to take on Harris: former state Del. Heather Mizeur and Dave Harden, a national security consultant. Mizeur has name recognition and more fundraising behind her than Harris. What's at stake? The midterm elections are shaping up to be favorable toward Republicans, who are likely to at least gain control of the U.S. House. The incumbent president's party historically has fared poorly in the midterms, but this year could prove to be much worse for Democrats amid high inflation and growing disapproval of Biden. Democrats have emphasized the need to elect officials at the state level to protect and expand abortion access. Maryland is key to Democrats' efforts as conservative states have either outlawed abortion or are in the process of enacting restrictions. The general election in November will provide a glimpse into the effects of redistricting. Both chambers in the state Legislature are led by Democratic supermajorities. Democrats attempted to pass a map that made seven of eight congressional seats safe for Democrats while redrawing the only Republican seat to be more competitive. A judge threw out the map, calling it an "extreme partisan gerrymander." The new map retains the state's 7-1 split between Democrats and Republicans but makes one Democratic seat more competitive. Vulnerable Democratic seat Republicans focus on Marylands 6th Congressional District, occupied by Democratic Rep. David Trone. Redistricting in Maryland made Democratic Rep. David Trone's district more competitive. In the 2020 election, Biden won in Trones district by almost 10 percentage points. Though the district still leans Democratic, redistricting made Trones seat the most competitive compared with other areas Biden carried. Republican voters will pick one of six candidates to take on Trone. Neil Parrot, a state delegate, lost to Trone in the 2020 general election by almost 20 percentage points and is looking for a rematch. Matthew Foldi, a former journalist, has the backing of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; No. 3 House Republican Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.; and Hogan. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maryland's primary elections: Governor's race and more Seven months before she must face voters for reelection as Chicagos mayor, Lori Lightfoot has nearly $2.6 million in her campaign funds more than any of her opponents except one but still not enough to secure an overwhelming advantage or scare off new candidates from joining the field, campaign finance records show. Businessman Willie Wilson has more than $4.5 million in the bank, but nearly all of it comes from the largest loan Wilson has ever given himself as he makes his third bid for mayor. Third in fundraising is former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, who raised $886,000 and spent only about $36,000 of it last quarter, leaving him with $850,000 on hand. The haul most of which came from a single contributor was a boost for Vallas, who has had trouble raising money during his previous bids for public office and finished a distant ninth in the 2019 mayoral race. Setting aside Wilsons loan, Lightfoot raised more money overall than any of her declared opponents, according to the latest campaign finance records released late Friday. Her main campaign committee, Lightfoot for Chicago, took in more than $1.2 million between April and June and she spent one-third of that, $426,000, much of it on strategists and consultants. She started the quarter with $1.7 million in the bank. Lightfoot also spent another $167,000 out of her second campaign fund, Light PAC, leaving that campaign fund with only about $42,000 in the bank, records show. Chicago mayors race 2023: Search campaign contributions >>> At this same point in the election cycle, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel a voracious fundraiser had $8.3 million on hand on his way to winning a second term in 2015 in a runoff against Cook County Board member Jesus Chuy Garcia, who is now a congressman. Four years ago, Emanuel had more than $7.5 million in the bank before he decided not to seek a third term. Before Emanuel, former Mayor Richard M. Daley was also able to build a massive campaign war chest to discourage challengers from entering the race. Story continues So far, though, only Vallas and Wilson have amassed as much as Lightfoot did at this point in the 2019 mayoral cycle, when she reported raking in more than $500,000. Wilsons campaign fund is the largest at this point among those who have announced their intention to run against Lightfoot, though campaign records show he only raised $33,000 from others in the second quarter of 2022. In April, Wilson contributed $5 million of his own money to the Willie Wilson for Mayor campaign fund. His previously largest loan to the fund was $200,000 in 2018. A wealthy businessman, Wilson has doled out millions of dollars in recent months paying for gasoline in an attention-grabbing effort as prices at the pump have surged. Wilson reported spending $480,000, including on television and radio advertisements on broadcast channels as well as Polish radio stations. The money Vallas raised came largely from a trio of big contributions. More than half of the money Vallas reported receiving came from a single $500,000 contribution from Michael Keiser, a prominent Republican contributor, and it remains to be seen whether Vallas is able to continue raking in big donations. Vallas also took in money from private equity executives John Canning who was a supporter of Emanuel when he was mayor but who backed Lightfoot in the 2019 runoff election against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and James Perry Jr., who works at the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. Southwest Side Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, reported taking in $192,000 and spending less than $10,000, leaving him with $201,000 on hand. Much of the money he raised came from Chicago Wolves owner Donald Levin, who gave Lopez $100,000, and a $40,000 loan from the 15th Ward Regular Democratic Organization that Lopez controls. State Rep. Kam Buckner reported taking in $73,000 and spending nearly $25,000, leaving him with about $48,000 in the bank. Ald. Roderick Sawyers mayoral committee did not file its report by the deadline but a previous record showed he had raised $5,000 from the 6th ward organizations political committee, that Sawyer controls. Activist JaMal Greens campaign committee took in nearly $31,000 but spent more than $23,000 and he ended the period with $7,521. In addition to spending significantly from her main campaign fund, records show, Lightfoot also returned more than $6,000 to Mark Aistrope, the CEO of Chicago-based Meeting Tomorrow, who contributed nearly $30,000 to Lightfoots mayoral bid four years ago. The Better Government Association and Chalkbeat Chicago disclosed in 2020 that Meeting Tomorrow won a $1.6 million no-bid deal to sell used computers to Chicago Public Schools after Lightfoot vouched for him. The CPS inspector general later said it was reviewing that deal. The candidates who have so far announced their intent to challenge Lightfoot in the February 2023 election come as the first-term incumbent finds herself on the defensive. During her three-plus years in office, Lightfoot has faced spikes in crime, hasnt run as transparent an administration as promised, and shes engaged in constant fights with unions representing Chicago teachers and police all while struggling to forge good relationships with politicians or leaders in the citys business community. Still, she cant be easily dismissed. Shes earmarked roughly $3 billion in federal funds for city projects and shes launched a series of programs aimed at reversing one of the biggest criticisms of Emanuels tenure disinvestment in Chicagos neighborhoods, especially on its South and West sides. Lightfoot also can argue she deserves more time to finish the job after having faced the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and some of the citys most significant civil unrest since the 1960s. Lightfoot critics and allies generally agree she is polling better with Black voters than others, but that is potentially threatened by Wilsons entry into the race. He won most of the Black wards in 2019 and helped boost her campaign on the South and West sides with his endorsement. Reflecting her new position, Lightfoot has largely campaigned alongside Black aldermen and other elected officials. Only one white alderman, Scott Waguespack, 32nd, and one Latino alderman, George Cardenas, 12th, have endorsed her so far. gpratt@chicagotribune.com Tribune reporters Alice Yin and A.D. Quig contributed. US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Bandar Algaloud/Reuters Biden said he confronted the Saudi crown prince about Jamal Khashoggi's murder during their meeting. The prince retorted by mentioning the US abuse of prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, CNN reported. Biden went to Saudi Arabia to discuss the oil-supply crisis brought on by the Ukraine war. The Saudi crown prince brought up the US abuse of Abu Ghraib detainees when President Joe Biden confronted him about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, CNN reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter. Biden said on Friday that he told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, that he was responsible for the killing of the Saudi journalist during their meeting earlier that day. According to CNN's new account of the meeting, when confronted about Khashoggi, MBS reminded Biden of the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison by US forces, and brought up the the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank. Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir mirrored the comments made by MBS in an interview with CNN afterwards, saying of Khashoggi: "We investigated, punished and ensure that this doesn't happen again. This is what countries do. This is what the US did when the mistake of Abu Ghraib was committed." Abu Ghraib prison became infamous after the 2004 publication of photographs depicting Iraqi detainees being humiliated and abused by their US guards, with the leak resulting in the sentencing of 11 soldiers to up to 10 years in prison. A photo of Shireen Abu Akleh. AP/ Adel Hana Abu Akleh, a journalist for Al Jazeera, was fatally shot on May 11 by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli military operation in the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp. Biden and his administration have faced criticism over their response to Abu Akleh's death, which included dismissing a letter from 57 lawmakers to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting such an investigation into the killing. Story continues Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia chiefly to discuss the crisis in oil supply caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The visit came less than three years after Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" over Khashoggi's death, and Biden defended his visit as one that was necessary to help the US energy crisis. On Saturday, Saudi Arabia agreed to boost oil production. Read the original article on Business Insider Medvedev's statements about Ukraine have been characterized by extreme aggression According to the Russian Interfax media agency, without naming anyone in particular, Medvedev said that "individual exalted blood-thirsty clowns... are trying to threaten us, I mean the attack on the Crimea, and so on, referring to Ukrainian statements on the liberation of the Crimean peninsula. Read also: Ukrainian interior ministry advisor explains how Ukraine will regain Crimea In this regard, I want to say that it is quite obvious that they understand the repercussions of such statements, and the consequences are obvious that if something like this happens: for all of them there will immediately come a judgment day, swift and brutal, said Medvedev. Read also: Ukraine must retake Crimea wisely to avoid tactical nuclear strike by Russia military expert Evading it will be very difficult. Recently, Medvedev's statements about Ukraine have been characterized by extreme aggression. Some experts attribute this to the fact that he sees himself as the successor to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. At the end of June, Medvedev declared that "any attempt to encroach" on the occupied Crimea would be deemed a declaration of war on Russia. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. In response to these hysterical threats, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that Crimea would definitely return to Ukrainian control. The representative of the President of Ukraine in temporarily occupied Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, said on June 17 that after the start of the full-scale war, the political situation around Crimea had changed and the peninsula could now be liberated from the invaders by military means. Read also: Kremlin reacts to Ukrainian official saying Russias bridge to Crimea might be attacked Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that new Western weapons from partner countries would help Ukraine regain control over all Russian-occupied territories, including the Crimea and Donbas. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO SUNDAY, 17 JULY 2022, 18:24 Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev threatens Ukraine with a "judgement day" in the event of a strike on Crimea. The Presidential Office of Ukraine responded that Medvedev causes only pity. Source: Medvedev in Volgograd, quoted by Russian Interfax, adviser to the head of the presidential office Mykhailo Podoliak on Twitter Medvedev's quote: " Some exalted bloody clowns, who periodically pop up there with some statements, also try to threaten us, I mean the attack on the Crimea, and so on. ...If something like this happens, for all of them there will instantly come the "day of judgment", very fast and toilful, it will be very difficult to hide." Details: In turn, Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, called Medvedev a small, forgotten person who causes only pity. Podoliaks quote: "The portrait of modern Russia Dmitry Medvedev, who threatens someone with "Judgment Day". Small person forgotten by history, who tries to seem serious and scary, but in reality causes only pity. "Just a little more and I will show you all!". Show what? Murder one more child?" Reminder: On July 16, the representative of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Vadym Skibitskyi said that the military facilities of the Russian Federation on the territory of the occupied Crimea is one of the goals which should hit the Ukrainian troops. On July 15, Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov confirmed that Ukraine has committed itself not to use HIMARS on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, when asked whether the Ukrainian side's obligations apply to Crimea, Reznikov said: "I told (US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin - ed.) that we have enough strategic facilities in the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russians. To which he replied: We understand you." Impact is at the forefront of A Community Thrives, the Gannett Foundation's annual grant making challenge. This year, 15 Michigan nonprofits were accepted to participate. Each organization in the running will be fundraising for a specific end-goal project related to community building. Detroit Magic Child Development is one local agency that has been a part of the crowdfunding competition for several years and is in the running again this summer. The organization hosts educational and recreational youth development programs to children in the area every season "Our project this year is teaching leadership development skills in the metro Detroit area," said Detroit Magic Child CEO Steven Dye. "We teach social skills, life skills and how to give back and be of service to the community." Dye said that supporting Detroit Magic Child in reaching their fundraising goal would help the organization continue to widen their services. Students play kickball in the gym during Detroit Magic Child Development Summer Enrichment Madness in Detroit on July 14, 2022. The organization is one of fifteen in Michigan accepted into phase two of "A Community Thrives" grant program by Gannett. Another Detroit nonprofit, Class Act Detroit, is participating in A Community Thrives for the first time this year with their project titled "House of Hip-Hop." "It's not just a genre, it's a culture and it was created by Black and brown folks, which is the primary demographic of our city," said Class Act co-founder and executive director Rashard Dobbins. Class Act focuses on creativity through hip-hop and has goals to form safe community spaces and promote equity, specifically for Detroit youth, Dobbins said. "Oftentimes, we say children are the future, especially within education circles, and that's not true, they're now, they're here now, they are the now," Dobbins said. "If you want to create a more equitable society, if you want to create positive outcomes for the kids, then put them in the driver's seat." Steven Dye II, director of operations of Detroit Magic Child Development Summer Enrichment Madness, works with Khijah Jackson, 4, of Detroit as his students participate in a kickball game in the gymnasium of their facility in Detroit on July 14, 2022. The organization is one of fifteen in Michigan accepted into phase two of "A Community Thrives" grant program by Gannett. Dobbins talked about the need for racial healing and how creativity can contribute to children flourishing. "If you care about the arts and you care about equity, it wouldn't make sense to not support us," Dobbins said. Story continues Eligible contributors can make donations to their favorite participating organization during the fundraising period from July 18 to Aug. 12. Learn more: Gannett crowdfunding challenge offers $2M in grants: Here's who is eligible Gannett will be matching all donations processed by Mighty Cause, a registered nonprofit that operates a donor-advised fund to handle donor-advised contributions. Steven Dye, right, executive director of Detroit Magic Child Development Summer Enrichment Madness gives a pep talk to his counselors in the gymnasium of their facility in Detroit on July 14, 2022. The organization is one of fifteen in Michigan accepted into phase two of "A Community Thrives" grant program by Gannett. Making donations sooner rather than later will ensure your donation counts, as contributions can take time to process. There is no contribution limit, but eligible donations must be a minimum of $5. More: Detroit cracks Time magazine's 2022 list of World's Greatest Places More: The Baroudeur partners with Batch Brewing for annual Detroit cycling event Each nonprofit has an individual Mighty Cause page for contributors to donate and learn more about the specific agency's mission. The following Michigan organizations are in the running: This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 15 Michigan nonprofits accepted to participate in fundraiser VALENTYNA ROMANENKO SUNDAY, 17 JULY, 14:04 Security measures may be strengthened in the Brovary district of Kyiv Oblast due to military exercises that will take place on 18-19 July. Source: Ihor Sapozhko, the Mayor of Brovary, on Telegram Quote from Sapozhko: "On 18 and 19 July, scheduled military training will be held on the territory of Brovary district. The Brovary district military administration warns of a possible strengthening of control at checkpoints and additional security measures." Details: Residents are asked to regard such measures with understanding. (Bloomberg) -- Four years after angrily denying sexual assault allegations at his Senate confirmation, Justice Brett Kavanaugh remains the US Supreme Courts lightning rod no matter how many conciliatory opinions he writes. Most Read from Bloomberg Kavanaugh is at the center of the conservative court, joining the majority more than any other justice in the past two terms. Hes less confrontational than some colleagues, often acknowledging the force of the other sides arguments. In casting key votes to eliminate constitutional abortion protections and expand gun rights, he wrote separately to lay out limits to those rulings. None of it has mattered, at least to his detractors. Hostility has only grown amid the court's reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, with protesters regularly targeting Kavanaughs home and recently converging at a Washington restaurant where he was dining. Hes still mocked by late-night comedians for his Senate tirade, including his infamous declaration, I like beer! For the critics, he is a conservative buffoon, said Barbara Perry, a presidential and Supreme Court scholar at the University of Virginias Miller Center. Unfortunately by virtue of the sex scandal, whether it was true or not, that will follow him. The stench from that controversy explains why Kavanaugh, 57, draws greater ire than former President Donald Trumps other Supreme Court appointees and the veteran conservatives who have written the most controversial opinions. In a Marquette University Law School poll in March, 32% of people viewed Kavanaugh unfavorably, compared with 21% favorably, giving him by far the courts worst net-favorability rating of -11 percentage points. Of the other conservatives, only Justice Amy Coney Barrett, at -1, had a negative net-favorability rating. Story continues The poll numbers if anything understate the vehemence of the opposition. At a recent protest at Kavanaughs Maryland home, where he lives with his wife and two teenage daughters, one demonstrator wore a t-shirt saying stop raping women and another bore a sign calling for Kavanaughs arrest. In the most extreme example, an armed man was arrested outside the house last month and charged with attempted murder. When he gave a rare public speech in 2019 -- at the annual dinner of the Federalist Society, the powerful group that helped engineer the conservative takeover of the Supreme Court -- demonstrators outside dressed as characters from The Handmaids Tale and shouted Shame! at attendees. Inside, protesters blew rape whistles at the start of his speech. Limelight Avoiding If the protests have gotten under Kavanaughs skin, hes managed to hide it. Even-keeled both on the bench and in his opinions, hes offered no hint of any resentfulness about his confirmation hearing or his public portrayal. Unlike Clarence Thomas, a justice who won Senate confirmation in 1991 despite sexual-harassment allegations, Kavanaugh hasnt dwelled publicly on his treatment by Democrats. He has generally avoided the limelight since his confirmation, speaking publicly only twice, including the Federalist Society speech, which was notable mostly for its blandness. It would seem to me a deliberate decision not to do what Justice Thomas has done for these 30 years of continuing to be angry and public and speak about the horrors of his nomination and how unfairly he was treated, Perry said. Former colleague Christopher Bartolomucci said Kavanaugh seemed at peace when they saw each other in more private settings several times post-confirmation. I did not detect a trace of bitterness or anger or frustration. His head was in a great place, said Bartolomucci, who worked alongside Kavanaugh in the White House counsels office during the George W. Bush administration and is now a lawyer at Schaerr Jaffe in Washington. If the confirmation process affected Kavanaugh, you couldnt tell. Bartolomucci said the Kavanaugh he knows is a nice, kind, sweet guy and bears no resemblance to the worst caricatures that came out of the confirmation process. Kavanaugh didnt respond to a request for comment. Political Hit Kavanaughs confirmation became a national spectacle when Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, testified that he had held her down and tried to take her clothes off when they were at a high school party in 1982. The accusation led to a raging and tearful denial by Kavanaugh, who called the accusation a calculated and orchestrated political hit. The testimony left some on the left viewing Kavanaugh as a liar who had gotten away with attempted rape, while others questioned whether he had the temperament to join the Supreme Court. He won confirmation anyway, 50-48. Days later, he began work with an unprecedented all-female contingent of law clerks. The abortion ruling has renewed the focus on him. After a leak of a draft majority opinion in May, Republican Senator Susan Collins, who voted to confirm Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch, accused both nominees of misleading the Senate. Kavanaugh testified that Roe was settled as a precedent and entitled to respect under stare decisis, the legal doctrine that requires the court to generally abide by its past decisions. He never explicitly said he wouldnt overturn Roe. Rochelle Garza, a lawyer who testified against Kavanaugh in 2018, said it was clear at the time that he wasnt concerned about precedent. Garza said Kavanaugh ignored Roe when he voted to delay letting her client, an undocumented teenage immigrant, get an abortion while in federal custody. I testified against him in his confirmation hearings because I knew exactly what he would do if he got on the Supreme Court, said Garza, now a Democratic candidate for attorney general in Texas. And he showed that to us just last month. Neutral Constitution Kavanaugh said in his abortion opinion that stare decisis sets a high bar for overruling precedent. But he said Roe cleared that hurdle, arguing that the Constitution is neutral toward abortion and the court has no authority to take sides on the issue. By taking sides, the Roe court distorted the nations understanding of this courts proper role in the American constitutional system and thereby damaged the court as an institution, he wrote. Along the way, he expressed deep and unyielding respect for the authors of a key 1992 abortion-rights ruling, including his former boss, the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh had drawn right-wing fire in January after backing the Biden administrations Covid vaccine mandate for workers in some health-care facilities. But the abortion ruling left conservatives who supported his nomination feeling vindicated. It was certainly the Brett Kavanaugh that I was hoping for, said John Malcolm, director of the Meese Center for Legal & Judicial Studies and Senior Legal Fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. I think he is a committed originalist and a committed textualist, and I thought he had the strength of his convictions, and I certainly think that that was evidenced this past term. Kavanaughs opinion included a section that could limit the sweep of the abortion decision. He said the Constitution doesnt let states bar residents from traveling elsewhere for abortions or retroactively punish people for past procedures. He also said the abortion ruling didnt cast doubt on separate precedents that protect the rights to contraceptive access and same-sex marriage. No other justice joined Kavanaughs opinion. But because only five voted to overturn Roe, Kavanaugh by himself would probably be able to block any extension of the ruling in future cases. Kavanaugh did something similar last month when he joined a decision that said states cant bar average people from carrying a handgun in public. In a concurring opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Kavanaugh said states could still require people to get a carry license. Hand-Wringing Separate opinions have become something of a staple for Kavanaugh, giving him a forum to explain exactly why he took the position he did. Those opinions they strike me as a little bit of hand-wringing, but theres nothing offensive in any of them, Malcolm said. In both the gun and abortion cases, Kavanaugh joined the entirety of the majority opinion as well. Melissa Murray, a New York University law professor who testified against Kavanaugh in 2018, said he was trying to cast the courts rulings as perhaps less doctrinaire and less extreme than they actually are. But she also said Kavanaugh was trying to rein in the more extreme tendencies of his conservative colleagues. Whether that effort succeeds will hinge on how much clout he has inside the court, she said. It really depends on how he is viewed by his other colleagues, Murray said. That, I think, we dont have a great window into. Do they respect him? Do they respect him as a conservative? Do they take him seriously? I dont know what the answer to that is. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2022 Bloomberg L.P. Zhi xin ln/EyeEm via Getty Images The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is now reachable at 988. The line is open for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis or emotional distress. You can still reach trained counselors at the long number: 1-800-273-8255. Americans will be able to access the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing just three digits 988 beginning Saturday. The new 988 number is meant to make it easier for people to access the Lifeline in times of mental distress. Calls and texts to 988 will be directed to the existing network, which can also be reached at 1-800-273-8255. On the other end of the line, trained employees and volunteers are prepared to respond to a range of mental health crises. People can call to talk through trauma, suicidal ideation, self-harm, addiction, or general emotional distress. "It's a new number, but it's not a new service," John Draper, the executive director of the Lifeline, told the New York Times. The service is free and confidential, save for situations where a caller needs immediate medical attention. In those cases, 988 will work with local police or hospitals to dispatch emergency help. The Lifeline is meant for any emotional or mental health crises The line has been renamed the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in a shift to encompass all mental health emergencies, including but not limited to suicidal ideation. Trained counselors on the other end of the line will be prepared to respond to a range of mental health concerns and forms of emotional distress, the Times reported. The national hotline has been in service since 2005, when the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration launched the first emergency line specifically for suicide prevention. The service has grown to include 200 local call centers, as well as a national backup center. Calls typically last 15 to 20 minutes, Draper told the Times. Counselors may help callers develop a "road map" of next steps to get help, such as community resources, or attempt to calm callers in times of crisis. Story continues According to the 988 website, people can call the Lifeline to talk about substance abuse, financial troubles, relationships, sexual identity, trauma, and loneliness, among other concerns. You can also call for advice on behalf of a friend or loved one. "No matter what problems you're dealing with, whether or not you're thinking about suicide, if you need someone to lean on for emotional support, call the Lifeline," the site reads. People can text 988 or chat with a counselor online. There is also a crisis line specifically for veterans (call 988 or text 838255) and a number for Spanish speakers (1-888-628-9454). Read the original article on Insider (Corrects strike has lasted for six-months, not 8-months) ABUJA (Reuters) -The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will embark on two-day protest on July 26 to demonstrate against a six-month shutdown of public universities across the country due to pay disagreements between the government and teachers, it said on Sunday. The NLC, the country's main umbrella union, represents millions of workers across most sectors of Africa's biggest economy, including parts of the oil industry. It said in a statement it will mobilise workers for the protest for good governance. Strikes by Nigerian public university teachers are common. The current strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities started on Feb. 14. A previous one in 2020 lasted nine months. Pay and teaching facilities have led to previous strikes against the government which provides the bulk of funding for public schools. Workers in the oil and gas industry, have threatened to join the striking teachers, a situation that could worsen fuel shortages in the country. Nigeria faces mounting insecurity following a wave of kidnappings, high unemployment, inflation and low growth which could trigger unrest. Meanwhile, the government is experiencing low revenues and large deficits, despite high oil prices. Nigerians will hold a general election early next year to choose a new president, state governors and lawmakers. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh and MacDonald Dzirutwe in Lagos; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Daniel Wallis) The U.S. Constitution was written during the Philadelphia Convention now known as the Constitutional Convention which convened from May 25 to Sept. 17, 1787. It was signed on the final day. Today, we are a country divided and the politicians charged with representing us have demonstrated their unwillingness to follow the Constitution that they are sworn to uphold. I speak equally of the Republicans and Democrats. It is the responsibility of our Congress to write our laws, not to legislate from the bench of the United States Supreme Court. The cornerstone of our system of government, our very society, is our Constitution. But our cornerstone was never intended to be cast in cement. It was intended to be a living, breathing entity that would be amended as needed for the benefit of our democratic society. I believe it is time for "We the People" to collectively call for a Constitutional Convention as provided in Article V of our Constitution and address the key issues that our representatives choose not to address. Lets start with a recognition that our system is based on rights largely at three levels: federal, state and personal. And that while our Bill of Rights establishes certain rights, it lacks certain definitions and corresponding responsibilities. We truly need a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. So in these regards, I propose the following amendments to our Constitution: Readers react: Letters: Convening a Constitutional Convention is a dangerous idea First, define a right to life for all citizens of the U.S. This requires defining "life "and "citizen" and goes to the core of the issue of our personal rights and the issue of abortion. There are many who espouse life begins at conception. Then how do we reconcile fertility clinics fertilizing eggs in vitro? At what point is a fertilized egg deemed alive? Life is complicated. What are our individual personal rights? And what are our responsibilities? At what point does an unborn begin having their own rights? And what are the rights and responsibilities of our state and federal government to limit our personal rights? Story continues I propose a legal definition of fetal life where we recognize that at up to 20 human developmental weeks, the citizen bearing this developmental fetal life has sole right and responsibility for all associated fetal life decisions. And following the 20-week human developmental period as determined by an American Medical Association certified OBGYN, this developing life whether inside the womb or outside the womb shall be legally recognized as a baby, a live citizen and mutually protected with the bearing citizen, with the bearers life being primary and the new life secondary to the moment of birth, subject to change as determined by an AMA certified OBGYN. This is not a declaration of morality but equally as important, a declaration of legal rights and responsibilities at the personal level. From a legal standpoint, we establish that fetal life is a legally recognized person at 20 weeks of fetal development. In conjunction, birth control (female and male contraceptive devices and medications) shall be provided for all citizens through their insurance plans. Also covered shall be medical abortive services up to 20 weeks human fetal life development. After 20 weeks, abortive services are forbidden except in the case of medical necessity as determined by an AMA certified OGYN. For citizens without insurance these services shall be available through federally funded programs. In defining life, we must also consider death. In this regard, we recognize that some crimes are so heinous as to warrant the penalty of death. We must also recognize individual right to life and death with dignity. As such, we recognize the right to choose to end ones own life. Such end-of-life decisions shall be recognized by AMA certified medical doctors who may provide support and assistance as determined by individuals of sound mind as they approach the end of their natural life. Second, with regard to immigration, it is not enough to simply be born on U.S. soil. Immigrants must naturalize and become citizens through the formal naturalization process. Children of legal immigrants shall become citizens through the formal naturalization of both naturalized parents or through their own formal naturalization process. Immigrants who do not follow the legal immigration process and children of illegal immigrants are not eligible for citizenship. The identification of all citizens shall be recorded by DNA collected and recorded at birth or at the date of immigration or naturalization. This data shall be coordinated with the Social Security system and used for legal purposes of identification. The identification of all immigrants and foreign visitors shall be recorded by DNA collected and recorded upon entry to the U.S. Third, the right to bear arms is a sovereign right, but with this right we must attach great responsibility. I consider guns and cars in very similar ways with regards to rights and responsibilities. The legal age of adult responsibility shall be 20 years for the purposes of military service, voting on federal ballots, purchasing distilled spirits, purchasing firearms and driving. All state-issued driver's licenses shall be probationary until age 20. All persons having probationary licenses shall: Have their license immediately suspended for 3 months if found guilty of driving in excess of the legal speed limit or texting while driving. Have their license immediately suspended until age 20 if found guilty of driving while impaired or failing to have insurance. Any person convicted of driving without a valid license shall be prohibited from receiving a license and driving for five years from their date of conviction. I propose an amendment to our "right to bear arms." The right to bear arms shall not be infringed, but the right shall be accompanied by commensurate personal responsibility. The legal age of personal accountability and responsibility shall be 20 years to possess firearms. The minimum legal age for discharging a firearm under licensed adult supervision shall be 12 years and older. Persons age 12 to 19 shall be trained and receive a youth permit in firearms before being permitted to handle firearms. Persons age 12-15 shall be restricted to handle single-action 22 caliber firearms which require manual feed action, under direct supervision of a licensed adult. Persons age 16-19 shall be restricted to single-action and double-action firearms with mechanical feeds (no gas-assisted feed mechanisms) of unrestricted calibers which require manual feed action, under direct supervision of a licensed adult. Persons 20 and older shall be restricted to single-action, double-action and semi-automatic action firearms. Automatic action firearms are restricted and permitted only under federal licensing requirements. Automatic action includes any mechanism which produces or simulates automatic action (such as bump stocks). All firearms shall have limited feed capacity of no more than 15 rounds of ammunition. All feed devices capable of more than 15 rounds shall be licensed under provisions for automatic-action firearms. The 1944 Constitutional Convention meets in the Missouri House chambers. All persons receiving (purchase, gift, any legal conveyance) a firearm shall present a federally approved firearms license. Federally approved firearms license shall require a minimum of eight hours training in "safe firearms handling," including a minimum of four hours of classroom and a minimum of four hours of field training. Classroom training shall include situational training. The federally approved firearms license shall require a minimum of four hours of field training in operations of firearms and actual shooting practice. Shooting practice shall include a minimum of 50 live rounds of target practice. The federally approved firearms license shall be valid for 5 years. Renewal shall require a minimum of 4 hours of refresher training including a minimum of 50 rounds of live fire target practice. The federally approved firearms license shall be issued to citizens meeting the federal requirements but shall not be issued to anyone who has a felony conviction or indictment or has a court-issued restraining order or who has been determined by an AMA certified medical doctor to be a threat to themselves or others. Such persons having a federally approved firearms license and/or possessing firearms shall surrender their firearms and license in the event of any of the preceding conditions until such time as their license is legally restored. Any person who sells, gives or in any way provides a firearm to an unlicensed person shall be held equally responsible for the firearms related actions of the unlicensed person. All persons owning firearms shall be responsible for the safe storage, access and operation of their firearms. Fourth, we also need a constitutional amendment to better define our Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall be made up of 9 justices. These justices shall serve for a maximum of 20 years or to a maximum age of 80 years, whichever comes first. The Supreme Court shall be limited to resolution of matters of law and constitutional issues and shall not be used to create new laws where the Constitution is silent as it is the responsibility of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to draft the laws. In cases where the laws are vague, a majority of the Supreme Court shall instruct the House and Senate each to clarify the laws within a specific timeframe not to exceed one year. If the House and Senate cant provide sufficient clarity, the Supreme Court shall interpret it or strike it rather than legislate what the legislature cannot, with the provision that interpretation requires at least 6 supporting justices. And lastly, we need to pass the equal rights amendment: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Sex shall be defined as female, male or non-binary, as determined by DNA. These amendments shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of these articles. The process as presented in Article V of the U.S. Constitution shall be initiated "We the People" by organizing the legislatures of at least 2/3 of the states (at least 34 of 50) to require the Congress to call a convention for formally proposing such amendments to our Constitution. The amendments shall be valid as part of our Constitution when ratified either by the legislatures of 3/4 of the states or by conventions of 3/4 of the states. We shall specify: The period for ratification shall not be restricted. Once a state has ratified the amendment, the ratification shall not be revoked. If the state legislatures do not ratify the amendments within two years, the Congress shall provide that each state shall call a convention for the single purpose of deciding whether or not to ratify the amendments. It is time for "We the People" to do what our representatives wont. Lets "We the People" organize a Constitutional Convention and place ratification of these amendments where it belongs: for We the People to decide our constitutional rights and responsibilities. L. Terry Clausing lives in Milford and is a licensed professional engineer and owner of Drysdale & Associates, Inc. Terry Clausing This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: It's time for 'We the People' to call for a Constitutional Convention QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Separatist insurgents in Pakistan's restive southwestern Baluchistan province have killed a hostage from the family of an officer who was abducted and killed earlier this week, officials said Saturday. Baluchistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by the outlawed Baluchistan Liberation Army, or BLA, and other separatist groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although the government says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted. The BLA, which was designated a terrorist group by the United States in 2019, had claimed responsibility earlier this week for abducting an officer and his relatives on Tuesday while they were traveling on a remote highway near the town of Ziarat, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Quetta, the provincial capital. The family was headed to a tourist resort in the area. The attackers later that night freed all the hostages except Col. Laeeq Mirza and his cousin. The colonel's body was found on Thursday during a search operation by security forces. The body of the cousin, Umar Javed, was found on Saturday, dumped in a drain in the area, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Baluchistan provincial home minister Mir Zia Lango condemned Javed's killing and expressed the authorities' determination to eliminate terrorism" from the province. The military said in an earlier statement that efforts were underway to find and rescue Javed. During the search operations, security forces killed nine insurgents, the statement added. Jaend Baluch, a purported spokesman for BLA, denied any casualties among the separatists. A supporter of former US President Donald Trump holds a hat during a "Save America" rally at Alaska Airlines Center on July 09, 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images A woman reportedly pulled out her "white privilege card" during a traffic stop in Alaska. Mimi Israelah said she was pulled over for weaving and couldn't find her license, the AP reported. The officers who responded are under investigation following the incident. Police in Anchorage, Alaska are investigating a viral social media post of a woman who showed police officers her "white privilege card" instead of her license during a traffic stop, the Associated Press reported. In a since-deleted Facebook post, Mimi Israelah said she was pulled over at around 3:43 am after she arrived in Anchorage for a rally by former President Donald Trump, the AP reported. Israelah wrote that the officer asked for her license and she couldn't find it. "When I saw my White Privilege card, I gave to him if it's ok," she wrote. "He laughed and called his partner. It's their first time to see a White Privileged (sic) card," she said, according to the AP. In a screengrab of a video reportedly of Israelah's interaction posted on Twitter, she can be heard asking the officer: "You like my white privilege card?" In the video, the officer replied, "That's hilarious." The top of the card reads, "White Privilege Card Trumps Everything," according to screenshots of the post. On her social media accounts, Israelah described herself as Pinay, a woman of Filipino origin. In a press release, APD Chief Michael Kerle said the profession does not "tolerate, practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination." "Our mission is to protect and serve our community in the most professional and compassionate manner possible. Our vision is to create an environment where everyone matters. As the Chief of Police, I take these two statements to heart. We must work hard to foster a healthy relationship with the community and work even harder to maintain that relationship. We will continue to work diligently to maintain a positive relationship with our community. That relationship is earned by the hard-working people, who show up every day and embody our mission and vision," Kerle said. Story continues Celeste Hodge Growden, president of the Alaska Black Caucus told the AP she was disappointed by the social media post and was curious if Israelah faced any consequences. "I know that there are people of color that weave and they get ticketed," Growden said. "They don't have that white privilege, get-out-of-a-citation card." The AP reported that Israel said she was not ticketed, despite being pulled over for weaving. Israelah did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Insider The Daily Beast Chautauqua County Jail/Handout via ReutersThe mother of the man accused of leaping onstage to attack author Salman Rushdie condemned her son on Sunday, saying he was responsible for his own actions and that his family would be moving on without him.Born Muslim in Lebanon, Silvana Fardos has been in the U.S. for more than 25 years, she told the Daily Mail. Shed never heard of Salman Rushdie before getting a frantic phone call from her daughter on Friday, she said.I never read any of his books Guy Wesley Reffitt, joined by his lawyer William Welch, right, in a courtroom sketch from February. The Texas man was convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun. (Dana Verkourteren / Associated Press) Federal prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for a Texas man who was convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun, calling him a militia member who took a central role in the pro-Trump mob's attack, according to a court filing Friday. If a judge accepts the Justice Department's recommendation, Guy Wesley Reffitt's prison sentence would be nearly three times the length of the longest sentence among more than 200 defendants who have been sentenced for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in the nation's Capitol. The longest sentence so far is five years and three months for Robert Palmer, a Florida man who pleaded guilty to attacking police officers at the Capitol. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich is scheduled to sentence Reffitt on Aug. 1. The judge isn't bound by any of the recommendations or the sentencing guidelines calculated by the courts probation department, which call for a sentence ranging from nine years to 11 years and three months. Defense attorney Clinton Broden, who is asking for Reffitt to be sentenced to no more than two years in prison, said he was shocked by prosecutors' recommendation. He noted that Reffitt wasn't accused of entering the Capitol or assaulting any police officers that day. Its absolutely absurd, he said during a telephone interview Friday. I certainly dont condone what Mr. Reffitt did. And I think everybody realizes the seriousness of the offenses. But at the same point, there has to be some proportionality here." Prosecutors argue that an upward departure for terrorism is warranted in Reffitts case, which would lead to a significantly longer sentence if the judge agrees to apply it. They say the trial evidence showed that Reffitt planned for weeks ahead of January to travel to Washington, with the specific intent of attacking the Capitol and taking over Congress. "Reffitt did not intend to simply obstruct Congresss certification of the Electoral College vote. Rather, Reffitt intended to physically remove the legislators from the building (using his firearm and flexicuffs, and the power of the crowd) and actually 'take over' Congress," Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Nestler wrote. Story continues Reffitt, the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried, was convicted by a jury in March of all five counts in his indictment. Jurors found him guilty of obstructing Congress joint session to certify the electoral college vote, of interfering with police officers who were guarding the Capitol and of threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement. Prosecutors say Reffitt was a leader of a Texas militia group. He told other militia members that he planned to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol by her ankles, "with her head hitting every step on the way down," Nestler wrote. Reffitt, a resident of Wylie, Texas, didnt testify at his trial. During the trials closing arguments, U.S. Atty. Risa Berkower told jurors that Reffitt proudly lit the fire that allowed others in a mob to overwhelm Capitol police officers near the Senate doors. Jurors saw videos that captured the confrontation between a few Capitol police officers and a mob of people, including Reffitt, who approached them on the west side of the Capitol. Reffitt was armed with a Smith & Wesson pistol in a holster on his waist, carrying zip-tie handcuffs and wearing body armor and a helmet equipped with a video camera when he advanced on police, according to prosecutors. He retreated after an officer pepper-sprayed him in the face, but he waved on other rioters who ultimately breached the building, prosecutors said. Reffitt drove to Washington with Rocky Hardie, who said he and Reffitt were members of the Texas Three Percenters militia group. The Three Percenters militia movement refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British. Hardie testified that both of them were armed with holstered handguns when they attended then-President Trumps Stop the Steal rally before the riot. Hardie said Reffitt talked about dragging lawmakers out of the Capitol and replacing them with people who would follow the Constitution. Hardie also said Reffitt gave him two pairs of zip-tie cuffs in case they needed to detain anybody. Reffitts 19-year-old son, Jackson, testified that his father threatened him and his sister, then 16, after he drove home from Washington. Reffitt told his children they would be traitors if they reported him to authorities and said traitors get shot, Jackson Reffitt recalled. Today, Guy Reffitt is done with politics, his lawyer said in a court filing Friday. His only goal now is to put his family back together while recognizing that as much as he spent the past two decades providing for them, he is the one who has driven them apart, Broden wrote. More than 840 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot. Over 330 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and over 200 of them have been sentenced. More than 100 others have trial dates. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. In 2019, the Air Force made the decision to eliminate below-the-primary-zone promotions. This decision to end early promotions emerged partially as a response to columns by Col. Jason Lamb originally published under the pseudonym Col. Ned Stark in which he criticized the high-potential officer system that overvalued early career performance and overemphasized training and education indicators. While I agree with many of Col. Starks criticisms, I believe eliminating BPZ promotion will backfire for two reasons: It will increase the exodus of top intellectual talent from the Air Force. It will incentivize risk-averse behaviors in a time where calculated risk-acceptance is required. A perfect Air Force promotion system will identify and promote from the initial population the best officers to higher ranks, which requires that it accomplish two distinct tasks. First, the system must identify the top candidates from the eligible population. Second, the system must dissuade officers from self-eliminating from the eligible population, i.e., leaving the service before becoming eligible for promotion. Col. Lambs criticisms of Air Force promotion practices are all valid, but he implicitly assumes the population of the Air Force officer pool will remain constant regardless of the promotion policies themselves. Commentary: Wanted: Leaders we can believe in Commentary: The Air Force is not designed to produce good leaders However, young officers frequently decide whether to continue serving in the Air Force based on their projected roles and responsibilities, which are largely driven by rank and recognition. Consequently, eliminating early promotion may increase the rate with which motivated, intelligent Air Force officers voluntarily leave the service, and recent research supports that hypothesis. A 2014 study found, unsurprisingly, that top performers care more about competitive compensation and bonuses and merit-based rewards compared to their peers. A different study found that 73% of high-performing companies do not cap bonus pay, whereas 81% of low-performing companies have such a cap. Rewarding excellence is only increasing in importance as Millennials and Generation Z come to dominate the workforce. These generations are more likely to switch jobs if they are not happy with their work, and they both show a desire to be recognized. Story continues My anecdotal experience as a nonrated Air Force officer substantiates this research, given that an overwhelming majority of the brightest officers I have interacted with no longer serve in the active duty Air Force. For example, I was one of seven individuals in my Air Force Academy graduating class who went straight to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to earn a masters degree after graduation. All seven of us finished in the top 5% of our graduating class, and my peers all displayed the intellect, drive and desire to improve that is required of effective Air Force leaders. After nine years of service, I am one of only two officers remaining on active duty from that cohort. The end of early promotions and the way ahead When talking with my nonrated peers about why they left the Air Force, these officers highlighted not the lack of pay they received, but the lack of responsibility, the inability to use specialized skills and the inability to progress quickly and/or make general officer while in the Air Force. They utter similar refrains to the following: Mid-level officers in my unit suppress progress. I try to innovate, but because of my younger age/lower rank, my (widely acknowledged) superior knowledge and capability hardly matter. I essentially promoted by leaving the Air Force and working for a contractor. I have more responsibility, more freedom to innovate, and I am paid 50-100% more money to work in the same industry, without having to deploy and leave my family. My career field doesnt promote officers to general, regardless of performance. Im not going to stick around doing jobs I dont enjoy just to potentially make colonel. These talented officers feel they are: underutilized; not provided with the tools they need to be successful; unable to progress quickly to a rank/position where they will face challenging work; and unlikely to ever make it to the highest echelons of the Air Force. Air Force to drop below-the-zone promotions for officers None of these reasons iis related to monetary compensation. Furthermore, it is a false dichotomy to suggest that service before self is incompatible with a desire for increased responsibility and the opportunity for personal growth. Many brilliant officers are merely unwilling to languish in jobs where their knowledge and effort are underappreciated, and where middle management stifles their exertions to drive innovation. Innovation is crucial to long-term success, and leadership is crucial for accelerating change. To drive that change, an organization must be risk-acceptant and reward risk-takers who alternate between success and failure. Thus, it is tragically ironic that while Air Force leaders verbally emphasize risk-taking and innovation, there are few personnel-related incentives to be risk-acceptant in the first 15 years of ones Air Force career. The first two officer promotions are essentially automatic. Promotion to major and lieutenant colonel now only take place within ones year group, or later,, and the current rates of promotion are about 95% and 76%, respectively. To reach a comfortable retirement, officers simply need to follow the party line, make a modicum of effort, and avoid committing a crime making a crucial gaffe. Failing forward may be good for the organization, but avoiding failure is far more important for the promotion prospects of younger Air Force officers. Thus, if a mid-level, risk-adverse officer i.e., the frozen middle is presented with an innovative idea in the year before a critical promotion board, you can bet that idea will never see the light of day. Why take a risk when the penalties of failure far exceed the benefits of success? Maj. Kevin Rossillon is an active duty U.S. Air Force officer who holds a masters degree in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in political science from the University of California San Diego. He was a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, the No. 1 graduate in his Squadron Officer School class and competitively selected for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Captains Prestigious Ph.D. Program. Have an opinion? This article is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the authors. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please email us. Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? Subscribe to get our Commentary & Opinion newsletter once a week. Russia exports stolen grain from Berdyansk Read also: Russia has more than 15 cruise missiles on ships in Black Sea ready to launch at Ukraine, says operational command At least three Russian ships, capable of launching long-range Kalibr cruise missiles remain deployed in the Black Sea, threatening the entire territory of Ukraine. Read also: Russia exports 7,000 tons of Ukrainian grain via Berdyansk, Russian media reports At least 11 villages in southern Ukraine were shelled by Russian forces in the last 24 hours, according to the message. Russia is blockading Ukrainian Black Sea ports, and consistently attacks rail infrastructure, preventing Ukraine from exporting its crops abroad. UN data suggests that 25 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukrainian silos and ports, jeopardizing food security in Asia and Africa. Read also: Turkish ports allow docking of Russian ships with stolen Ukrainian grain Skhemy The Kremlin seeks to induce food shortages in north African countries, hoping that the corresponding migration wave will put pressure on the EU. Russian officials offered to lift the blockade of Ukraines ports, in exchange for an end to Western sanctions on Russia. At least 500,000 tons of grain was stolen by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Multilateral Ukraine-Russia-UN-Turkey talks are underway in Istanbul, where the parties discuss ways to come to an arrangement as to how Kyiv might be enabled to resume maritime exports. VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) As Russian troops pressed their offensive in Ukraine's east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his state security chief and prosecutor general on Sunday, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments and other law enforcement agencies. In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutors office and the SBU (state security service) have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state, Zelenskyy said. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the states national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Zelenskyy dismissed Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend and former business partner whom he had appointed to head the SBU. Bakanov had come under growing criticism over security breaches since the war began; Politico last month cited several unidentified Ukrainian and Western sources saying Zelenskyy was looking to replace him. He also dismissed Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, and replaced her with her deputy Oleksiy Symonenko. Venediktova has helped lead war crime investigations. Meanwhile, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities earlier Sunday at Mykolaiv, a key shipbuilding center in southern Ukraine. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said the missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility. Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade, and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldova's separatist region of Transnistria, which hosts a Russian military base. Story continues Early in the campaign, Ukrainian forces fended off Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which sits near the Black Sea coast between Russia-occupied Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odesa. Since then, Russian troops have halted their attempts to advance in the city but have continued to pummel both Mykolaiv and Odesa with regular missile strikes. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Russian missiles destroyed a depot for anti-ship Harpoon missiles delivered to Ukraine by NATO allies, a claim that couldn't be independently confirmed. The Russians, fearing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, also sought to reinforce their positions in the Kherson region near Crimea and in part of the northern Zaporizhzhia region that they seized in the opening stage of the war. Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south whilst the fight for the Donbas continues indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday. For now, the Russian military has focused on trying to take control of Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas, where the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces are located. Ukraine says its forces still retain control of two small villages in the Luhansk region, one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, and are fending off Russian attempts to advance deeper into the second one, the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Sunday that Ukrainian troops thwarted Russian attempts to advance toward Sloviansk, the key Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, and attacks elsewhere in the region. Yet Russian officials are urging their troops to produce even more territorial gains. During a visit to the front lines Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued an order "to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas." The Russian military said it has struck Ukrainian troops and artillery positions in Donbas in the latest series of strikes, including a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. The Russian claims couldn't be independently verified. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, responded to Ukrainian officials' statements that Kyiv may strike the bridge linking Crimea and Russia, warning that would trigger devastating consequences for the Ukrainian leadership. They will momentarily face Doomsday, Medvedev said Sunday. It would be very hard for them to hide. Medvedev, once touted by the West as more liberal compared to Putin, said Russia will press its offensive until fulfilling its stated goal of denazifying and demilitarizing Ukraine. He predicted the fighting will "undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime in Kyiv. Zelenskyy condemned Medvedevs Doomsday comment as intimidation and said it was Russia that would eventually face a `Day of Judgment. And not in a figurative sense, not as loud talk, but literally, he said Sunday. While focusing on the Donbas, the Russians have hit areas all across the country with missile strikes. In central Ukraine, relatives and friends attended a funeral Sunday for Liza Dmytrieva, a 4-year-old girl killed Thursday in a Russian missile strike. The girl with Down syndrome was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when the missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys, ages 7 and 8. More than 200 others were wounded, including Lizas mother, who remains in an intensive care unit. I didnt know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm, priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, bursting into tears as Lizas body lay in a coffin with flowers and teddy bears in the 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia. We know that evil cannot win, he added. In the Kharkiv region, at least three civilians were killed and three more were injured Saturday in a pre-dawn Russian strike on the city of Chuhuiv, just 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Russian border, police said. One resident of the apartment building that was hit said she was lucky to have survived. I was going to run and hide in the bathroom. I didnt make it and thats what saved me, said Valentina Bushuyeva. Pointing to her destroyed apartment, she said: Theres the bathroom explosion. Kitchen half a room. And I survived because I stayed put. ___ Anna reported from Pokrovsk, Ukraine. ____ Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine RTHK: Zelenskiy fires top prosecutor, security agency chief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued executive orders late on Sunday sacking the head of Ukraine's powerful domestic security agency, the SBU, and the prosecutor general. The orders dismissing SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelenskiy, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who led the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine, were published on the president's official website. In a separate Telegram post, Zelenskiy said he had fired the top officials because many cases had come to light of members of their agencies collaborating with Russia. He said 651 treason and collaboration cases had been opened against prosecutorial and law enforcement officials, and that over 60 officials from Bakanov and Venediktova's agencies were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories. "Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state ... pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders," Zelenskiy said. "Each of these questions will receive a proper answer," he said. Zelenskiy appointed Oleksiy Symonenko as the new prosecutor general in a separate executive order that was also published on the president's site. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2022-07-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Relatives and friends pay their last respects to Liza, a 4-year-old girl killed by a Russian attack, during a mourning ceremony in an Orthodox church in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, on Sunday. Wearing a blue denim jacket with flowers, Liza was among 23 people killed, including two boys ages 7 and 8, in Thursday's missile strike in Vinnytsia. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press) As Russia's military pressed its efforts to expand into Ukraine's east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of the countrys security service and its prosecutor general Sunday, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments. In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutors office and the SBU have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state, Zelensky said. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the states national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. He dismissed Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, and replaced her with her deputy Oleksiy Symonenko. He also dismissed Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend and former business partner who headed Ukraines security service, the SBU. Bakanov had come under growing criticism recently over security breaches; Politico cited several unidentified Ukrainian and Western sources last month saying Zelensky was looking to replace him. Meanwhile, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities earlier Sunday at Mykolaiv, a strategic city in southern Ukraine. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said the missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility. Mykolaiv is a key shipbuilding center along the Southern Bug river and has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade, and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldova's separatist region of Transnistria, which hosts a Russian military base. Early in the campaign, Ukrainian forces fended off Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which sits near the Black Sea coast between Russia-occupied Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odesa. Since then, Russian troops have halted their attempts to advance in the city but have continued to pummel Mykolaiv and Odesa with regular missile strikes. Story continues Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Russian missiles destroyed a depot for anti-ship Harpoon missiles delivered to Ukraine by NATO allies, a claim that couldn't be independently confirmed. The Russians, fearing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, also sought to reinforce their positions in the Kherson region near Crimea and in part of the northern Zaporizhzhia region that they seized in the opening stage of the war. The British Defense Ministry said Sunday that Russia is moving troops and equipment between Kherson, Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia, and increasing security measures around Melitopol. Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south whilst the fight for the Donbas continues indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat, it said. For now, the Russian military has focused on trying to take control of Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas, where the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces are. Ukraine says its forces still retain control of two small villages in the Luhansk region, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas, and are fending off Russian attempts to advance deeper into the second one, the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Sunday that Ukrainian troops thwarted Russian attempts to advance toward Sloviansk, the key Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, and attacks elsewhere in the region. Yet Russian officials are urging their troops to produce even more territorial gains. During a visit to the front lines Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued an order "to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas." The Russian military said it has struck Ukrainian troops and artillery positions in Donbas in the latest series of strikes, including a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. The Russian claims couldn't be independently verified. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, responded to Ukrainian officials' statements that Kyiv may strike the bridge linking Crimea and Russia, warning that would trigger devastating consequences for the Ukrainian leadership. They will momentarily face Doomsday, Medvedev said Sunday. It would be very hard for them to hide. Medvedev, who once was touted by the West as more liberal compared with Putin, said Russia will press its action in Ukraine until fulfilling its stated goal of denazifying and demilitarizing the country. He predicted the fighting will "undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime in Kyiv. While focusing on the Donbas, the Russians have hit areas all across the country with missile strikes. On Sunday in central Ukraine, relatives and friends attended a funeral for Liza Dmytrieva, a 4-year-old girl killed Thursday in a Russian missile strike. The girl with Down syndrome was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when the missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys, ages 7 and 8. More than 200 others were wounded, including Lizas mother, who remains in an intensive care unit. I didnt know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm, priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, bursting into tears as Lizas body lay in a coffin with flowers and teddy bears in the 18th century Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia. We know that evil cannot win," he added. In the Kharkiv region, at least three civilians were killed and three more were injured Saturday in a pre-dawn Russian strike on the city of Chuhuiv, which is only 75 miles from the Russian border, the police said. Lyudmila Krekshina, who lives in the apartment building that was hit, said a husband and wife were killed, and also an elderly man who lived on the ground floor. Another resident said she was lucky to have survived. I was going to run and hide in the bathroom. I didnt make it and thats what saved me, said Valentina Bushuyeva. Pointing up at her destroyed apartment, she said: Theres the bathroom explosion. Kitchen half a room. And I survived because I stayed put. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. ALONA MAZURENKO SATURDAY, 16 JULY 2022, 12:55 Russias special services have stepped up their activities in Eastern Europe in an attempt to identify and track the routes by which weapons are supplied to Ukraine. Source: Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate Quote: "Agents of the occupier country have been instructed to identify and track the routes through which military aid is supplied to Ukraine. In order to determine the delivery schemes and the number of weapons being transferred to the defenders of Ukraine by partner countries to repel the Russian invasion, the Russian military attaches in EU countries have been ordered through closed communication channels to increase the recruitment of police officers and citizens involved in the transportation of weapons." Details: It is reported that in the regions bordering Ukraine, the special services of the Russian Federation are trying to use representatives of local communities and pro-Russian activists. According to intelligence, Europeans who are approached with proposals to cooperate with the Russians go to the police and security services immediately. The White House said it has intelligence that Russian officials recently visited an airfield in Iran twice to examine weapons-capable drones to use them in its ongoing war against Ukraine. Russian officials reportedly visited Kashan airfield in central Iran on 8 June and 5 July to view the drones suggesting Moscows interest in acquiring the equipment. The Biden administration released satellite imagery which it claimed showed Irans Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones being displayed in flight on the airfield, while a Russian delegation transport plane was on the ground. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday said the administration has information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]. We assess an official Russian delegation recently received a showcase of Iranian attack-capable UAVs. We are releasing these images captured in June showing Iranian UAVs that the Russian government delegation saw that day, Mr Sullivan added. This suggests ongoing Russian interest in acquiring Iranian attack-capable UAVs. He added that according to intelligence reports officials believe the June visit was the first time a Russian delegation has visited this airfield for such a showcase. CNN confirms Terror Alarm reports that Russians visited #Irans Kashan airbase at least twice in last month to examine weapons-capable drones. That same base has and continues to train militias from Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria. pic.twitter.com/IaQALclsmZ Terror Alarm (@terror_alarm) July 16, 2022 The report was released as president Joe Biden met with leaders of six Arab Gulf countries along with Egypt, Jordan and Iraq for a summit. Story continues At the summit, Mr Biden told his counterparts that the US was committed to the Middle East and will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran. The Biden administration last Monday claimed Iran was preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of UAVs, including weapons-capable drones. However, Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, called the reports of Tehran selling drones to Moscow baseless. These sort of claims parallel with Bidens visit to occupied Palestine, or Israel, are in direction of political intentions and purposes, the website of Irans foreign ministry quoted Mr Amirabdollahian as saying. We oppose any move that could lead to continuation and intensifying conflicts. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday added: At the beginning of the trip, he accused Iran of supporting the killing of Ukrainians! Lies are a thriving coin among American politicians! Overturning the truth for evil purposes. Mr Biden is looking to strengthen coordination among Middle East allies response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin is set to visit Iran next week where he will attend a meeting with state heads of Iran and Turkey. VALENTYNA ROMANENKO SATURDAY, 16 JULY 2022, 18:40 Ukraine's anti-aircraft defence has destroyed four Russian missiles launched by the invaders from the Caspian Sea. Source: press service of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Quote: "At around 15:20 on 16 July, Tu-95MS strategic bombers of the Russian occupation forces launched a missile attack on Ukraine from the Caspian Sea region. The enemy fired six X-101 (X-555) missiles. At around 16:30, four missiles were destroyed by air defence units of the Skhid (East) air command in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The rest hit an agricultural enterprise in Cherkasy Oblast. The damage caused is being clarified." Previously: On Saturday 16 July, an air raid warning was issued for almost the entire territory of Ukraine. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday joined the chorus of criticism against President Bidens trip to Saudi Arabia, saying the U.S. shouldnt be warming up to a brutal dictatorship just because of the global oil crisis. During an appearance on ABCs "This Week," Sanders was asked by co-anchor Martha Raddatz whether Biden should have made the trip to Saudi Arabia, in which the president participated in talks with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman regarding energy production and human rights. "Should Biden have gone?" Raddatz asked Sanders. "No, I don't think so," Sanders responded. "You have the leader of that country who was involved in the murder of a Washington Post journalist. I don't think that that type of government should be rewarded with a visit by the president of the United States." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives before President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Melina Mara-Pool/Getty Images) "Look, you got a family that is worth $100 billion, which crushes democracy, which treats women as third-class citizens, which murders and imprisons its opponents," he added. "And if this country believes in anything, we believe in human rights, we believe in democracy, and I just don't believe that we should be maintaining a warm relationship with a dictatorship like that." BIDEN'S SHAMEFUL FIST-BUMP WITH SAUDI ARABIA'S MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN SHOCKS TWITTER, WASHINGTON POST CEO Sanders said that instead of visiting Saudi Arabia, Biden should be ramping up his pressure on U.S. oil companies to stop "ripping off the American people." US President Joe Biden (L) being welcomed by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) at Alsalam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on July 15, 2022. Photo by Royal Court of Saudi Arabia / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images "If you're looking at the outrageously high cost of gas at the pumps right now, one of the things we've got to look at is the fact that while Americans are now paying $4.50, $4.80 for a gallon of gas, the oil company profits in the last quarter have been extraordinarily high," Sanders said. "And I happen to believe that we've got to tell the oil companies to stop ripping off the American people and if they don't, we should impose a windfall profits tax on them." Biden was widely criticized by the media and members of his own party after he greeted the crown prince with a fist bump instead of a handshake on Friday, despite previously vowing to make the country a "pariah" for human rights abuses. The Biden administration declassified a report last year blaming the crown prince for approving the operation to capture or kill journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post who was killed in 2018 by Saudi security officials. Biden said he brought up Khashoggis murder during his conversation with the crown prince, but the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, denied hearing the conversation. KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO SUNDAY, 17 JULY 2022, 16:45 Two people who were wounded in the missile strike on Vinnytsia have been taken by helicopter to a burns unit in Lviv. Another patient is on their way, and two others are being prepared for transportation. Source: Serhii Borzov, the head of the Vinnytsia Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Serhii Morhunov, the mayor of Vinnytsia, live on TV Quote from Borzov: "Two wounded people have already been taken by helicopter from Vinnytsia to Lviv, to the burns unit. Another patient is on their way. Two seriously wounded people are being prepared for transportation." Details: According to Borzov, this decision was made on Saturday during a visiting consultation of specialists from the Shalimov National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology, the Romodanov Institute of Neurosurgery, and the Kolomyichenko Institute of Otolaryngology (ENT). Morhunov said that 67 injured people are still in hospital. 14 of them are in serious condition, and 4 are in critical condition. He also said that Israel is ready to help the wounded with prosthetics, and the Czech Republic has offered to provide treatment. Background: RAF FAIRFORD, England As the U.S. Space Force eyes a new mission to track ground targets from space, the Air Force needs to make sure the foundational battle management system infrastructure is in place, according to the Air Forces top acquisition official. The two services have been conducting reviews and meeting with industry over the last year to define their distinct roles in providing tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and develop a plan for a space-based ground moving target indicator, or GMTI, capability. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond said in January the service would likely request funding for a new program in fiscal 2024. Those studies have concluded, and Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter told reporters July 16 they confirmed the important role space will play in the GMTI mission. Space is where we need to go, Hunter said during a media briefing at the Royal International Air Tattoo here. It is our expectation that we can deliver pretty quickly on those capabilities and we need to. The Air Force is on a path to divest its primary GMTI platform, the aging E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, retiring its first JSTARS aircraft in February. Rather than develop a direct airborne replacement, the service is creating the Advanced Battle Management System to better share data from multiple sources and connect forces on the battlefield. That system will rely heavily on space sensors to provide ground targeting information. Along with a future GMTI capability, the Advanced Battle Management System will leverage the Space Development Agencys data transport layer, which is on schedule to launch its first satellites this fall. Because ABMS will be providing the much-needed infrastructure to ingest the new inputs from space, Hunter said the Air Force needs to stay on schedule and be ready to move the data where it needs to go once the space sensors are on orbit. Story continues GMTI is likely just the first step in an incremental process to provide more ISR capability from space. Though satellites wont fully take over the mission, the military increasingly wants multiple data sources for a more complete understanding of threats. Col. Eric Felt, who recently transitioned from his role as head of the Air Force Research Laboratorys Space Vehicles Directorate to a new position in the Space Force acquisition executives office, recently told C4ISRNET that while the GMTI capability is within reach, the military must work toward more advanced space-based ISR. AFRL has been working behind the scenes on space-based tracking technology for years, and the Space Force revealed last year it had been working with the lab since 2018 on a classified GMTI program, which will lay the foundation for a future effort. There will be a growing space role over time, Felt said in a June 24 interview at AFRLs Space Vehicles Directorate in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To get it at scale, where you can see everything of interest, everywhere, all the time and in real time, thatll take a little bit longer. But the basic technology building blocks will be there. Felt said the confidence from Air Force and Space Force leaders in the ability to conduct GMTI from space is well justified based on work AFRL has done to prove the technology. However, he noted that just because the technology is feasible, there will still be development hurdles. Even when you can see that theres no technical barriers, that doesnt mean its easy, he said. Its lots of engineering and little things along the way. Were good at solving those, but it does take some time. Beyond GMTI, the Space Force is considering whether it can track airborne targets from space, a mission currently performed by the Air Forces E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. Space-based AMTI presents a harder challenge, and Felt said AFRL will play a key role in helping determine whether its feasible. Steve Bannon. Win McNamee/Getty Images Steve Bannon told aides that Trump "would lie about anything," per a new book. The quote comes from a new book by the Politico reporter Jonathan Lemire, cited in The Guardian. A recent report said Bannon told associates before the 2020 election that Trump was already planning to declare victory. The former White House strategist Steve Bannon told aides that former President Donald Trump would often lie to win arguments, according to a new book cited by The Guardian. Bannon said Trump "would say anything, he would lie about anything," The Guardian reported. He also said that Trump lies "to win whatever exchange he [is] having at the moment," according to the outlet. The quote comes from "The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020," written by Politico's White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire, which is set to be published on July 26. The "big lie" refers to the debunked conspiracy theory that Trump lost the 2020 election due to voter fraud. Bannon pushed these voter-fraud claims after the election, though the former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg told The Atlantic last month that the strategist only pushed the conspiracy theory to get a pardon. Bannon received a pardon as one of Trump's last acts in office. The book excerpt comes on the heels of a Mother Jones report that said Bannon said before Election Day that Trump was already planning to reject the 2020 election results. In the audio, recorded during an October 2020 meeting between Bannon and his associates, he can be heard saying that Trump is "just gonna say he's a winner" even if he loses. The House January 6 committee is investigating Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results and the subsequent Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Bannon initially refused to engage with a subpoena from the committee, leading to his indictment by a federal grand jury in November 2021 on two counts of contempt of Congress. Bannon's criminal trial is set to start on Monday. Story continues On Thursday, US District Court Judge Carl Nichols once again refused to delay the trial, rejecting Bannon's request to push it back due to the publicity surrounding the House investigation. During a pre-trial hearing, Nichols said he was hopeful that the jury selection process would filter out any bias against Bannon. He also said he would consider delaying the trial if it proved difficult to find a suitable jury. Days earlier, Nichols had denied a request to delay Bannon's trial, saying he would not allow Bannon to argue that executive privilege excused his decision to not comply with sitting for questioning or turning over subpoenaed records to the January 6 committee. Last week, Bannon offered to testify before the committee, which prosecutors dismissed as a "last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability." Read the original article on Business Insider KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Security forces fired tear gas as Sudanese protesters marched in the capital Khartoum on Sunday against the country's military leadership, holding it responsible for an outbreak of violence in Blue Nile State. More than 30 people were killed and 100 injured in tribal clashes that started last week between the Hausa and Fung tribes in the southeastern state, close to the border with Ethiopia, according to Sudanese officials and the United Nations. Authorities said on Sunday they would reinforce the security presence in the state and investigate the clashes. A curfew has been declared in two towns. Protesters in the capital carried signs reading "Stop Civil War", "Blue Nile is Bleeding", and "Cancel the Juba Peace Agreement", as they marched towards the presidential palace. There have been sporadic outbreaks of violence in several parts of Sudan including eastern coastal regions and western Darfur, despite a nationwide peace deal signed by some rebel groups in Juba in 2020. The anti-military movement, which has carried out a campaign of protests since a coup in October 2021, has accused the military of stoking internal conflict and failing to protect civilians. "The continuation of the coup means more death as we saw in Blue Nile, Darfur, and other places," said Mohamed Idris, a 43-year-old protester in Khartoum. Military leaders have said their takeover was necessary to preserve Sudan's stability amid political infighting, and that they are working to build on the peace deal in Darfur and other regions. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Frances Kerry) Abortion rights supporters hold signs of U.S. Supreme Court Justices as they participate in a rally and march on May 14, 2022 in New York City. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images The Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, but the abortion wars are not over. The June 24 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade sparked a frenzy of complex legal questions. Those questions could end up before the Supreme Court, court watchers told Insider. The Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, but the abortion wars are far from over and key battles could end up before the justices. Roe v. Wade, which established a federal right to abortion nearly 50 years ago, was an "abuse of judicial authority" that "sparked a national controversy," Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the monumental June 24 ruling, wrote in the majority opinion. The conservative justices declared that states not the nation's highest court should deal with abortion on their terms. As Alito put it: "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives." Yet the Supreme Court will likely have to confront new abortion cases around rape or incest exceptions, travel, data privacy, and other major issues as the decision has opened the floodgates to a wave of complex legal questions, court watchers told Insider. "This is ridiculous. It's laughable. Why? Because it's not going to keep the court out of the abortion controversy," Radhika Rao, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, told Insider. "This decision is further fanning the flames of the polarization and political division in this country instead of putting the issue to rest." Among the many questions spurred by the ruling include: Is there any right to abortion in cases of rape or incest? What if the pregnant person's health is at risk? Can a state restrict you from traveling to another state to get an abortion where it's legal? If someone does travel to another state for an abortion, can they face prosecution upon return to their home state? Can states block abortion medication delivered via mail? How far can states go to criminalize clinicians who provide abortion services? Story continues "There are major, important questions yet to be addressed even though the court has presented this as: 'OK. Let's get rid of abortion from the judicial docket. Let's put it back to the states," Barry McDonald, a professor at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, said. "The court still has a lot of work to do in this area." Anti-abortion demonstrators are confronted in front of the Supreme Court building following the announcement to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling on June 25, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Current legal battles could wind up at the Supreme Court Along with Alito, conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett dealt the fatal blow to Roe last month. "The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion," the majority declared. The decision leaves a messy patchwork of state laws in its wake. Abortion up until fetal viability about 23 to 24 weeks or later in pregnancy is still legal in about 20 states. But for almost half of states, mainly Republican-led, abortion is expected to be significantly restricted. At least nine states have already imposed a total or near-total ban on the procedure and five states have prohibited abortion after a certain limit, such as six weeks or 15 weeks of pregnancy, with more regulations to come. Court fights are playing out at the state-level that experts believe could last for years. Abortion-rights groups have filed lawsuits against the new bans, and judges in Louisiana, Kentucky, Utah, and Arizona have temporarily blocked enforcement in those states. The challenges concern a spate of laws, with advocates raising several theories for striking them down: the abortion restrictions are vague, outdated, and violate state constitutions. These issues raise constitutional questions, including privacy concerns, that are likely to seep into federal courts and potentially, the Supreme Court, Rao told Insider, adding that some questions include: Can the government track someone seeking abortion services? Can they access someone's cell phone data? Toward the end of the Supreme Court opinion, the conservative majority briefly touched on constitutional challenges that may arise from new abortion laws, stating that courts cannot "substitute their social and economic beliefs for the judgment of legislative bodies." Courts must apply a "rational-based review" standard to such cases, which means if the state has "legitimate interests," for example to protect "the life of the unborn," then the challenges must fail, Alito wrote. "It's compelling states to apply this lowest level of scrutiny," Rao said. "However, that does not answer these other questions that I just raised." A general view of an exam room inside the Hope Clinic For Women in Granite City, Illinois, on June 27, 2022. - Abortion is now banned in Missouri. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images Many constitutional questions on abortion remain The Supreme Court's ruling also failed to address any specifics, even with the law in dispute. The major case concerned a Mississippi statute that sought to ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions only in cases of fetal abnormality or if the mother's life is at risk. The court upheld the law, without offering any further comment on it. "Are they really saying that a woman has no constitutional rights against being forced to bear a baby that's the product of rape or incest?" McDonald asked. "To me, that's a big elephant standing in the room after this decision." In nine states where abortion has been restricted, there are no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, according to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, a leading reproductive health research group that supports abortion rights. The court similarly did not weigh in on residents traveling out-of-state to get an abortion where it's still legal, an issue that's risen to the forefront of the national debate. Kavanaugh attempted to nip it in the bud, writing in a concurring opinion, "may a State bar a resident of that State from traveling to another State to obtain an abortion?" "In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel," he wrote. But Kavanaugh did not write for the majority. And some states, like Missouri and South Carolina, have started considering measures to criminalize anyone who helps a patient travel to another state for an abortion. That could mean targeting businesses or organizations, like Planned Parenthood, for providing travel funds to get an abortion. These questions have emerged in the high-profile case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl, who recently had to travel to Indiana to get an abortion after she was raped by a 27-year-old man. Ohio banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest a law that took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe. New disputes may soon make their way to the Supreme Court, though it's unclear how the justices will decide. "I think we're gonna have these cases come before the court: the travel issue, the rape, incest exception, the life of the mother exception. I don't know what the court would do," Sherry Colb, a professor at Cornell Law School, said. "It makes a whole lot of noise about how it doesn't care what the public thinks, but I don't think that's true. I think nobody is completely immune to people thinking they're horrible." This report originally published on July 16, 2022. Read the original article on Business Insider Horgos, which means "a place where caravans pass" in Mongolian, was once a busy passage used by traders traveling along the ancient Silk Road. While Horgos lost its shine as caravans faded into history, the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has revitalized the old port. Produced by Xinhua Global Service In a photo from surveillance video, authorities respond to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to the mass shooting but "systemic failures" created a chaotic scene before the gunman was confronted and killed, according to a report from investigators. (Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District / Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press) Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, but systemic failures created a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman who took 21 lives was finally confronted and killed, according to a report from investigators released Sunday. The nearly 80-page report was the first to criticize state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in the south Texas town for the bewildering inaction by heavily armed officers as a gunman fired inside a fourth-grade classroom. At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety," the report said. The gunman fired approximately 142 rounds inside the building, and it is almost certain" that at least 100 shots came before any officer entered, according to the report. The report the most complete account yet of the hesitant and haphazard response to the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School was written by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives and released to family members Sunday. According to the report, 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school. The overwhelming majority of those who responded were federal and state law enforcement. That included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials. Other than the attacker, the Committee did not find any villains in the course of its investigation, the report said. There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making. The report noted that many of the hundreds of law enforcement responders who rushed to the school were better trained and equipped than the school district police which the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state police force, previously faulted for not going into the room sooner. Story continues In this crisis, no responder seized the initiative to establish an incident command post," the report read. A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday. Family members of the victims in Uvalde received copies of the report Sunday before it was released to the public. Its a joke. Theyre a joke. Theyve got no business wearing a badge. None of them do, Vincent Salazar, grandfather of the late 11-year-old Layla Salazar, said Sunday. The report followed weeks of closed-door interviews with more than 40 people, including witnesses and law enforcement who were on the scene of the shooting. Flowers that had been piled high in the citys central square had been removed as of Sunday, leaving photos of some of the children who were killed. No single officer has received as much scrutiny since the shooting as Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who resigned from his newly appointed seat on the City Council after the shooting. Arredondo told the committee he treated the shooter as a barricaded subject," according to the report, and defended never treating the scene as an active-shooter situation because he did not have visual contact with the gunman. Arredondo also tried to find a key for the classrooms, but no one ever bothered to see if the doors were locked, according to the report. Arredondos search for a key consumed his attention and wasted precious time, delaying the breach of the classrooms," the report read. The report criticized as lackadaisical the approach of the hundreds of officers who surrounded the school and said that they should have recognized that Arredondo remaining in the school without reliable communication was inconsistent with him being the scene commander. The report concluded that some officers waited because they relied on bad information while others had enough information to know better. A nearly 80-minute hallway surveillance video published by the Austin American-Statesman this week publicly showed for the first time a hesitant and haphazard tactical response, which the head of Texas state police has condemned as a failure and some Uvalde residents have blasted as cowardly. Calls for police accountability have grown in Uvalde since the shooting. So far, only one officer from the scene of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history is known to be on leave. The report is the result of one of several investigations into the shooting, including another led by the Justice Department. A report earlier this month by tactical experts at Texas State University contended that a Uvalde police officer had a chance to stop the gunman before he went inside the school armed with an AR-15. But in an example of the conflicting statements and disputed accounts since the shooting, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin has said that never happened. That report had been done at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which McLaughlin has increasingly criticized and accused of trying to minimize the role of its troopers during the massacre. Steve McCraw, the head of Texas DPS, has called the police response an abject failure. The committee didnt receive medical evidence to show that police breaching the classroom sooner would have saved lives, but it concluded that it is plausible that some victims could have survived if they had not had to wait 73 additional minutes for rescue. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Billionaire Peter Thiel and Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters. Marco Bello/Getty Images and Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Blake Masters has surged in the Arizona GOP Senate primary after securing Trump's endorsement. His main opponent, Jim Lamon, has made Masters' association with Thiel into a campaign issue. Lamon is drawing on GOP suspicions of Silicon Valley, big tech, and wealthy financiers. PRESCOTT, Arizona Billionaire tech CEO Peter Thiel may be more responsible than anyone else for Blake Masters' ascent in the Arizona Republican Senate primary. The PayPal founder and early Facebook investor has poured $13.5 million into a super PAC called "Saving Arizona" that's supporting his protege. And Masters' opponents particularly Republican businessman Jim Lamon want voters to know it. "Masters only ever worked for Peter Thiel, who, by the way, was a founding Facebook board member in 2005," Lamon told a crowd of roughly 200 people who showed up on July 15 at the Prescott Hotel and Resort, where the one-time Army Airborne Officer with a thick Southern accent was holding a town hall in the Goldwater Ballroom. It was a Friday evening, and former President Donald Trump was set to speak the following day alongside Masters, who he endorsed last month, in an adjacent town in the mountainous Yavapai County until the rally was postponed by nearly a week due to the death of Trump's first wife, Ivana. The 35-year-old first-time candidate now leads the pack, despite polling in the single digits as recently as April. Serving as the chief operating officer of Thiel's investment firm and the president of the Thiel Foundation until just four months ago, Masters has been associated with the conservative tech mogul for his entire adult life. He is the co-author with Thiel of Zero to One, a book about building startups that draws on notes that Masters took when he was an undergrad student of Thiel's at Stanford University. Thiel, meanwhile, is associated with a variety of Silicon Valley companies; he co-founded PayPal and founded Palantir, a big data analytics firm. He was also the first outside investor in Facebook, serving on the board of the social media giant until earlier this year. Story continues Despite their Silicon Valley ties, both Thiel and Masters are conservatives who are fiercely critical of so-called "big tech" and the world from which they come; Thiel also notably spoke in support of then-candidate Trump at the 2016 GOP convention. But since being passed over for the Trump endorsement, Lamon has been hammering Masters over his relationship with Thiel whose name he frequently mispronounces as "theel" rather than "teal" and labeling the conservative tech billionaire as a "globalist Facebook board member" while trying to recast his relationship with Silicon Valley into well-worn Republican narratives. Businessman Jim Lamon at the town hall event in Prescott, Arizona on July 15, 2022. Bryan Metzger/Insider "Oh by the way, just a little tidbit again, because I'm on a little rail here about Big Tech," said Lamon as he addressed a question about "burdensome regulations" from government agencies. "Palantir, which is a Peter Thiel company, is one of the largest companies that the federal government is doing business with to spy on Americans." Recent polling indicates that the primary campaign may be developing into a head-to-head race between the two candidates in the final two week stretch, and one of Lamon's main closing arguments against Masters aside from highlighting his former libertarian leanings is that Republicans should be suspicious of Thiel and his allies. "Oh and by the way, Blake, stop trying to tell us that you're not a puppet for big tech, because you are," said Lamon at the event, prompting a murmur of agreement among the attendees. Lamon, a self-funder, also frequently emphasizes the differences in the source of their respective campaigns' largesse; while Masters owes much of his campaign's viability to Thiel's money, Lamon has largely self-financed his own campaign. "There is no amount of money I will not spend of mine to save my country," said Lamon, a solar energy tycoon who's loaned $15 million of his own fortune to his campaign, to applause. An emerging megadonor In addition to his investments in Masters, Thiel gave a total of $15 million to a super PAC supporting the Ohio Senate campaign of JD Vance, a fellow venture capitalist and the author of "Hillbilly Elegy." But while plenty of Republicans may be aware of megadonors like the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson, Thiel has emerged only recently as a donor of that caliber. Though he's made sizable contributions to Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and right-wing groups like the Club for Growth, the over $25 million that Thiel has spent in Ohio and Arizona combined dwarf all of his prior political contributions. Masters has previously defended his ties to Thiel. At a FreedomWorks-sponsored event in late June, he said the PayPal founder was the "one America First billionaire that we have," prompting boos from some audience members. "Okay, not a fan? I think he's great," Masters shot back at the debate. "If you know other America First billionaires, give them my cell phone number, okay? Get you a candidate who can marshal some resources." Evidence of those resources abound across Maricopa County; yard signs financed by the outside group can be found at a smattering of major intersections, alongside all of the other signs competing for attention. A yard sign for Blake Masters funded by the Peter Thiel-backed Saving Arizona PAC in Chandler, Arizona. Bryan Metzger/Insider While Masters' own campaign has stuck with a simple, white-on-black design, signs financed by the Thiel-backed super PAC are bright yellow and include an image of Masters with his family. An endorsement lost Lamon has gone as far as to create an entire website of negative attacks on Masters. "That's right," reads one section of the site. "The same Big Tech that's censoring conservatives and selling our country out to China are funding Fake Blake Masters' faux conservative campaign. But Lamon's attacks on Thiel have already cost him at least one endorsement. Ric Grenell, a former Trump administration official who served as acting Director of National Intelligence and ambassador to Germany, announced on Twitter in June that he was withdrawing his endorsement of the businessman over the attacks. At a Masters campaign event, Grenell said Lamon's rhetoric on Thiel "really burned me" and compared Lamon to Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who's drawn the ire of conservatives for her criticism of Trump and her service as vice chair of the January 6 committee. "One thing that drives me crazy, and really convinced me that I needed to un-endorse Jim and endorse Blake Masters, was because I watched as Republicans on the committee began to attack their own," said Grenell at the event, condemning what he described as "Republicans attacking Republicans with phony messaging." An official Blake Masters campaign sign in Prescott, Arizona. Bryan Metzger/Insider 'The same kind of guy that George Soros is' Milling around the hotel's Goldwater ballroom following Lamon's town hall, attendees told Insider that what they've heard about Thiel is giving them pause. "It bothers me a great deal," Steve Zipperman, a candidate for state Senate in the Prescott-based 1st legislative district, told Insider following the town hall. "I'm looking at Peter Thiel as being the same kind of guy that George Soros is, trying to control things and manipulate things from outside." Zipperman's wife, Sharon, told Insider that her "BS detector" went off at a recent dinner she and her husband had with Masters. While complimenting him as a "delightful young man, very smart," she said he failed to sufficiently address Lamon's critique of him when it was presented to him. "It would be easy for him to answer that," she said. "But instead, what he did is what a consultant would advise him to do, which is just laugh it off." Meanwhile, others say they're hearing about Thiel for the first time. "That's the first I heard about Blake and that connection," said Laura Stewart, a 52-year-old town hall attendee. "So I don't know." Pat Newbert, 66, told Insider at the event that she had ultimately decided to support Lamon despite some of her friends' enthusiasm for Masters. "Well, Trump endorsed him, so he must have looked into him and everything. But yeah, he also endorsed Dr. Oz," said Newbert, referring to Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. She added that she doesn't "necessarily agree with a lot of people that Trump's backing." She added that Lamon's broadsides against Thiel and his connection to Facebook were an "eye opener" that had convinced her to not support Masters. "I don't know why Trump's backing Masters after everything that I've learned about him now," she said. "Because Facebook is I mean, they're squashing our First Amendment." It was at that point that her husband Ray, 71, interjected. "I just got out of Facebook jail," he said. "For posting the truth!" Read the original article on Business Insider Stacey Berry was recently commuting to work in uniform as a Chicago Transit Authority rail operator when a passenger on the citys red line attacked him unprovoked. I guess you could call it a sucker punch, Berry, 50, said. Berry ended up not making it to his shift that day. Instead, he went to the hospital, where they gave him medication to calm down, and then returned home. Now, its like all the time, Berry said of the frequency of such assaults on fellow transit workers. It lets me down that more hasnt been done. Congress passed long-fought-for provisions aimed at improving transit workplace safety as part of its bipartisan infrastructure bill in November, 20 months into a pandemic that saw violence against workers spike across industries. One requirement: that transit agencies and unions join forces to form safety planning committees. But the agency responsible for implementing the language, the Federal Transit Administration, says it doesn't plan to enforce the provisions until the end of 2022. And the group that represents transit agencies, the American Public Transit Association, is pushing to extend that timeline, which it says does not give its members enough time to pull together the requisite committees. As bus drivers, subway operators, maintenance workers and others face a growing risk of attacks, economists warn that the delay could hamstring recruitment and retention of transit workers, rendering the infrastructure bills $39 billion in new public transit funding less effective. Workplace violence against transit workers manifests itself in awful ways, ZipRecruiter Chief Economist Julia Pollak said. It leads to fewer people using transit; then less money flowing into the system; then fewer resources to solve the problem. National data on attacks against transit workers is incomplete and unreliable. But reports from local agencies indicate an alarming upswing in incidents over the last two years. Story continues New Jersey Transit workers experienced 183 assaults in 2021 triple the norm, according to leadership. Employees of New Yorks Metropolitan Transportation Authority consistently report as many as six assaults per week. And there are similar figures out of Illinois, Utah, Arizona and other states. During the pandemic, it's been well-documented that people, for whatever reason, felt that they can take out their anger and frustration on the men and women who are tasked with transporting them safely from point A to point B which is wild, AFL-CIOs Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan said. Of all the transportation industries, transit is probably the worst right now. The language in the infrastructure package, pulled from a separate standalone bill, directs transit agencies to set goals for improving worker safety by reducing the rate and severity of attacks, and to include workers and unions in their safety planning processes. It also requires the agencies to collect data on assaults and submit it to FTA. The FTA maintains that it is moving as fast as it can. A spokesperson pointed to the deadlines it has set for transit agencies, as well as a variety of webinars and presentations on the provisions, as proof of the progress it has made. FTA is working diligently to implement all requirements of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as quickly as possible, the spokesperson said in a statement. Safety is the North Star for everyone at the U.S. Department of Transportation. APTA, for its part, is insistent that agencies need more time to meet the requirements about six months longer to comply with each deadline. "APTA is working with the FTA and has expressed our concern that they consider transit agency barriers to implementation when rolling out the new requirements for safety committees and other safety-related aspects" of the infrastructure law, "and we hope the FTA will take into account industry concerns when implementing these new requirements," Brian Alberts, APTA's senior director of safety and advisory services, said. John Costa, who heads the 200,000-strong Amalgamated Transit Union, says that the organization just doesn't want unions involved in the process. The agencies are what's holding us up, because they're fighting back, Costa said. They're just angry and they're pushing back and, and they're trying to take away any voice that we may have because they want to be the sole person to dictate and be able to run the agency the way they think. The Transportation Trades Department and the unions like ATU it represents have been pressuring FTA to move faster. In March, they sent a letter to DOT and FTA asserting that our members should not be asked to wait another day to feel safe on the job. Theyve also done a lot more privately in meetings with agency officials, Regan said. Unions say there is no reason why the agency was unable to roll out certain pieces of regulation immediately after enactment. Officials point to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has taken various steps to address aviation workplace safety, as one example. When flight attendants found themselves facing unruly, disruptive and noncompliant passengers angry about mask requirements and other inconveniences of pandemic-era flying, the FAA and the Justice Department quickly cracked down, issuing big fines and criminal penalties. The approach that the FAA has taken, honestly, is one that should be a lesson for the other agencies that have to deal with this problem, Regan said. The FAA has addressed this and they're doing weekly reporting, they're enforcing the laws, they're pushing forward they're really bringing all the agencys resources to dealing with what is a legitimate problem in the airspace. Bringing workers into the transit safety planning process is something that could be implemented immediately, Regan said. Making sure that workers are part of the safety planning process shouldnt be a big lift." FTA has told transit agencies that they must establish their safety committees by July 31. They will then have until Dec. 31 to update their safety plans accordingly. There are some signs that the transit worker unions' pressure campaign could be paying off. FTA published a notice in the Federal Register Friday expanding its definition of what counts as an assault the first demand listed in their March letter. Lawmakers like Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) who fought for the provisions inclusion in the infrastructure bill say they plan to ensure that transit agencies meet the FTAs deadlines. Administrator [Nuria] Fernandez and FTA have set important deadlines for the inclusion of workers in safety planning, a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement, adding that Brown "will work with the FTA and transit unions to ensure the requirements are enacted quickly. With 4 in 10 transit workers eligible to retire within the next decade, local agencies ability to keep their workers safe will likely determine some of the return-on-investment of the infrastructure bills spending over the same period. The historically tight labor market will magnify the issue. Its definitely a very big problem, especially because it is such a hot job-seekers market and people don't need to be in such stressful miserable jobs, Pollak said. People are leaving jobs with high stress that feel toxic and feel miserable and feel under resourced. And they're going to the kinds of jobs that don't feel that way but are more flexible, and more friendly, more enjoyable. ABUJA (Reuters) - Two Nigerian Catholic priests have been abducted in Nigeria's northern state of Kaduna, the local diocese said, nearly two weeks after another priest was taken from his parish in the same state. Fathers John Mark Cheitnum and Donatus Cleopas were abducted in the town of Lere after they arrived for a parish function at Christ the King Catholic Church, Yadin Garu, the diocese said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the abduction. Kidnappers abducted another priest from his rectory in Kaduna state earlier this month while parishioners were waiting for him to conduct the morning mass, the local diocese said. Armed gangs are rife across Nigeria's northwest where they rob or kidnap for ransom, and violence has been increasing. Stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha, Eidting by Timothy Heritage) A British Airways Boeing 747. Nicolas Economou/Getty Images The teens were left scrambling to get back home after British Airways gave away their seats. They were given train tickets but they turned out to be invalid when they got to the station. The parents had to send them money to buy new tickets from King's Cross. Two teenagers landed back at Heathrow airport in London from Johannesberg after visiting their dad and were set to connect to another flight when they became embroiled in this summer's travel chaos. British Airways told the 15 and 16-year-old that their seats home to Edinburgh had been given away when they tried to check in on July 11 due to a booking mix-up. William Farquaharson, their step-father dad, said: "They weren't offered another flight and were told they could either get a voucher for a train or they could wait up to a number of days for another flight." The parents tried to contact the airline by phone but could only reach an automated system. After trying multiple times they eventually got through to a special assistance enquiry line and were issued a digital copy of the train tickets. "They had never been to London or on the Underground so they didn't know how to navigate the system," he said. "We got them a taxi and had to pay 100 for them to be driven to King's Cross station." When they got to the station they were told the tickets were not valid. Farquharson said they send them money to buy new tickets for 100 ($118) for the 400-mile journey. "I felt extremely frustrated and angry," Farquharson said. "The kids didn't know what was going on and were in distress and were stranded in the middle of London." "It needs to be considered that they are ultimately young and vulnerable and don't know how to navigate their way through London." Airlines across the world are grappling with staff shortages and passengers are facing a series of cancelations and delays as demand for travel returns after the pandemic. British Airways announced earlier this month that it was canceling more than 10,000 flights this summer from London airports. It is reducing its summer schedule by about 13% amid global travel chaos. A British Airways spokesperson said: "We apologised to our customers for the disruption to their journey and offered alternative transport via train to get them to their destination on the same day." Read the original article on Business Insider Health Alert Raised As Hot Weather Continues Across The UK People enjoy the hot weather at Margate beach in Margate, United Kingdom, on on July 16, 2022. Credit - Hollie AdamsGetty Images The U.K. has declared a national emergency as it braces for a heatwave after the United Kingdoms National Severe Weather Warning Service issued its first ever red warning for extreme heat. Much of England is expected to experience record high heat of 104 degrees early next week. British authorities are spreading the word on heat safety practices before the wave is expected to hit on Monday and Tuesday, such as maintaining hydration, keeping cool inside, staying out of the sun and following weather advisories closely. Environmental groups are gearing up to strengthen water conservation campaigns in response to increased water consumption and droughts in the U.K. Exceptional, perhaps record-breaking temperatures are likely early next week, quite widely across the red warning area on Monday, and focussed a little more east and north on Tuesday, Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said in a statement. Nights are also likely to be exceptionally warm, especially in urban areas. This is likely to lead to widespread impacts on people and infrastructure. Therefore, it is important people plan for the heat and consider changing their routines. This level of heat can have adverse health effects. The Met Office defines a red heatwave as, so severe and/or prolonged that its effects extend outside the health and social care system. At this level, illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy, and not just in high-risk groups. The colored warning system begins with the color green, which signals a minimum state of vigilance during the summer, yellow, the alert and readiness stage for potential heatwaves, amber, once heatwave temperatures have been reached and are predicted to continue, and then red, a national emergency. An amber warning had already been in place for July 17 through July 19 before being upgraded to red. Story continues Heat is expected to return closer to normal levels in the U.K. by July 20, when a cold front passes through the country, however, scientists and environmentalists have concerns that the heat wont be gone for long. The British heatwave comes as blazing heat sweeps across Europe and wildfires burn large swaths of Portugal, Spain, Croatia and France. Officials reported that more than 1000 people have had to evacuate these regions, thousands of acres have burned down and drought risk is high. Climate change has already influenced the likelihood of temperature extremes in the U.K. The chances of seeing 40C days in the U.K. could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence, Dr. Nikos Christidis, a climate attribution scientist at the Met Office, said in a report. The European Union released a statement that climate change is behind the rising temperatures and dangerous heat, after nine hikers were killed in Marmolada, Italy from a glacier collapse. The Union predicts concern about further natural disasters and dire heat all summer. Statistics show that since 2017, we have the most intense, intense forest fires ever seen in Europe. And that we unfortunately expect the 2022 forest fire season could follow this trend, EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told legislators. The tragic event in Marmolada is just the latest example of disasters linked to warmer temperatures and thus to climate change. LONDON (Reuters) - The British government launched an "Aviation Passenger Charter" on Sunday to help passengers know their rights if they are faced with problems at airports after the widespread disruption seen this year. Long queues and cancelled flights caused by staff shortages have caused chaos at times, prompting airlines to cut back their schedules as the industry struggles to keep up with a surge in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic. The new charter will help passengers know what to do if they are confronted by cancellations, delays or missing baggage, the government said, with guidance on how to complain if they feel they have been treated unfairly. "Passengers deserve reliable services, and to be properly compensated if things don't go to plan, and the chaotic scenes we've seen at airports are unacceptable," transport minister Grant Shapps said. "The new charter will help to give UK passengers peace of mind as they enjoy the renewed freedom to travel, whether for holidays, business or to visit loved ones." Last month, the government published a 22-point support plan to avoid further disruption, including telling airlines to run "realistic" summer schedules and promising to speed up security checks. It said these were now being processed in "record time". In a sign of the problems, London's Heathrow Airport this week asked airlines to stop selling tickets for summer departures and capped the number of passengers flying from Britain's busiest hub at 100,000 a day. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Nick Macfie) The place of the plane crash Read also: Part of Russian anti-aircraft missile found at damaged residential building in Belgorod According to preliminary information, the crash was caused by an engine failure. Fire and rescue teams are working at the scene. Eyewitnesses said that the plane had crashed in a cornfield near the village of Palaiochori in the municipality of Pangaio. Read also: Antonov Airlines relocates to Germany Eight crew members were on board. All are said to be lost. According to available information, one of the planes four engines caught fire in the air and the pilot requested an emergency landing at Kavala International Airport. However, contact with the An-12 aircraft was lost 16 km west of Kavala. Read also: Russia shells Antonov factory in Kyiv The plane was on a commercial transport flight from Serbia to Jordan. At the same time, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on Facebook that a "dangerous cargo" had been on board the An-12 aircraft, owned by Ukrainian cargo operator Meridian, during a commercial flight with the route Serbia-Jordan-Bangladesh. However, the diplomat did not specify what exactly the plane was carrying. "The crew consisted of eight citizens of Ukraine," Nikolenko said. "The failure of one of the engines is a preliminary cause of the accident. On behalf of the foreign minister, an operational headquarters has been set up at the Consulate of Ukraine in Thessaloniki. Ukrainian consuls have already arrived at the crash site, interacting with rescuers and law enforcement officers of Greece to clarify all the circumstances of the incident. Rescue work and firefighting are underway." Help NV continue reporting on the Russian invasion BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- "The study of history illuminates the way to good governance." President Xi Jinping cited this ancient adage in an article published Saturday to highlight the importance of studying history. The adage was written by Zeng Gong, a literary master in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), to explain how excellent historiography can provide guidance for good governance. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has on various occasions underlined the need to respect history, study history, foster historical perspective, and carry on the fine traditional Chinese culture. In the article published in this year's 14th issue of the Qiushi Journal, Xi called for efforts to advance the research of the history of Chinese civilization, and develop a keener awareness of the history while building up cultural confidence. Chinese civilization is extensive and profound, and has a long history stretching back to antiquity. It is the cultural identity of the Chinese nation, the foundation of the contemporary Chinese culture, the cultural bond holding all Chinese around the globe together, and the treasure trove inspiring cultural innovation, according to the article. Ulrika Jonsson defends Florence Pugh (Getty) Ulrika Jonsson has shared her support for Florence Pugh after the Little Women star was criticised for wearing a transparent gown at a Valentino fashion show last week. The TV presenter has praised Pugh for showcasing her naturalness, her confidence and her determination to take pride in her body. Her comments come after Pugh wore a transparent, fuchsia pink tulle gown to the Valentino haute couture show in Rome on 8 July. While Pugh was praised by fashion critics and fans, some social media users took issue with the gowns sheer bodice and her visible breasts. The actor was forced to defend herself against vulgar bodyshamers, writing on Instagram that she had received aggressive comments about her tiny tits telling her that she should be embarassed by being so flat-chested. Florence Pugh wore the Valentino gown at the designers haute couture show (Getty Images) Whats been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a womans body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see, Pugh wrote. She added: Ive lived in my body for a long time. Im fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it. A number of high-profile figures have since come to Pughs defence, including fellow actors Jessica Chastain and Rege-Jean Page. Joining the voices of support, Jonsson said a womans body is a thing of unadulterated beauty, inspiring and empowering. Writing in The Sun, the 54-year-old said she feels extremely proud of her own tiny, tiny breasts and for that reason, she would like a round of applause for Pugh. She had the gumption and intelligence to attend a fancy-schmancy do in Rome last week wearing a sheer designer dress exposing her gorgeous, itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy but perfectly shaped cupcakes, Jonsson said. She isnt stupid, our Flo. She knew the nipple-baring garment was going to cause a ruckus. And it sure did. Jonsson said she felt inspired by Pugh to be more open about her own body, and she called on other women to do the same. Quite what the issue with breasts is Ill never know. We all have them. And Florence looked the epitome of beauty, class and purity, showing and owning what is biologically and physiologically hers, Jonsson continued. We should be lauding Pugh for her naturalness, her confidence and her determination to take pride in her body. Its a thing of unadulterated beauty, inspiring and empowering. So I intended to carry on my crusade to free the nipple and release the boob all while admiring my own little fried eggs. Do feel free to join me. Our employee demonstrated sound decision making by prioritizing the care of her patient, wrote the ambulance company. A Rochester, New York police officer is, for now, strictly assigned to administrative tasks after he was filmed forcing an emergency medical technician (EMT) into handcuffs while she was assisting a patient, as seen in footage obtained by News10NBC. After the EMT reportedly hit his squad vehicle with the door of her ambulance on Monday, July 11, an unnamed male officer, who appears to be white, handcuffed the health care professional, who appears to be Black, as she and another EMT stood beside a patient in a gurney. (Photo: AdobeStock.com) Per the outlet, the altercation took place in a designated ambulance-only zone of Strong Memorial Hospital. The officer was reportedly there to investigate a case. The officer allegedly demanded that the EMT provide her identification, but she contended that assisting the patient into the hospitals care was more important to complete first, according to News10NBC. As the surveillance footage shows, the EMT was inside of the building appearing to check the patient in, when the officer entered wearing a red shirt and forced the womans hands behind her back amid the arrest. The EMT was later released from custody without any charges or tickets, according to the outlet. NEW: I just talked with @realmalikevans, he tells me as of 11am, he had not watched the video below but is in contact with the chief and everyone is investigating. @news10nbc pic.twitter.com/dzgsqwzxNX Jennifer Lewke (@WHEC_JLewke) July 15, 2022 In a statement released by the Rochester Police Department via Twitter on Friday, July 15, Chief David Smith said he ordered an internal investigation after being notified of the incident. Story continues The Rochester Police Department prides itself on providing professional and courteous services to our community, the statement read. Pending the internal investigation, the member involved has been placed on administrative assignment. We ask for patience as we ensure that a thorough and complete investigation is completed. In a statement released the same day on Facebook, Monroe Ambulance lauded the EMT for keeping the safety of the patient paramount. Ambulance stock image via Pexels While the incident is still under internal investigation, our review of the video footage of the event indicates the safety of both our employee and that of her patient were jeopardized by the action of the officer, the statement read. Our employee demonstrated sound decision making by prioritizing the care of her patient and it is the expectation of all our care providers to do the same. Per News10NBC, the City of Rochester Police Accountability Board said that independent investigations into police departments following such incidents remain a key stronghold for accountability. Incidents like this, along with the nearly 100 additional reports the PAB received since opening our doors, continue to highlight the need for independent investigations into allegations of police misconduct, the board stated. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Upstate New York police officer arrests on-duty ambulance worker who allegedly bumped his squad car appeared first on TheGrio. NASA astronauts will go back to riding Russian rockets under an agreement announced Friday, and Russian cosmonauts will catch lifts to the International Space Station with SpaceX beginning this fall. The agreement ensures that the space station will always have at least one American and Russian on board to keep both sides of the orbiting outpost running smoothly, according to NASA and Russian officials. The swap had long been in the works and was finalized despite tensions over Moscows war in Ukraine, a sign of continuing Russia-U.S. cooperation in space. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio will launch to the space station from Kazakhstan with two Russians in September. That same month, Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, will join two Americans and one Japanese aboard a SpaceX rocket flying from Florida. Another crew swap will occur next spring. No money will exchange hands under the agreement, according to NASA. NASA astronauts routinely launched on Russian Soyuz rockets for tens of millions of dollars apiece until SpaceX started flying station crews from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in 2020. Russian cosmonauts rode to the space station on NASAs shuttles back in the early 2000s. Before that, during the 1990s, astronauts and cosmonauts took turns flying on each others spacecraft to and from Russias Mir station. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Fridays news came just hours after the blustery chief of the Russian space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, was replaced by President Vladimir Putin, although the move did not appear to have any connection to the crew swap. Rogozin was expected to be given a new post. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] NASA said the agreement will ensure continued safe operations of the space station and protect those living on board. Seven people are up there right now: three Americans and one Italian who flew up with SpaceX and three Russians who arrived in a Soyuz. Story continues Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. A screenshot from a video of the Robb Elementary School shooting. Austin American-Statesman News outlets this week published footage from inside Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. The footage showed police outside the classroom the gunman was barricaded in with fourth graders for over an hour. Some parents of victims were upset the footage was released before it was shown to them. Families of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead are upset that news outlets shared the leaked 77-minute surveillance video from inside Robb Elementary School as the gunman carried out the attack. The video was published by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV on Tuesday and subsequently shared by other media outlets. It had been edited to blur the image of a child who ran to safety after encountering the gunman in a hallway and to remove the sounds of children screaming. The sounds of gunfire were not removed. The video showed the gunman entering the building after crashing his truck and then entering a classroom. Gun shots can be heard firing for several minutes. The video shows dozens of police entering the building and waiting for over an hour outside the classroom the gunman was barricaded in. At one point, an officer stops at a hand sanitizer dispenser shortly before police breached the classroom. It also showed some officers running away after gunshots from inside the classroom ring out. Some families of the victims were upset that the video was published before police had shown it to those whose loved ones were actually involved. They expected to be shown the footage on Sunday, when the Texas House committee investigating the attack is set to release their findings, before it was released to the public. "We get blindsided by a leak," Angel Garza, the father of a 10-year-old girl, Amerie Jo, who died in the attack, said, according to CNN. "Who do you think you are to release footage like that of our children who can't even speak for themselves, but you want to go ahead and air their final moments to the entire world? What makes you think that's OK?" Story continues Another parent of a victim, Kimberly Rubio, said the gunshots in particular were hard for her to hear, the Associated Press reported. Her 10-year-old daughter Lexi was killed in the attack. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin also criticized the decision to publish the video. "There was no reason for the families to have to see that," McLaughlin said, according to AP. "They needed to see the video but they didn't need to see the gunman come in or hear the gunshots." The Austin American-Statesman published a story explaining why it and KVUE decided to jointly publish the video. The article noted how long it took police to engage the gunman and the lack of transparency that has surrounded the police response, including the denials of public information requests. "We have to bear witness to history, and transparency with unrelenting reporting is a way to bring change," Manny Garcia, the paper's ethics and standards editor, writes, adding: "The truth always wins, maybe not on our clock, but the truth always prevails." Uvalde Police have been under intense scrutiny since the May 24 shooting. They've been accused of not acting quickly enough to intervene while the gunman was barricaded inside a classroom of fourth graders, as well as changing their story of what happened several times. Families of the victims have also expressed rage and frustration over the police response and the lack of transparency that followed the attack. Videos taken from outside the school showed parents screaming at police to go into the building while their kids were still trapped inside. Read the original article on Insider CLINTON President of the Village of Clinton Board of Trustees Doris Kemner recently sent Lenawee County administrator Kim Murphy a letter urging the county to reinstate Lenawee Now's third quarter allocation. The Lenawee County Board of Commissioners abruptly pulled the $37,000 payment to the economic development organization after Murphy announced she was shelving Project Phoenix because the chances were slim to none the state of Michigan would chip in $10 million because Lenawee Now and others were calling for an independent audit of the project's financials. Shortly after, the city of Tecumseh also pulled its funding for Lenawee Now, with Tecumseh Mayor Jack Baker saying he expected the city council would revisit the issue at a future date. Kemner said in the letter the village is concerned about the county commission pulling funding right after the project was shelved and, as an independent economic development organization, Lenawee Now should be able to express its views without reprisal, noting the village also has concerns over the financing of the project. Murphy had said payment would come from the county's marijuana money, which is approximately $800,000 this year. It was less last year, but the money went right into the county's general fund, so it was not designated for anything in particular. Kemner went on in the letter to say the county needs a strong economic advocate like Lenawee Now to bring jobs and vitality to the community. In an email response, Murphy said she has not been made aware of any similar letters from other municipalities, but everyone is on the same team. "I respect each and every one of our municipal leaders and believe ultimately we are all on the same team of wanting to do what is best for our county," Murphy said. "At times, our perspectives and opinions may differ, but in the end, we have the best interest of the residents we represent at heart. I think it is fair to say that we all believe in the need to continue to retain and attract jobs and create additional economic development in our county. Story continues "It is equally fair to say we believe that it is important that our residents have quality of life activities, of all types. In identifying gaps in services and finding better ways to serve those of all ages and demographics in our county." She went on to say she believes there are opportunities for collaboration. "I do believe that we will be able to continue to collaborate with our local municipalities, businesses, health organizations, schools, service and civic organizations, as well as our economic development and tourism partners to create additional opportunities for our residents, and a strong sustainable community," she said. This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Clinton board president urges county to reinstate Lenawee Now funding Jul. 16Candidates for Washington Secretary of State say they're most concerned about cybersecurity, misinformation and elections audits. The League of Women Voters and The Spokesman-Review on Thursday hosted a debate for Secretary of State candidates. The Secretary of State oversees Washington elections, the preservation of government documents and the registration of corporations and charities. Voters elected a Secretary of State just two years ago, but the position opened up in November when Republican Kim Wyman left her post to take a job in the Biden Administration's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Democratic state Sen. Steve Hobbs to take Wyman's place. It's the first time since 1964 that a Democrat has held the office. Voters get to pick their own Secretary of State during this election cycle. Whoever wins in November will finish out Wyman's term, which runs through 2024. Thursday's debate wasn't full of fireworks. Candidates didn't launch attacks at their opponents. No one promoted conspiracy theories or brought up any of former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Five of the eight Secretary of State candidates participated in the debate. Republican Bob Hagglund used some of his airtime to advocate for voter identification requirements. Democrat Marquez Tiggs stated multiple times that he'd push to bring in-person voting back to Washington. But the dominant themes of the debate were elections security, misinformation and transparency. Hobbs said if elected, he'd prioritize cybersecurity and work to protect the state from Chinese and Russian cyberattacks. He also said combating elections misinformation needs to be a focus for the Secretary of State's Office. Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson touted her experience running elections and her commitment to nonpartisanship. Anderson is running without a party affiliation, yet has still raised $160,000, second only to Hobbs' $318,000. Story continues "Political parties do not belong in the Secretary of State's Office," Anderson said. Republican Mark Miloscia, a former Republican state senator and Democratic state representative, leads all GOP candidates in fundraising with $58,000. Miloscia spent much of his time talking about the need for expanded elections audits. The Secretary of State's Office needs to eliminate elections errors and opportunities for fraud in order to restore faith in elections, Miloscia said. "You don't cover up flaws or try to correct people with concerns, you show them the evidence and involve them in the process," he said. "You restore trust with evidence and facts." None of the candidates said they believe widespread voter fraud occurs in Washington state. Hobbs and Anderson said opportunities for fraud are limited and that Washington has a robust checks and balances system. "Yeah, there's opportunities, but we catch them," Hobbs said. "We just do a poor job of letting people know what's going on behind the scenes. Because of that, we let a lot of disinformation and misinformation run away from us." Anderson said the Secretary of State's Office must continue to increase elections accessibility, transparency and security. But even though much remains to be done, Washington has an excellent system in place for tracking ballots, verifying signatures, ensuring only one ballot gets counted per voter and confirming voter qualification, Anderson said. "I want voters to know that we have a gold-standard election system that's the envy of the nation," she said. "We do a great job of auditing in Washington state." The White Houses senior adviser for energy security on Sunday said there is room for global oil-producing alliance OPEC to increase production. Amos Hochstein said on CBS Face the Nation that he was pretty confident in upcoming negotiations with the organization to increase global oil supply. Im not going to go in to how much spare capacity there is, Hochstein said. But there is additional spare capacity, there is room for increased production I believe that there is still more room. On Sunday, President Biden returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia, OPECs de facto leader. Biden did not return with an immediate promise on increased oil production to help bring down gas prices at home but announced he was optimistic that discussions in the coming weeks will yield results. Bidens meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was widely criticized after the president was seen fist bumping the royal leader, who U.S. intelligence concluded was involved in the 2018 slaying of American and Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Some members of Bidens own party took issue with his visit to the Kingdom, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) concluding that it appeared to have rewarded a dictatorship. Hochstein told CBS that Biden secured a commitment from Saudi Arabia to extend a ceasefire in Yemen. The energy adviser also said he was confident that domestic oil production would increase in the coming months as the White Houses release of one million barrels a day from a strategic reserve comes to a close toward the end of the year. My expectation is that the private sector in the U.S. will have those increases coming so we dont need to have the emergency from the U.S. government, Hochstein said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Victim Wanda Palmer (left) and her brother David Palmer (Jackson County Sheriffs Department) A woman has woken up from a coma after two years and accused her brother of brutally attacking her. Authorities in West Virginia said that they received a call from a long-term care centre after Wanda Palmer regained consciousness last week and identified her brother, David Palmer, as her alleged attacker. Ms Palmer was attacked with a weapon at her home in Cottageville, West Virginia in June 2020, Jackson County Sherriff Ross Mellenger said, but investigators had no leads. When we got there, to be honest we thought she was dead, Sheriff Mellenger told MetroNews. We had a little bit of an idea what happened, but the problem was with the nuts and bolts of the case we had nothing to go on. There was no eye witnesses, nobody lived in the home, no surveillance footage, no cell phone records. There was virtually nothing there to move forward on. Investigators went to meet with Ms Palmer, who suffered brain damage during the attack, at a care home in Wetzel County where she identified her brother. David Palmer was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding over the attack, which officials believe was carried out with a machete or hatchet. The keys to the whole thing lay with the victim herself and with her unable to communicate we were left with nothing. Now low and behold two years later and boom, shes awake and able to tell us exactly what happened, the sheriff said. He didnt give us any fight or anything. There was a little bit of surprise, but not entirely. Marquetta Williams, left, embraces Jolanda Jackson, right, as Marquetta's daughter Ja'Lia Williams wipes away her mother's tears as they all remembered the life of James R. Williams, Marquetta's late husband, in Canton on Saturday. Williams was shot and killed by Canton police on New Year's Day. CANTON For seven months, Marquetta Williams has carried the torch for her late husband, James R. Williams. Every Wednesday at noon, she protests in front of the city's Police Department. On Saturdays at 3 p.m., the protest begins in the same place, then marches to the Stark County Courthouse. "I've been doing it since January," she explained. Grand jury next: When will it hear shooting case? Williams shooting: Canton police officer shoots, kills armed man just as 2022 begins She's been doing it because she doesn't want anyone to forget what happened to her husband on Jan. 1. That's when 46-year-old James Williams who was firing an AR-15 rifle into the air to celebrate a new year at midnight was shot and killed by a Canton police officer. Body camera footage shows officer Robert Huber firing into a wooden fence at Williams' home in the 2300 block of 10th Street SW. The officer had responded to a call about shots fired in the area. Others remember Williams, too. A couple dozen people gathered Saturday evening next to the courthouse to talk about him, pray, seek peace and demand justice. Rev. Raphael Cox leads prayer while remembering the life of James R. Williams in Canton on Saturday. Williams was shot and killed by Canton Police on New Year's Day. People like the Rev. Ray Cox from the Community Drop In Canter; the Rev. Don Ackerman from Crossroads United Methodist Church across the street; Deacon Bill Lambert of St. Paul Catholic Church, who confessed to being an "old white guy" from North Canton; Hector McDaniel, president of the Stark County NAACP, and Moniquec Conner, a vice president. "Reverence and unity" was the theme of the event, Cox said. Ackerman said he's grown weary of the continued theme of violence in the streets of Canton. "We know we can do better," he said. Marquetta Williams, left, helps Jolanda Jackson, right, light her candle as they all remembered the life of James R. Williams, Marquetta's late husband, in Canton on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Williams was shot and killed by Canton Police on New Year's Eve. "Our strength lies in our diversity," Lambert said. McDaniel said there are good police officers, but there also are racist ones. He described the problem as systemic, with roots dating to the 1700s. The only way to attack the problem, he said, is through major reform, such as eliminating qualified immunity a legal doctrine that personally protects officers and public officials in lawsuits. Story continues "It has to go," McDaniel shouted. Hector McDaniel, president of the Stark County NAACP, gives and impassioned presentation while remembering the life of James R. Williams in Canton on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Williams was shot and killed by Canton Police on New Year's Eve. Conner called James Williams a good family man. He and Marquetta had three children together and six kids in all. Marquetta, who's 33 years old, said she'd been with him for 14 years. "It's all I know," she said. In March, she filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the city violated her husband's civil rights in the shooting. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has completed its probe of the shooting Stark County Prosecutor Kyle Stone's office has said the case will be presented to a grand jury. James and Marquetta WIlliams' youngest daughter, Ja'Lia, 9, said she had so much fun with her father. Jolanda Jackson, center right, helped light candles as they all remembered the life of James R. Williams in Canton. Williams was shot and killed by Canton Police on New Year's Day. James' wife, Marquetta Williams, is visible at center left. "I love my dad and I miss him," she said. The 90-minute event concluded with the lighting of candles in James Williams' honor. Gathered in a circle, those in attendance, chanted in unison: "Rest in Peace James Williams. Time for change; justice for James. If we don't get it; shut it down. Say his name; James Williams." Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @tbotosREP. This article originally appeared on The Repository: Vigil honors James Williams, killed Jan. 1 by Canton police ZAGREB, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Croatia and China on Saturday announced the launch of a third joint police patrol after a two-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The patrol in Croatia would mark the first time for Chinese police to carry out patrol missions overseas since the onset of the pandemic. During the launching ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in Croatia, Ambassador Qi Qianjin said Croatia is the first Central and Eastern European country to conduct a joint police patrol with China to better protect the interests of Chinese tourists and overseas Chinese in Croatia. The move would deepen bilateral cooperation in tourism, law enforcement and security, he said. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Croatia. Qi said he is confident that the joint patrol would expand mutual trust and bolster the countries' friendship. Velimir Tisma, head of the Zagreb Police Department Prevention Service, said joint police patrols during Croatia's travel season are a vital aspect of the Croatian police's international cooperation, playing an essential role in protecting and attracting foreign tourists. The joint patrol aims to serve overseas Chinese in Croatia and enhance their sense of security in the country, Tisma added. Eight Chinese police officers will conduct the one-month joint patrol in the capital Zagreb, the western seaside city of Zadar, Plitvice Lakes National Park and the southern city of Dubrovnik. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the countrys top prosecutor as well as the head of its security services, saying that suspected cooperation with Russia among employees of their offices raised very serious questions about their leadership. The move was the most significant leadership shake-up within Zelenskys government since Russia launched its invasion about five months ago. Iryna Venediktova, who was leading investigations into Russian war crimes, was removed from her position along with Ivan Bakanov, the security chief who had been blamed for military failures and was a childhood friend of Zelenskys. In his daily address Sunday night, Zelensky confirmed the firings of Venediktova and Bakanov, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings related to suspected treason among employees of the prosecutors office and other law enforcement agencies. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state and the connections detected between the employees of the security forces of Ukraine and the special services of Russia pose very serious questions to the relevant leadership, Zelensky said. Each of these questions will receive a proper answer. Politico reported last month that Zelensky was looking to fire Bakanov, who previously ran Zelenskys entertainment company and presidential campaign. Venediktova, who has served as prosecutor general since 2020, recently said that her office is investigating more than 23,000 war crimes cases. She has also been a leading voice for holding Russia accountable on the international stage, as Ukraine and its allies are in the early stages of working out where and how to prosecute those responsible for Russian war crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an inquiry into war crimes in Ukraine soon after Russias invasion in late February, while the U.S. and 14 European Union member countries have also launched inquiries into the war. Story continues Zelensky called on the ICC last week to launch a special tribunal to punish Russia. The news of Venediktovas firing comes about two years after her predecessor, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, was removed. In an interview last year, Ryaboshapka claimed that his dismissal as prosecutor general was due to his refusal to investigate Hunter Biden at the request of former President Trump and Trumps attorney Rudy Giuliani. Top Kremlin official Dmitry Medvedev vowed earlier this month that the U.S. will face the wrath of God if it aids efforts to launch a tribunal to prosecute Russian forces. Updated: 6:28 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO SUNDAY, 17 JULY 2022, 21:55 Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has dismissed Iryna Venediktova from her role as Prosecutor General and Ivan Bakanov from his position as the head of the Security Service of Ukraine. Source: presidential decrees Details: One decree states that Venediktova was removed from her position as the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in accordance with the second part of Article 11 of the Law on the Legal Regime of Martial Law. In another decree, President Zelenskyy appointed Oleksii Symonenko, Deputy Prosecutor General, as Acting Prosecutor General. President Zelenskyy also removed Ivan Bakanov, head of the Security Service of Ukraine, from his position. "According to Article 47 of the disciplinary statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, signed into law on 24 March 1999 as law No. 551XIV, Ivan Hennadiovych Bakanov is hereby removed from his position as head of the Security Service of Ukraine," the decree read. Previously: In late June, commenting on reports that Bakanov might be dismissed, Zelenskyy said that the leadership of the Security Service or any other law enforcement department would depend on the outcome of an assessment of their activity. In 2021, Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksii Symonenko attended the birthday celebrations of Oleh Tatarov, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. Earlier, Symonenko oversaw the handing over of Tatarovs case from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to the Security Service of Ukraine [an event the National Anti-Corruption Bureau called "unprecedented" at the time - ed.]. When he was just a year old, Waylon Means underwent two surgeries for hip dysplasia. Afterwards, doctors found out he had a growth hormone deficiency because he was so small, his parents Aaron and Lauren Means, of Lynchburg, said. After continuous blood draws, Waylon was diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia a rare genetic blood disorder that leads to Aplastic Anemia and an increased risk of Leukemia when he was 3 years old. In an effort to raise money for his medical expenses, a Roanoke-based nonprofit held a car, truck and bike show Saturday for him and his family at Tree of Life Ministries on Greenview Drive. HopeDriven, a 501c3 nonprofit, holds events such as car shows, toy drives and other community events to raise money for children ages 18 and younger whove experienced a life-altering event such as a disease, accident or sickness. So anytime we run an event, the money that we raised is donated directly towards them and their medical expenses and associated costs, HopeDrivens president Kevin Jenkins said. The nonprofit was established in 2019 after Jenkins held a car show to benefit a child with Leukemia in Vinton and raised $11,000 for her medical expenses. Waylon must undergo regular blood draws every two months and bone marrow biopsies every six to twelve months depending on blood results. He will be going to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital this Wednesday to undergo further testing and treatment, his father said. There, the family will meet with an endocrinologist, hematologist and oncologist about what the next steps are for Waylon. Lauren Means said Fanconi Anemia makes Waylon highly susceptible to cancer, especially leukemia. She said it is expected that by the time he is 8 years old, Waylon may require a bone marrow transplant. Were very lucky to have gotten in as soon as we did to meet with the people who specialize in his type of Fanconi Anemia, she said. The way the steps have happened has been nothing but a blessing. To be in a situation like this and to get news like that and to not know what the future holds, were in good hands. Looking around at the hundreds of people who came out to support her son, she said she had no words. We were praying, she said. We got here and its been one of the biggest turnouts theyve had. Its incredible. Theres so many people who we dont even know who have shown up. Aaron Means said hes been amazed to see how many people have shared about the event and about Waylon on Facebook and have wanted to support the family through his Go Fund Me page. Its just been a blessing, he said. The Lord has really done a lot of good work for us and for Waylon and putting all this stuff together. The event brought in a variety of vehicles such as motorcycles, muscle cars, classic cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s, Jeeps, ATV, trucks and foreign cars. We have tons of variety of cars, we try to bring older and newer cars together and bridge that gap because at the end of the day, were using our passion for vehicles to raise money for this kid, Jenkins said. Along with various local food vendors, the event held Hot Wheel Racing for children and an exhaust competition at the end that Jenkins said was sure to get everyone ramped up. And then at the end of every show, the kid that we sponsor if theyre here or they have a family representative here, they pick the best in show for us, he said. The sound of hammers and saws can be heard coming from Hillview Street as volunteers from Habitat for Humanity build five homes that will go on one side of the street. One house already is completed on the opposite side; across from them, one is underway and the remaining four will follow. Habitat for Humanity also has purchased two other parcels up the street that will be subdivided into more homes. Eventually, there will be 13 Habitat homes on Hillview Street, but not for the next two years. This is not the first big project Habitat for Humanity has taken on. It has built two streets of houses on Florida Avenue and a majority of the houses on Bright Star Court. Starting next year, it will begin building 11 homes on Knott Street. Donna Vincent, executive director at Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity, explained why placing Habitat homes in neighborhoods is important. One interesting thing that weve learned over the years at Habitat is that putting families that qualify for Habitat into neighborhoods with other income levels is really good. It helps everyone pay attention to keeping up the maintenance on their homes. Were training our families in how to maintain it and why they should maintain it. Habitat for Humanity serves low-income families. Most of these families struggle to find affordable housing in Lynchburg. They face the situation of being packed in substandard housing that is too small for them and costly. Habitat for Humanity provides a better option. Our homes are way cheaper than rent. For a two-bedroom apartment in Lynchburg, its about $1,000 dollars now. The average Habitat mortgage right now is about $500 a month, Vincent said. Families must apply for a house, then the Greater Lynchburg Habitat committee determines if they need better housing. From there, families attend classes and put in 200 hours of sweat equity, where they work on their house and other Habitat homes alongside volunteers. They are in the program for a full year. Through this process, they learn how to maintain their home, the value of their home and its equity. They are given stability. Vincent has seen many families lives turned around. The first one that comes to mind is a family with four children. They bought a home that we refurbished. It was a Habitat home that we took back, we refurbished and sold to them. Theyre flourishing. The mother opened a business that has taken off. Another lady, shes doing great. Shes learning how to drive. She didnt know how to drive. Its a confidence booster, for one thing, she said. These stories of success would not be possible without the work of the volunteers. Most of the builds are from the ground up, which requires a lot of helping hands. And the hours have become a little longer. Habitat has lost a lot of volunteers. Before the pandemic, 30 regular volunteers would come to any of the build days, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Now, there are about 12. Bill Stuart is one of the longtime volunteers. He has been working with Habitat for Humanity for 27 years. As an engineer, Stuart always has enjoyed building. We all like to build. You like to see things happen that you develop with your own hands. We have people that have experience and we have people that like to build or handymen around the house. Then we have people that are not experienced and we teach them. Richard Marot is a new volunteer of eight months. Marots schedule as a freelance photographer gave him a lot of free time, which he decided to fill with volunteering and he doesnt regret it. I just came out because I have a lot of time and I want to help out. It kind of saved me for winter. Winters are tough for me because I dont do a lot, because I have a lot of time off. So getting out with a lot of people really saved my mental well-being. The people here are great. Vincent credited Habitats volunteers as being really the only way we get our work done. They really are. I mean, two men cant do this. Two men cannot build a house. It takes a lot of man-hours. Its a lot of hours in one house, she said. Mitsubishi Motors will begin producing compact commercial vehicles in Kenya in early August, as tariffs in Africa are expected to be lifted in the near future under a regional free trade agreement that took effect in 2021. With African nations stepping up efforts to develop their own auto industries to take advantage of the removal of inter-African tariffs, Isuzu Motor and Toyota Motor will also increase production on the continent. Mitsubishi will resume manufacturing operations in Africa after a hiatus of about 10 years and initially seek to develop a market in Kenya in cooperation with partners such as trading house Mitsubishi Corp., Takao Kato, president and CEO of the Japanese automaker, told Nikkei. The company will examine the possibility of exporting vehicles to neighboring countries in the future. In Kenya, Mitsubishi Motors will produce its mainline pickup truck L200, sold as the Triton in markets such as Southeast Asia. ...continue reading For the first time in decades, the August Beresheim House (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) will welcome guests to the Dodge House campus with a new porch to include historically accurate railings. Built in 1899, the Beresheim House serves as an orientation center, offices and gift shops for the Historic General Dodge House. The original occupants of the home, the Beresheim family, were friends to the Dodges and two generations served as executives for the premier bank in Council Bluffs Council Bluffs Savings and Loan. Thanks to community support, Council Bluffs New Visions Homeless Services was officially awarded a $10,000 donation from Smith Davis Insurance. The $10,000 donation will help serve 150,000 meals and provide food pantry services to more than 6,000 individuals annually through its permanent community meal site the only site providing three meals a day in southwest Iowa. The donation will also help the organization meet the need for shelter and supportive services as it is more critical than ever. Reverend Harry Wallar and his wife Ginny founded New Visions Homeless Services originally Christian Worship Center with the mission of eliminating hunger and homelessness in Council Bluffs and its surrounding areas. They started out distributing meals from a bus under the Council Bluffs viaduct before moving in to their first brick and mortar location in 1996. The New Visions Complex in Council Bluffs opened in 2008, and offers an emergency shelter for men, permanent supportive housing for single men and women, a meal site that seats 250 and supportive services for the homeless and near-homeless. Tami Cull, an agent with Smith Davis Insurance, originally received a $5,000 donation for New Visions Homeless Services thanks to a submission process with Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance through their 2022 Make More Happen Awards. A story of their local partnership was featured on the official Make More Happen microsite, www.agentgiving.com/Smith-Davis-Insurance, where Smith Davis Insurance had the opportunity to raise an additional $5,000 by conducting a local awareness campaign for the nonprofit. Together with the community, the goal was met increasing the total donation to $10,000 for New Visions Homeless Services. Throughout 2022, Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance will select up to 37 independent agents nationwide for a Make More Happen Award and Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance will donate up to $370,000 to the nonprofits supported by independent insurance agents. Agencies became eligible for the award by submitting an application demonstrating their commitment to a specific nonprofit, along with a photo of a project they participated in. Time to retire GrassleyAs recent as 2015, Senator Chuck Grassley wanted a Reagan-like candidate for the 2016 GOP presidential field. President Reagans brutal policies gutted the middle class. Its worth remembering, the middle class built America. On July 14, 2014, Grassley gave a floor speech, glowingly quoted Reagan, then said, This is an opportunity to in-source jobs that might otherwise be done overseas. He dripped with hypocrisy. Grassley long ago sold out to big corporations by voting for tax breaks to send American jobs overseas. How can Republicans like Grassley further enrich corporations and the wealthy, leaving little for American workers? Its no wonder American workers struggle. Before Reagan, the middle class had strong unions. Wealthy Americans were taxed appropriately. Reagan lowered President Franklin Roosevelts income tax on the wealthy from 70% to 28%, shifting the tax burden to the middle class. He canceled tax deductions for auto loans, credit card interest, and imposed an income tax on Social Security. The middle class continues to take it on the chin. Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump also gave generous tax cuts to the wealthy, redistributing wealth upward. Recently, Senator Rick Scott released a Republican plan to Rescue America that raises taxes on low income Americans. Anyone surprised? Republicans have one mantra: the billionaire class should profit while the working class should struggle with less representation. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead, said Reagan before leaving office. Grassley has been an instigator in middle class decline. Its time to retire Grassley. In November, Iowans should choose an American patriot for U.S. Senate with true Iowa values: Retired Navy Vice Admiral Mike Franken. Ellen Ballas Iowa City Reynolds is pro-taxpayerKim Reynolds is the most pro-taxpayer governor of my lifetime. During her time in office, she has passed three historic tax cuts. Now, with a flax income tax of 3.9% and the elimination of retirement income taxes, she is putting even more money back into the pockets of Iowans. The Biden administration and Democrats are pushing for excessive spending and increasing taxes. They are not listening to the taxpayers, and they have no idea what working-class people need during this time of economic uncertainty. In contrast, Governor Reynolds and Iowan Republicans are listening to the taxpayers, and fighting everyday to support Iowans. I will be voting for Kim Reynolds in the November election, because she has proven again and again that she works for the taxpayers. She has shown her commitment to lowering taxes, supporting retirees, and boosting the economy. Kim Reynolds is the governor Iowans need! Allysen Anderson Wellsburg RIP Monty NormanIm saddened to learn of the passing of Monty Norman. He created one of the most iconic pieces of music in film history. James Bond would not be the same without his theme. Paul Bacon Hallandale Beach, Florida Watermelons and other agricultural products are seen during a watermelon festival held in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 15, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Villagers harvest watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 16, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Aerial photo taken on July 16, 2022 shows villagers transporting watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Livestreaming anchors promote watermelons during a watermelon festival held in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 15, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Aerial photo taken on July 16, 2022 shows the view of watermelon fields in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Villagers transport watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 16, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) A villager weighs watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 16, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) A villager transports watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 16, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Photo by Wang Bingzhen/Xinhua) Villagers transport watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 16, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Livestreaming anchors promote watermelons during a watermelon festival held in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 15, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Photo by Wang Bingzhen/Xinhua) Villagers promote watermelons during a watermelon festival held in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 15, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Villagers transport watermelons in Zhongcheng Town of Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 16, 2022. Recently, Rongjiang County has held various watermelon festivals to help farmers promote watermelon sales during the harvest season. In the past few years, new watermelon varieties were introduced to Rongjiang to boost villagers' income and local economy. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Portuguese Foreign Minister, Joao Gomes Cravinho, hailed the Autonomy Plan presented by Morocco to reach a solution to the dispute over the Sahara, calling it a significant initiative and a step forward. The autonomy plan presented by Morocco is an important, significant plan and a step forward, said the Portuguese FM in a statement to the news agency Lusa. It would be appropriate now that there is a movement to unblock the current situation of this issue, Joao Gomes Cravinho said, on the sidelines of the closing session of the cycle of conferences on Diplomacy and independence of Portugal held in Lisbon. Portugal is a neighbor. We have excellent relations with Morocco and Algeria. We understand that it would be very important to achieve progress towards the pacification of this situation, added the Portuguese official. He said, in this regard, that he has sent an invitation to the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Moroccan Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to visit Portugal. so... persuasion is my favourite austen . i've never actually seen any adaptation of the novel but i might watch the 1995 film tonight. Reply Thread Link DEWIT! It's fantastic, I think the lack of hollywood gloss puts people off but it's such a wonderful adaptation and you can feel all the love that went into it Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like everyone raves about the 1995 version but I don't feel it. It's my favorite Austen novel too, and I love the 200? version with Sally Hawkins. So if you don't vibe with the older one, I'd try that one too! Reply Parent Thread Link 2007 with Sally and Rupert Penry-Jones was brilliant too, I think I prefer it just a little bit more to 1995 for the production quality Reply Parent Thread Expand Link As an Anne Stan I prefer the Sally version Reply Parent Thread Link I don't like either of them. I was looking forward to the adaptation with Sarah Snook but then that was canceled :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I like that version the most Reply Parent Thread Link that's the one I remembered first yeah, and loved it. Then watched the 1995 one and they both hold very strong! Reply Parent Thread Link Persuasion is my favorite too. Seeing the preview for the Netflix movie hurt my soul Reply Parent Thread Link Do it!! Like another commenter said, a lot of people don't care for it because it doesn't have that Hollywood gloss, but that just adds a certain charm to it. The leads are amazing, and the chemistry is heart stopping. Reply Parent Thread Link I always watch 2007 and 1995 together because each one is good but messes up some stuff. Mainly though I think Sally Hawkins is a great Anne in 2007, but the 1995 version gets the letter writing scene right haha. Reply Parent Thread Link Its my favorite book but I actually loved this adaptation ??? Like I dont need my adaptations to be a mirror of the book and this one was so funny and it felt like it had the same vibe as the book in a not taking itself seriously way anyway, dont skip it just because of bad reviews!! Reply Parent Thread Link I liked both that one and the Sally Hawkin's version. Reply Parent Thread Link first the limes now this, when will dakota's crimes end Reply Thread Link Yesterday I re-watched "the lost daughter" and stumbled upon an article someone wrote criticizing the biz for miscasting her. Reply Parent Thread Link I actually read Persuasion recently because I wanted to read the source material before watching this film, but the reviews have been so bad I don't think I will even bother. At least I finally got around to reading the book though Reply Thread Link you made the right decision Reply Parent Thread Link At least it got you to read the book. Persuasion is my favourite next to P&P so I was REALLY looking forward to it too. But idky we expected much from this when one writer hasn't written anything good since the early 90s and another one only has a student short film she stars in and a ministries I can't find anything on to her IMDB. I don't understand how she got an AUSTIN adaptation out of the gate?! Reply Parent Thread Link Same here! I read it last month and loved it. WILL NOT be watching this lol Reply Parent Thread Link When actors choose scripts like this i have to wonder what they think will happen...bc this makes her look so vapid lmao bc i know Dakota takes herself so seriously so how did she end up in this Reply Thread Link Dakota starred in 50 shades of grey...how can someone who takes themselves seriously accept that role? lmao Reply Parent Thread Link Wasnt that her break out role? She hasnt starred in anything like that since afaik Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Its especially odd since Dakota is a nepotism baby. Its not like shes hurting for money, so youd think that shed be more discerning. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Wasnt the actress who plays Shiv Roy supposed to take this? Sarah Snook? If Im remembering right she dodged a bullet lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She is vapid. Have you not heard her comments about cancel culture? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Im just going to pretend this was never a thing lalalalala Reply Thread Link I watched this and it wasnt too bad Reply Thread Link oh at my comment lol. I didnt know this was an adaptation of something and everyone totally hates it Reply Parent Thread Link Im glad for you that you enjoyed it, I feel like if they just went with inspired by persuasion they could have gotten away with it Reply Parent Thread Link yeah i liked it lol Reply Parent Thread Link Honestly it's fine as "not an adaptation of Persuasion", just the main guy is a bit of a wet blanket. I don't mind the concept of Phoebe Waller Bridge does Regency, they just shouldn't have pretended it was in any way Persuasion. I'm kind of here for judgy, wine-aunt Dakota Johnson as a Regency woman. Just that's not Anne Elliot. Reply Parent Thread Link It seems to be fine for people who know nothing about Austin - like me, who has been looking at all the screenshots and thinking, 'this looks fine?' Reply Parent Thread Link Justice for Sarah Snook! Reply Thread Link We could have had Sarah and Joel Fry but no, weve got Dakota go girl give us nothing Johnson doing Emma cosplay. I feel like this movie mocked me for liking Jane Austen Reply Parent Thread Link I just know Sarah would've been so so good :( Reply Parent Thread Link Im still pissed lol, I havent read this or any Austen book in years. I was so excited to see what Joel Fry would bring to the role! Having just started Succession, I would have loved to see Sarah Snook in a v different role to flex her acting chops. Reply Parent Thread Link Yesssss Reply Parent Thread Link ugh i just know the sarah snook version would have been good. dakota johnson was totally miscast Reply Thread Link 'quipping that since breaking off her engagement to Wentworth shes single and thriving.' Hold up this actually happens. Sis you're not thriving though. Reply Thread Link isn't the whole point of the book that she is not thriving lol Reply Parent Thread Link Edited at 2022-07-17 04:13 pm (UTC) the thriving line was sort of implied as sarcastic Reply Parent Thread Link To be fair this is said and then she's shown drinking alone, crying in a bath and lying face down in bed. It's very much like Into the Spider-verse's "I took it like a champ" line over Peter Parker crying in the shower still wearing his Spidey uniform. Source: I can't sleep so I put it on just now. Reply Parent Thread Link in the last post yall mentioned romance twitter who are the mains to follow there? also, if yall have good lit discourse accounts to follow id love those suggestions! Reply Thread Link The best thing about this mess is how it has brought Emma (2020) back into the conversation. Reply Thread Link It was so bad. Took all the charm of persuasion out of it. The weird snarky characterization of anne elliott just showed that the writers had no understanding of her at all Reply Thread Link The only bright spots were richard e grant and the actress who played mary Reply Parent Thread Link Mary was such a scene stealer I loved her, she even managed to make the Im an empath line funny and not quite so anachronistic. Seeing her slung over her husbands shoulder and just directing where she should be put down was a real bright spot. Richard E Grant was Richard E Grant, which is to say an absolute delight Reply Parent Thread Link ciaran hinds was so hot wow Reply Thread Link I never got the sense that anyone involved had actually read the book, but maybe theyll get round to it while in prison? I was laughing out loud, that review left no survivors. Reply Thread Link General Hospital Days of Our Lives The Young and the Restless Ashland Locke has officially gone over the edge. #YR is new this week on @CBS! Watch the latest episodes on @paramountplus. pic.twitter.com/2HXaYCL0HV Young and Restless (@YandR_CBS) July 17, 2022 The Bold and the Beautiful What will Sheilas next move be? Find out by tuning in to all-new episodes of #BoldandBeautiful this week on @CBS! Watch the latest on @paramountplus. pic.twitter.com/7sx0ubYr1n Bold & The Beautiful (@BandB_CBS) July 17, 2022 This Week in Soaps history... July 15th-19th, 2019 This week on the US Daytime Soaps...Thomas was anxious to consummate his relationship with Hope. Unable to determine if she'd ever be able to commit to him that way, Hope second-guessed their engagement. Thomas pressed beyond it to plan a quickie wedding.Liam and Brooke failed to talk Hope out of her wedding, and Hope walked down the aisle to marry Thomas. Phoebe interrupted the wedding with cries for her mother.A drunken Flo attempted to persuade Zoe to attend the wedding and help Flo tell Liam and Hope the truth about Beth.Gabi lit into Brady for telling Chloe about her scheme to ruin Stefan. The police arrested Stefan for kidnapping. Xander made bail when he offered to roll over on his partner. Gabi offered to help Stefan because she believed he was innocent. Ted and Kate lied to police about Stefan, but Kate told Ted she eventually wanted to stab Kristen in the back.A frustrated Brady was unable to fire Xander. Xander took Kristen's Nicole mask, so Kristen disguised herself as Susan. "Susan" kissed Brady. Gabi stole Xander's briefcase, which included Kristen's mask. Gabi gave the briefcase to Brady without looking inside it. The real Susan surprised Will with a visit.Jack revoked Jennifer's press pass. Jack decided to take the serum.Hope and Rafe's divorce was finalized. Hope kissed Ted.Rafe told Ben he would revisit the idea of Ben spending time with David.Maxie was horrified when Dante shot Peter in the shoulder. Peter returned to Port Charles for treatment, and he forbade Finn from telling Anna.Dante sent Lulu divorce papers.Michael and Sasha made their relationship official.Nina was filled with regret about her role in Willow's legal woes with Shiloh. Diane announced that Judge Walters had dismissed Shiloh's case against Willow in light of Shiloh's arrest. Daisy helped Shiloh secure the money for bail. Shiloh tried to enlist Harmony's help.Ryan sent his regards to Nelle.Sam told Jason that she had consulted a plastic surgeon about removing the Trust tattoo.Dev overheard an important conversation between Sonny and Carly about Dev's future. Cameron was elated when Liz and Franco agreed that he could keep Oscar's car -- with a few conditions.Franco and Liz discovered critical evidence in their wedding photos that suggested that Liesl's attacker had been a man.Sibley channeled Kiki, who had made it very clear that Ava was not to contact her daughter again. Ava was surprised when Sibley was unable to locate Nikolas "on the other side."Jordan and Curtis paid Ryan a visit.Drew and Jason worked together on Oscar's project. Shiloh had a flashback of his past with Drew.Adam forced Michael to withdraw from Nick's case. Nick insisted on proceeding without an attorney. Adam arranged for Kevin to publicly release the incriminating video of Nick during the custody hearing. Adam offered to give up his quest for Christian in exchange for Chelsea and Connor, but Chelsea refused. After hearing Nick and Adam verbally clash, the judge ruled that neither of them was fit to have custody of Christian. Over Rey's objections, Sharon agreed to help Adam by serving as Christian's temporary guardian, but the judge appointed Victoria instead. Rey walked out on Sharon.Michael urged Kevin to leave town while Adam was distracted by the custody battle.Victor considered suspending his treatments. Victor demanded that Chelsea allow Connor to return to Genoa City.Phyllis and Abby agreed to do business together.Summer was uncomfortable with Theo and Phyllis working together. Phyllis made plans for a second acquisition.Victoria suggested that she and Phyllis work together to take Adam down. Lola worried when Kyle remained evasive about his life in New York. Abby and Nate made love.Ana reported that Jett was in the hospital and left town to be with him. Billy confided in Sharon about his disturbing dreams about Delia. Theo blabbed to Celeste about Lola's surgery and Kyle and Summer's marriage. Celeste and Phyllis bonded. Feeling unneeded by her children, Celeste decided to go back to Miami.Ashley and Jack returned from Paris and announced their plan to merge their companies.THE WEEK OF JULY 19th-23rd, 1999Sheridan was unaware of danger from Jean-Luc. Gwen got a proposal. Eve and T.C. worried about their pasts. Julian and Suzanne narrowly missed being discovered, but later they were, and gunshots rang out. Faith went to the carnival and just barely missed running into Grace. Miguel met Charity, and it was love at first sight. Source 3 and Source 4 With cases of COVID-19 on the rise in the U.S., federal health officials have held out an antiviral pill as an important tool in keeping high-risk people who get infected with the coronavirus from getting sick enough to require hospitalization. Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of the infectious diseases division at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said the drug, called Paxlovid, probably is underappreciated and underutilized. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration opened the door to the drug wider. It updated the emergency authorization for the medication to allow licensed pharmacists to prescribe the drug, with certain limitations. The move, according to the FDA, was intended to improve timely access to the drug, which must be taken within five days of the first symptoms. But how the move will play out in practice isnt yet clear. Patients who have tested positive for the virus are supposed to bring enough information for pharmacists to determine their eligibility for Paxlovid, including a list of medications and medical records with enough information to allow for a review of liver and kidney function. In the meantime, health care providers appear to be doing most of the prescribing of Paxlovid. At Nebraska Medicine, Rupp said, clinicians are prescribing about three courses of the medication a day. Providers there have been given online guidance through the prescribing information so they can decide whats best for their patients. Rupp said he didnt know how widely the drug is being used outside the health system, but Im going to guess its not as well utilized as it should be. A CHI Health spokeswoman said the health systems pharmacists are dispensing a fair amount of the drug, but not a lot. Theyre both prescribing the drug directly and filling prescriptions written by other health care providers. Methodist Physicians Clinic providers are prescribing the drug at all locations. Methodist Health Systems only public-facing pharmacy, in Fremont, requires a prescription from a health care provider. Anecdotally, Rupp said, he has had family members in other states who have sought the drug and been discouraged by providers from getting it. He said he has not heard such reports in Nebraska. He also has heard from a couple of out-of-state relatives whose providers have prescribed antibiotics and steroids for COVID-19. Thats not an appropriate treatment for somebody with acute COVID, he said. The initial data that drugmaker Pfizer presented to the FDA in support of its request for emergency authorization for Paxlovid indicated the drug reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 89%. In that trial, all the participants were unvaccinated. Rupp said the drug has not been as rigorously studied in people who are vaccinated or have had COVID infections. But what we know is that it showed very good efficacy in preventing progression of disease in high-risk patients, he said. So I think we would still be recommending very strongly that folks who have risk factors for serious disease ... that they should avail themselves of this. Among those at higher risk from serious cases of COVID-19 are older people, those with compromised immune systems and people with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. The chief limitation for people in those higher-risk groups is that many take other medications, and Paxlovid has the potential for adverse interactions with a number of other drugs. Its an extensive list, Rupp said. Its not easy. The time and effort needed to evaluate patients medications and medical conditions, which may include corresponding with patients health care providers, may hamper direct prescribing by pharmacists. I dont think the aim of having the test-to-treat program where folks could be tested at an urgent care center or a pharmacy and immediately transition to treatment has been as effective as we would like, Rupp said. Both CVS and Walgreens officials said in statements that they were evaluating the FDA update to allow pharmacists to prescribe the medication. At CVS pharmacies, according to the companys statement, patients with COVID-19 symptoms can visit an in-store clinic to be seen by a provider for testing. If positive, eligible patients can get a prescription for an oral drug that can be filled at the pharmacy or another of the patients choosing. Patients who already have tested positive also can schedule a telehealth or in-person appointment with a clinic provider who can assess eligibility and write a prescription. An online federal COVID therapy finder indicates that local Walgreens and Walmarts recommend that patients talk to their doctor or visit a community health center to get a prescription before going to the pharmacy to have it filled. Options for Bakers pharmacy users, according to the online tool, include the same recommendation but add the option of a telehealth appointment for positive patients. Hy-Vee is dispensing COVID-19 antivirals, including Paxlovid, at pharmacies throughout its eight-state region to eligible patients with a prescription from their health care provider, a spokeswoman said. The grocery store chain is not participating in the test-to-treat program. Rupp said there are other treatment alternatives, including an oral drug called molnupiravir. But its not as effective as Paxlovid and there are concerns about using it in people of child-bearing age. Other therapies, including monoclonal antibodies, are given as IV infusions, making them less easy to access. Some monoclonal antibodies dont work well against the newer COVID variants now circulating. A small number of people who take Paxlovid, probably 1% to 2%, Rupp said, get better initially and then develop symptoms again a week or more later. They may even test positive again. Rupp said theres not much indication that people who experience such rebound symptoms are at increased risk of serious illness and no indicators that the virus has become resistant to the drug, which patients take for five days. Providers are shying away from prescribing a second course unless the patient is getting significantly worse. But some COVID patients experience recurring symptoms even without the drug, he said. That makes it difficult to determine whether the rebound results from the drug or the virus itself. Its incumbent upon us as clinicians that if we have patients with COVID who have these (high-risk) conditions we should be trying to preserve their health to the best of our ability, Rupp said, and Paxlovid is a powerful tool to do that. BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The Liaohe River in northeast China's Liaoning Province, one of the country's largest rivers, flooded on Sunday due to heavy rainfall in recent days, according to China's Ministry of Water Resources. At 11 a.m., the water level at the Tieling hydrological station on Liaohe River rose above the warning line to 60.22 meters. The ministry has launched a Level IV emergency response for flood prevention in the province. A working team from the ministry is assisting with local flood-control efforts. China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most extreme response. Omaha Public Library wants to help readers find new books or at least books new to them. Every month in this space, our employees recommend reading based on different writing genres, themes or styles. This month, staff recommended books with a travel theme. Whether travel is in your plans this summer or not, you can catch glimpses of different destinations through the pages of a good book. Find these titles and more at one of Omaha Public Librarys locations or omahalibrary.org. Japan Treasure Quest by Steven Wolfe Pereira & Susie Jaramillo: This board book introduces children to the amazing cities and culture of Japan. Each page also has a seek and find element that features items like food or animals important in Japan. It is part of a series, so if you enjoy this book, there are more countries to discover! Kendall Munch, youth collection development librarian at Omaha Public Library Ana & Andrew: Family Reunion by Christine Platt: Every year, Ana and Andrew look forward to going on a road trip to a family gathering that has taken place for 75 years in Georgia. They pass through a few states and stop at some of their favorite places along the way. When they arrive, they will have all kinds of fun swimming, playing with cousins, and learning about the importance of family. Reading this book reminded me of the road trips my family took to reunions over the years. Karen Berry, youth services librarian at Florence Branch The Illustrated Virago Book of Women Travellers edited by Mary Morris with Larry OConnor: The editors of this book chose 46 travel writings by women travelers, ranging from the 18th century to present day. Among the notable names are Lady Montagu, Mary Wollstonecraft, Gertrude Bell, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Isak Dinesen, Beryl Markham, Margaret Mead, and Joan Didion. Mark Crawford, library aide at Millard Branch Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton: After his engagement goes up in flames, the author (a CBS Sunday Morning correspondent) heals his broken heart by visiting every single National Park. I have only visited four or five, and this book made me want to plan a National Park road trip. Rose Fennessy-Murphy, library specialist at Willa Cather Branch Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead: In 1914, Marian and Jamie Graves are rescued from a sinking ship as infants. This story follows their unconventional upbringing in rural Montana through the early 1950s. A parallel story takes place in the present day when Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marians life as an aviator in a Hollywood film. Rich with period detail about Prohibition, early aviation, and World War II, this novel is a fascinating look at lesser-known sides of the American experience. Theresa Jehlik, strategy & business intelligence manager at Omaha Public Library An Innocent Abroad: Life Changing Tips from 35 Great Writers edited by Don George: Thirty-five different authors share experiences about their travels that were unique and impactful, and that influence the readers idea of what travel is and means. Each author set out with a different mission and mindset in their journey, and through their travels, changed how they saw the world. Sarah Myers, library specialist at Sorensen Branch Daisy Miller by Henry James: This is a classic novella from the master of the New World-Old World juxtaposition: Daisy and the rest of the jet sets story unfolds across Switzerland, New York state and Italy. Colby Jenkins, senior clerk at W. Dale Clark Library Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure by David Rosenfelt: Author David Rosenfelt proves once again that well do anything for our pets. Chris Cahill, clerk at Millard Branch Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci: This short memoir portrays Stanley Tuccis life through his greatest love: food. As he recounts memorable meals, ingredients and travels, the reader learns much about Tuccis life from childhood through present day. Tuccis description of being in 2020 quarantine with four young adults and two toddlers gives new meaning to never-ending meal preparation. Jehlik The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: It wont help you leave the planet (although the introduction does include some handy phone numbers to dial), but it will help you laugh at the absurdity of intelligent life in the Universe. Torsten Adair, library aide at Benson Branch The Endurance: Shackletons Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander: In 1914, Ernest Shackleton planned to trek across Antarctica. Unfortunately, before he could land, his ship was trapped in sea ice, and the mission changed from exploration to survival, culminating in a mountain climb to reach a remote whaling station. Adair This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub: Straub tackles time travel in her latest novel. Alice Stern is 40, single, and still working at the school she attended in her youth. When she stumbles into her fathers shed after too many 40th birthday drinks, Alice wakes up in 1996 on her 16th birthday. After reliving that earlier birthday, Alice returns to a slightly different future from the one she left to learn new truths about her father, and how time travel affects them both. Jehlik The Three Vikings by Adam Auerbach: Three sweetly stylized little Vikings make a journey to Valhalla, flexing their abilities and strengths along the way. The illustrations alone were enough to keep me turning the pages, and the themes of music and self-discovery make this read even more enjoyable. Molly Gurnicz, youth services specialist at Benson Branch The Geography of Genius: A Search for the Worlds Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley by Eric Weiner. What characteristics of a culture make it a rich place to foster the most innovative and creative ideas? Weiner, a popular and humorous travel writer, sets out to uncover the common connections between genius and place. Marvel Maring, manager at South Omaha Library Subpar Parks: Americas Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors by Amber Share. This clever new guide shares hilarious one-star reviews of our National Parks juxtaposed with highlights of their most amazing features and fascinating trivia. Amy Wenzl, manager at Charles B. Washington Branch Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. After 12-year-old Percy Jackson finds out that Greek gods are still alive and well in present-day America and that he is the son of Poseidon, he must travel across the country with his new friends to try to stop a war among the gods that he is being accused of starting. Along the way, he runs into a multitude of characters and creatures from Greek mythology that do not intend to allow an easy journey. Myers Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler. For a more contemporary account of life on the ice, the author of this book chronicles her experiences of seven months spent in Antarctica. Adair The Universe: A Travel Guide by Lonely Planet. With stunning photography and useful facts, this tome will help you decide which celestial bodies offer the best backgrounds for your Insta-Tok feed (although a Wi-Fi connection will be costly!) Adair This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. This book travels time and space to follow the eternal war between the rival factions Red and Blue. El-Mohtar and Gladstones writing is both epic and poetic, and this slim novel has fun science fiction elements and an emotional foundation. Jill Anderson, library specialist at Charles B. Washington Branch The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. In the 10th century, Vikings capture a Danish youth named Orm in a nighttime raid. Ripped from his family and forced into slavery, he becomes an oarsman on a warship. His decades-long journey stretches from Ireland to Eastern Europe. Along with his best friend Toke, they meet kings, find love, and seize large amounts of treasure. This is one of the funniest, most eventful adventure stories ever told. Nick Birkel, clerk at W. Dale Clark Library Omahas Old Market was overtaken by a wave of rainbow Saturday for Heartland Prides annual parade. Rainbow flags hung from balconies, adorned T-shirts and were painted on the faces of attendees. Even the dogs in attendance rocked rainbow garb as they trotted through downtown. Thousands gathered to watch and cheer as the parade marched down Harney and Howard Streets, with participants ranging from the Omaha Fire Department to churches to dozens of local businesses. Mayor Jean Stothert made an appearance, as did many state legislators and political candidates. Raven Rose, 61, comes to celebrate pride every year but they were especially impressed by this years parade. It was big, it was wonderful, and it was so nice to see so much pride in our city, Rose said. They must have had people from all over the area marching, because they just kept coming. Indeed, even though the route spanned about eight blocks, the parade lasted nearly two hours and the party continued into the evening at the CHI Health Center for Heartland Prides annual festival. Despite the entry fee of $20, thousands filled the convention center for the afternoon and evening festivities. Health clinics and local businesses set up booths with free koozies, pens, stickers, tote bags, T-shirts and more. Lines formed for polaroid photo-ops, body glitter stations and airbrush tattoos. A group of children listened intently as a drag queen in a bright yellow dress read out of a picture book. On the convention centers second floor, a small conference room was transformed into what appeared at first glance to be a thrift store. Trans Stitchin, a free community closet for LGBTQ+ people, held its first pop-up closet at this years pride. The organization aims to make transitioning more comfortable and less expensive for transgender and nonbinary people as they revamp their wardrobes. Grady Schmitt, the founder of Trans Stitchin, watched with a smile as people looked through the clothing racks. When I first started transitioning, finding gender-affirming clothing was really difficult, Schmitt said. We wanted to create a safe space that doesnt have the stress of going to a normal store. About 10 parents gathered in a group near the entrance, each of their shirts reading free mom hugs and free dad hugs. The sight has become a common one at pride events, with supportive parents offering hugs, high-fives and fist bumps to LGBTQ+ people especially youths who lack parental support. Jamie Belford was one of the moms offering free hugs. She has multiple children who are part of the LGBTQ+ community who she always supported, but she said that she knows that isnt the case for all. I absolutely love doing this, Belford said. Ive always loved this community. Who you are is who you are, and I love you all the same. LINCOLN Kat Woerner has learned not to use the words climate change when talking about climate change with some Nebraska politicians. The 22-year-old environmental advocate said the words have a stigma that causes many conservative lawmakers to shut down as soon as they hear them. These roadblocks have been on display in the Nebraska Legislature, which has made little to no progress in approving climate change legislation in recent years, despite pleas from scientists and advocates. A rare exception came earlier this year when lawmakers appropriated up to $150,000 in federal funding for an update to a statewide climate change report. Though experts and some lawmakers say much more work is needed, there are several notable details about the planned update. Unlike the initial statewide climate change study completed in 2014, the update will involve students an effort to harness the passion of younger Nebraskans and it will provide lawmakers with recommendations for combating climate change. It also will be better funded. That original study was slated to receive about $40,000 of state funding under legislation passed in 2013, but the states sponsorship of the study stalled due to a key stipulation. Retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Don Wilhite said the legislation limited the study to consider only the natural causes of climate change effectively barring researchers from looking into the human causes. Because of this, when the Nebraska Department of Agriculture asked him to lead the study, Wilhite refused. That was just incomprehensible to me, Wilhite said. Other prominent Nebraska scientists shared Wilhites misgivings. He worried that the state would end up with an unqualified person leading the study, so he went to UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green to request an independent university study, and received $20,000 for the project. The study was published in September 2014. With significantly more funding this time around, researchers will have more resources at their disposal. The funding from the state doesnt limit what causes of climate change can be included in the updated report. Martha Shulski, a professor at UNL and director of the Nebraska State Climate Office, is heading the project, which is slated to wrap up by the end of 2024. She said some of the funding will be used to conduct surveys related to the study, while other expenses will be devoted to building an online interface that will serve as an interactive tool people can use to understand the studys main points. Shulski also hopes to involve students in the update people like Woerner, a recent UNL graduate. She is even considering creating a graduate-level course to allow students to do literary research for the study, she said. Were at a university, so lets involve these passionate, young students, Shulski said. Although there are many older Nebraskans who participate in climate change research and mitigation, younger generations are becoming increasingly invested in the issue. Shulski said students in her freshman-level courses have expressed anxiety about climate change. Students even younger than that have advocated for action by the Nebraska Legislature. At a March 16 hearing, grade-school students from Lincolns Prairie Hill Learning Center pleaded with lawmakers on Nebraskas Natural Resources Committee to pass a resolution that would acknowledge that the world is in a climate and ecological crisis that was caused by humans and that lawmakers have a moral obligation to take steps to mitigate the crisis. It is the smallest step you can take in the right direction, student Alex Hamric told lawmakers. Committee members didnt have much to say in response. Of the eight-member committee, only State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha asked any questions. He asked if the students had any suggestions for what the Legislature could do to combat the crisis. Willa Hamric, Alexs twin, suggested the state expand on its wind energy potential. The hearing was the last time Nebraska lawmakers considered the resolution. A vote was never taken. Woerner, who has advocated for environmental policies to a range of public officials in Nebraska since she was 16, and others said the outcome reflected the frustrating reality when it comes to climate change and Nebraska politics. While funding the updated study is a step in the right direction, Wilhite said the Legislature may actually be regressing in its willingness to pass climate change legislation, with more lawmakers outspoken in their denial on the issue, and fewer lawmakers making it a top priority. Woerner said the Legislature is full of climate change deniers, several of whom serve on the Natural Resources Committee. Sen. Bruce Bostelman, chair of the committee, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the subject. Nebraskas political system is not built for change, Wilhite said. Since the beginning of his legislative career in 2021, Cavanaugh said, climate change bills have never made it out of the Natural Resources Committee. Though some environmentally friendly bills have passed in recent years, he said none of them have included the words climate change. Multiple attempts to create a statewide climate action plan, including one bill introduced by Cavanaugh, have failed to advance. A 2020 bill made it out of committee but was later killed by a filibuster. Opponents, led by a couple of conservative lawmakers from rural Nebraska, questioned the need for the plan and its $250,000 cost. They argued the planet is in an active weather cycle caused by nature and called the link between human activity and more extreme weather a hoax. Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, who introduced the bill that funded the updated study, said although some lawmakers may be reluctant to share their thoughts on climate change, he believes a majority of them acknowledge its existence. Newly elected U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a former conservative lawmaker in the Legislature, was a co-sponsor of Bostars bill, he said. Bostar said recent extreme weather has created a concerning motivation for even more lawmakers to take a more active role. Nebraska is already feeling the impacts of climate change. The current drought and the devastating floods in 2019 are both symptoms of the larger issue, Woerner said. Without significant changes, climate change will likely have a major impact on Nebraskas driving economic force: agriculture. Shulski and Wilhite expect the state to experience steadily rising temperatures over the coming years with more frequent heavy rainfall and droughts that could contribute to extreme weather events like floods and tornadoes if no progress is made. The extremes that we experience now, those are going to be amplified, Shulski said. In another difference from the original study, the update will include recommendations on what the state can do to combat climate change. Both Shulski and Wilhite said the state should prioritize development of a climate change action plan, which lays out gradual steps for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Lincoln already has its own plan in place, and Omaha officials are working on one, though progress has been slow. Omaha City Council President Pete Festersen said a statewide plan could make a big difference, giving communities a framework to align with the states top priorities. However, Bostar said the new study could essentially serve as Nebraskas climate action plan, because it will include recommendations for the Legislature to consider. Cavanaugh said the Legislatures top priority should be implementing the recommendations of the new study. Though it wouldnt hurt, a climate action plan would only be an in-between step, he said. Regardless of what form changes come in, Wilhite said change must happen soon to prevent an oncoming crisis that younger generations will have to deal with. He said experts estimate significant mitigation measures must be implemented by 2030 to avoid or limit catastrophic damage due to climate change. The idea of ignoring something like its going to go away is just not appropriate, Wilhite said. As the Chancellor of the Nebraska State College Systems (NSCS), Im pleased to announce that we recently released our economic impact report, identifying the collective impact for Chadron, Peru and Wayne State Colleges. This independent report illustrates that the NSCS adds $564.8 million in income to the Nebraska economy each year, demonstrating that your State Colleges are working for Nebraska. This report emphasizes how vital the colleges are, not only for students but for continuing to cultivate a thriving workforce and growing local economies in Nebraska. With an annual state investment of just under $56 million to support the state colleges, the NSCS generated $10 of economic impact for every $1 invested. The NSCS overall return on investment and jobs supported by industry are featured in the report. Almost 10,600 Nebraska jobs are supported by the economic impact of the NSCS, meaning that the colleges and their students support one out of every 127 jobs in Nebraska. Individuals who attend Chadron, Peru, or Wayne State College are also more likely to stay in the state after they graduate. In fact, 83% of Nebraska residents who graduate from one of these three colleges live and work in Nebraska one year after graduation, thereby adding considerable growth to our state economy and providing well-prepared workers in high-demand sectors. In addition to statewide impacts, our colleges offer students tremendous educational and career benefits, rivaling those offered across the United States. The average state college bachelors degree graduate will see annual earnings $22,100 higher than a person with a high school diploma or equivalent working in Nebraska. Over a working lifetime, the benefits of a bachelors degree over a high school diploma will amount to an undiscounted value of $928,200 in higher earnings per graduate. As open access institutions providing anyone with a GED or high school diploma the opportunity to receive a four-year postsecondary education, the NSCS is uniquely positioned to offer affordable access to critical workforce skills and contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of our state and its residents. Investment in the state colleges enriches peoples lives, serves their communities, and works for the benefit of Nebraska. This report affirms how significantly the contributions of Chadron, Peru and Wayne State Colleges directly fuel the Nebraska economy. I urge you to visit nscs.edu/workingforne to download the complete report and learn more about how state colleges are working for Nebraska. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields desperately need more workers in our state, yet Nebraska is lacking in representation of women in STEM, particularly women of color. In 2019, only 27% of Nebraskas STEM workforce were women, though Nebraska has jobs to fill across its STEM industries. How can we better recruit and retain women in STEM? Nebraska Cures and Bio Nebraska commissioned Nebraska Women in STEM: Listen Then Act to explore that question. Our study focused on two key factors: What contributes positively to women choosing and staying in STEM careers? What prevents more women from choosing these traditionally male jobs? Women bring distinct and invaluable perspectives to STEM sectors. We know this from individual examples of outstanding women currently excelling in STEM in Nebraska. We must do better by them and work to broaden the roadmap they have forged for their peers. Researchers at the Center for Public Affairs Research at University of Nebraska at Omaha interviewed 48 women in STEM from around the state and found common themes. Positive themes include early interest in life to pursue a career in STEM and grit and perseverance. Preventative themes include workplace inequities and power dynamics, barriers in career promotion and advancement, challenges navigating work-life balance. Nebraska influences on the STEM culture and workforce can be both positive and preventative. When asked for examples of improvements that could be made, six recommendations emerged from the women surveyed. We believe the following goals are achievable through partnership and focus: 1. Raise greater awareness of the barriers for women in STEM. Women both in and out of STEM will identify relatable experiences in our report. Now is the time to educate the rest of the community about these barriers so we can begin work to remove them. Our economy depends on it. 2. Enhance professional development opportunities. Employers need more education about how to best remove barriers for women and create inviting and supporting environments for them to flourish. Women also would benefit from training to help them round out their skill sets and learn to productively advocate for themselves and policies. 3. Increase access to professional networks and mentorship. There are some active STEM organizations focused on women, but more needs to be done to connect women statewide and across STEM sectors. 4. Create greater flexibility in the workplace. Women, especially with young families, want to find ways to work productively while not sacrificing family. This includes more accessible, affordable, and quality childcare, flexible or remote work hours, and paid maternity and paternity leave. 5. Support teachers and schools to build the STEM pipeline. Teachers often have a tremendous impact on what a student considers for a career. More focus on opportunities for girls and teens to see women in STEM careers helps them see those jobs as an option for them. This is especially critical in rural areas. 6. Work to advance science literacy. A more science and tech literate society would benefit the growth of the entire STEM workforce, including women. Science communication training for women would not only help increase science literacy, but also build confidence in their own work. Advancing science literacy across Nebraska provides a holistic approach to elevating the importance of women in STEM and the value of Nebraskas STEM workforce across the state. We are committed to following through on these recommendations and challenge the community to join us. Gender does not determine ability in STEM careers. We cannot accept the cost of allowing prolonged underrepresentation of women in STEM. The inmates have taken over the asylum and the wardens have opened the doors for them. I am referring to the chaos at the Nebraska Republican State Convention the weekend of July 9. News reports from Kearney indicate that supporters of Donald Trump, 2020 presidential election-deniers and opponents of the Republican governor deposed the sitting state chairman and caused almost the entire party leadership to resign. The current Lancaster County Party chairman is now in charge of the state party. Democrats have taken over most of the city of Lincoln and county offices and gave a solid majority of the votes for First District Congress to Democratic State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks who surprised everyone while garnering 47% of the vote in a special election. She could win the seat in November. Great choice, GOPers. The party leaders had it coming. Over the years, they have catered to and encouraged radical elements of the political fringe to not just infiltrate the party apparatus, but to become its core. The wardens opened the doors. The Congressional hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington, D.C., have exposed how dangerous these people are. Apparently encouraged by the sitting president and courted by national party leaders, the mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, severely injured many who tried to defend it and even sought to lynch the vice president. One hundred and thirty-nine Republican House members voted to overturn a legitimate presidential election including Nebraskas own Third District Congressman Adrian Smith. Yet, the national Republican Party leadership termed the Capitol invasion, legitimate political discourse. What? As a Republican activist for five decades, this radicalization of the party is disheartening to someone who cast his first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964. The obvious incompetence, corrupt practices and dastardly policy initiatives of Trump and his administration led me to leave the party in 2018. I have never looked back. Not that I voted for him. In fact, I have not voted for a Republican for president since George H.W. Bush in 1988. A believer in the rock-solid, traditional Republican principle of individual freedom, I have long-been a supporter of reproductive rights. This caused me to be an outlier among the party leaders who welcomed the religious right into the mainstream of the party. They are now the party. Four decades ago, I was elected chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Party, not hesitant to express my views that a true Republican would not allow government at any level to invade the bedroom. I got a standing ovation at the county convention. Over the years, I have been a delegate to a Republican National Convention, a member of the state party executive committee, worked for three Republican members of Congress and a Republican governor, was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Nebraskas Lt. Governor and ran the Media Operations Center at three Republican National Conventions, handling the logistics for the thousands of news media covering those events in 1976, 1980 and 1984. I believe my Republican credentials were pretty solid. Yet, because of my personal views on reproductive choice, by the time I left the party, I would not have been chosen to blow up the balloons at a precinct fundraiser. This rejection of the big tent theory of Republicanism has narrowed the party activists to a band of conspiracy theorists, religious zealots and anti-tax know-nothings hell-bent on vetting their grievances by upsetting the Republican establishment. Its hard to feel sorry for those party leaders who lost their jobs. They opened the doors to the asylum and have paid the price. TEHRAN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Sunday dismissed the U.S. president's recent claims over Iran's nuclear activity as a "failed policy of promoting Iranophobia," which seeks to cause tensions and crises in the region. Joe Biden's anti-Iran remarks, which were made during his Middle East visit, are "part of Washington's policy of inciting sedition and fomenting tensions in the region," Nasser Kanaani said. Citing the American dark record and history of hostility toward other countries, Kanaani noted that the United States invaded and occupied a number of regional countries and has sold numerous weapons, as well as is constantly interfering in regional states' internal affairs. Nasser Kanaani reaffirmed Iran's strategic policy of seeking to use nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes within the framework of the international rules and regulations, saying Iran is committed to the continuation of the talks on the removal of the sanctions and revival of a 2015 nuclear deal. He stressed Iran's principled and constructive policy of welcoming dialogues with neighbors and regional initiatives, expressing hope that "regional governments are expected to take constructive steps in favor of collective security, peace, stability and development." The United States pledged not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon even at the cost of using "all elements of its national power," affirming its commitment to work together with other partners "to confront Iran's aggression and destabilizing activities," Biden said in a U.S.-Israel joint declaration in Jerusalem on Thursday. Streetwise: Western Neighborhoods Under Construction by Frank Dunnigan July 2022 Fashions have surely changed numerous times over the past 100+ years, but its easy to spot when individuals are all dressed up for a special occasionregardless of the era. Here are some examples from the WNP/OSFH photo archives of people from the Western Neighborhoods who were stylishly well-attired for the passing photographer from the 1890s until present times. These four ladies were clearly wearing their finest at the Midwinter Fair of 1894 in Golden Gate Park. This family stands in front of the Billington home at 499 11th Avenue at the northwest corner of Anza Street in the World War I era. The house, built in 1913, was originally the home of one of the Billington brothers, who had a photography studio at the Cliff House. Though remodeled with a stucco exterior sometime after this image was taken, the house retains the same lines today. Family members pose on Christmas Day of 1927 outside a house on 29th Avenue near Lincoln Way. Image of Pedestrian Day revelers in costume for the celebratory San Francisco event on Opening Day of the Golden Gate BridgeMay 27, 1937. Two stylishly dressed ladies outside a new home on Miraloma Drive near Juanita Way in 1938. The house has undergone only minor alterations in the past 84 years. Two smartly suited ladies pose with an infant outside St. Marys Hospitalcirca 1940. The hospital has operated in multiple San Francisco locations since the 1850s, and a much larger 1970s-era hospital building occupies this site today. Learn more about the hospitals history and see many more vintage photos here First day of school for Dale, Steve, Frances, and Rosaline on 35th Avenue near Moraga in 1945, with an observant neighborhood Mom carefully overseeing the scene. Back-to-school clothing was often purchased in late August in response to over-the-summer growth spurts of children. The fence and most of the neighborhood lawns have vanished from this block in the last 77 years. A smiling couple posing in what was then casual sportswear on Mount Davidson sometime around 1949. Frilly dresses for girls and bow ties with suspenders for some of the boyssuggesting a dressy event was imminentare in view on Monterey Boulevard near Ridgewood Drive, circa 1953. Three well-dressed ladies viewing the sights of San Francisco from atop Twin Peaks on a windy day back around 1956. The new Miss San Francisco, Lana Green, poses for photos amid an enthusiastic group of well-wishers after receiving her title at the Music Concourse in Golden Park on May 7, 1961 when she was listed as being 18 years of age. Homewood Terrace staff, Analeise Mirron and Art Heil1962. Read more about the history of Homewood Terrace It was the Summer of Love on Haight Street near Shrader, circa 1967, and these young ladies were attired in bold print patterns that were the height of fashion at the time. Mayor George Moscone and a group of rail fans at 31st Avenue & Judah during the re-opening of the N-Judah streetcar line on September 16, 1978. The Knights of St Cecilia group was formed by retired parishioners in 1980 in order to provide security in the church building at 17th Avenue & Vicente Street during open hours, and it soon included women members as well. The Pastor at the time, Monsignor James P. McKay (front row, far right), a Richmond District native, recently celebrated his 92nd birthday. The group, now staffed with all new members, remains active today. Smartly uniformed lawn bowlers participate in a tournament at Golden Gate Park on April 16, 1998. A smartly dressed group of WNP members, including founder Woody LaBounty at left, at a West Portal Walk event in 2002. Two well-dressed members of the Lowell Class of 1963 celebrating their 50-year reunion in 2013the first class to graduate from the Lake Merced campus. At right is long-time WNP member, the late Paul Rosenberg. Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places! Bloomington-Normal Galleries, museums Some cultural institutions are open or making plans to reopen under current COVID restrictions. Check with each facility for indoor, online or outdoor programming. Open facilities have face covering, distancing and other guidelines in effect; see websites or call for details. Angel Ambrose Fine Art Studio; 101 W. Monroe St. Suite 201, Bloomington; Open First Fridays 5-8 p.m. and by appointment; 309-825-4655; angelambrose.com. David Davis Mansion; 1000 Monroe Drive, Bloomington; open for tours, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; groups of 10 or less; $10 per person; $100 minimum; daviddavismansion.org; 309-828-1084. Eaton Studio Gallery; 411 N. Center St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays; 5-8 p.m. First Fridays, or by appointment or ring bell; eatonstudiogallery.com; 309-828-1575. Illinois Art Station; 101 E. Vernon Ave., Normal; Gallery open Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; illinoisartstation.org; 309-386-1019. Inside Out: Accessible Art Gallery & Cooperative; 200 W. Monroe St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; Saturday 8 a.m.-2 p.m.; by appointment Sunday-Tuesday; and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. First Friday; insideoutartcoop.org; 309-838-2160. Jan Brandt Gallery; Normandy Village, 1100 Beach St., Building 8, Normal; by appointment; janbrandtgallery.com; 309-287-4700. Joann Goetzinger Studio and Gallery; 313 N. Main St. Suite A, Bloomington; open first Fridays 5-8 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m., also by appointment; masks and social distancing required; 309-826-1193. Main Gallery 404; 404 N. Main St., Bloomington; 12-5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays; By chance or appointment at 309-590-6779. McLean County Arts Center; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; open; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, 12-4 p.m. Saturday; masks and social distancing required; mcac.org; 309-829-0011. McLean County Museum of History; 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sundays, until further notice; reservations at education@mchistory.org or 309-827-0428; mchistory.org; 309-827-0428. Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; Illinois Wesleyan University; Bloomington; open; 12-4 p.m., Monday through Friday; 7-9 p.m., Tuesday evening; 1-4 p.m., Saturday through Sunday; iwu.edu/art/galleries; 309-556-3391. Prairie Aviation Museum; 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; opens April 2; hours 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; prairieaviationmuseum.org; 309-663-7632. University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal; open; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday; 309-438-5487; galleries.illinoisstate.edu/about/visit/. Central Illinois Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; advance reservation required; adults $15, seniors $12, under 5 free; presidentlincoln.illinois.gov; 217-558-8844. Art Center at Greater Livingston County Arts Council; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday; 209 W. Madison St., Pontiac; pcartcenter.com; 815-419-2472. Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water St., Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; peoriacac.org; 309-674-6822. Dickson Mounds Museum; 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 309-547-3721. Illinois State Museum; 502 S. Spring St., Springfield; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Monday-Friday, free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 217-782-7386. Lincoln Heritage Museum; Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-4 p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays, Mondays and on Lincoln College breaks; $4-7; museum.lincolncollege.edu; 217-735-7399. Peoria Art Guild; 203 Harrison St., Peoria; open; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday or by appointment; peoriaartguild.org; 309-637-2787. Peoria Riverfront Museum; downtown riverfront Peoria; open 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday and Friday; 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday; and closed Sunday; adults $11, seniors, students $10, ages 3-17 $9; peoriariverfrontmuseum.org; 309-686-7000. Simpkins Military History Museum; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; Open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 1-5 p.m.; Free admission (donations accepted); Private tours, call first; 309-319-3413; Open House, 1-5 p.m., March 19, marking 63 years of collecting military items. Time Gallery; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday; Closed Sunday; Clock Tower Place Building, 201 Clock Tower Drive, East Peoria; 309-467-2331. U of I Krannert Art Museum; 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; open; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Thursdays until 8 p.m. when classes are in session; closed Sunday and Monday; kam.illinois.edu; 217-333-1861. Exhibits "Design & Duplication: Treasures of the Peoria Riverfront Museum Collection; Gallery 2, through Fall 2022; "Archibald Motley's Bronzeville at Night"; through March 2023; "Creatures of Light: Nature's Bioluminescence"; through Sept. 5, Experience Gallery; "Modern Masters: Modern Masters from the Heintzman Collection"; through Sept. 11"; Peoria Riverfront Museum. "Stories of Survival; Object. Image. Memory."; through Jan. 22, 2023; Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. "To Know The Fire: Pueblo Women Potters and The Shaping of History"; through Sept. 3; "Latina Community 'Voces'"; through July 9; U of I Krannert Art Museum. "2022 Honoring the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans"; through Nov. 12; Simpkins Military History Museum. "Edgewise"; second floor gallery; through Sept. 3; "Climate Change in Your Back Yard"; first floor Hot Science Gallery; through April 22, 2023; "NOIR II: The Migration"; second floor gallery; through Sept. 6; Illinois State Museum. "Denise Treizman: In Between Living"; through July 31; "In Living Color"; Curated by Teen Art Group; through Aug. 10; University Galleries. "Vandana Bajikar"; through July; Time Gallery. "Inscapes: Robert Lee Mejer & Jason Dillard Mejer"; through Aug. 13; "Jessica McGhee: You Can Rest Here"; through Aug. 13; "Hot Ciao IX; Group Art Exhibition"; through July 23; Contemporary Art Center of Peoria. "Harold Gregor: The Painter's Pedagogy"; Brandt/Armstrong/Dolan Galleries; through Aug. 26; McLean County Arts Center. "We Didn't Know"; through Aug. 6; Erin Eveland; Lincoln Arts Institute. NORMAL For Illinois State University Dean of Education Francis Godwyll, building a department ready for the future comes down to a common teaching technique: an acronym. Godwylls acronym for the College of Education is PRRAISE U. He hopes that as he transitions into the role it can help get the college ready for coming changes to the higher education landscape. Godwyll started at ISU June 1, coming from Western Illinois University, where he started in 2020. Before that he had worked at the University of Western Florida, the University of North Florida and spent 12 years at Ohio University. The position in Ohio started off with a six-month contract, he said. He had gotten his doctorate in Germany, where he started studying in 1997. He moved to Ohio in 2002 for the six-month contract, which ended up being resigned for three years until he was able to move into a tenure-track position. Thats how the whole American chapter started in 2002, he said. Godwyll grew up in Ghana, where his father, mother and two uncles worked in education. He was named after a great-grandfather who had been involved in education. His father was a superintendent of primary and secondary education and the family moved repeatedly for jobs. His fathers job led Godwyll to want to work at the post-secondary level. My own idea of life is that everybody should add, he said. ()I cannot just repeat the generation, I have to add to it. When he was 11, Godwyll moved on his own from Obuasi in the central part of the country to Cape Coast to attend a boarding school. Most secondary schools in Ghana are boarding schools, Godwyll said. The students learn independence from their parents and enter a community of students, faculty and staff, many of whom also live on campus. Its almost like you enter a whole world of your own, Godwyll said. Students spend up to seven years in secondary school in Ghana. After he finished secondary he went on to the University of Cape Coast, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree and then taught for several years before going to Germany. Choosing teaching When he was young, Godwyll wanted to be an attorney, he said. His mother, however, was against it. He had wanted to be a lawyer because he wanted to help bring equity and justice to people. What was my closest vocation of career that I could take that could give me the possibility of creating a leveler playing field? If I'm not going to be the advocate in a law court when they've already kind of gone the wrong way to kind of bring them back, then teaching became my next choice," he said. A lot of what led Godwyll to apply at ISU were initiatives coming out of the provosts office, he said. That includes commitments to equity and increasing the diversity of the student body and faculty, including international students and minoritized groups. It was a chance to serve a larger group of people as well. Provost Aondover Tarhule said Godwylls commitment to equity was part of what led to his hiring. "Dr. Godwyll's belief in the power of education to transform lives is a perfect match for our university that provides innovative new teachers to the state and the nation, Tarhule said in a statement to The Pantagraph. His commitment to equity complements our values and vision for the future. I am confident that the College of Education will benefit greatly from his energy, enthusiasm, and out-of-the-box thinking. Godwyll described his plan as looking for what places the program can "tighten." "Change is not something I'm afraid of; I come to the space with a humility to learn and then to, as quickly as possible, see what I can add to the space," he said. PRRAISE U His acronym reflects those values. P is for preservation, as the university has more than 160 years of history in teaching educators. Godwyll plans to work with the various units of the college to identify what legacies are important to maintain. The R is squared, representing recruitment and retention. I believe that they are two sides of the same coin you don't want to spend all the energy and time to recruit people only to kick them out, Godwyll said. Demographers predict a sharp decline in nationwide college enrollment in 2025, in part due to people having fewer children during the 2008 recession. The college and university need to double down on recruitment, including recruiting from a more diverse pool. That includes ways to accommodate mid-career students and programs like the Future Teachers Conference every fall, which he expects to bring around 1,000 student attendees this year. "Our outreach into the high schools, earlier on the in the high schools, is helping us, because now they can hear about us, now they can see us, and not only that, we can bring them to campus," he said. Building a college that works to keep students and employees is the flip side of that, retention, he said. A is for achievement. Godwyll wants that to go deeper than academic grades to mean supporting students, faculty and staff in their personal goals. I stands for internationalization. Beyond recruitment, that also means creating international opportunities for students and employees, such as exchange programs. S is for support, which underpins everything that we are doing, Godwyll said. He plans to work with staff to look at existing support structures and to take a data-driven approach. E is for equity, which is also meant to be a base for all the work the college does, Godwyll said. Equity differs from equality in that it gives each person what they need to succeed, not giving everyone the same thing, he said. U is for unity. People in the college might not always agree, but Godwyll wants to create systems that let people work together through those disagreements, with support from but not always going through the deans office. These are not cheap, these are intentional hard work, he said. For the better part of three generations, Biasis Drug Store was one of the busier places in downtown Bloomington. In 1922, Edward C. Biasi opened a store on the northeast corner of the courthouse square. For the next 62 years Biasis was a fixture on the first floor of the six-story Griesheim Building (see accompanying photograph), with Biasi calling it probably the very best business location of Bloomington. Raised in Dubuque, Iowa, Biasi began working in a drug store at the age of 12, and after a year or so he was busy filling quinine capsules and packaging other drugs and waiting on a few customers about the store. Around the same time he ran a summer concession selling popcorn and peanuts on a Mississippi River excursion steamer, and near the end of his high school years he was working nearly full-time at another drug store. Biasi graduated from Northwestern Universitys College of Pharmacy in 1912 and then worked as a druggist in Streator and East Dubuque, Illinois, before opening his very own business in Pontiac in 1914. Eight years later he purchased Bonnetts, a drug store on the square in Bloomington, giving him a presence in two Central Illinois communities (the Pontiac store would close in 1944). When Biasi moved into Bonnetts it featured old timey oak fixtures, plate glass wall cases, an elaborate 12-foot-long soda fountain, an ice box for cut flowers, and a cigar counter. There was also a cashiers cage at the front of the store for the purpose of handling the heavy volume of change carried by streetcar motormen. Edward Biasi also operated a drug store in Towanda from 1926-1933 and one at the corner of Market and Main streets in downtown Bloomington from 1928-1935. In early 1935, he opened another Bloomington store at 1501 E. Jackson St. The flagship store on the courthouse square was extensively remodeled over the years. To mark the stores 15th anniversary in 1937, for instance, Biasis expanded its fountain and lunch counter service by some 20 seats while discontinuing the rental library, liquor department and electrical goods line. The Great Depression was the heyday of fountain service, and old timers may remember not only Biasis, but also Boylans and Hildebrandts, as well as soda shops such as Gus Schrolles. Its hard to believe (or maybe not so hard) that until the mid-1950s, African Americans were often if not always unwelcome at downtown lunch counters and restaurants. Biasis employed several female pharmacists in its early years, including Josephine Janes, who retired from business life in 1941, and Dorothy Thomas, who replaced James. There was also Tillie Mittlestaedt, manager of the East Jackson Street store when it first opened, and Florence Friedewald, book-keeper for 17 years. On May 14, 1956, Biasis celebrated a milestone when Bloomington resident Glenn Patrick drew the stores one millionth prescription. Although Edward C. Biasi passed away in June 1963 at the age of 71, the business remained an ongoing concern as Biasis Drug Stores, Inc. In 1973, pharmacists John L. Jack Ingold and Steven Richter purchased the drug store, though Ingold, who had worked there full-time since 1958, would become the sole owner. Disaster struck in late August 1984, when the Griesheim Building was lost in one of the more spectacular fires in Twin City history. The blaze proved a complete loss for Ingold, though with the help of John McGinnis he opened a temporary location at the former Color Wheel store at 413 N. Main St. To his credit, Ingold (who passed away in 2012) never entertained the idea of moving his store to the citys sprawling east side. In mid-October 1984, less than two months after the fire, Biasis was back on the east side of the courthouse square, now in the Unity Building, a similarly impressive multistory professional building located on the south end of the block. Incredibly, less than four years later, July 3, 1988, a fire destroyed the Unity Building. Lightning does strike twice, a stunned Ingold said the following day. Biasis reopened that same month on the south side of the courthouse square, and in November 1990, the drug store moved into the newly constructed Snyder Building, which had replaced the Griesheim and Unity buildings as well as those sandwiched in between on the 200 block of North Main Street. After three-quarters of a century in downtown Bloomington, Biasis closed for good on Jan. 18, 1997. SPRINGFIELD In the wake of a July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is calling for a ban at both the state and national levels on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. The governor made those calls on national cable television and at the White House in recent days. While I support an assault weapon and high-capacity magazine ban at the state level, we urgently need federal regulation on the weapons of war and high-capacity magazines that are used only for mass murder, Pritzker said in a statement released last week. Illinois is not an island, and even with some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, our state is only as safe as the state with the weakest laws many of which border Illinois. The weapon used in the Highland Park shooting has been identified as a Smith and Wesson M&P 15, a semi-automatic rifle that holds 30-round magazines of 5.56mm ammunition. The alleged shooter, Robert Crimo III, reportedly used three such magazines during his attack on a Fourth of July parade, firing off more than 80 shots in a matter of just a few minutes. Although the letters M&P stand for Military & Police, it and others like it have been widely available to civilians at sporting goods stores throughout the country. The weapon used in Highland Park is also similar to guns used in other recent mass shootings, including the May 24 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, and the May 14 shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store that killed 10 people. All those weapons are modeled after the Colt AR-15, a semi-automatic version of a rifle originally designed for the military. On Monday, Pritzker and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering were at the White House for an event with President Joe Biden marking the recent signing of the Safer Communities Act, the first significant federal law addressing gun violence in nearly 30 years. Later in the day, Pritzker appeared on CNNs State of the Union, and he repeated his call for additional measures to control gun violence, including strengthening red flag laws and state and federal assault weapons bans. Gun rights advocates, on the other hand, argue that eliminating one type of gun from society will not address the underlying causes of gun violence. * * * NEW IDPH DIRECTOR: Illinois will soon have a new Department of Public Health director after Pritzker announced announced an appointment this week. Dr. Sameer Vohra, a Springfield pediatrician, will still need approval from the state Senate to become the permanent replacement for former Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who retired as the states health director to lead Sinai Health System, a nonprofit safety net hospital. Until then he will serve in an acting capacity. Vohra is a general pediatrician who holds degrees in law and public policy, with a recent focus on improving health outcomes in central and southern Illinois, according to the governors office. He serves as an associate professor of pediatrics at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, where he received his medical doctorate. Vohra said in a news release he was humbled by the announcement. Gov. Pritzker, along with the dedicated staff of IDPH, have served our state admirably during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. I am honored to lead this agency into the future, continuing to keep us safe from emerging illnesses, supporting our public health workers, and promoting wellness in every community across Illinois. Vohras job, which will officially begin Aug. 1, comes with a salary of $185,673. At that time, he will replace Amaal Tokars, an Ezike deputy who has been filling the post since the former directors departure. Shell remain an assistant director. Vohra completed a residency in pediatrics and a Master of Arts in public policy at the University of Chicago, and has a juris doctorate from SIU School of Law, where he graduated first in his class. He completed his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University. Dr. Vohra is accomplished in every sense of the word, Pritzker said in a statement announcing the appointment. His experience and education transcend sectors and fields, bringing a well-rounded perspective to this agency. As a leader in state and national health policy, I have absolute confidence in Dr. Vohras ability to continue shaping a stronger IDPH for the 21st century. * * * EXECUTIVE ORDER: Pritzker continued to scale back the scope of his executive orders related to a COVID-19 disaster declaration that has been ongoing in 30-day periods since March 2020. His latest executive order, issued Tuesday, decreased the level of testing required for unvaccinated health care workers. Unvaccinated workers at skilled nursing facilities, homes for the developmentally disabled and other long-term care facilities will be required to test weekly only when COVID-19 transmission levels are at a moderate level, and twice weekly at substantial or high levels as classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Testing is not required where transmission levels are low, according to the governors order. For hospitals and other facilities, weekly testing is required where transmission levels are high, while no testing is required in areas of lower transmission. As of Thursday, the COVID-19 transmission level, a metric based on new cases per 100,000 individuals over the previous seven days, was high in all of the state's 102 counties, according to the CDC. The level was only considered "low" in 1.4% of the entire U.S. The latest executive order does not reissue vaccine mandates for emergency services personnel or higher education employees or students. Mandates will remain in place at K-12 schools and day cares. Pritzkers latest disaster declaration runs through July 24, and he noted in a June 30 interview with Capitol News Illinois he plans to continue to issue the orders while ramping down their scope. We have significantly reduced the number of things that fall under our executive orders with regard to COVID, he said. In fact, if you look back every month, a little bit less, a little bit less, we're ramping down things. Some of them are hugely important to keep people safe even now. And we're not entirely out of the pandemic. So, we want to make sure that we're helping people as we ramp down the executive orders. Most importantly, what we've done has worked, we've kept thousands of people alive, who otherwise would have passed away. There were 1,342 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday night, up about 200-300 from the same time last month but still far off the pandemic highs of January, when more than 7,000 Illinoisans were hospitalized. COVID-19 patients occupied 150 intensive care unit beds, also far below pandemic highs when more than 1,200 ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients. * * * ABORTION SERVICES: Planned Parenthood affiliates in Illinois and Wisconsin said Thursday they have formed a partnership to expand services at an abortion clinic in Waukegan to help serve residents of Wisconsin, where abortion services are now banned. That announcement came three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. Once the court rendered that decision, a Wisconsin law dating back to 1849 that criminalizes abortion automatically went back into effect. We opened the Waukegan Health Center in 2020 in anticipation of this moment, Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said during a virtual news conference. We expected that Wisconsin would cease access to abortion care as soon as Roe fell, so we were prepared to give Wisconsin patients the care they needed. Under the arrangement, patients can still go to one of four clinics in Wisconsin to receive care before and after the procedure. But several Wisconsin clinicians, nurses and other staff travel to the Waukegan clinic to expand capacity at that health center and other clinics in Illinois through telehealth. Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said her organization had anticipated the overturning of Roe v. Wade for years and had been working for the past several months to build partnerships with providers in other states. According to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights, even after the original Roe v. Wade decision, Wisconsin imposed a number of restrictions on the procedure. Those included a 24-hour waiting period and state-directed counseling that included information designed to discourage a patient from having an abortion, a prohibition against the use of telemedicine to administer abortion medications; and a requirement for parental consent to perform an abortion on a minor, among others. Illinois, by contrast, imposes virtually no legal restrictions on access to abortion services. A 2019 law known as the Reproductive Health Act declares access to abortion services a fundamental right under Illinois law. And last year, lawmakers repealed what was known as the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, requiring parents of minors seeking abortions to be notified before the procedure could be performed. Because of that, many Wisconsin residents seeking abortions went to out-of-state providers, including those in Illinois. But Kristen Schultz, chief strategy and operations officer at the Illinois affiliate, said that since Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of Wisconsin residents coming to Illinois for abortion services. * * * DCFS DEATH: IKera Hill, 3, died of malnutrition and dehydration at a Carbondale hospital on June 22, according to the child endangerment charges filed in Jackson County against her parents, Isaac Hill and Katrina Simelton Hill. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services confirmed last week that the agency had contact with the 3-year-old and her family, although it has not yet released a timeline of the most recent contact. Since prosecutors and judges are barred from discussing the details of juvenile cases received from DCFS, the agencys timeline generally provides the only public disclosure of the actions taken to protect children who had contact with the state agency. The Illinois State Police are investigating IKeras death with the help of their Child Death Investigation Task Force. ISP notified DCFS of the investigation, and an autopsy was conducted in Bloomington the day after IKeras death. Last week, Jackson County Coroner Thomas Kupferer released IKeras name, but declined to release a preliminary cause of death or any information related to the case, citing the pending criminal case against the parents. They remain in the Jackson County Jail on $250,000 bail. IKeras obituary noted she was survived by 17 brothers and sisters. An obituary for another child of Isaac and Katrina Hill who died in 2015 noted the children lived in several places throughout southern Illinois, southeastern Missouri and northern Kentucky. Capitol News Illinois reviewed documents which showed the Hill family was involved with the Illinois DCFS as early as 2012 when Isaac was charged with aggravated battery of a child for beating a boy with an extension cord on March 26, 2012. On June 1, 2012, he pleaded guilty to the aggravated battery of a child charge and was sentenced to two years of probation and required to follow the directives of DCFS and to attend domestic violence counseling and parenting classes. Katrina Hill requested and was granted a court order of protection against Isaac in Massac County on May 11, 2012. But she requested the order be dismissed in August 2012 after she was charged with two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, mob action and obstructing justice, which were later dismissed. In July 2014, the Jackson County court sought to revoke Isaac Hills probation for failing to comply with the terms. A month later, he agreed to complete domestic violence classes, extend his probation for six months and was put on a payment plan of $25 per month to settle the court costs and fees. There was no mention of complying with the directives of DCFS in the new order extending Hills probation. The Hills daughter Kalisha Isanique Hill was born on July 1, 2014. She was six months old when her parents divorced in Alexander County. Four months later, on May 20, 2015, Kalisha died at the age of 10 months in Marion, according to an obituary. Isaac Hill was still on probation for abusing his son at the time. Death certificates are closed in Illinois, and Williamson County Coroner Mike Junior Burke did not respond to calls and emails for comment, so the cause of Kalishas death isnt clear. Isaac Hill was discharged from probation on child abuse charges on July 30, 2015. Despite the divorce a year earlier, court records showed the couple reconnected and landed back in court. In 2017, Katrina Hill again asked an Alexander County judge for an order to keep her ex-husband away. While there is no record that order was issued, the couple again reconciled. Two years later, IKera was born. * * * ELECTRIC VEHICLES COORDINATOR: Included in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act energy reform which passed last year was a requirement that the state hire an electric vehicles coordinator within the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. On July 1, Megha Lakhchaura was appointed to that role at a salary of $180,000 annually. Shell lead the states push to put 1 million EVs on state roads by 2030 through a number of incentives in state law and the rollout of expanded charging infrastructure. She previously served since 2018 as the director of policy in North America for EVBox, an electric vehicle supply equipment company based in Amsterdam. Prior to that she was policy director for the rooftop solar and battery storage provider Sunrun Inc., and was a public utilities regulatory analyst for the California Public Utilities Commission. Lets admit the last two years weve been living a charade. As the party that gave us this current administration charade begins to look ahead, if they are honest, they must not be allowed to ascribe its failings to diminishing cognition nor to the age of its leader. If they are honest they must admit that his whole public life has revealed a person unfit for any leadership. Not only is he a documented liar, but his voting records reveals he is rarely on the side of propriety. Hes a racist except when hes not. How do I spell plagiarism? He is a name-calling bully when pressured to explain his voting record. His first days in office document that his sole intent was to cancel decisions of the previous administration without actually replacing them with any original ideas. The list is long but heading it has to be his lethal withdrawal from Afghanistan, his lack of any policy to control the southern border, and his complete ignorance of anything resembling an understanding of the economy. In character of his multiple failings he places the blame everywhere except upon himself. Hes the very definition of an impaired person. His family must be included in our expose. What family, knowing his severe impairments, would allow him to daily be so embarrassed. What rationale could they possibly give to allow national and international ridicule? His disgraced legacy must also be theirs. His shadowy interaction with his equally impaired son, if we have a justice system at all, is yet to be fully investigated. J.R. Krueger, Normal Voting for the next batch of executives at the ongoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Delegates Conference has ended without any controversy, but counting of the ballots cannot go on as the delegates have refused to leave the inner perimeter where voting took place. As a result, officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) have pulled the brakes on any form of collation until all delegates are cleared from the voting arena. Per the rules of the conference, only an aspirant or candidate, the spouse or his or her agent, are required to still be within the inner perimeter. But for nearly two hours, the NPP delegates, after voting have refused to budge. Notwithstanding persistent pleadings from the MC and other leading figures of the NPP, these delegates are still holding the next phase of the conference to ransom. Fatigue has also set in among the observer teams and even some media personnel as well, as a result of this impasse. After hours of waiting and some cajoling, the patience of the NPP leadership appears to be running thin as the MC has finally asked the Police to move in and forcefully drive anyone who has no business in the inner perimeter away. Due to the delay in collating the figures to ascertain the winners and losers, there is a lengthy period of musical interlude for calm to be restored. It's after 11pm and there is still no sign of the ballot collation. Currently, voting in all the constituencies has ended save the youth delegates of the party who are still voting. More soon........ 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. Featured Video 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. Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) delegates in the persons of Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament, Sam George and the party's Deputy General Secretary, Peter Boamah Otukonor were hooted at during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ongoing National Delegates Conference. The NPP delegates sang and clapped "away" when the NDC delegates, delivering a solidarity speech at the conference, made a joke about the Ghana card. The NDC Deputy General Secretary mocked the ruling party saying he bought a ball of kenkey for GHC 5 using his Ghana card. This was an implied riposte to a recent viral statement by the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who said if given a chance to choose between a 1000 interchanges and the Ghana card, he would choose the Ghana card any day any time. Otukonor said "when we were coming, I decided to buy a ball of kenkey. This ball of kenkey sells for GHC 5, the leaves on the kenkey alone will be GHC 3, more expensive than the kenkey itselfand guess what, I bought the kenkey with my Ghana card." But his statement did not go down well with the delegates who suddenly catcalled him, thus truncating the opposition party's solidarity message. 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. Featured Video This photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service shows the International Space Station on March 30, 2022, photographed by the crew of a Russian Soyuz MS-19 spaceship after undocking from the station. Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are trying to find new ways to produce huge batches of a type of stem cell that can generate nearly any other type of cell in the body -- and potentially be used to make treatments for many diseases. The cells arrived at the space station on a supply ship, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Credit: Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service via AP Researcher Dhruv Sareen's own stem cells are now orbiting the Earth. The mission? To test whether they'll grow better in zero gravity. Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are trying to find new ways to produce huge batches of a type of stem cell that can generate nearly any other type of cell in the bodyand potentially be used to make treatments for many diseases. The cells arrived over the weekend at the International Space Station on a supply ship. "I don't think I would be able to pay whatever it costs now" to take a private ride to space, Sareen said. "At least a part of me in cells can go up!" The experiment is the latest research project that involves shooting stem cells into space. Some, like this one, aim to overcome the terrestrial difficulty of mass producing the cells. Others explore how space travel impacts the cells in the body. And some help better understand diseases such as cancer. "By pushing the boundaries like this, it's knowledge and it's science and it's learning," said Clive Svendsen, executive director of Cedars-Sinai's Regenerative Medicine Institute. Six earlier projects from the U.S., China and Italy sent up various types of stem cellsincluding his team's study of the effects of microgravity on cell-level heart function, said Dr. Joseph Wu of Stanford University, who directs the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. Wu helped coordinate a series of programs on space-based stem cell research last year. Earthly applications of much of this research may be a little ways off. At this point, the only stem cell-based products approved by the Food and Drug Administration contain blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood for patients with blood disorders such as certain cases of lymphoma. There are no approved therapies using the kind of stem cells being sent to space or others derived from them, said Jeffrey Millman, a biomedical engineering expert at Washington University in St. Louis. But clinical trials underway involving stem cells target conditions such as macular degeneration, Parkinson's disease and heart attack damage. And Millman is involved in research that could lead to a new approach for treating Type 1 diabetes. Scientists see great promise in stem cells. The Gravity Dilemma That promise is tempered by a frustrating earthly problem: The planet's gravity makes it tough to grow the vast quantities of cells necessary for future therapies that may require more than a billion per patient. "With current technology right now, even if the FDA instantly approved any of these therapies, we don't have the capacity to manufacture" what's needed, Millman said. The issue? In large bioreactors, the cells need to be stirred vigorously or they clump or fall to the bottom of the tank, Millman said. The stress can cause most cells to die. "In zero G, there's no force on the cells, so they can just grow in a different way," Svendsen said. The Cedars-Sinai team has sent up what are called induced pluripotent stem cells. Many scientists consider them the perfect starting materials for all sorts of personalized, cell-based treatments. They carry a patient's own DNA, and their versatility makes them similar to embryonic stem cells, only they are reprogrammed from adults' skin or blood cells. For their experiment, which is being funded by NASA, a shoebox-sized container holds bags filled with spheres of cells and all of the pumps and solutions needed to keep them alive for four weeks. The cargo will also include neural stem cells originating from Svendsen. The scientists used stem cells derived from their own white blood cells because it was easy for them to give consent. They will run the experiment remotely with a box of cells on Earth for comparison. They'll get the space experiment back in five weeks or so, when it returns in the same SpaceX capsule. The work is designed to pave the way for more NASA-funded research. If they are able to figure out how to make billions of cells in orbit, Svendsen said, "the impact could be huge." A High-Flying Future During the same cargo launch, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, sent blood stem cells to the space station, a repeat of an experiment they did last year. They want to find out if low Earth orbit induces faster aging in the cells, leading to problems that set the stage for precancerous changes. One goal is to protect astronauts' health. Afshin Beheshti, a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, said scientists are just beginning to understand some of the risks of space travel. "There's more unknowns in space than there are knowns," he said. "Any new type of experiment is going to shed light on how the body responds to the space environment." Ultimately, Beheshti said, the research should yield more than practical, earthly solutions like new medicines. It will also help with far-off human aspirations, like living on other planets. Explore further Leveraging outer space to advance stem cell science and medicine 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. CAPE TOWN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's renowned anti-apartheid activist and a top leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Jessie Duarte passed away early Sunday morning, her party said in a statement. Duarte, born on Sept. 19, 1953, was undergoing treatment for cancer and had been on medical leave since November 2021, said the statement. Duarte, once a personal assistant to South Africa's liberation struggle icons Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, had been serving as Deputy Secretary-General of ANC since 2012, a position in ANC's "Top Six." She was appointed as the acting secretary-general following the suspension of Ace Magashule in May 2021. "She was both a tower of strength to the organization as well as a matriarch and pillar of her family," read the statement. The party said her passing is a "great loss" to her family, the democratic movement and the country as a whole, commending her for dedication to a "united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, prosperous and just" South Africa. ANC also said she is a committed gender activist and consistently committed to advancing the rights of the poor and marginalized. Duarte will be buried Sunday afternoon in Johannesburg according to Muslim rites. Various political parties have sent their condolences to her family, including major opposition parties Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters. QUEENSBURY Kevin Geraghty has experience handling the responsibilities of the Warren County administrator while simultaneously playing the role of Warrensburg town supervisor. With Ryan Moore, who currently holds the position, announcing on June 30 that he will resign effective Aug. 2, the current chairman of the Board of Supervisors would assume the role until the the county hires a replacement. The board would be tasked with appointing an interim administrator if Geraghty was unable to perform the duties required, pursuant to Local Law 2-2017. In no event may a person serve as acting county administrator for a period greater than 60 days in any calendar year unless authorized by the Board of Supervisors, Moore said as he read Section 8 of the law at Fridays Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting. In his resignation letter, Moore said that Geraghty had been an ever-present partner to him during his tenure as county administrator. Geraghty held the position for over a year after Paul Dusek, longtime county administrator, retired in March 2016. Geraghty was the chairman of the board at the time of Duseks retirement. Geraghty did not comment on whether he would be able to take on the extra duties during Fridays meeting. Moore announced at the end of his report to the board on Friday that the county administrator position had been posted online as of Thursday. He said that the position would be highlighted on the countys social media pages as well. Moore said during the boards meeting on Friday that he wasnt sure if there would be a second monthly meeting where he would have the opportunity to express his thanks and gratitude to his colleagues. You may not believe it, but I do enjoy these meetings, he said. This is where the business of the people gets done. The conversations are sometimes difficult but you all share your opinions and I think that process gets us to a good solution. Moore was hired by the county in March 2018. During his tenure, the countys unassigned general fund balance increased each year. He said in his resignation letter that he was thankful for the opportunity of serving the county alongside the Board of Supervisors. Its been a real privilege doing this work every month, sometimes twice a month, with all of you, Moore said to the board. I respect all of you, and thank you for that camaraderie. The Board of Supervisors has a second monthly meeting scheduled for July 29 starting at noon. All meetings take place at the Warren County Municipal Center, and are livestreamed on the countys YouTube page. In other news: The board voted to re-appoint William VanNess and Beth McLaughlin as Warren County Republican and Democratic election commissioners, respectively. Supervisors passed resolutions to allocate $523,000 in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to workforce development resources. The funds will be used for transportation assistance, technology upgrades and funding for trades training. Warren Countys $2.1 million share of the SUNY Adirondack budget for 2022-23 was passed by supervisors. The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted to pass its $1.6 million share on Friday. The total budget for SUNY Adirondack in 2022-23 is $33 million. PLATTSBURGH A 45-year-old Plattsburgh woman was found dead in her car in the parking lot of Champlain National Bank on Route 3 after state police were called to perform a welfare check Thursday afternoon. Police said an autopsy was performed at Glens Falls Hospital for Monique R. Yanulavich, of 5 Westwood Drive, and it was determined that multiple stab wounds were the cause of death. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to police. The scene at Champlain National Bank, as well as the residence at 5 Westwood Dr., were secured by state police. Evidence has been collected from both scenes. Police said that evidence was also located off the Northway in Elizabethtown. Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie and County Coroner Chad Deans responded to assist in the investigation alongside area fire departments and EMS agencies. Police said there had been nearly 100 leads investigated as of Saturday morning. The investigation has determined that the attack appears to have been targeted in nature, according to police. Police added that nothing has been found that would indicate that the public is in danger. State police are requesting assistance from people who reside in the areas of Route 3/Cornelia Street, Broad Street, Westwood Drive and Rugar Street in Plattsburgh. Police are asking for residents in those areas to check surveillance camera systems for suspicious activity from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Thursday, and for any members of the public to report any suspicious items that may be located on their property, including found in garbage receptacles. Any information regarding this request can be directed to state police at 518-563-3761. State police are being assisted by the Plattsburgh City Police Department, Clinton County Sheriff's Department, SUNY Plattsburgh Police Department, FBI, New York State Forest Rangers and the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Warren County had 20 additional cases of COVID-19 reported from the 394 test results received on Saturday, according to the most recent data from New York state. The countys seven-day positivity rate was reported at 7.6% on Saturday. Over the last five days, Warren County has had 107 new COVID cases reported, according to state data. COVID-19 home test kits continue to be available at the Warren County Municipal Center, town halls and Glens Falls City Hall. More information about test kit availability can be found on the countys COVID hub site. Warren County Health Services will host a booster clinic for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on July 26. Registration links and additional info can be found on the countys COVID-hub site. Registration is required for the clinic. A total of 75.9% of Warren County residents have completed a vaccination series, according to state data. The county has had 47.2% of residents receive a booster dose, which makes up 63.1% of the countys eligible population. Washington County Washington County reported 15 new cases out of the 208 test results received on Saturday, according to state data. The countys seven-day positivity rate is 6.9%. Washington County has had 51 new cases reported over the last five days, according to state data. According to state vaccination data, 64.5% of residents have completed a vaccination series. Washington County has had 58.2% of its eligible population receive a booster dose as of Saturday. Washington County has made home test kits available at the Municipal Centers Building B Entrance and at the countys Public Health Building during normal business hours. For additional information on home test kits and the countys weekly booster clinic visit the countys website. STAFFORD TOWNSHIP Two people caught shoplifting at Walmart were found in possession of heroin, police said Saturday. At about 6:45 p.m. Friday, the township police departments Drug Enforcement Unit arrested Brittany Koppenjan, 30, of Lacey Township, and Ryan Powell, 36, of Seaside Heights, for shoplifting at Walmart. The two were observed concealing numerous electronic items in their bags. After a short period of time, they were observed walking past the checkout counter and exiting the store. Police encountered the two in the parking lot and arrested them. While searching the suspects, police said, they recovered stolen items as well as heroin. It was learned that both Koopenjan and Powell had multiple arrest warrants from the Ocean County Sheriffs Department as well as the Berkeley Township and Seaside Heights municipal courts. Both were charged with shoplifting and possession of CDS. They were being lodged at Ocean County jail. Police pointed out that shoplifting and drug offenses are related because shoplifting leads to the black-market sales of stolen items. Those proceeds are then used to buy, possess and sell narcotics. ATLANTIC CITY Voting rights have always been at the fore of the NAACP mission, but some legal experts who have long fought for the franchise feel it has become an uphill battle. The second day of the 113th annual NAACP Convention featured several events, including a Continuing Legal Education seminar on voting rights and, particularly, redistricting. The NAACP Office of the General Counsel and its panel guests explained the latest developments to those aspiring to get in redistricting fights being waged across the country. The panelists often focused on how a more conservative judiciary was upending the voting-rights landscape. Organizations like the NAACP, whose agendas have often been advanced by liberal courts, were now being confronted with conservative reinterpretations of federal laws that have been lodestars for their redistricting litigation. The fight this time around is harder, said panelist Carroll Rhodes, a veteran Mississippi civil rights attorney. One of the principal obstacles Rhodes and other panelist highlighted was the Purcell Principle. Established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006, it creates the presumption against having federal courts take action to change district maps or voting laws when too close to an election. Conservative proponents have held that the principle avoids sewing confusion for voters by abruptly changing rules just before an election is set to begin. Liberals and organizations such as the NAACP have maintained it hobbles the courts ability to remedy racially discriminatory or otherwise unconstitutional district maps, especially given the protracted period of time that many voting-rights cases can take. Rhodes said redistricting battles had been further complicated by the four-month delay in the publication of the U.S. Census apportionment counts, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it complicated efforts from the Census Bureau to collect responses. The redistricting process was more rushed, and it was more difficult for litigants to bring challenges to district maps state legislatures produced. Rhodes emphasized that it was important for lawyers to wait to bring their redistricting challenges in years when relevant elections are not being run, owing to the Purcell Principle. Stuart Naifeh, the manager of the redistricting project at the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, also recommended that attorneys take faster action, noting that the courts interpretation of the Purcell Principle has grown stricter over time. Like many of the panelists for the day, however, Naifeh was somewhat pessimistic about the prospects of such challenges. He said conservative courts may be willing to stay remedies for redistricting cases even if they are brought promptly. He worried that the principle was not always being applied fairly. Texas NAACP Legal Redress Chair Gary Bledsoe said efforts to protect voting rights legislatively being pushed by groups like the NAACP had been severely hobbled by the courts. Weakened Voting Rights Act The panels anxiety about the Purcell Principle comes after the Voting Rights Act was significantly weakened nine years ago. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the landmark case of Shelby County v. Holder in 2013 that it was unconstitutional to enforce the preclearance standards established by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a rule that had required states and local governments with a history of racial discrimination to receive approval from the federal government before changing their election laws. The conservative majority on the court maintained that such rules were antiquated and unreasonably infringed on a states right to run its own elections. Congress could update the Voting Rights Act with a new preclearance formula, although it would likely be subject to a legal challenge over whether the courts concerns were properly addressed. The U.S. Supreme Court has shifted right since 2013. Conservatives hold a robust 6-3 majority on the court due to the three justices appointed by President Donald Trump. Despite their generally dismal outlook on the future of voting-rights litigation, panelists advised those interested in getting involved on what steps they could take. Ezra Rosenberg, a co-director of the Voting Rights Project for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, cited his efforts challenging Congressional and legislative district maps for Georgia and Texas. He emphasized the importance for attorneys to connect with demographers and statisticians, as well as community groups, so they can evaluate whether there is a good-faith basis to bring a voting-rights lawsuit against a state map. Political science professor Sekou Franklin, of Middle Tennessee State University, has studied and advocated against what he maintains is racial discrimination against Black and Hispanic voters in Tennessee. He emphasized how critical it was for legal organizations and demographers to communicate with local community groups about their districts. They could keep advocates informed of local factors that should inform the redistricting process, such as whether an area have shared schools, transit hubs or history, and how to keep those interests consolidated. Oftentimes, those ... in the places that are drawing the maps dont have that intimate data and relationships and on-the-ground skills that community advocates have or history, Franklin said. Convention reaction People attending the convention at the Atlantic City Convention Center, all supporters of the NAACP redistricting efforts, said the seminar was informative but ominous. It was very informative, but with the Supreme Court that we have now, itll be very, very difficult to win cases about redistricting, said Arleen Simmons, of West Orange, Essex County. Jeanetta Williams, the NAACP president for the tristate conference of Idaho, Nevada and Utah, was also in attendance. She said she would take lessons from the seminar back to help to make fight for redistricting reform across the three states in her conference. The information that was given has been very instrumental in having some guidelines, that when we go back to our home state, to share with the others, Williams said. James Tucker, a founder of the Native American Voting Rights Coalition and another member of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, highlighted what he felt was a particularly egregious example of unconstitutional maps in Wisconsin. Although he said the amount of registered Democrats and Republicans in the state are roughly equal, the GOP had a chance to secure a veto-proof, supermajority in the Wisconsin state Legislature, due in part to racial gerrymandering. A U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned a ruling from the conservative-controlled, Wisconsin Supreme Court that blocked a GOP-created map and opted for a Democratic alternative that created more Black-majority districts. The decision argued that the state court had failed to examine whether more Black-majority districts were actually needed to satisfy the Voting Rights Act. When the case was remanded back to the state level, the Wisconsin Supreme Court later signed-off on the Republican-proposed map. Tucker that it was important to win trials outright on the merits, under new federal principles, rather than simply secure injunctions based on a likelihood of winning and the potential for irreparable harm. Reflecting on the Wisconsin case, however, Tucker said that he was worried that even ostensible wins on the state level were not secure from a more conservative federal judiciary. Franklin said that people eager to get involved in the dispute could refer to local or national organizations that are involved with voting rights, such as NAACP branches. He also said that even organizations such that are not regularly doing voting-rights works, such as labor unions and fraternities and sororities, may be able to help. (We) need to engage the local people, we need to educate the local people, we need for litigators to become educators and engage in this process, Franklin said. Dorothy Richardson, of the New York-Jamaica branch of the NAACP attended the seminar. She said she was aware of the difficulty facing the NAACP efforts to reform voting rights. She was nevertheless hopeful, citing the spirit she saw from the young people at the convention. The struggles are still as hard as they were, Richardson said. But the youth are an example that theyre willing to take up the challenge. PLEASANTVILLE Local teachers have drawn statewide attention for their work to diversify district curricula at Pleasantville Public Schools and now they have successfully challenged proposed textbooks as part of that effort. On Tuesday, the Pleasantville Board of Education voted down a resolution to purchase McGraw Hill social studies textbooks. The decision came after teachers and parents said the textbooks would fall short of the state diversity standards for education they were working to introduce into classrooms. Tamar LaSure-Owens, director of the districts Amistad, Holocaust and Latino heritage or AMHOTINO curriculum, spoke at the school board meeting against the textbooks. LaSure-Owens, who is responsible for implementing state standards for the district, said she did not have confidence the textbooks appropriately taught the histories of marginalized groups and that they would be incongruous with the districts broader curriculum. Two other speakers echoed LaSure-Owens thoughts. The school board was receptive to their concerns and voted to reject the textbooks without extensive debate. Why are we buying books that just dont meet our standards? LaSure-Owens said after the meeting. We do not teach a textbook, we teach a standard. McGraw Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company website does include a section for its commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion and highlights the work of its PreK12 Equity Advisory Board. Diverse and inclusive teams are critical to helping us be more creative in our approach, better understand our customers needs, and develop programs and materials that address equity issues and reflect the students we serve, Terri Walker, McGraw Hills head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, said in a statement posted to the company website. The Pleasantville school district has received statewide recognition for its AMHOTINO curriculum, which incorporates lessons about history, tolerance and diversity into all school subjects. It places a special focus on the histories of African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans; the legacy of slavery in North and South America; and the events of the Holocaust and other genocides in world history. LaSure-Owens said members of the New Jersey Education Association met with representatives from McGraw Hill to discuss its textbooks in 2020. The NJEA members highlighted instances where they believed textbook material was inaccurate or incomplete, such as sections concerning Native American history and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. While there was an understanding between the company and the NJEA about the need to produce more diverse materials, LaSure-Owens said she believes the textbooks currently in use still fall short of state standards. LaSure-Owens said she particularly wanted to avoid the use of euphemisms when discussing historical atrocities. She cited a curriculum change proposed to the Texas state Board of Education for second graders in which slavery was described as involuntary relocation. McGraw Hill in particular attracted controversy in 2015 when it described slaves as workers from Africa in a geography-textbook caption. Company leadership apologized for the caption shortly after students called attention to it. She added that she wanted textbooks to reflect other district standards, such as its study of slavery throughout the Western Hemisphere, and was concerned the books could otherwise confuse students. The school board and New Jersey Department of Education agreed in March to have LaSure-Owens assist the Amistad Commission, which works to incorporate Black history into New Jersey classrooms. The NJEA awarded LaSure-Owens its Urban Education Activist Award in December for her efforts at Pleasantville. Critical of the processPleasantville Education Association President Joe Manetta took issue with how the textbooks were selected. He said the district officials who made the decisions about the curriculum should have consulted with LaSure-Owens first, given her status as AMOHOTINO coordinator. They should have had a conversation with her because that directly involves what she does, Manetta said after the meeting Tuesday. New Jersey recently expanded curriculum mandates designed to promote diversity and tolerance in education. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill in January requiring schools to teach about the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It follows the passage of a 2019 law requiring schools to teach students about the history of the LGBTQ community and that of persons with disabilities. Recent efforts to promote diversity have precedent in past decades. The state Legislature created Black-history standards and the Amistad Commission in 2002. Eight years earlier, in 1994, the Legislature mandated that students be taught about the Holocaust and other genocides. Parents both in South Jersey and across the country have taken exception to LGBTQ education mandates as well as the sex-education standards. Much of the national debate has centered on state-government efforts in Florida to regulate classroom discussions about LGBTQ topics. Some conservatives have argued that such efforts help ensure lessons are age appropriate, while liberals and LGBTQ-rights advocates have decried the regulations as bigoted. Attendees at an Ocean City Board of Education meeting in April said the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Comprehensive Health and Physical Education encroached upon the role of parents to teach their children about values and morals. Advocates for LGBTQ-rights in Cape May County said they were concerned about being harassed for their support of the standards. Some Republican lawmakers, including state Sen. Michael Testa, Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, had asked that the standards be revised. Murphy promised in April to review the standards and said his administration wanted to include parental input into education. The governor did emphasize that he believes New Jersey schools should prioritize academic performance, mental health and making schools inclusive for all, including LGBTQ students. Public controversy has not stopped the launch of other, similar education projects. The National Education Association awarded the NJEA a Great Public Schools grant to launch a consortium for New Jersey educators. The consortium will partner with more than 25 colleges and universities, museums, historical commissions and advocacy groups to train teachers to make their classrooms more inclusive and help everyone involved in education to understand, embrace and celebrate New Jerseys diversity. The Associated Press contributed to this report. by Jeff Sovern The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce has forwarded to the full committee a bipartisan bill (draft here, though perhaps not the version the subcommittee approved; section-by-section commentary here). The last I heard, Senator Cantwell, the Senate Commerce Committee chair, had not signed on, putting the bill's future in doubt. The bill would give consumers the right to see what companies know about them, whom the information has been shared with, correct errors, and direct the business to delete the data. On the positive side, the bill also provides for a private claim for injured consumers and in addition provides that arbitration clauses are ineffective to block such claims. On the negative side, the bill preempts the state online privacy laws, including those passed in California, Virginia, Utah, etc., and limits the amount injured consumers can recover to actual damages, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees. That raises questions about whether consumer injuries will be sufficient to cause them to sue. Cases can be brought as class actions but I wonder about the impact of TransUnion's standing requirements on class members. The bill has a lot more in it that will be of interest to consumer law folks. Rock Island Police are investigating the shooting death of a 25-year-old man Friday at the Century Woods apartment complex in the 1300 block of 4 Street. It is the fourth shooting death in less than two months, and the third in less than one month, that Rock Island Police are investigating. Rock Island Police Deputy Chief Timothy McCloud said in a news release Saturday that officers went to Century Woods at about 9:50 p.m. to investigate a report of shots fired. Officers located the victim, who was taken to UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island but died of his wounds before arrival. McCloud said the initial investigation indicated the victim was involved in an altercation with a group of people when he was shot. Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said the victims name was not being released Saturday and that an autopsy was tentatively scheduled for Monday. Three other people have been shot to death in Rock Island in less than two months. In those incidents: At 2:55 p.m. May 22, Rock Island Police were sent to the 1000 block of 15th Street to investigate a shots-fired call. Desavion D. Foster, 19, died of his wounds at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island. Police have arrested Terrionce C. Kitchen, who is charged with one count of murder. Kitchen is being held in the Rock Island County Jail on a cash-only bond of $1 million. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday in Rock Island County Circuit Court. At 12:25 a.m. June 25, 61-year-old Gregory McGhee arrived at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island with a gunshot wound. He later died of his injuries. Gustafson said McGhee died of traumatic gunshot injuries to his chest and abdomen. Police said he was shot in the 500 block of 6th Street. McGhee's death remains under investigation. At 7:14 a.m. July 10, the body of Amani Kamata, 39, of Rock Island, was found by police in the 1100 block of 10th Avenue. Kamata had been shot to death. Kamatas death remains under investigation. Police ask that anyone with information about these cases to call the Rock Island Police Department at 309-732-2677 or Crime Stoppers of the Quad-Cities at 309-762-9500, or submit an anonymous tip via the P3 Tips mobile app or submit a tip online at qccrimestoppers.com. An overnight car crash has left a house and power pole damaged in Rock Island. The car crashed into the pole, leaving power lines on the ground, and then hit the front porch of a house in the 1800 block of 9th Street in Rock Island. There is no report on the residents of the house or the occupants of the vehicle. This is a developing story. CHICAGO - A Chicago police officer has died in an apparent suicide, the second in as many days and the third this month, officials said Saturday afternoon. The officer was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern, who confirmed it was a possible suicide. Check back for details on this developing story. On Friday, detectives were investigating the death of an active police officer who worked in the Calumet District, police said. He was found dead inside his home in the Central District. Please keep this officers family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time, the department said. Michael Carroll, a Chicago police detective, wrote in a tweet that it appeared the officer died by suicide.(Its) extremely difficult hearing news like this over and over again. The pressure of the job is more than regular people know and cops need to be better at letting others know that they need help, need a hand, they need to talk, he wrote in a Friday tweet. The unnamed officer was found dead early Friday inside his home, police said. No other information was given. The Friday death came after the loss of 29-year-old Officer Patricia Swank, who died by suicide on July 2, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. On March 12, Sgt. Edward Dougherty, 52, died by suicide in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood, according to the medical examiners office. There have been more than a dozen Chicago police officers to take their own lives since 2018. The Chicago Police Departments problem with officer suicides was highlighted in a 2017 report by the U.S. Justice Department regarding the citys policing practices. At that time, one Chicago police official told the Justice Department that CPDs suicide rate was higher than the national average among police. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 800-273-8255. The Veterans Crisis Line and Military Crisis Line connect veterans and service members in crisis and their families and friends with qualified U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat or text. The Veterans Crisis Line is at 800-273-8255. Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To speak with a trained listener, text HELLO to 741741. It is free, available 24/7 and confidential. Tribune reporter Paige Fry contributed. MOGADISHU, July 17 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and more than 15 others wounded in a suicide car bombing attack on a popular hotel in the south-central Somali town of Jowhar Sunday, a government official confirmed. Daud Haji Irro, a spokesman for Hirshabelle State, said the death toll could rise after attackers rammed a car laden with explosives at Nuur Doob Hotel which is frequented by regional government officials. "So far, we have established that two people were killed and more than 15 others wounded," Haji said. The regional government official said two ministers and a lawmaker from the Hirshabelle State are those wounded in the attack. Images from the scene showed the large-scale destruction caused by the explosion which also affected nearby buildings. Hani Omar, a witness, said the explosion was huge, saying the number of casualties could be more than what the regional government stated. "We heard a massive blast at the hotel in Jowhar, there is also huge destruction in the area. I know there are several casualties," Omar told Xinhua on the phone. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying it has targeted a hotel housing Hirshabelle regional officials. The attacks continue across Somalia despite the security forces backed by allied forces having stepped up operations against the militants in the country. The militants have been targeting military bases, hotels, and other public places in Somalia. Many people think that starting hospice means theyre giving up hope or theyre giving up on life, but thats not what hospice means at all. Hospice is a type of medical care where the goal is to maintain or improve quality of life for someone whose illness, disease or condition is unlikely to be cured. Hospice addresses all symptoms of a disease, but has a special focus on controlling pain and discomfort. Its also focused on providing support to both patients and families. Its important to know that people who use hospice care dont hasten the dying process. In some cases, patients in hospice may actually live longer because their quality of life has improved due to the extra care. To determine hospice eligibility, a doctor certifies that the patient may not live beyond six months, which is not the same as the doctor saying they only have six months to live. Patients are re-evaluated upon certification periods for eligibility requirements. If a patient meets hospice eligibility requirements and the doctor certifies them, Medicare and most private insurances cover hospice care throughout the eligibility period. In some cases, patients are taken off hospice because their health improves too much to requalify. There are even situations where someone may enter or leave hospice care as their health improves or declines. If a patient is no longer eligible for hospice, services are discontinued. However, should a patient meet eligibility requirements again in the future, coverage typically resumes. Hospice care also helps families by offering more support than they get if their loved one is not utilizing hospice services. Families benefit from having hospice professionals on call 24 hours a day, at-home nurse visits, a CNA who provides bathing and other personal care tasks, spiritual care and family support and grief counseling. In addition, hospice has volunteers available who can provide patient companionship and caregiver respite. So how do you know if hospice care is right for your family? Talk to your doctor to determine if hospice could be beneficial for your loved one. If hospice isnt right at that moment, let the doctor know that youre open to discussing it when the time is right. While choosing hospice care means that you've accepted that your loved ones illness is no longer curable, it does not have to mean giving up hope. If you have questions about hospice or are interested in becoming a hospice volunteer, call Beacon of Hope Hospice at 563-391-6933. Scott Southward is a volunteer coordinator for Iowa and Illinois. Email him at ssouthward@bohhospice.org. South Dakota Mines is merging the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering into one department. The new Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) will keep all major courses of study intact and foster increased multidisciplinary collaboration between students and faculty researchers. Jeff McGough, Ph.D., professor and current department head of computer science and engineering, will lead the new EECS department. We are very excited about the merger, says McGough. It will allow greater collaboration between faculty and students. We will have more opportunities for interdisciplinary projects and enhance our support for our students. Modern technology, whether it be artificial intelligence, machine learning, avionics, or designing a new smart electrical grid, requires multidisciplinary collaboration. Mines new EECS department will foster connections between faculty and students to best leverage both innovation and research funding. "Electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science as majors are a natural fit together here on campus and out in industry. Our students will be able to take advantage of a broad range of classes to tailor their degree to their interests and abilities, all while staying in one department," says Tom Montoya, Ph.D., associate professor and current interim head of the Department of Electrical Engineering. Mines world-class education in these fields of study will continue, and students in the new EECS department will see no change to their coursework in undergraduate and graduate programs, minors or specializations. The merger will make it easier for students to double major or pursue minors across the programs. Students will also find enhanced research and team-based problem-solving opportunities that more closely mirror the modern industry environment where multidisciplinary teams of engineers, scientists and professionals work toward the same goal. This merger brings two already strong academic departments together to make the programs even stronger, which will greatly benefit our students. It also increases efficiency and saves resources while maximizing our collaboration potential. I am excited to see the innovation and research opportunities that will emerge from this reorganization, says Mines President Jim Rankin. Do you have an event or calendar item you would like published in the Ravalli Republic? Please email your submission to events@ravallirepublic.com. Submit information in paragraph form. Posters and flyers will not be accepted. Monday, July 18 Bitterroot Public Library, Tales and Tails: Read to Shelter Animals, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Bitterroot Humane Shelter in Hamilton. Registration required. The Tales & Tails Program will give your child the opportunity to build reading skills while providing companionship to shelter animals at the Bitterroot Human Association (BHA). Find specific information and release forms on our website events calendar. Owl eye-mask pillow take-home kit for kids. First come, first served grab-bag kit. Kit includes all materials you need to make this clever and cute pillow. For more information call 363-1670. 306 State St., Hamilton. bitterrootpubliclibrary.org. Hamilton Senior Center, lunch is served 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., $4; Hand and foot, every Monday, 12:30 p.m. 820 N. 4th St., Hamilton. Please check with this organization directly regarding possible schedule changes do to the holiday. Stevensville Senior Center, 8 a.m. Coffee Club, meals at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday at 6 p.m. by Florence Carlton Church Soul Suppers. 100 Mission St., Stevensville. Please check with this organization directly regarding possible schedule changes do to the holiday. Golden Age Club, exercise class, 9-10 a.m. 727 S. 5th St., Hamilton. changes do to the holiday. The Stevensville Playhouse is offering a Youth Theater Workshop for youth ages 718 for sharpening acting skills, learning about theater and putting together a show, Monday through Friday, July 18-29, 15 p.m. Cost is $150 and half-price for siblings. Scholarship assistance is available. Registration forms and online payment available at www.stevensvilleplayhouse.org or call 406-777-2722. Tuesday, July 19 Bitterroot Public Library, Juntos! (Together!) Storytime, meeting room, 9:30 to 10 a.m, registration required. Spanish language storytime for ages 2-5 years old. Hear stories, learn simple phrases and sing along while learning a new language. Coloring Club for Adults, meeting room, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Indulge your creative side and be social. Junior Chef Creations, meeting room, 4 to 5 p.m., registration required. Join us on our food creation journey. Learn the basics of cooking and baking and take home a snack. Ages 8 and up. Writers Group, every other Tuesday, 6:30 to 8 p.m., meeting room. Enjoy and thrive in your writing by participating in the Bitterroot Public Library's writers group. Bring your pen, paper, or laptop to share and support other writers in the valley. For more information call 363-1670. 306 State St., Hamilton. bitterrootpubliclibrary.org. North Valley Public Library, Role Playing Games (RPGs) in-person or online, 4-6 p.m., teens (12-18). Enter the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Create your own character and join an online campaign. No experience required. For more information call 406-777-5061. 208 Main St., Stevensville, northvalleylibrary.org. Stevensville Senior Center, 8 a.m. Coffee Club. Exercise, 10 a.m., Tuesday and Thursday. 100 Mission St., Stevensville. Darby Farmers Market, open 10 a.m.2 p.m. every Tuesday through Sept. 14 at Main Street Park. Daly Ditches Irrigation District meeting, 6-7:30 p.m., 566 Tammany Lane, Hamilton. Wednesday, July 20 Bitterroot Public Library, Baby and Toddler Storytime, meeting room, 10:30 a.m., registration required. Join Annika or Kat for a story, finger plays, rhymes and songs. Ages 0-2. S.A.G.A. Summer Afternoon Group Activities, 3 to 5 p.m., west lawn unless otherwise noted, registration required. Join us for our second summer of activities, games and projects. We'll meet every week on the west lawn. Library Board of Trustees Meeting, meeting room, 4 to 7 p.m. 306 State St., Hamilton. bitterrootpubliclibrary.org. North Valley Public Library, Library Board Meeting, 3-6 p.m. For more information call 406-777-5061. 208 Main St., Stevensville, northvalleylibrary.org. Hamilton Senior Center, lunch is served 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., $4; 820 N. 4th St., Hamilton. Stevensville Senior Center, 8 a.m. Coffee Club, meals at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday at 6 p.m. by Florence Carlton Church Soul Suppers. 100 Mission St., Stevensville. Golden Age Club, exercise class, 9-10 a.m. Pinochle games, 1 p.m., multiple bid, $2. 727 S. 5th St., Hamilton. Walk in Wednesday Horse Play Days, veterans, military, law enforcement, and first responders are all invited to engaging sessions of horsemanship, horseplay, and just hanging out. Not psychotherapy, but merely an opportunity to take some stress out of your lives and have some relaxing fun with horses. Second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 4:306 p.m., Wings Programs Inc, 208 Rusty Spur Way, Corvallis 406-363-3346 or email questions to wingsprograms@live.com. Planning Board Meeting in Commissioners Meeting Room, 7-9 p.m. Elk Ridge #2 Subdivision Review Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 842 329 Thursday, July 21 Bitterroot Public Library, Little Explorers, meeting room, 10 to 11 a.m., registration required. Explore process-based art and sensory play through a new program for toddlers through preschool. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Dress for messy play. Ages 18 months to 4 years. Artful Thinking for Kids, 4 to 5 p.m., meeting room, registration required. Join us Thursday afternoons to unlock your inner artist. Learn about artists, style, technique, and work with a wide variety of mediums. Ages 7 and up. Trivia Night, 5:30 p.m., at Big Creek Coffee Cafe in Hamilton. No registration required. Bring a team or drop in on your own. Participants compete for prizes by answering a challenging range of questions about most anything. Teams are limited to six participants each. For more information call 363-1670. 306 State St., Hamilton. bitterrootpubliclibrary.org. North Valley Public Library, Art with Annika, 4-5 p.m., registration required. In cooperation with Bitterroot Public Library, their youth services librarian, Annika Riley is on loan to present her Bitterroot art programs here in Stevensville for five Thursdays this summer. A big thank you to Annika and Mark, the Director of Bitterroot Public Library, for making this happen. For more information call 406-777-5061. 208 Main St., Stevensville, northvalleylibrary.org. Stevensville Senior Center, 8 a.m. Coffee Club. Exercise, 10 a.m., Tuesday and Thursday. 100 Mission St., Stevensville. Bitterroot Community Band Performance, Claudia Driscoll Park in Hamilton begin at 7:30 p.m. Airport Board meeting in BCC mtg room, 3-5 p.m. Agenda: Hangar Renewals (6); Hangar Transfers (2); New Hangars (6); proposed lots (1) SEE ZOOM LINK BELOW Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 828 3959 3009 Passcode: 798460 Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen host their monthly meeting at the Coyote Coulee trail head. Potluck dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Bring your own chair and drink. The meeting runs from 7-8:30 p.m. The guest speaker is member Brad Pollman who will describe and demonstrate necessary trailer maintenance. If you are a rider or hiker who wants to help keep trails open and meet like-minded folks, we invite you to attend. We welcome guests and new members. For more information, please call Gene at 208-310-6326 or check out the website at www.bchmt.org/bitterroot. Find us on Facebook at: Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen (BR BCH). Open Lands Board meeting in Commissioners Meeting Room, 7-9 p.m. (Please use Front Entrance) Agenda: Subcommittee Updates, RTFR Update, BRLT Update, FWP introduction of Sweathouse Creek CE. Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 818 6465 5852 Passcode: 905109 Friday, July 22 Bitterroot Public Library, Preschool Story time, 10:30 a.m., meeting room. Registration required. Join Annika or Kat for stories, activities and games. Ages 3 to 5. One on One Tech Support, 11 a.m. to noon. Daniel Ray, community librarian, will tackle technology questions and/or frustrations with an in-person, one on one session. Reservations recommended. For more information call 363-1670. 306 State St., Hamilton. bitterrootpubliclibrary.org. North Valley Public Library, Mother Goose on the Loose, 10:30-11:30 a.m., babies and toddlers. Open World Fridays, 4-6 p.m., teens (12-18). Make Fridays more exciting, come to the library for an all access pass to all the cool stuff. Choose to 3D print objects and then paint them, create a craft, explore the Dungeons & Dragons handbooks, or make a zine, it's up to you. For more information call 406-777-5061. 208 Main St., Stevensville, northvalleylibrary.org. Hamilton Senior Center, lunch is served 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., $4; Pinochle games, 1 p.m., $2. 820 N. 4th St., Hamilton. Stevensville Senior Center, 8 a.m. Coffee Club, meals at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 100 Mission St., Stevensville. Golden Age Club, exercise class, 9-10 a.m. 727 S. 5th St., Hamilton. 2022 Driver Safety Course, Your Bitterroot Health (Marcus Daly), Hamilton, located at 1200 Westwood Drive, will host an ALL NEW 2022 Driver Safety Course from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. While this new safe driving course is designed for drivers age 50 and over, all drivers are welcome. This new program features laws and up-dates specific to Montana, defensive driving, winter driving, new vehicle technologies to name a few. Class size is limited; pre-registration is advised. There are no driving tests or written exams and Montana mandates insurance discounts for qualified drivers. Certificates are good for three years. Class fee: $20.00, AARP members; $25.00, for non-members. For class sign up call Jones-Korman Insurance at 406-363-6583, for further information call Thom Ainsworth, instructor, at 406-369-0149. Darby Last Fridays Music in the Park, 5:30-8 p.m. at Main St. Park in Darby. Join your friends and family for a fun community event featuring music by Americana Rescue Unit, food trucks, various vendors and wine and beer. Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the music. A playground is available for children. Saturday, July 23 Free Family Activity: Quilt block designs, we'll be making quilt designs at Ravalli County Museum. Make your own quilt block from designer card stock and construction paper. Choose from several traditional quilt block designs and glue the pre-cut shapes into place on the paper background. 10 a.m.-noon, Ravalli County Museum, 205 Bedford St., Hamilton. 406-363-3338. Stevensville Senior Center, pinochle at 7 p.m. 100 Mission St., Stevensville. Hamilton Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., downtown Hamilton on Bedford, 2nd and 3rd Streets. Lone Rock Farmers Market with live music, 4-7 p.m., Ambrose Community Center, 4415 Sunnyside Cemetery Rd., Stevensville. For more info &/or to become a vendor, text 406-396-1236 or email joylnelson21@gmail.com. AA Meeting, 6-10 p.m., Bitterroot Public Library, 306 State St. Bitter Root Land Trust Barn Dance, 5-9 p.m., 367 Rhodes Lane, Stevensville, $25. Celebrate the legacy of Bitterroot Valley farms and ranches at the Bitter Root Land Trust's annual Barn Dance, held at the newly conserved Sutherlin Farms in Stevensville. Join BRLT and dance under the big sky to live country music by the Ruby Valley Boys. This event is family friendly, featuring horse drawn wagon rides, lawn games, and silent auction items that highlight Bitterroot businesses. Tickets will go on sale spring 2022 and will include a barbecue dinner, with alcoholic beverages available for purchase. Further ahead Tuesday, July 26 Corvallis County Sewer District monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., 234 Brothers Way. Saturday, July 30 Bitterroot Community Band Performance, Daly Mansion, 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6 Bitterroot Community Band Performance, 1 p.m. at the Lewis and Clark Park Tuesday, August 23 Corvallis County Sewer District monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., 234 Brothers Way. Tuesday, Sept. 27 Corvallis County Sewer District monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., 234 Brothers Way. Tuesday, Oct. 25 Corvallis County Sewer District monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., 234 Brothers Way. The Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival is set for near the top of the mountain 10 miles south of Hamilton on July 22, 23 and 24. The festival hosts, Mike and Tari Conroy, said its going to be a great, family-friendly show. Weve got three new bands this year, he said. We have the Johnny Campbell band from Nashville, Tennessee, 93 North from Salmon, Idaho, and at the festival last year I heard two girls signing off in the brush, Phyllis Erck and Helen Lude, and they were sounding really good, so theyll do a duet set this year. Theyre singing old-time stuff, pretty good. Last year was the first year for the festival to be held at the new location higher up the hill on the ranch owned by the Highland Family. Everybody loved the new location, Conroy said. Its got big pine trees for the audience to sit in, even a lot of the campers get in the trees. Plus, theres a little ditch about eight inches deep and a foot wide that goes in front of the stage. The kids just had a ball playing in that ditch. Conroy said the festival last year was so well attended they kept opening up pastures for more parking. The final count was 1,400 audience members and 150 camping vehicles. The festival is three days of jamming, toe-tappin and family-friendly fun with a bluegrass gospel Sunday morning. The beautiful scenery is a bonus. The grounds open for the festival at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, for campers to come in and find a good parking spot, first-come, first-served. The music starts at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, July 22, with landowner musicians Ted Heiland, Ramona and Rachel Potter, 6 p.m. is Pinegrass, 6:50 p.m. is Montana Standard, 7:40 p.m. is Dry Buck, and 9:20 p.m. is Lochwood. On Saturday the music begins at noon with Phyllis and Helen, 12:50 p.m. is 93 North, 1:40 p.m. is Pinegrass, 2:30 p.m. is Johnny Campbell Band, 3:20 p.m. is Song Dog Serenade, 4:10 is Darby Sireens, 5:05 p.m. is Throw together band contest, 6:45 p.m. is Mike and Tari Conroy, 7:35 is Montana Standard, 8:25 p.m. is Lockwood, 9:15 p.m. is Dry Buck and 10:05 p.m. is Kentucky Sky. Music begins on Sunday at 10 a.m. with an open bluegrass gospel stage. Sunday at noon is Ladd Canyon Ramblers, 12:50 p.m. is Kentucky Sky, 1:40 p.m. is a Raffle drawing and at 2 p.m. is the final performance of the Johnny Campbell Band. Bring your lawn chairs, all dogs must be on a leash, and food vendors will be on site. The food vendors include Moose Creek BBQ, Country Kitchen, El Cazador from Missoula, and Bitterroot Snowballs. A few craft vendors will be selling ol time items in the spirit of the 1930s. The admission price is the same as last year: adult weekend $30, childrens weekend $15, or there are day passes Friday or Saturday, $20 for adults and $10 for children. On Sunday the cost is $15 for adults and $7 for children. It costs $25 to camp for the weekend, dry camping only. Specifically, to find the Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival, turn west at mile marker 37 on Highway 93 south of Hamilton and go to 424 Forrest Hill Road. There will be plenty of signs directing traffic. Its the same road as previous years, you just go further up Forrest Hill Road and it is on the left, Conroy said. For more information hardtimesbluegrass.com or 406-821-3777. About 21,000 babies and toddlers in Virginia have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the three weeks since the shots were made available. Thats not a high number its almost 5% of the state population for tots ages 4 and younger. But its better than the national average, which reached 2% last week. The low numbers reflect the trepidation of parents waiting to see how the shots perform, the relatively few babies and toddlers who develop severe illness and a general sense of disregard for the more than 2-year-old pandemic despite rising hospitalizations and the emergence of the BA.5 variant. It is low, said Christy Gray, Virginias vaccine coordinator. But there are reasons, and we did anticipate it would be a lower uptake. On the other side of the equation are parents who are quickly signing up their kids for shots and analyzing the pros and cons of Moderna and Pfizer. Pediatricians are largely choosing Pfizer for its familiarity, but some parents are chasing down doses of the faster-immunizing Moderna. So far, roughly 400,000 babies and toddlers in the U.S. have received a COVID shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats about 2% of the 19.5 million American children under the age of 5. And its well below the 1 in 5 parents who told a Kaiser Family Foundation poll they would vaccinate their children immediately. But its been only three weeks, and the number of vaccinated babies is growing. At clinics offered by the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, every clinic has operated at capacity, a spokesperson said. Vaccination rate lowest in school-age kids Based on the vaccination rate of other age groups, the number of babies and toddlers getting shots might remain low. The vaccination rate of elementary school-age children is lower than every other age group in Virginia. Among kids and young adults ages 12 to 34, the vaccination rate is fairly consistent; between 76% and 79% have gotten at least one shot. For kids ages 5 to 11, theres a steep drop-off. Only 45% of them have gotten one shot or more. There are a few factors at play here. Children and young adults are less likely to develop severe disease from a COVID infection, and vaccines for kids havent been available as long. But parents who think their kids are somehow protected from hospitalization are wrong. In the past 13 weeks, as subvariants of omicron have spread through the state, more children ages 0 to 9 have been hospitalized than adolescents and teens ages 10 to 19. COVID is still hitting the oldest in society the hardest. The vast majority of recent hospitalizations in Virginia 82% were for patients ages 50 and up. When you look at hospital patients below the age of 50, there isnt a big difference between the number of kids and young adults. There have been 78 patients in their 40s and 59 patients under the age of 10. Omicron and its subvariants have disproportionately affected younger kids, who are less vaccinated or not vaccinated, said Dr. Mark Grabill, a pediatrician with Pediatric Associates of Richmond. The populace is less likely to participate in prevention measures such as masking, and the state health department no longer recommends masks in schools, day cares and summer camps. Masks came off, and things seemed to resume back to normal, Grabill said. The type of illness kids are developing has changed with recent variants, too, Grabill said. Lately, kids have displayed flu-like symptoms fevers up to 104 degrees, fatigue, body aches, nose symptoms, cough and a sore throat. A few have been hospitalized with breathing issues. Thats a change from earlier in the pandemic when cold-like symptoms, including congestion and cough, were more common. The BA.5 variant has been blamed for the current uptick in hospitalizations in the state and across the country. Many of the infected were previously vaccinated. While kids have been hospitalized at rates similar to young adults, kids havent died at the same rate. There have been eight COVID deaths in the state in the past three months among patients in their 40s. Among kids 0 to 9, theres been one. Deaths from COVID have been relatively low since the original omicron wave ended in February. Across all age groups, interest in vaccination has been low this year. There was a jump in April when second boosters were authorized but, overall, many young people are unwilling to get the shot. According to a recent poll by Morning Consult, 27% of adults ages 18 to 34 have no plans to get a vaccine, which is higher than other age groups. Among parents who have babies and toddlers, these individuals are more likely to wait and see how vaccine distribution goes before signing up their own kids, Grabill said. I think parents are understandably hesitant, he said. But I think we have really good data from the trials to show its a safe vaccine, and were recommending it when parents come into our office. While vaccinated adults are still catching the BA.5 subvariant this summer, experts say the baby vaccines are good at warding off severe disease. There are other simple reasons why some parents havent signed up. Some havent found the time in the first three weeks, and others are still planning out the shot schedule. Moderna recipients get two doses four weeks apart, and Pfizer recipients receive two doses three weeks apart and a third shot eight weeks after the second. And some parents may not be aware of baby vaccines yet. Its hard to say how Virginia compares with other states, as state-by-state data is still hard to find. North Carolina and Maryland have not yet published their vaccination numbers for kids under 5. Some parents seeking Moderna For the first time, parents have a choice of which vaccine to give their children. Before June, Pfizer was the only shot approved for kids ages 5 to 17. For some parents, Moderna is the shot of choice. At the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, where more than 330 tots have been vaccinated, more parents have requested Moderna than Pfizer, a spokesperson said. That might be because more pediatricians ordered Pfizer shots, making them easier to access across the state. Many pediatricians ordered Pfizer because they had been offering it to older kids for months, and their employees were accustomed to the storage and delivery procedures. As of Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Health has ordered roughly 82,000 Pfizer vaccines and 57,000 Moderna vaccines, a spokesperson for the department said. Another reason parents are seeking Moderna is because the regimen requires just two shots four weeks apart. Recipients of Pfizer receive two doses three weeks apart and a third dose eight weeks after the second. To get her 4-year-old son immunized with Moderna, Henrico County resident Sarah Reyes carpooled with a friend and drove to Charlottesville. They had been unable to find an availability for Moderna shots in town that fit her schedule. On the state health departments website for finding vaccines, Reyes located a pediatricians office, Piedmont Pediatrics, that had Moderna shots available on a Saturday. I wanted the two shots and to be done, Reyes said. Getting her son, Evan, vaccinated means he wont have to quarantine from day care every time he is exposed to someone with the virus. While day cares have implemented different policies, Reyes day care asks for unvaccinated children to quarantine after an exposure. Vaccinated children can continue attending but might be asked to take a test. Plenty of parents have been happy to take either shot, said Grabill, the pediatrician. His office requested Pfizer, and most parents hes seen havent expressed a preference for one shot or the other. Experts recommend both Moderna and Pfizer. Kids who are prone to developing fevers may better suited for Pfizer, Grabill said. In trials, about one in six children developed a fever of 100.4 degrees or more. Megan Fuller of Midlothian signed up her 14-month-old twin sons for a Moderna vaccine trial, where they will receive two shots of a modified vaccine designed specifically for the omicron variant. Moderna could eventually recommend a third shot for all its baby and toddler vaccine recipients. To Fuller, Moderna was the better choice, not only because of the faster immunity, but because of the starts and stops that slowed Pfizers path to approval. Last year, Pfizer planned just two shots for its baby vaccine, but the results fell short of expectation, the company said. In February, rollout of the shot was delayed, and a third dose was added. I just have more confidence in Moderna, Fuller said. It feels like Pfizer has had a lot of back and forth. A lawsuit filed against the Henrico School Board will move forward on a count claiming the school system violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a judge has ruled. Unlike the traditional federal case, the lawsuit emanated from an extensive administrative process that took place more than a year ago. The family of a student at Pinchbeck Elementary School said their child, who is diagnosed with several disabilities, struggled in school while school leaders refused to accommodate her needs and intentionally inflated her failing grades. The school district does not comment on ongoing litigation. The back and forth between the girls parents and school leaders began in 2019. The students parents said the girls individualized education plan (IEP), which is a legal document developed for every public school student in special education under federal law, was inadequate. The girls parents began to pay for tutoring for their child after school leaders refused to amend the IEP, they said. Eventually, school leaders agreed to have an independent expert evaluate the child, and the expert concluded the child had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and auditory processing disorder, according to court documents. School leaders still did not change the IEP, the suit claims. After the state ordered schools to close at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the girl stopped receiving the special reading instruction that was granted by the IEP. After more back and forth, the parents enrolled their daughter in The New Community School, a private school in Richmond that is geared toward students with dyslexia. In March of last year, the girls parents asked for a due process hearing. After eight days of testimony and presentations in June 2021, the hearing officer released a three-page decision in October 2021. Hearing officer William S. Francis Jr. ruled in favor of the student and concluded the school system had not complied with the requirements of IDEA in regard to providing a free and appropriate public education, which school districts are required to provide to students with disabilities under federal law. The hearing officer also dismissed all of the students requests, said the request for reimbursement was not appropriate and said there was no evidence that private school placement was appropriate for the girl. The students family filed a request for judicial review in the Henrico County Circuit Court in late March, asking the court to reverse a hearing officers denial. The family also asked for $3 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for the pain, suffering, embarrassment and other emotional damages. The case was removed to Virginia Eastern District Court in April due to the plaintiffs claims both being under federal statutes: the IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Veteran Colonial Heights officer returns from retirement as city's new police chief A veteran Colonial Heights police commander who retired last year has returned to the force after being hired as the citys new police chief. In court last month, Senior Henrico County Attorney John McChesney moved to dismiss the case and argued the plaintiff failed to state a claim under IDEA because she didnt elaborate on how the hearing officer erred in denying her relief. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, in his opinion filed Monday, said the bar is not so high. The plaintiff only needs to cite the decision and outline how it aggrieved her. Hudson wrote, while plaintiffs complaint does not artfully or perfectly please a claim under the IDEA, the motion to dismiss was denied. The motion to dismiss the second count, however, was granted. But an option was left open for the plaintiff to amend her complaint. Attorney Jason Krumbein indicated he will likely amend the second complaint and try to make the Rehabilitation Act claim stick. In any given gulp of air, there are thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands, of different chemicals, said one researcher at Virginia Tech. Things like the smell of gasoline, the smell of pine trees, the smell of lemon ... those are all just different chemicals floating around in the atmosphere, said Gabriel Isaacman- VanWertz. They all sort of mix together, and theyre present at these really, really low concentrations. Some airborne chemicals are known to be hazardous to human health: mercury, lead, benzene, chloroform. Theyre pollutants, said Isaacman- VanWertz, who researches air quality and atmospheric chemistry with Techs Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. These are chemicals that we know are toxic, he said. They might cause cancer ... they may be toxic to breathe immediately, or they may have effects that build up over lifetimes. Tech is one of several groups challenged by the federal government to develop a low-cost technique to measure hazardous air pollutants, he said. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded an $800,000 research grant to Tech, one of seven institutions working collaboratively on the project through 2025, according to a news release. Most relevant to the EPA is that they regulate something like 187 hazardous air pollutants, Isaacman-VanWertz said. The EPA is really interested in being able to measure these. ... Right now, the best way to do that is with these relatively large, somewhat expensive instruments. The challenge is to develop a device that is more accessible to researchers, citizen scientists and other organizations interested in monitoring local air quality, he said. What we want to do is basically developing a tool or an instrument a detector, essentially that is smaller and cheaper, and can target individual chemicals within that mixture of thousands of different airborne compounds, Isaacman-VanWertz said. This is a really hard task. Contributing to the difficulty are those tens of thousands of different chemicals floating around in any given breeze, and the incredibly low concentration of those pollutants in that air, he said. Air is a very diluted and complicated mixture, even though more than 99.99% of it is usually just oxygen and nitrogen. Generally, some of these can be toxic or poisonous at concentrations of parts per billion or even lower, parts per trillion, Isaacman-VanWertz said. Youre basically trying to measure one little thing in a mixture of thousands, in a mixture of something thats almost entirely just actual air. Unlike consumer-grade air quality devices, this tool developed at Tech needs to produce precise measurements for meaningful science. The idea is that it will be small enough and portable enough that one can use it globally, Isaacman-VanWertz said. So you could sort of drive around a neighborhood, or drive around the city and try to map out and understand the ebb and flow of these pollutants. He said his department is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an air quality management district in California, among other entities. Its nationwide collaboration for an issue that hits close to home. How democracy works Editor, Times-Dispatch: People have reacted in puzzling ways to the Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. They've protested outside justices homes. They've called for packing the court with more justices, impeaching various members, reducing its jurisdiction, and adopting a constitutional amendment based on the now-overruled Roe v. Wade. They've accused the court of acting in an undemocratic fashion by imposing minority or religious viewpoints on the country. Some European leaders have scolded the court for infringing on womens rights. Oddly, very few took on its reasoning or tried to defend the widely criticized Roe holding on constitutional grounds. The Supreme Court is not going to revisit its Dobbs holding. Rather than wasting time protesting, or pursuing court-packing, impeachments, or constitutional amendments, those who seek to enshrine abortion in law should make the case to their elected state representatives. After all, the court's Dobbs ruling simply concluded abortion was a legislative matter, not something found in the U.S. Constitution. Its opinion exalted the democratic process, in contrast to the judicial fiat it overturned. The court imposed no view on the country at all. It reminded people that choosing sides or reflecting public opinion is not the courts job. If abortion access is as popular as many would have us believe, legislation reflecting that sentiment should be a no-brainer. Through the lawmaking process, compromises can be made, as done in other countries. As for the European scolding, it is ironic to hear criticisms from countries whose abortion laws have been far more restrictive than the United States' law for decades. In some cases, theirs are more restrictive than the Mississippi law that gave rise to the Dobbs case. There now are opportunities to legislate abortion access. Those who are energized by this issue should roll up their sleeves and lobby their representatives. Thats how democracy works. David Shuford. A staff member presents an e-pass for traveling on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 16, 2022. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) PHNOM PENH, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. Invested by China Road and Bridge Corporation, the construction work on the 187-km long expressway began in June 2019. The 2-billion-U.S.-dollar project is now over 94 percent completed and is scheduled to be open for trial operation in this September. Nem Sreypov, a testing staff member at the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway's central laboratory, said the job has not only provided her a good salary, but also developed her skills and expertise. "When I started to work at this laboratory, my impression was that the Chinese experts had taught me how to use every equipment," she told Xinhua. "I feel very excited to work at this laboratory in which equipment is new and modern, and its testing capacity is very accurate." Sreypov, who has been working for the company for more than three years, said Chinese technicians have trained her how to test the quality of concrete, cement and stone, and now, she can do it independently. The 26-year-old employee said she was interested in working for the project because since she was born, she had never seen the expressway in Cambodia. "I'm very proud to participate in the construction of this huge Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project, and I believe that it will greatly contribute to boosting Cambodia's economic development," she said. Seng Makkra, a safety officer at the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway's Section 3, said the job was very useful to further develop his ability, giving him a chance to learn new technologies and methods in infrastructure development. "I love this job very much because it gives me an opportunity to improve my knowledge and skills, and I'm confident that after this project is completed, I will be able to help build other transport infrastructure projects in Cambodia in the future," he told Xinhua. Makkra, 38, who has been working for the company since 2019, said as infrastructure development demands high expertise and technologies, China Road and Bridge Corporation has greatly helped develop human resources for Cambodia in this sector. Hu Zhaoguang, general manager of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project office, said the company provided jobs for local people based on the idea of "both giving them fish and teaching them how to fish." "Meanwhile, we also focus on passing the skills to them and scale up their ability to improve their lives through work," he told Xinhua. Hu said the company also put priorities on fulfilling social responsibilities and improving local people's livelihoods. "Since the start of the project, we have assisted 22 households in need, and the number of localized workers for the entire project has reached more than 3,200," he said. "I believe that with the joint efforts of Chinese and Cambodian employees, the expressway project will be able to open to traffic on schedule with high quality and quantity," Hu added. The Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway is the first-ever freeway in the Southeast Asian country, and it is the fruit of cooperation between Cambodia and China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Cambodian Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol said the project has created more than 3,000 jobs for Cambodians and it will play a crucial role in helping boost the country's economic growth when it is open for traffic. "This project is very beneficial to our Cambodian workers because it provides them with technical know-how on the construction of an expressway, and we hope that after the project, they will be able to use their knowledge to help build other expressways in Cambodia," he said during a visit to the project. At a length of 190 km, the expressway has a width of 24.5 meters with two lanes with vegetation in the middle. Vehicles will be able to travel at a speed of 100 km per hour, taking only two hours to travel between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, instead of five hours at present. Aerial photo taken on June 24, 2022 shows the operation center of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) Aerial photo taken on July 16, 2022 shows the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project in Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) Aerial photo taken on June 24, 2022 shows the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) A staff member gestures from a toll station on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 16, 2022. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) People visit the operation center of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 16, 2022. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) A staff member shows an e-pass for traveling on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 16, 2022. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) A staff member presents an e-pass for traveling on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 16, 2022. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) Aerial photo taken on July 16, 2022 shows the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project in Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) Engineers for the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project pose for a photo in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 16, 2022. Connecting the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of Preah Sihanouk, the Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project will not only further boost the economy, but also contribute to producing talents for the country's infrastructure sector. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua) VIRGINIA BEACH Jeri Prophet has come a long way from her small hometown in Colorado with five paved roads and a high school graduating class of 21 students. Prophet, CEO of IntellecTechs headquartered in Virginia Beach, was named the 2022 Small Business Person of the Year for Virginia by the U.S. Small Business Administration. There are so many businesses in Virginia to win it is surreal, Prophet said. The most important part is knowing that Ive helped people along the way and hopefully made a big difference in some of their lives. This years theme, Building a Better America Through Entrepreneurship, focused on award winners from all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the Virgin Islands. SBA head Isabella Casillas Guzman said in a news release that the winners represent the vibrancy and resiliency of the nations 32.5 million small businesses. Entrepreneurs are innovators and creators at their core, delivering the products and services we depend on and making our neighborhoods, towns and cities more vibrant places to live and work, Guzman said. They give their all to achieve their American dream of business ownership and, by doing so, advance Americas economy and global competitiveness. Prophet, a Navy veteran, founded the professional software development and managed information technology services company in 2008. Rooted in the Hampton Roads community, the company grew from one employee to about 300 with multiple locations in 28 states and five countries. In the early years, Prophet hadnt envisioned herself as a business owner. Now almost 15 years later, IntellecTechs supplies and supports all of the U.S. embassies and has clientele worldwide. The mother of two sons, Samuel Spayde, 27, and Michael Prophet, 17, said she was busy going to college to earn her bachelors degree and Master of Business Administration back-to-back while raising her sons as a single mother and building her company. Spayde has been involved with the company since he was 15 and is IntellecTechs director of finance. Eager to help fellow veterans, Prophet said more than 70% of her employees are former military personnel. In 2009, she started the initiative, Mentoring Our Veterans into Tomorrow (MOVIT) to help transitioning veterans and wounded warriors with education and employment opportunities. That same year, she also created NowHiringVeterans.com where employers can post career opportunities for veterans for free. Employers will come to me stating they want to hire veterans, but they just dont know how to do it, Prophet said. I tell them, Theres no system. Just hire them. Eager to help other small-business owners, Prophet hosts seminars and speaking engagements about different topics, including social media and cybersecurity issues. Interns join IntellecTechs from Norfolk State and Old Dominion universities every summer. The company sponsors holiday toy drives yearly and church baskets. And it is this work and more that led to Prophets selection for the award. It is what IntellecTechs does for the community and especially veterans, Guzman said. Small businesses do a lot for job growth and the economy, but it is the impact in the community that is their business legacy. The Mary Draper Ingles Festival commemorating the capture, escape and grueling return journey of one of Virginias most famous colonial heroines will take place July 29-31 in the City of Radford and surrounding communities. This years festival features colonial period reenactors, old-time crafts and skills, an art exhibit inspired by Ingles and many childrens activities, including a petting zoo, at Glencoe Mansion, Museum & Gallery. The historic Ingles Farm, which showcases a replica of Marys cabin, will be open for tours and talks by interpreters. Long Way Brewing, a craft beer company whose name is a take on the frontierswomans journey, will also feature live music, food trucks, a childrens play zone and a living history performance by West Virginia actress Karen Vuranch. Born in 1732 to Irish immigrants in Philadelphia, Mary becomes part of the great westward migration of Europeans who pressed on through Virginia in search of affordable land and a better future. She and her family join an expedition that eventually settles on land in the New River Valley where she marries Englishman William Ingles. Parts of the frontier are in the grips of the French and Indian War, and in July 1755 a group of Shawnees stage an attack, killing four residents and abducting Mary, her two children and sister-in-law. What follows is a month-long march over hundreds of miles through the Ohio and Kentucky regions until Mary decides to escape. The story of Marys undeniable determination continues to capture interest more than 260 years later, resulting in numerous books, including Follow the River, a New York Times bestseller, and several outdoor dramas and movies. Friday evening kicks off with the dedication of the Mary Draper Ingles Cultural Heritage Park that now includes native plant species, a bronze statue of Mary and a train observatory designed and built by Virginia Tech students and faculty. James Alexander Thom, author of Follow the River, is expected to sign books during the event. Long Way Brewing will kick off its celebration with the reintroduction of a craft beer named in honor of Mary, as well as music and food. Saturdays activities will run most of the day at Glencoe, the brewing company and the Ingles Farm. On Sunday, the festival continues at Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Dublin and will feature interpreters, live music and tours of the historic Ingles Tavern located on the banks of the New River in Pulaski County. The festival is coordinated by Glencoe Mansion, Museum & Gallery and is made possible in part by a grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation. For an event schedule, go to www.glencoemansion.org or phone (540) 731-5031. Restaurant and lodging lists available at www.visitradford.com. For more information about the history of Mary Draper Ingles, visit www.marydraperingles.com. Submitted by Scott Gardner CHRISTIANSBURG The Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve a new 400-square-foot public delivery zone location for drone delivery company Wing. The location, on town property next to the town Recreation Center on Franklin Street, will allow more local residents to order items by drone, according to the company. Wing, a subsidiary company of Googles parent Alphabet, began its commercial deliveries in Christiansburg in October 2019. It has since begun operating in cities in Finland and Australia, along with the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Previously, only residents in the four miles surrounding their base of operations on 160 Welcome St. could order limited local food, library books, or health and wellness products (their current offerings) through Wing. In surveys, the company found many local residents were interested in ordering but didnt live in the delivery area. Now, Wing spokesman Jacob Demmitt said at a meeting in May, virtually anyone who would like to experience drone delivery will have the opportunity. Public delivery zones, also known as DZs, have been implemented before in Finland, where customers could order food or other lightweight items to a public park. Their Youtube video demonstration showed the drone hovering above the zone and slowly letting a line down with the package attached. The DZ in Finland was a roped-off grassy area in a public park without attendants. Wing spokespeople said at their original presentation to the council in May that the setup will be similar, with no permanent structures or buildings. When asked by Councilman Henry Showalter about concerns of unintended people stealing delivered items, Steve Yates, Wings director of U.S. business operations, said the company has not had any issues with stealing at their other public DZs. Wing will pay the town $600 a month to use the space. Customers will only be able to order in the area of the recreation center, and a QR code will be set up on signage to place orders. Drones can carry packages up to 2.6 pounds and release no emissions as they are entirely electric. Yates told the council in May he believes that people are interested in a touchless society. In August of 2021, the company announced on their Youtube channel that they had delivered almost 100,000 orders in two years. For two years, operating five days a week, and in five locations across the globe, that makes for just over 190 deliveries per day. Their video indicated that much of the demand was in Logan, Australia, where they are able to serve 19 neighborhoods. Expanding the reach of their local delivery area requires multiple approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration and can take long stretches of time as the legal proceedings go through. Wing hopes the addition of the public DZ in Christiansburg will reach untapped demand even as the main delivery area remains limited. RICHMOND A former sales associate for Virginia ABC and another man have been indicted in what authorities described as a conspiracy to obtain internal ABC inventory data on high-demand and limited-availability bourbons, and provide that insider information to interested parties for a price. Former ABC employee Edgar Smith Garcia, 28, of Manassas and Robert William Adams, 45, of Chesapeake were indicted last month by a Richmond Metropolitan Multi-Jurisdiction Grand Jury on charges of using a computer to illegally obtain an unauthorized copy of ABC data and embezzling the agencys inventory product sales list. They also are charged with two counts of conspiring to commit those offenses. The cases are being tried in Hanover County because thats where Virginia ABC recently moved its new headquarters and distribution center from Hermitage Road in Richmond. The charges are based on allegations that Garcia, as an ABC employee, had access to an internal list of the agencys allocated liquor products that was not available to the public. Garcia then provided the information to Adams, who had a private Facebook page, and Adams would release the information to his subscribers who would pay him $300 each for access, said Henrico County Assistant Commonwealths Attorney David Stock, who is prosecuting the case and is special counsel to the multijurisdictional grand jury. They would know where bottles of bourbons highly sought by collectors would be placed in stores for sale before the general public was aware, Stock said of the two defendants. Stock said the investigation focused on various labels of high-demand, limited-availability bourbons allocated by the government-run liquor monopoly. The agency has compiled a list of more than 100 products that are not readily available to meet public demand, but occasionally offered for sale at randomly selected ABC stores at one bottle per customer per day. Some of the sought-after bourbons include Buffalo Trace, Bookers Bourbon and Blantons Single Barrel. The goal was to make the products as accessible as possible and correct a system where bourbon hunters or whiskey enthusiasts were camping outside Virginia ABC stores when they thought or caught wind that a shipment of allocated whiskey was coming in. Now, Virginia ABC will announce on its Spirited Virginia Facebook or Instagram page that certain stores will have the allocated bourbon for purchase. Because both cases are pending adjudication, Stock declined to say how Garcia and Adams were connected or what brought them together. Garcia was employed as a lead sales associate from Feb. 14, 2020, to March 25 and earned $16.53 an hour, ABC officials said. Reached Friday, attorney Vaughan Jones, who is representing Adams, said he could not comment on his clients ongoing legal matter. But Vaughan said that based on his initial review of the evidence, he found that the acquisition of hard-to-find alcoholic beverages became a hobby among enthusiasts that gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many people and I cant comment on whether my client is one of them who were pursuing all avenues possible to acquire, through legal means, hard-to-find alcohol, Jones said. Attorney Tony Paracha in Centreville, who is representing Smith, could not be reached for comment. Virginia ABC and other law enforcement agencies conducted an investigation based on complaints the agency received, along with our own observations, said ABC spokeswoman Dawn Eischen in a statement Friday. Since this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we cannot comment on how ABC investigated this case or provide details about products associated with the charges. We can confirm, however, that they were limited availability products. Added Eischen: As the sole provider of spirits in Virginia, we want to ensure that every customer has a fair chance at acquiring highly sought-after products. We are committed to this standard and are confident that our current random process to distribute limited availability products addresses the issues identified in our investigation that led to the arrest of these two individuals. Garcia and Adams were released on bond after their arrests. Garcia is scheduled to enter a plea to the charges on Sept. 19, court records show. On Friday, a judge set a jury trial date of Dec. 12-13 for Adams in Hanover Circuit Court. DANVILLE A nonprofit group focused on childhood services has rebranded to reflect a new regional reach. When the calendar flipped to July, Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania became the Center for Early Success. Its mission of caring for and educating children from birth to age 5 remains the same, but it now has a broader geographic stamp. While based in Danville, the center has expanded to serve 16 localities in Central and Southern Virginia. Earlier this year, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation announced the creation of Ready Regions, a network designed for coordination and accountability to early education programs in every community across the commonwealth. It was launched in wake of the coronavirus pandemic and divides the state into nine regions. The leading facilities in those areas will help to coordinate programs for the youngest of learners. Locally, Regions Ready Southside has a grant to provide more than $1 million in annual funding. In addition to Danville, the Center for Early Success serves Lynchburg and the counties of Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward. The regional leadership role makes the center responsible for implementing new quality standards and collection of data across all publicly funded early education providers, including Head Start, public schools, private centers and family day homes, a news release reported. Ready Regions will help communities be accountable for their programs and systems to prepare children for success, as well as enabling families to choose the early childhood education options they want and need, Kathy Glazer, president of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, said. We appreciate the support of the legislature and the governor to establish this public-private regional network that will strengthen Virginias early childhood education system, ensuring quality, affordable access for all families. In an effort to boost resources and services for families with young children, the Center for Early Success will partner with parents, school divisions, social and human services agencies, quality improvement networks, early childhood education programs and businesses, the release stated. Were thrilled to unveil our new name and logo to the community, Angela Wells, executive director of the Center for Early Success, said in a news release. Wells said Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania spent 10 years constructing a foundation around school readiness. As the Center for Early Success, we will have a broader reach, more financial resources and a regional leadership role. We are honored and excited for this opportunity to play a pivotal part in Virginias effort to transform early childhood education, she said. We are grateful for the support of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Virginia Department of Education and excited about the promise of the Ready Regions network, Julie Brown, board chair for the Center for Early Success, said. FLOYD This rural community, known for its beautiful upland landscapes and progressive attitudes, just got its first publicly accessible electric vehicle charging station. Citizens Telephone Cooperative announced July 6 the modest yet notable arrival of a new era at its Webbs Mill Road office with the installation of a CitiZap 240-volt charger with two outlets. The communications provider also added a 2021 Chevy Bolt electric company car, also a first. The Bolt has a range of around 259 miles making it a perfect choice for use in and around the New River Valley. said Greg Sapp, general manager of Citizens. Customers will pay for the juice by downloading an ap and scanning a QR code at the dual outlet charging station. Thats a step toward a greener future in Floyd as electric vehicle sales and usage increase gradually. In the near term, challenges remain, such as the fact that Floyds pioneering EV charger stands alone and will take 6 to 8 hours to fully charge Citizens new car. And all this in a small community where lots of people regularly drive substantial distances to work in places such as Roanoke, Blacksburg, Rocky Mount and Hillsville destinations that cover all compass directions from downtown Floyds only stoplight. As the push toward electrifying automobiles grows, plans are afoot to take greater strides and create the infrastructure to support them. The Virginia Department of Transportation is developing a plan to create that infrastructure, and the department wants your help to determine charging needs, priorities, and challenges, according to a website VDOT has set up for public input. That website includes questions for electric vehicle drivers and those who drive gas-powered vehicles, as well as businesses or organizations that have an interest in maintaining a charging site. The questions include concerns related to buying an electric vehicle, whether electric vehicle drivers would use public charging facilities, where public chargers should be installed and how electric vehicle chargers could benefit disadvantaged communities. According to VDOT, the state plans to invest a projected $100 million over the next five years to install charging stations as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. That program calls for charging stations to initially be installed along Virginia interstates, including Interstate 95. To participate in the VDOT survey, visit www.vtrans.org and search under the Visions + Actions tab. Oliver Hill Jr. was a brilliant and gentle person devoted to the notion that all children have the right to an excellent education. His death in 2020 less than a year after his retirement as a distinguished psychology professor at Virginia State University left the commonwealth one less champion of assuring that all students learn the true lessons of their states history while earnestly preparing for the workforce. What is that excellent education all Virginians are entitled to and how is it threatened today by people who twist the original meaning of the Black slang term woke? Woke as it emerged in U.S. culture means being alert to injustice in society, especially racism. For nearly 100 years that is what the term has meant to an almost exclusively Black audience. The term has been turned on its head and had horns added by some white people who use it to denigrate Black Americans and their allies. Yet most Americans are on a journey together to understand the nations history more fully in ways that simply were not taught when the founding fathers were deified. There are many ways to improve public schools without returning them to the days when discomforting history was barely taught. Hill was an inspiring figure who improved Virginias schools by adding skills and including all of the states story instead of disparaging those adding truth to how founding fathers shaped America. A New York Post attack on Monticellos current brand of tours calls out what the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper disparages as Monticello is going woke and trashing Thomas Jeffersons legacy in the process. The piece warns that folks on tours of Jeffersons Albemarle County home are glum and finding too much said about slavery in ways that belittle or criticize the third president. Monticello pushed back against the New York Post piece, calling it inaccurate and offering a lopsided view of the guest experience. We know that an increasingly polarized America makes it proportionately more difficult to offer a comprehensive view of Jeffersons immense achievements, and the realities of slavery at Monticello, Foundation President Leslie Greene Bowman said in a statement. Hill knew that America cant go back to education that just makes white Americans feel good. Before gaining his Ph.D. and masters from the University of Michigan, he was among 26 black students who enrolled in seventh grade at a white Richmond junior high school in 1960 and could later joke about how he was surprised to learn there how happy the slaves were. He did for education in Petersburg and elsewhere what his famous father, Oliver Hill Sr. (who spent much of his childhood in Roanoke), helped do for legal desegregation of public schools nationwide by advancing cases that led to the historic Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. The younger Hill, who recalled a cross burning on his familys front yard during his dads civil rights legal battles, brought the Algebra Project to Petersburg, a nationwide program that uses math literacy as an organizing tool to boost public education and improve school accreditation. In the last few years of his life, Hill drew great hope from his observations that teaching all history, not just the parts that make white Americans feel good, has brought more whites into civil rights demonstrations over injustices. In many of the crowds, the white participants outnumber the African Americans in many cities, he said in a June 2020 WTVR-TV interview. When talking about race, its not about white people feeling guilty or anything. Its the reality of where we are given that history that would allow us to become a really egalitarian society. Hill asked what kind of changes are needed in institutions and what should our education system look like, if we really were to have a true and just society. Those answers can only come, he said, if Americans can come to a common understanding of the past by examining the narratives that have been entrenched our understood history. Hill said his sense of self was changed by learning more about African-American and African history. All Americans are on this journey together to discover honest ways we can tell and teach the fuller truth of our nations history from Jeffersons time to our own. " " Ten24 digital scanning, the BBC "One Show" and Black Edge 3D printing worked together created the first piece of art covered in Vantablack, a coated 3D bronze sculpture of BBC Science reporter Marty Jopson's face. Surrey NanoSystems If a color can hold a world record, Surrey NanoSystems says its super-black coating known as Vantablack does. The coating holds an "independently verified world record as the darkest man-made substance," according to the company website. But what exactly is Vantablack and is it really the blackest black? Technically, Vantablack a pigment coating developed in 2014 by Surrey NanoSystems. The name is an acronym for Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array Black. The company says Vantablack absorbs 99.965 percent of light, which made it the blackest of all blacks at the time. Advertisement What Is Vantablack? Vantablack was originally designed for use in space travel and optics as an application on sensitive materials to help improve the visibility of distant objects being studied. For example, coating a telescope in Vantablack absorbs glare, making it easier for users to see distant stars and planets. Surrey NanoSytems' first Vantablack process used chemical reactions to "grow" millions of microscopic filaments of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to the surface of the object being coated. The CNTs stood on end and were packed tightly against each other. The CNTs absorb nearly all the light that reach the object, making it appear like a black void. Normal black objects or pigments absorb light that's why a black car gets hotter on a sunny day than a white car but they still reflect enough light to be seen. The goal of Vantablack is to absorb as much light as possible, which, when successful, strips the object of visible depth and texture, leaving only a silhouette. Newer versions of Vantablack use different arrangements of the carbon nanotubes, enabling more traditional application techniques to achieve a similar effect. These versions can be sprayed on using robots and don't have to be grown in a CVD reactor. That makes Vantablack more versatile and explains how it ended up on a BMW X6 SUV as well as on the high-tech space equipment. " " Vantablack coating absorbs 99.965 percent of light, making it ideal for applications in space travel and optics. Surrey NanoSystems Advertisement Vantablack and BMW Numerous car companies approached Surrey NanoSystems about coating a car in Vantablack VBX2 paint finish, but it wasn't until BMW came calling that the company finally agreed. "We turned down numerous requests from various automobile manufacturers in the past," Ben Jensen, founder and chief technical officer of Surrey NanoSystems, said in a press statement. "It took the BMW X6 and its unique, expressive design for us to entertain the idea." The VBX2 paint makes the BMW X6 appear 2D, though angles still provide slight reflection. So what was BMW's goal, besides drawing attention to the X6 SUV? Once coated in Vantablack, the company's design team was able to study the vehicle in an entirely new way, focusing on proportions and silhouettes, without the numerous distractions hidden by coating. Though the BMW X6 is a one-off just for show, it can teach designers a lot about the coating, its capabilities and its limitations. For example, modern safety systems that rely on complex sensor networks specifically LiDAR systems that pick up reflected light can still see the X6. One such system is the emergency braking system that automatically slows or stops your car if you get too close to the car in front of you. LiDAR company Ouster tested its lasers on the BMW X6 and the car was still perceived by the braking system. In other words, even though Vantablack makes the car nearly "invisible," advanced technology seems to still be able to detect it. " " The BMW X6 is coated with the Vantablack VBX2 paint finish, making the car look almost two-dimensional. Surrey NanoSystems Advertisement Can You Buy Vantablack? Vantablack is still hard to manufacture, and it's expensive, so it's not available for sale commercially. But Surrey NanoSystems does provide samples to universities, museums and research institutions to display. And because it requires such a special application, the company has licensed its Vantablack S-VIS use only to artist Anish Kapoor of Kapoor Studios UK. It's not like just anyone could just call up and acquire a couple gallons of the stuff anyway, but the move ruffled a lot of feathers for going against the spirit of the art community. But other artists have proven you don't need a high-tech lab or a ton of money to get a similar effect on a small scale. Artist Stuart Semple created two matte black acrylic paints, Black 2.0 and Black 3.0, which are pretty darn black. Though they are not the blackest blacks in existence, Semple's site notes that's the trade-off for being affordable, accessible, easy to use and available online. (See Now That's Interesting below for more details.) In fall of 2019, engineers at MIT revealed a new, even darker black coating, which is capable of absorbing 99.995 percent of visible light. MIT's coating is also made of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and was developed for optical and space science applications. Still, others in the art community and elsewhere are invested in finding the absolute limit of the blackest possible black, so it's possible we may one day be able to capture those remaining hundredths of a percent of visible light. Now That's Interesting Vantablack inspired a social media showdown between Anish Kapoor, the artist who acquired the exclusive rights to Vantablack, and Stuart Semple, an artist who resented that he was unable to use the coating in his own work due to Kapoor's exclusivity agreement. Semple created his own pigments, the Pinkest Pink and the aforementioned Black 2.0 and Black 3.0, and sells them online ... to anyone but Kapoor. Young scientist programme helps promote agri-tech, innovation Nearly 30 young scientists and entrepreneurs from lower Mekong countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam, have gathered at the 2022 Young Scientist Programme to develop solutions on STEAM education and workforce innovation. Tin Mar Lar Thein (centre), from Myanmar, won first place at the competition which was announced during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Young Scientist Programme held in HCM City on July 15. Photo courtesy of Teresa Trinh Nguyen This year's programme, part of the Mekong-US partnership, focused on agricultural technology and innovation. The programme, sponsored by the US Department of State and organised by Arizona State University (ASU) in partnership with HCM City University of Technology and Education in HCM City, focused on agricultural technology and innovation. The programme is centered around fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and the creation of a network of young scientists in the five Lower Mekong countries. It's a hybrid format, with participants taking virtual lessons from their home country in entrepreneurship and innovation from ASU faculty for one month. These classes prompted participants to drill down on their problem statement and laid the foundation for outlining their investor pitch. The participants were brought together for a 5-day immersive experience in HCM City to hear from agri-tech entrepreneurs, investors, and industry collaborators through a series of panels, keynotes, and informative sessions. The in-person programme emphasised the importance of agricultural technology on the development and economic health of the Mekong countries. In addition, agri-tech entrepreneurs provided insight in their success, challenges, and lessons learned through their start-ups, while investors and industry connectors identified what they search for when considering investments and collaboration with local start-ups. Speakers represented various educational technology companies, investor agencies, and change makers, such as AWS, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, and SNV. The Young Scientist Programme is just one part of the commitment of the US to help Mekong countries address the unique challenges that the delta faces. Education and research collaboration are extremely important and thats why we do this, said Robert Greenan, Acting Consul General of the US Embassy and Consulate in Vietnam, during his welcome remarks earlier in the week. We hope that through this programme, early career scientists like yourselves in this region will continue to have an opportunity to do their good work, to collaborate on research, to come together to find the solutions to the transnational problems. The Mekong-US Partnership promotes the stability, peace, prosperity, and sustainable development of the Mekong sub-region through cooperation among the Mekong partner countries and the US. It further reinforces the strong and longstanding relationship among the US, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The partnership builds upon 11 years of cooperation and progress to expand collaboration in the face of new challenges and opportunities. The partnership supports the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision and is an integral part of support and cooperation between the US and ASEAN. The Mekong US Partnership provides a variety of programmes and engagements, including US educational programs, regional exchanges, capacity building, and seed funding. Jeffrey Goss, Associate Vice Provost of Southeast Asia Initiatives at Arizona State University, emphasised the need to maintain relationships from the program to continue supportive collaboration. Something like this is the result of collaboration of like-minded individuals who believe that people have the power to improve their communities. I encourage you to leverage the relationships youve made throughout the program as a supporting system to drive positive change," he said. The programme concluded with a pitch competition where each participant delivered their agri-tech solution to a panel of judges in pursuit of the grand prize, US$15,000 in seed grant funding to implement their solution. The judges represented start-up incubators and higher education professionals in the region. Tin Mar Lar Thein, from Myanmar, won the first place at the competition which was announced during the closing ceremony on July 15, for her project on value-added ginger health drinks. With the application of technology, her project helps local ginger growers to earn more income and consumers to find healthy drinks made from ginger. She said the programme should be continued in the future to help young entrepreneurs like her to gain more confidence. BAMIYAN, Afghanistan, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Once a popular destination for tourists, Afghanistan's central Bamiyan province has been gradually recovering from the war aftermath to attract sightseers, but the scarcity of accommodations has become a new problem. "More than 60,000 tourists have visited Bamiyan over the past three months. In recent days the number of visitors is on the rise as up to 600 tourists visit the giant Buddhas' area every day," provincial head of Information and Culture Mawlawi Saifurahman Mohammadi told Xinhua. Mohammadi said the number of daily visitors to Bamiyan had crossed 1,000 during the three-day Eid al-Adha holiday which ended on Monday. Bamiyan province, boasting pleasant weather, beautiful landscape, the Band-e-Amir lates, historical sites and above all the giant Buddhas, which was a popular tourist destination nearly five decades ago, has been doing its best to reclaim its title as a tourist destination with returning peace. However, the mountainous province has yet to accommodate tourists and guests, as there are few hotels and rest houses for the visitors. Abdul Shah, who recently visited Bamiyan, told Xinhua that many tourists were forced to sleep inside their cars or in the open air due to a shortage of accommodations last week. The 23-year-old came along with her fiance from Afghanistan's northern Mazar-i-Sharif city lamented that poor facilities could be a problem in developing the tourism industry in the province. Tourism is booming as up to 500 cars and vehicles bring in sightseers to the pictureque lakes of Band-e-Amir every day and some 40,000 tourists including foreigners had visited the national park Band-e-Amir, said Sayed Ismael, an official of the national park. "About 40,000 tourists have visited the Band-e-Amir lakes since Eid al-Fitr which began in early May and every day we have thousands of guests here," Ismael told Xinhua. Another visitor to Band-e-Amir, Sayed Milad, also expressed happiness over his visit to Bamiyan. "I used to swim here and really I have enjoyed the fresh water and fresh air here," he said. "I really love the green and friendly atmosphere in a peaceful environment while visiting many natural landscapes and historical monuments," said Zahra from Kabul, but adding that the tourism industry will not develop unless the authorities build facilities to accommodate tourists. FLORENCE, S.C. -- Florence One Schools has one of the state's best financial ratings, twice as much money in the bank as required by law, an ongoing building program, a diverse and growing student population, a bright future and no respect for anything that is minimally adequate. New issue brief urges prosecutors to stop pursuing drug-induced homicide charges | Main | What is the price (for victims and taxpayers) of a four-month(!) capital trial for Parkland mass murderer Nikolas Cruz? July 16, 2022 Feds seeking (above-guideline) sentence of 15 years for first Jan 6 defendant to be sentenced after trial convictions Based on a recent AP accounting of the January 6 riot cases, I believe there have already been around 200 defendants sentenced for their activities related to the Capitol riot, but all of those sentences have been handed down after guilty pleas. As detailed in this Insider article, federal prosecutors are seeking a particularly severe sentence for the first rioter due to be sentenced following a conviction at trial. Here are the basics: Guy Reffitt, the first Capitol rioter convicted at trial on charges stemming from the January 6, 2021 insurrection, should receive a 15-year prison sentence for his "central role" in leading a pro-Trump mob that clashed with police protecting Congress, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday. A jury in Washington, DC, needed just hours in early March to find Reffitt guilty on all five charges he faced in connection with the Capitol attack, including obstruction of an official proceeding. Reffitt, of Texas, was also found guilty of entering restricted Capitol grounds with a handgun and with later threatening his children to keep them from reporting him to law enforcement. In a 58-page court filing, federal prosecutors argued that Reffitt played a pivotal role in "overwhelming officers and showing the mob the way forward at the outset of the riot." The language echoed their description of Reffitt at his weeklong trial, where prosecutors called Reffitt the "tip of this mob's spear" and played video footage of him ascending stairs up to the Capitol in tactical gear, with fellow members of the pro-Trump mob following him. If ordered, the 15-year sentence would go down as the longest prison term given to a Capitol rioter to date, nearly tripling the more than 5-year sentence Robert Scott Palmer received after throwing a fire extinguisher at police during the January 6 attack. Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee confirmed in 2017, is set to sentence Reffitt on August 1.... In a separate court filing Friday, Reffitt's defense lawyer argued that he should receive a sentence of no longer than 2 years in prison. His lawyer, F. Clinton Broden, noted that Reffitt never entered the Capitol. The Government's lengthy sentencing memorandum is available at this link, and it begins this way: For Defendant Guy Reffitts central role in leading a mob that attacked the United States Capitol while our elected representatives met in a solemn Joint Session of Congress including his intention to use his gun and police-style flexicuffs to forcibly drag legislators out of the building and take over Congress, and his later threats to harm his children if they turned him into the FBI the government respectfully requests that this Court sentence him to 15 years of incarceration. The Court should depart upwards from the PSRs Sentencing Guidelines range of 9 to 11.25 years (108 to 135 months)2 of incarceration both because Reffitts crime was calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, U.S.S.G. 3A1.4, cmt. n.4, and because the Guidelines grouping analysis provides inadequate scope for Reffitts possession of multiple weapons in the commission of his offenses, see U.S.S.G. 3D1.4, bkgd. cmt. (upward departure based on grouping); 5K2.6 (upward departure based on use of weapons). The defense's sentencing memorandum is available at this link, stresses to the court the "need to avoid sentencing disparities" and it contends that "most if not all defendants who received a sentence of greater than 24 months imprisonment are at a whole different level than Mr. Reffitt." It concludes this way: Based upon the foregoing, Undersigned Counsel respectfully suggests that a sentence of no more than 24 months imprisonment is, in fact, sufficient but not greater than necessary to comply with the purposes of 18 U.S.C. 3553. Some of many prior related posts: July 16, 2022 at 07:39 PM | Permalink Comments Assuming the details are correct, 10-15 sounds about right. I would note, however, the AP and other Democrat state media are not complaining that this is another case of mass incarceration, which will ruin his life and not give him an opportunity to make restitution. Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jul 16, 2022 9:11:03 PM TarlsQtr -- Just so. The Lefties. who for years have been yelping about "harm reduction" and rehab and second chances and "re-imagining" incarceration, etc., et al, all of a sudden have become real quite about the Capitol rioters. What a bunch of hack hypocrites. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 16, 2022 10:21:15 PM I am curious, Tarls and Bill, what makes a sentence of 10-15 years seem "about right" in this case given his offense conduct seems comparable or even much less culpable than lots of folks who have only received 2 years or less? Do you think lots of other Jan 6 defendants have been sentenced much too leniently or that an extra decade of prison time is justified for Reffitt's failure to plead guilty? For the record, given that Reffitt did not even enter the Capitol and has no significant criminal history, I think the feds are asking for an excessive prison term. But that has long been par for the course for anyone who exercises his constitutional right to trial and won't waive all sorts of other rights as part of a plea. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 17, 2022 2:20:33 PM Ignoring whether others have received overly lenient sentences I would say that factors unrelated to Jan. 6 itself (such as the threatening his kids) counsels in favor of a much longer term in Mr. Reffitt's case. As far as I've seen most of them (even people who did in fact inter the Capitol building) were simply acting stupidly and recklessly, they got caught up in a mob and, as mobs do, didn't particularly think about whether what they were doing was a good idea. Reffitt, on the other hand, appears to have very much planned to do _something_. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Jul 17, 2022 5:22:38 PM You may want to read the defense's sentencing memorandum to see what his daughter had to say about him. It is touching and compassionate. I do wonder how many of those who have received light sentences after a plea testified against him at trial. Apparently, they would not let his daughter testify. Another item is his pre trial confinement. This is very familiar to me. I do also think we have a legal system not a justice system. Posted by: beth curtis | Jul 17, 2022 7:40:10 PM Having not looked at the guidelines or the facts of the case, I have no informed opinion about the sentence. My impression is that 15 sounds quite stiff. On the other hand, the defendant might have troubled himself to stay at home and shown more respect for a very important national tradition. Having chosen to act like a punk, he has only himself to blame. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 18, 2022 2:13:49 PM Douglas, 1. He appeared to be one of the main instigators. In a sports brawl, the first ones involved always get higher penalties even if the entirety of both teams become involved. A lot of people were caught up in it and deserve some leniency. A leader is not one of them. 2. He entered the Capitol with a gun and zip ties. It is fair to say he was open to using both. 3. He threatened witnesses (his kids). 4. This is different. Unlike the leftists, I would come down with the hammer of god on anyone making credible threats to politicians and the judiciary. Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jul 18, 2022 7:31:41 PM Tarls: Based even on the feds' version of events, Reffitt was no more an instigator than hundreds of others, he did not enter the Capitol, and his threats were hardly robust. That said, your final comment seems to be an indication that you think many other Jan 6 rioters have gotten sentenced too leniently. Bill: 15 years is quite stiff, especially compared to hundreds other who got much less despite seeming doing much more. So, another prime example of the trial penalty, with the government seeking a decade more for Reffitt not for his crime, but largely for his decision to exercise his constitutional rights. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 19, 2022 12:02:18 AM Doug -- No, it was not for exercising his rights. It was for his dishonest, belligerent behavior and his falsely denying what he did. It's wrong to punish people for exercising their rights, but perfectly in line to enhance their sentence (which was still within the statutory range) when they lie. He lied, so he got socked. Too bad. Maybe next time he'll be more honest. P.S. It's something else to see you bridle at the judge using his discretion, when you've spent years campaigning for the idea that judges should have more discretion! Or is it that they should just have more discretion to go down, but less discretion to go up? P.P.S. If you want to overrule Bordenkircher (which you do), have at it. I think you'll have the same luck as you will wanting to overrule Watts. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 21, 2022 11:23:21 AM Bill, we have not yet seen in this case how the judge will use his discretion, as Reffitt is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug 1. So this is not at all about bridling at judicial discretion (which I always support, though I want it guided by lots of sensible law and subject to transparency and various forms of review). I am here troubled by prosecutors seeking a sentence 10+ years longer for the first Jan 6 defendant convicted at trial when his actual "belligerent behavior" appears to be no worse than the behavior of many comparable defendants who pled guilty and got only around 2 years. It is that exercise of prosecutorial discretion that leaves me puzzled and creates the impression of a trial penalty with a sentencing recommendation from prosecutors 2x or 3x more severe based not on the actual offense conduct, but based a defendant exercising his constitutional right to put the government to its burden of proof. Among my concerns is that prosecutors do not fully and truly explain why such a disparity in sentencing recommendations is justified here. You think it is because Reffitt was "dishonest" and "lied," but an extra 10+ years in prison for dishonesty seems quite severe AND it is not clear that is what is going on. The government's sentencing memo does not assert he lied nor to they seek to justify the disparity in sentencing recommendations on this ground. You might think that serves as an adequate justification, but that is not what DOJ has said to the judge prior to sentencing. So, Bill, it seems you have some key facts wrong here. But that's okay, I already know you generally think prosecutors can do no wrong, even if the rest of us sometimes do get things wrong. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 21, 2022 12:56:49 PM How many of the other rioters brought a gun, flexicuffs, and threatened their own children? That sounds especially heinous and deserving of a beat down many of the others were spared. Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jul 21, 2022 2:58:43 PM Doug -- "So, Bill, it seems you have some key facts wrong here. But that's okay, I already know you generally think prosecutors can do no wrong, even if the rest of us sometimes do get things wrong." Here's a partial list of prosecutors I think get things wrong, not just often, but routinely: George Gascon, Kim Foxx, Larry Krasner, Marilyn Mosby, Alvin Bragg, Kimberly Gardner, Keith Ellison. I would have added former DA Chesa Boudin, but, despite the sentencing reform movement's love of him, those far right wing extremist voters of San Francisco just dumped him in a landslide. I mean, they are far right wing, no?? My, my, my. Didn't think too much of Democratic rising star Mike Nifong, either. So who is getting "key facts wrong" in claiming I'm such a kneejerk fan of prosecutors? You probably believe everything Weldon Angelos says, too. P.S. You're not getting any stars on your chart for not giving me a call while you were in town for the Angelos event. Sit in the corner! Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 21, 2022 6:55:21 PM Tarls: here is one case referenced in the defense sentencing memo of a person who got less than 4 years: "United States v. Coffman, No. 1:21-CR-00004-CKK: Drove to Washington on January 6 from Alabama in a pickup truck, containing loaded firearms, including a 9mm handgun, a rifle, and a shotgun. Also, inside the pickup truck and in its covered bed were hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, a crossbow with bolts, machetes, camouflage smoke devices, a stun gun, cloth rags, lighters, a cooler containing eleven mason jars with holes punched in the lids, and other items. The eleven mason jars each contained a mixture of gasoline and Styrofoam [to serve as bottle-based improvised incendiary weapons (i.e. Molotov cocktails).... [And] before January 6, he had traveled to Washington and attempted to drive to the residence of a United States Senator." Not a perfect apple-to-apples comparison, but still seemingly pretty comparable. Even if you think Reffitt's conduct was much worse than Coffman's, is it really FOUR TIMES WORSE, so that Reffitt should get 15 years in prison while Coffman got only 46 months? Indeed, I believe the feds only asked for 41 months for Coffman, but now seek 180 months for Reffitt. Again, if you want to say Coffman should have faced a decade or more for comparable behavior and was lucky to get such a break for the feds, so be it. But I have a hard time finding a basis other than that Reffitt went to trial to explain why the feds are seeking nearly five times longer a sentence for Reffitt than they sought for Coffman. So you understand, I am fully supportive of sentencing giving credit for those who show remorse, admit the truth about their misbehavior (on Jan 6 or at other times). But, if we are to truly respect and honor constitutional rights, it is a very bad practice and very bad look if and when someone seems to face many years, even decades longer punishment when the only clear distinguishing feature of their case is that they exercised their right to trial. Perhaps a 1/3 reduction --- eg, a sentence differential of 4 years after a plea to 6 years after a trial --- makes sense. But sentences that are 3x or 4x longer due to going to trial just seems to me badly out of whack unless one does not truly respect the right to trial and is eager to coerce folks to always give it up. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 22, 2022 9:07:55 AM Fair point, Bill, that it would be more proper to say you think prosecutors are generally never wrong when seeking severe sentences (but often wrong when failing to do so). Kind of like you generally think the Justices are never wrong when ruling for the state in criminal cases (but always wrong when ruling for a defendant). So, I will refine by saying you are a persistent fan of the application state power in the criminal justice arena. Indeed, I think we are all still waiting for you to cite a single criminal constitutional SCOTUS case with a ruling for the defendant that you think was rightly decided. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 22, 2022 9:16:54 AM Doug, Thanks for the example. I do find the disparity shocking. I see nothing wrong with a plea windfall, in theory. You at right, however, that the disparity is too great. Coffman should have gotten 8-10 years instead of under four. Thats more than enough of a windfall for saving the taxpayers those resources. Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jul 22, 2022 1:30:34 PM Doug -- We always aim to please. Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137 (1995), where ALL the conservative Justices voted for the defendant, whose conviction was correctly reversed. Now a question for you: Do you think McVeigh's execution was legal and just? Not whether he was properly indicted or whether it's a good case for the death penalty if we are to have a death penalty. Nope. No dancing around. Was McVeigh's execution legal and just? Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 22, 2022 5:04:17 PM Bill, Bailey is a statutory ruling, not a constitutional one. Try again, please. As for McVeigh, I view his execution as both legal and just --- though I am always inclined to defer my personal assessment of "justice" to those persons tasked in our legal system with delivering justice (assuming there was no prosecutorial misconduct or defense incompetence in presenting the case to those persons). In McVeigh's case, a unanimous jury, with the opportunity to consider, and broad discretion as to how to give effect to, all relevant factual and moral considerations, decided he should die for his crimes. (Though I have heard stories that victims against the death penalty were not able to testify, which is troubling and played a role in the enactment of the federal Crime Victims Rights Act.) Notably, when a jury decides a defendant should not be found guilty of a crime, we ought to respect that view of justice as well. But sentencing based on acquitted conduct fails to do so. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 22, 2022 8:33:11 PM Doug -- First, thank you for your direct answer on McVeigh. Second, although Bailey is on the surface a statutory interpretation case, sure, it has, as the Dickerson majority would say, "constitutional footings" in due process, in particular, the defendant's due process right not to be convicted on an inflated version of the statute's defined culpability. Now if you say that's a rather stretched version of what the Constitution does, I would be disinclined to argue, even while noting that we've got about 70 years' worth of SCOTUS cases that do exactly the same thing or worse. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 22, 2022 9:39:10 PM Bill, Bailey does not mention due process (or any constitutional doctrine) a single time, nor does it in any way assert or even imply that the statutory interpretation it adopted has any "constitutional footings." Indeed, Congress amended 924(c) after Bailey to reach more conduct, and I am not aware of any SCOTUS of lower court rulings that even suggests Congress did anything to undermine any so-called "constitutional footings." Your peculiar assertion here has no basis in fact or law. I suspect you know better, but want to somehow rehabilitate your mistake in citing Bailey as an example of a constitutional ruling. You would be better off admitting your mistake than contending that a statutory interpretation ruling like Bailey should be read as some mysterious instance of "constitutional footings" that all nine Justices adopted sub silento. I hope you might try again, as I am still waiting for you to cite a single criminal constitutional SCOTUS case with a ruling for a criminal defendant that you think was rightly decided. This really should not be too hard, since there are literally hundreds of such rulings and there are multiple such rulings based in each of the various clauses of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments (as well as lots of other text of the Constitution as well). The fact that we have now gone multiple rounds in multiple comment threads --- and now and you are trying to pass off a 27-year-old statutory ruling as a constitutional one --- is QUITE telling and reinforces my view that, in the criminal arena, you truly are a big government statist. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 23, 2022 12:18:49 PM Doug -- Like I say, we aim to please. Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321 (1987). The Fourth Amendment doesn't say a big search or an extensive search. It just says search. Still, I can see why you're impatient. As Keith Lynch notes, all these years you've been talking to an imposter! I'm not even a lawyer! I had Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr and Boyden Grey (in addition to you) fooled. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 24, 2022 7:04:40 PM Thanks, Bill. I know you are a real lawyer who had to go back 35 years to find a criminal constitutional SCOTUS case with a ruling for a criminal defendant that you think was rightly decided. You effectively keep demonstrating that, in the criminal arena, you truly are a big government statist lawyer. Posted by: Doug B. | Jul 25, 2022 8:29:51 AM Post a comment The sticky heat of summer has long been a compelling backdrop, and metaphor, for intense relationships and predicaments in storytelling. As the temperature creeps up, so does the tension. With some parts of the UK expected to reach 40 degrees next week, many of us might be avoiding any drama and instead sticking our heads in the fridge. But if you can refrain from that, and are looking for some roasting relatability on screen, here are 21 movies thatll really make you feel the heat Holes (2003) You take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day in the hot sun, it turns him into a good boy. Thats our philosophy here at Camp Green Lake. So says Mr Sir, the chief officer at a prison camp in the Texas-set scorcher, Holes. Shia LaBeouf stars and sweats profusely as Stanley Yelnats IV, a kid wrongfully convicted of stealing a pair of sneakers. EH Call Me By Your Name (2017) Luca Guadagninos steamy coming-of-age romantic drama is set in northern Italy in the summer of 1983. It stars Timothee Chalamet as Elio Perlman, a teenager who falls in love with Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 24-year-old graduate student who comes to stay with his family over summer. This one might have you reaching for a refreshing piece of fruit a peach, perhaps to cool down. EH Armie Hammer (left) and Timothee Chalamet (right) in 'Call Me By Your Name' (Sony) A Bigger Splash (2015) Yes, Ralph Fiennes does a big naked dance in this movie. No, it is certainly not the hottest thing about it. The psychological drama another Luca Guadagnino triumph is set in an isolated villa on the scorching Italian island of Pantelleria and it features Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson luxuriating around the pool like lizards if lizards experienced sexual tension. EH Atonement (2007) I love England in a heat wave, declares Leon Tallis in Ian McEwans Atonement. Its a different country. All the rules change. In Joe Wrights adaptation of the brilliant novel, the hot weather is integral to the erotic tension between Cecilia and Robbie (Keira Knightley and James McAvoy) even though they might be feeling more like grey skies and torrential rain after Cecilias younger sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) tears them apart. EH Story continues Labor Day (2013) In Stockholm-syndrome romance Labor Day, Kate Winslet plays an agoraphobic single mother of a teenage boy. During one humid bank holiday weekend in 1987, an escaped murderer, played by Josh Brolin, walks into their lives and he sticks around for more than just their air-conditioning. EH Boiling Point (2022) This is one of the sweatiest films on the list and it doesnt feature a single ray of sunlight. Philip Barantinis one-shot masterpiece stars Stephen Graham as a chef in a very hot and stressful kitchen one busy night in Dalston. There are flames, there are burns, there are red-hot rages. And it will leave you sizzling. EH Mud (2012) Set in the blazing Arkansas heat, this coming-of-age film follows two 14-year-old boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), who set off on an adventure down river to find an old boat, stranded high up in a tree on a deserted island. They end up meeting a mysterious fugitive called Mud (Matthew McConaughey), and together, they fix the vessel. It all looks like pretty hard work I would much rather sunbathe. EH Tye Sheridan, Matthew McConaughey and Jacob Lofland in Mud' (Jim Bridges) Dog Day Afternoon (1975) In this heist film thats based on a true story, Al Pacino and John Cazale play a couple of crooks who choose an awfully hot day in August 197 to rob a bank. Get ready for terrifically tight hiding spots, terrifying temperatures and a truckload of tension. EH Do the Right Thing (1989) In Spike Lees magnum opus, New Yorker Radio Raheem meets a chillingly similar fate to that of George Floyd in 2020. The film uses the extreme heat of a summers day as a metaphor for the simmering racial tension in the Brooklyn neighbourhood where its set. EH Y tu mama tambien (2001) The heat of the sun seems to radiate through the screen in this Mexican road film by Alfonso Cuaron, which follows two teenage boys who go on a sun-kissed adventure with a beautiful, troubled older woman. Its heady combination of politics, sex and drugs will leave you reaching for a cold glass of water. EH Gael Garcia Bernal and Maribel Verdu in Y tu mama tambien (Moviestore/Shutterstock) The Hurt Locker (2008) Is there a sweatier film than The Hurt Locker? Not only must Jeremy Renner diffuse bombs in the heat of battle, he must do so in a 40kg bomb suit under the beating Iraq sun. We all tried not to keep it [the suit] on me for very long, Renner said of filming. I tried to keep it on for no longer than 20 minutes or a half hour because then you start to want to pass out. It was 125 degrees [51 degrees Celsius] there. TM A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Temperature plays a central part in A Streetcar Named Desire, set in the heat and humidity of New Orleans. The heat in the room rises with the heat between the characters as Blanche takes her epic baths in order to stave off the sweat, wearing Stanleys nerves ever thinner. Marlon Brando can only alternate between a vest, a tight t-shirt with deep sweat patches or, indeed, no top at all. Its a reminder that nothing does more to raise background tensions in a character drama than a very hot, very cramped apartment. TM Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (Rex) Body Heat (1981) Frequently touted as one of the sexiest films of all time, this neo-noir thriller sees lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) begin a passionate affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). In one of the most memorable scenes in the film, Matty rubs ice over her chest to cool down and asks Ned if hed like to lick it off. TM Chinatown (1974) LA appears to rot in the sun in this classic about the California water wars starring Jack Nicholson. Nicholson plays private detective Jake JJ Gittes, hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles. Of course, the case soon becomes much more than it first appeared. Touted by some as the best screenplay ever written, Chinatown was nominated for 11 Oscars. TM In the Heat of the Night (1967) Norman Jewisons Sixties race thriller set in the sweltering South stars a graceful Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective who finds himself wrongly and racistly accused of murder. After proving his innocence, Tibs is enlisted to find the real killer. TM Wake in Fright (1971) Have a drink, mate? Have a fight, mate? Have a taste of dust and sweat, mate? Theres nothing else out here. So reads the poster for Wake in Fright, the Seventies psychological thriller directed by Ted Kotcheff. Gary Bond plays a schoolteacher from Sydney who becomes stranded in an outback town and subsequently descends into moral degradation. TM In the Heights (2021) Heat is a big factor in this Lin-Manuel Miranda musical. The dizzying temperature and humidity of New York City in summer causes a power outage, sending the neighbourhood into chaos. TM In the Heights ( 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.) Rear Window (1954) In a heatwave similar to what the UK is experiencing right now, wheelchair-bound Jeff (James Stewart) watches his neighbours through their open windows. Through doing so, he becomes convinced that one of them has murdered their wife. This is widely considered to be one of Alfred Hitchcocks best films. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Gasoline and water are scarce commodities in this post-apocalyptic thriller reboot of the original Mad Maxtrilogy. This film will leave you feeling parched but exhilerated all the same as you watch Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy try to outrun a ruthless warlord. Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road (Warner Bros) A Time to Kill (1996) The heat in A Time to Kill adds layer after layer of sweaty tension. Samuel L Jackson plays a heartbroken father who avenges his daughters rape by shooting the bigoted men responsible for the crime as they are on their way to trial. 12 Angry Men (1957) A group of 12 jurors must deliberate the conviction or acquittal of an 18-year-old defendant charged with murder. The heat represents the pressure put on the jurors who must decide the young mans fate. In these conditions, they are quick to argue and lose their tempers with each other. For some, too much medication might make migraine worse. peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images Plus Migraine headaches currently affect more than one billion people across the globe and are the second-leading cause of disability worldwide. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. households have at least one member who suffers from migraines. An estimated 85.6 million workdays are lost as a result of migraine headaches each year. Yet many who suffer with migraine dismiss their pain as simply a bad headache. Rather than seeking medical care, the condition often goes undiagnosed, even when other incapacitating symptoms occur alongside the pain, including light and sound sensitivity, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Researchers have discovered that genetics and environmental factors play a role in the condition of migraine. They happen when changes in your brainstem activate the trigeminal nerve, which is a major nerve in the pain pathway. This cues your body to release inflammatory substances such as CGRP, short for calcitonin gene-related peptide. This molecule, and others, can cause blood vessels to swell, producing pain and inflammation. For some, medication has its limits A migraine can be debilitating. Those who are experiencing one are often curled up in a dark room accompanied by only their pain. Attacks can last for days; life is put on hold. The sensitivity to light and sound, coupled with the unpredictability of the disease, causes many to forego work, school, social gatherings and time with family. Numerous prescription medications are available for both the prevention and treatment of migraine. But for many people, conventional treatment has its limitations. Some people with migraine have a poor tolerance for certain medications. Many cant afford the high cost of the medicines or endure the side effects. Others are pregnant or breastfeeding and cant take the medications. However, as a board-certified neurologist who specializes in headache medicine, Im always amazed at how open-minded and enthusiastic patients become when I discuss alternative options. Your brain sends you warning signals, such as fatigue and mood changes, to let you know a migraine may be on the way. These approaches, collectively, are called complementary and alternative medicine. It might be surprising that a traditionally trained Western doctor like me would recommend things like yoga, acupuncture or meditation for people with migraine. Yet in my practice, I value these nontraditional treatments. Research shows that alternative therapies are associated with improved sleep, feeling better emotionally and an enhanced sense of control. Some patients can avoid prescription medications altogether with one or more complementary treatments. For others, the nontraditional treatments can be used along with prescription medication. These options can be used one at a time or in combination, depending on how severe the headache and the cause behind it. If neck tension is a contributor to the pain, then physical therapy or massage may be most beneficial. If stress is a trigger, perhaps meditation would be an appropriate place to start. It is worth talking to your provider to explore which options may work best for you. Mindfulness, meditation and more Because stress is a major trigger for migraines, one of the most effective alternative therapies is mindfulness meditation, which is the act of focusing your attention on the present moment in a nonjudgmental mindset. Studies show that mindfulness meditation can reduce headache frequency and pain severity. Another useful tool is biofeedback, which enables a person to see their vital signs in real time and then learn how to stabilize them. For example, if you are stressed, you may notice muscle tightness, perspiration and a fast heart rate. With biofeedback, these changes appear on a monitor, and a therapist teaches you exercises to help manage them. There is strong evidence that biofeedback can lessen the frequency and severity of migraine headaches and reduce headache-related disability. Yoga derives from traditional Indian philosophy and combines physical postures, meditation and breathing exercises with a goal of uniting the mind, body and spirit. Practicing yoga consistently can be helpful in reducing stress and treating migraine. Meditation is an alternative therapy that could help with your migraine. Manipulation-based therapy By lowering stress levels and promoting relaxation, massage can decrease migraine frequency and improve sleep. It may also reduce stress in the days following the massage, which adds further protection from migraine attacks. Some patients are helped by acupuncture, a form of traditional Chinese medicine. In this practice, fine needles are placed in specific locations on the skin to promote healing. A large 2016 meta-analysis paper found acupuncture reduced the duration and frequency of migraines regardless of how often they occur. Acupuncture benefits are sustained after 20 weeks of treatment. Whats also fascinating is that acupuncture can change the metabolic activity in the thalamus, the region of the brain critical to pain perception. This change correlated with a decrease in the headache intensity score following acupuncture treatment. Vitamins, supplements and nutraceuticals Herbal supplements and nutraceuticals, which are food-derived products that may have therapeutic benefit, can also be used to prevent migraine. And there is evidence to suggest vitamins work reasonably well compared to traditional prescription medication. They also have fewer side effects. Here are some examples: Devices can be beneficial The Food and Drug Administration has approved several neurostimulation devices for migraine treatment. These devices work by neutralizing the pain signals sent from the brain. One is the Nerivio device, which is worn on the upper arm and sends signals to the brainstem pain center during an attack. Two-thirds of people report pain relief after two hours, and side effects are rare. Another device that shows promise is the Cefaly. It delivers a mild electrical current to the trigeminal nerve on the forehead, which can lessen the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks. After one hour of treatment, patients experienced a nearly 60% reduction in pain intensity, and the relief lasted up to 24 hours. Side effects are uncommon and include sleepiness or skin irritation. These alternative therapies help treat the person as a whole. In just my practice, many success stories come to mind: the college student who once had chronic migraine but now has rare occurrences after a regimen of vitamins; the pregnant woman who avoided medication through acupuncture and physical therapy; or the patient, already on numerous prescription medications, who uses a neurostimulation device for migraine instead of adding another prescription. Granted, alternative approaches are not necessarily miracle therapies, but their potential to relieve pain and suffering is notable. As a physician, it is truly gratifying to see some of my patients respond to these treatments. Danielle Wilhour 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. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Uvalde report: 376 officers but egregiously poor decisions UVALDE, Texas (AP) Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, but egregiously poor decision-making resulted in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman who took 21 lives was finally confronted and killed, according to a damning investigative report released Sunday. The nearly 80-page report was the first to criticize both state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in the South Texas town for the bewildering inaction by heavily armed officers as a gunman fired inside two fourth-grade classrooms at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and two teachers. Altogether, the report amounted to the fullest account to date of the one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. But it did not satisfy all parents and relatives of the victims, some of whom blasted the police as cowards and called for them to resign. At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety," the report said. The gunman fired approximately 142 rounds inside the building and it is almost certain that at least 100 shots came before any officer entered, according to the report, which laid out in detail numerous failures. Among them: 'Evil cannot win': Killed by Russian missile, Liza is buried VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) Beautiful and serene in a crown of white flowers, 4-year-old Liza Dmytrieva, who was killed by a Russian missile strike, was buried Sunday in central Ukraine as an Orthodox priest burst into tears and told weeping relatives that evil cannot win. Liza, who had Down syndrome, was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when Russian missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, far from the front lines. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys ages 7 and 8, and more than 200 were wounded, including Liza's mother. Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you, Lizas grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, said, caressing Liza as she lay in an open coffin with flowers and teddy bears in Vinnytsia's 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral. Liza's father, Artem Dmytriev, stood silent, tears flowing down his face. Lizas mother, 33-year-old Iryna Dmytrieva, remained in an intensive care unit in grave condition. The family didn't tell her that Liza was being buried Sunday, fearing it could affect her condition. Ukraine's Zelenskyy fires top security chief and prosecutor VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) As Russian troops pressed their offensive in Ukraine's east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his state security chief and prosecutor general on Sunday, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments and other law enforcement agencies. In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutors office and the SBU (state security service) have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state, Zelenskyy said. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the states national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Zelenskyy dismissed Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend and former business partner whom he had appointed to head the SBU. Bakanov had come under growing criticism over security breaches since the war began; Politico last month cited several unidentified Ukrainian and Western sources saying Zelenskyy was looking to replace him. He also dismissed Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, and replaced her with her deputy Oleksiy Symonenko. Venediktova has helped lead war crime investigations. Chief: 3 dead in Indiana mall shooting; witness kills gunman GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP) Three people were fatally shot and two were injured Sunday evening at an Indiana mall after a man with a rifle opened fire in a food court and an armed civilian shot and killed him, police said. The man entered the Greenwood Park Mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison said. A 22-year-old from nearby Bartholomew County who was legally carrying a firearm at the mall shot and killed the gunman, Ison said at a news conference. Four of those hit by gunfire were females and one was a male, Ison said. He didn't immediately know the specific gender or age of those who were killed. He said a 12-year-old girl was among the two injured, both of whom are in stable condition. Fires scorch Spain and France, where flames reach the beach PARIS (AP) Firefighters battled wildfires raging out of control in Spain and France, including one whose flames reached two popular Atlantic beaches on Sunday, as Europe wilted under an unusually extreme heat wave. So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain, but authorities in Madrid have blamed soaring temperatures for hundreds of deaths. And two huge blazes, which have consumed pine forests for six days in southwestern France, have forced the evacuation of some 16,200 people. In dramatic images posted online, a wall of black smoke could be seen rolling toward the Atlantic on a stretch of Bordeauxs coast that is prized by surfers from around the world. Flames raced across trees abutting a broad sandy beach, as planes flew low to suck up water from the ocean. Elsewhere, smoke blanketed the skyline above a mass of singed trees in images shared by French firefighters. In Spain, firefighters supported by military brigades tried to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. Spains National Defense Department said that the majority of its fire-fighting aircraft have been deployed to reach the blazes, many of which are in rugged, hilly terrain that is difficult for ground crews to access. Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after a dry, hot spring that the European Union has attributed to climate change. Some countries are also experiencing extended droughts, while many are sweltering in heat waves. Panel: Hearing to show Trump's Jan. 6 'dereliction of duty' WASHINGTON (AP) A House committees prime-time hearing Thursday will offer the most compelling evidence yet of then-President Donald Trumps dereliction of duty on the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection, with new witnesses detailing his failure to stem an angry mob storming the Capitol, committee members said Sunday. This is going to open peoples eyes in a big way, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a member of the House committee investigating the riot who will help lead Thursday's session with Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va. The president didnt do anything." After a year-long investigation, the House Jan. 6 panel is seeking to wrap up what may be its last hearing, even as its probe continues to heat up. The committee says it continues to receive fresh evidence each day and isnt ruling out additional hearings or interviews with a bevy of additional people close to the president. One such figure is Steve Bannon, whose trial begins this week on criminal contempt of Congress charges for refusing to comply with the House committee's subpoena. The committee also issued an extraordinary subpoena last week to the Secret Service to produce texts by Tuesday from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, following conflicting reports about whether they were deleted. No major problems with ballot drop boxes in 2020, AP finds ATLANTA (AP) The expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election did not lead to any widespread problems, according to an Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. that revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results. The findings from both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states run contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they were a target for fraud. Drop boxes are considered by many election officials to be safe and secure, and have been used to varying degrees by states across the political spectrum. Yet conspiracy theories and efforts by Republicans to eliminate or restrict them since the 2020 election persist. This month, the Wisconsin Supreme Courts conservative majority ruled that drop boxes are not allowed under state law and can no longer be widely used. Drop boxes also are a focal point of the film 2,000 Mules, which used a flawed analysis of cellphone location data and ballot drop box surveillance footage to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election. In response to the legislation and conspiracy theories surrounding drop boxes, the AP sent a survey in May to the top elections office in each state seeking information about whether the boxes were tied to fraudulent votes or stolen ballots, or whether the boxes and the ballots they contained were damaged. Biden's realism approach runs head-on into liberal pressure WASHINGTON (AP) On restoring access to abortion, President Joe Biden says his hands are tied without more Democratic senators. Declaring a public health emergency on the matter has downsides, his aides say. And as for gun violence, Biden has been clear about the limits of what he can do on his own. Theres a Constitution, Biden said from the South Lawn in late May. I cant dictate this stuff. Throughout this century, presidents have often pushed aggressively to extend the boundaries of executive power. Biden talks more about its limits. When it comes to the thorniest issues confronting his administration, the instinct from Biden and his White House is often to speak about what he cannot do, citing constraints imposed by the courts or insufficient support in a Congress controlled by his own party though barely. He injects a heavy dose of reality in speaking to an increasingly restive Democratic base, which has demanded action on issues such as abortion and voting rights before the November elections. 4 dead after small planes collide at North Las Vegas Airport NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) Four people died Sunday after two small planes collided at North Las Vegas Airport, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration said a single-engine Piper PA-46 and a single-engine Cessna 172 collided around noon Sunday. Preliminary information indicates that the Piper PA-46 was preparing to land when it collided with the Cessna 172, the FAA said in a statement. The Piper crashed into ... a field east of Runway 30-Right and the Cessna fell into a water retention pond. Two people were in each plane and all four died, according to city fire department officials. The names, ages and hometowns of the victims weren't immediately released. Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck wed in Las Vegas drive-through NEW YORK (AP) Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were wed Saturday in a late-night Las Vegas drive-through chapel, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and headlined countless tabloid covers. Lopez announced their marriage Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the heading We did it. Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, On the J Lo. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient, wrote Lopez in a message signed Jennifer Lynn Affleck. Lopez wrote that the couple flew to Las Vegas on Saturday, stood in line for their license with four other couples and were wed just after midnight at A Little White Wedding Chapel, a chapel boasting a drive-through tunnel of love." Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle. She called it the best night of their lives. Stick around long enough and maybe you'll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through with your kids and the one youll spend forever with," said Lopez. Scientists are shooting stem cells into space, hoping to make discoveries that help people on Earth. Some aim to overcome the difficulty of mass producing the cells on Earth that could be useful in future treatments for various diseases. Others explore how space travel impacts the body on a cellular level. And some help scientists better understand diseases such as cancer. Experiments by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the University of California, San Diego, just arrived at the International Space Station. There have been earlier projects from the U.S., China and Italy. Count me among the pitchfork-wielders when it comes to Netflixs Persuasion, the mess of an adaptation that mangles the spirit of Jane Austens exquisite, late season novel beyond recognition. But whats almost as frustrating as watching the movie desecrate its source material are the flashes of what could have been. Nowhere is this clearer than in Henry Goldings exuberant portrait of Mr. Elliot, which feels like it was beamed in from a different movie. In tone and setting, Persuasion is different from Austens other novels. Its not about the first flush of love, but about the loss of it, and the devastating quiet of resigning yourself to that fact. Anne Elliot, daughter of a baronet, is persuaded at age 19 to end her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a young naval captain she loves deeply, because she comes to believe the marriage would be precarious for him as well. She breaks both their hearts out of a sense of duty, and when Wentworth returns eight years later, Anne quietly endures the belief that while her love remains, his has turned to ashes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The films Anne, played by Dakota Johnson, swills wine from a bottle, bursts into tears, and makes wild speeches. Its absurd, embarrassing stuff. The only time she seems like an actual human being is when she is playing against Goldings Mr. Elliot, her father Sir Walters heir and Wentworths eventual rival, whose sheer charisma burns through the disastrous script. In the novel, Mr. Elliots clear and respectful admiration for Anne, when he sees her by chance on a holiday in Lyme, is what jolts Wentworth out of his slumber of resentment into renewed feeling for her. In the film, Mr. Elliot stares so boldly at Anne that he and Wentworth exchange salty words, a complete and utter invention, but unlike every other liberty the film takes, this one didnt bother me. Perhaps its because unlike everyone else in the film who feels like an irrecoverable version of a beloved character, Mr. Elliot is a reinvention. Advertisement Advertisement One of the central themes of the book is the gap between who you are and how others perceive you, and the tension of whether two people who once loved each other so much can still understand the workings of each others minds. But the film has no time for such subtleties. All the subtext is dragged out in the open, in conversations that sound like they were mainlined from TikTok. This insistence on spelling out what is so deftly and quietly implied in the novel drains the film of urgencyexcept for the case of Mr. Elliot. In the book, he is a paragon of deceit, but in the film his charming villainy bursts out from the start, with no attempt to conceal it, and it kind of works. Freed to not even pretend to respectability (Anne says of him I never trust a 10, in a line that doesnt even rate among the films worst), Goldings portrayal thrums with electricity, and the open glee he takes in his shenaniganshe schemes to separate Anne from Wentworth while also pursuing Mrs. Clay, the woman of low birth who is vying for Sir Walters hand and thus would threaten his claims on the titleis amusing, which is more than can be said of the rest of the film. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even one of the most egregious examples of the writers inventing dialogue from whole clothAnne tells Mr. Elliot, when she runs into him again in Lyme, that Wentworth misconstrued his intentions, to which he replies, with a knowing look, My intentions were construed most accuratelysomehow lands. Against all odds, Golding brings this line off, a heavy lift that reminded me of Matthew McConaughey making the time is a flat circle work in True Detective. Because Mr. Elliot is a complete remake, rather than a heretical version, of Austens character, there is something unburdened, even fresh and interesting, about him that suggests a different choice the film could have made. Reinventions of classics from a different point of view can be tricky, but done rightthink Longbourn, the novel from the point of view of the servants in the Bennet household in Pride and Prejudice, or Wide Sargasso Sea, told from the perspective of Rochesters wife Bertha, who is locked in the attic in Jane Eyrethey stand on their own. Whats so irritating about this Persuasion is it so clearly wants to throw off all the constraints, tone, and seriousness of the original text, but also refuses to do so, setting the film in Regency England and following the basic parameters of the plot. Henry Goldings performance shows how this film might have succeeded if it decided to go in a new direction that was only inspired by the book, rather than trampling on it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for the Slate Culture Newsletter The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. In one of the only major departures from the novel, Mr. Elliot marries Mrs. Clay at the end of the movie, in front of everyone. A possible marriage between them is hinted at in the books epilogue, but not made explicit, and in no version of it would Sir Walter and other family members have attended the weddingit would be seen as an insult and a scandal. So as Mr. Elliot stands up in front of the world and says, I choose this woman, versus playing a double game, he comes off better than he does in the book. And as with Bridgertons alternate universe, where King George marries Queen Charlotte, who is Black, and then elevates Britons of all races to the peerage, its interesting to imagine a version of Austen where such alliances wouldnt be seen as degrading. (To be clear, Im no fan of Mrs. Clays scheming and flattery, but I do appreciate what her public marriage to Mr. Elliot stands for.) One of the many reasons this Persuasion doesnt work is because it tries to lay claim to the affections we have for these characters, while taking such egregious liberties, that it feels like an insult to anyone who loves the book. But to demand we watch a character we are primed not to likewell, that is a different thing. What would this story have looked like from Mr. Elliots point of view? If Netflix is, god help us, considering a sequel, might I suggest the domestic adventures of Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay? Photo taken on July 17, 2022 shows plane debris scattered in a field near Kavala city in northern Greece. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. (Xinhua) KIEV, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. The crew members on board the Antonov An-12 plane were Ukrainian nationals, Nikolenko said on Facebook, adding that the aircraft was a commercial flight on route Serbia-Jordan-Bangladesh and was carrying dangerous cargo. The crash occurred near the Greek city of Kavala, Serbia's Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said at a news conference on Sunday. According to Stefanovic, the Ukrainian-operated cargo plane was carrying around 11 tons of weapons, particularly landmines, to Bangladesh when it crashed on Saturday night. Ukrainian spokesman Nikolenko said a preliminary investigation found a failure in one of the plane's engines, which likely caused the crash. Kiev has set up an operational headquarters at the Consulate of Ukraine in the second largest Greek city of Thessaloniki after the accident, the spokesman said, adding that representatives of the Ukrainian consulate have already arrived at the crash site. Members of fire brigade head for the site where a Ukrainian cargo airplane crashed, near Kavala city in northern Greece, on July 17, 2022. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. (Xinhua) Police and rescuers head for the site where a Ukrainian cargo airplane crashed, near Kavala city in northern Greece, on July 17, 2022. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. (Xinhua) Photo taken on July 17, 2022 shows plane debris scattered in a field near Kavala city in northern Greece. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. (Xinhua) Ambulances head for the site where a Ukrainian cargo airplane crashed, near Kavala city in northern Greece, on July 17, 2022. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. (Xinhua) Ambulances head for the site where a Ukrainian cargo airplane crashed, near Kavala city in northern Greece, on July 17, 2022. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Sunday confirmed reports that a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. (Xinhua) The village of record-breaking temperatures, Slovak scientist of the year on disgust, and other must read stories from last week. Members of the SaS party during press conference announcing that they no longer accept the coalition deal. (Source: SITA) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Welcome to your weekly overview of news from Slovakia. This is the special summer edition of Last Week in Slovakia. We will be back to regular operation in mid-July, with the full commentary and news overview by Editor-in-Chief Michaela Terenzani. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Heres what you need to know about last week: SaS pulls out of coalition deal, calling on the PM to sack Matovic. What it is like to live in a village that keeps breaking temperature records. Slovak Scientist of the Year explains why our reaction to rotten food, queue-jumping, and even sexual minorities is the same. SaS prepared to leave the government One of the coalition parties, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), announced that it will no longer accept the existing coalition deal. The party demands the sacking of Finance Minsiter Igor Matovic (OLaNO). According to SaS chair Richard Sulik, Matovic is the biggest problem in the coalition whom he criticised for the mishandling of public finances. According to polls, Matovic is the least trusted minister in the coalition, breaking record after record. Moreover, the Finance Minister has recently escalated attacks on journalists as well. The SaS will submit its demands for a functioning coalition and the government to the prime minister soon. However, if there is no deal and Matovic is not gone by the end of August, the partys four ministers will resign. Observers have criticised PM Eduard Heger for his lack of action against conflict-seeking Matovic multiple times. For daily updates on news from Slovakia, check out our Today in Slovakia newsletter, which we send directly to your inbox at the end of every workday. Village that keeps breaking temperature records At the end of June in the village of Somotor, Trebisovsky District, meteorologists recorded 38.8 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever in Slovakia. Even though it lies in the East Slovak Lowland, such a temperature is not normal. Moreover, it is accompanied by a high moisture deficit. According to the mayor, the groundwater level is probably the lowest it has been in recent years. Luckily for inhabitants, the village has an interconnected water supply system. In the eastern half of Slovakia, between 40 to 80 millimetres of precipitation fell in May and June. In the last few weeks, many regions in the east reported emergencies as local reservoirs have been left almost empty. Drinking water had to be trucked in. On the other hand, the west part of the country experienced double the amount of precipitation compared to the east. Minorities, conservatives, and the science of disgust It is only recently that research has started focusing on disgust, a human emotional response. In the last few years a growing number of studies have focused on the relationship between feelings of disgust and everything from ecological conservation to attitudes towards LGBTQ people. In an interview, a behavioural ecologist and Slovak Scientist of the Year Pavol Prokop talks about his various studies, explaining how aspects of human behaviour are related to evolution, and why science has to research even things that we obviously know. Quote of the week "We cant continue the way we have until now." SaS chair and Economy Minister Richard Sulik during a press conference announcing that the coalition party no longer accepts the existing deal and demands the sacking of Finance Minsiter Igor Matovic. Expected this week SaS party will send PM Eduard Heger a letter outlining their demands as to how the coaliton should function. Kuciak murder trial continues on Tuesday and Wednesday. Trial with former general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka continues on Wednesday and Thursday. The European Parliament delegation will visit the notorious Kosice neighbourhood Lunik IX, which has become home to thousands of Roma people. Must-read stories of the week NATURAL GAS: Slovakia is seeking to limit its dependency on Russian natural gas. At its height in the 1960s, the country extracted 1.5 billion cubic metres, which would cover a third of today's consumption. A company found a gas deposit with potential near Trnava. INTERNET EXPLORER: Despite the fact that the old web browser was put to rest and is no longer supported, some state electronic services still require the use of the program for the authorisation of electronic filing. VOLVO CARMAKER: After many years of empty promises, the east part of Slovakia finally gets its own carmaker factory. Although it will bring thousands of job opportunities, speculators will come too. BIOMETHANE: The first plant in Slovakia aims to harness biodegradable municipal waste. The MP agricultural company produces biomethane exclusively from waste, with 20 percent of their own and 80 percent from other sources. BRATISLAVA AIRPORT: Milan Rastislav Stefanik Airport in Bratislava has been named the ninth best airport in Eastern Europe in the latest Skytrax World Airport Awards. The airport is the largest in the country and the only one on the list. THE BIGGEST MAZE: It took three years to grow the trees and create the maze. People can now find it in Stara Lubovna, northeast Slovakia. If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let us know at editorial@spectator.sk. Reinsman Don Howlett and conditioner Mathew Howlett had a productive afternoon at the Miami Fair on Saturday (July 16) with Don steering five winners, Mathew training three and the pair teaming among those to win the $4,200 Open Pace with Woodmere Alvin. Scoring from post 3, Woodmere Alvin settled in third while Gray Zee set a tempo of :31, 1:03 and 1:34.2. Moving to three-quarters, Don Howlett made his move with the four-year-old Rollwithharry gelding and attacked the pacesetter from first over into the final turn. Woodmere Alvin then charged for home to win by 1-1/2 lengths over Helter Skelter closing for second. Appoggiatura rode the pocket but finished third as Gray Zee faded to last of the four. Don Howlett co-owns Woodmere Alvin with Blair Kidd. He won his fifth race from 10 starts this season and his 12th from 49 overall, good for $80,685 in earnings. He paid $4.20 to win. The Howlett team also won in the first race with Whatstrublnudragon ($5) and much later in the card with Ima Momas Boy ($17.60). Don's other two driving wins came with Dont Rock The Boat ($11.70) and Cereal Killer ($4.50). In the $4,000 Fillies & Mares Open Pace, Pure Addition overcame a slow start to land at the finish first in 2:03.1. The six-year-old Riverboat King mare raced fifth by 10 lengths as Sheslikefinewine sped to a :28.4 first quarter before throttling toward a 1:01 half. As the pace cooled, driver Tyler Grundy pulled Pure Addition first over and rolled to take over the lead by three-quarters in 1:32.2. Heavenly Evelyn mounted a three-wide bid around the final turn but Pure Addition held her ground and kept three-quarter lengths to the good while Good Day Is Coming finished third another six lengths behind. Jacqueline Grundy trains Pure Addition for owner Aurel Vodon. The mare won her 11th race from 16 tries this season and her 30th from 79 overall and has now earned $116,609. She paid $6.20 to win. To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Miami Fair. Even-money favourite No Plan Intended landed a dreamy position from which he capitalized to win the $30,000 Governor's Plate at Summerside Raceway on Saturday night (July 16). Island Beach Boy bolted for the lead while No Plan Intended also shot off the wings but secured the pocket before a break by pylon-starter Twin B Tuffenuff scattered the field toward a :27.1 first quarter. Bugsy Maguire, impeded by the break, regained his footing but raced parked from midfield while Island Beach Boy strolled to a :55.1 half and stayed on the pedal to three-quarters in 1:22.4. No Plan Intended remained the pacesetter's closest pursuer with the rest of the field trying to give pursuit. And those quick fractions proved taxing on Island Beach Boy as No Plan Intended loomed out of the pocket spinning for home and slid away to a 1-3/4-length victory in 1:52.1. Island Beach Boy settled for second, Rotten Ronnie finished third another six lengths back just ahead of Time To Dance. Carl Jamieson and Brian Paquet own No Plan Intended, who won his eighth race from 23 starts this season and his 16th from 46 overall and pushed his earnings to $215,309. David Dowling drove the $4 winner for trainer Colin Johnson. Merito Hanover pulled an upset as the longest shot on the board in the $7,500 Bob Dewar Memorial Governor's Plate Consolation. The four-year-old Bettors Delight gelding sat a stalking trip from fourth and lifted coming for home to post a two-length win in 1:53.2 over fast-closing American Risk. Jason Hughes drove the $25.50 winner for owner Perry Burke and trainer Trevor Hicken. The win was the sixth from 24 starts for Merito Hanover, who has now earned $62,130. Pacing glamour boys also contested in a pair of $16,780 Atlantic Sires Stakes "A" divisions. Fern Hill Gusto, in rein to trainer Marc Campbell, went coast to coast through fractions of :27.2, :56.3 and 1:26 to win a 1:55 mile by 4-1/4 lengths in the first division. Grayland Farm owns the Stonebridge Terror colt, who won his fifth race from 16 starts and has now earned $44,726. Woodmere Denver overtook pocket-sitter JJ Xavier to finish second with the disqualification of third-place finisher Soul Assassin, who was placed eighth for interference heading to the half. Alldawaytocardigan lighted the board at 14-1 in the other A division. Leaving from post eight, the Tobago Cays gelding sat 15 lengths off pacesetter Stash It Away to a :27.3 quarter but made steady progress to a :57.3 half before swooping first over to three-quarters in 1:27.2. He then dug into Stash It Away through the stretch to slide 1-1/2 lengths in front to win in 1:56.2. Jackie Heffernan owns the winner of $48,406 and Myles Heffernan Sr. drove for trainer Myles Heffernan Jr. In paying $31.40 to win, Alldawaytocardigan scored his fifth victory from eight starts this season and his sixth from 21 starts overall. Share The Moment equalled the track pacing mare record winning the $6,000 Ruby Chappell Memorial in 1:53.1 for driver Barrieau, trainer Bo Ford and owners Luke Beck, Arnold Myers, Scott Bridges and A1 Stable. A pair of $3,000 ATSS "B" Divisions went early in the card with Raging Max ($21.40) going coast-to-coast in 1:58 in the first split and Elm Grove Qwiggly ($2.50) surviving a first-over grind to win the other in 1:55.2. Marc Campbell had four wins on the night while Barrieau made three trips to the winners circle for the pair to end the night tied for the Basil Whelan Memorial Award for top driver of Governors Plate Week. The evening had a record Governors Plate wager of $130,846. Live racing continues Thursday evening (July 21) at Red Shores Charlottetown with a 6:30 p.m. (ADT) start time. To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Summerside Raceway. (with files from Red Shores) Jeffry Hawes has been involved in the agriculture community from a young age. Through those connections, he discovered a passion for education that led him to serve in a variety of roles with his newest position as the president of Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington, Wyoming. Hawes was raised on a family farm in Quincy, Michigan, where they harvested corn and soybeans and raised black angus. He participated in FFA and 4-H, saying those leaders inspired him to pursue a career in education. Growing up on a farm, I grew a strong passion for agriculture, he said. I was heavily involved in 4-H and FFA and I think its really my connection with a lot of those leaders that drew me into education. Hawes has spent the past 30 years committed to teaching and learning as he worked closely with administration, faculty and staff to deliver quality instructional programs that prepare students for their futures. Hawes graduated from Michigan State University, where he dual majored in agriculture and extension education and agricultural communications. Upon completion of his baccalaureate degrees, he taught at the secondary level for eight years in Michigan, teaching agriculture and agri-science classes as well as served as the FFA adviser. He was recognized twice as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Teacher of the Year. While teaching, Hawes earned a Master of Science degree in agriculture and extension education at Michigan State University with a focus on secondary educational leadership and instructional pedagogy. He was then recruited by MSU to serve as an academic specialist providing leadership to the Michigan FFA Association and he worked closely with the agriculture and natural resources education faculty to deliver agriculture programming. I worked with all of the high schools that had programming and worked with the state FFA officers and had a chance to lead and guide that program development there, he said. I was also excited that I could go in and help build new programming in school systems that did not have access to FFA. During his tenure with the university, Hawes completed his doctorate degree in agriculture and extension education with an emphasis on leadership in higher education and research. Then he decided to return to teaching so he took a position as an agriculture and horticulture professor at Black Hawk College. They have very strong transfer and agricultural programs, he said. Thats where I spent the last 16 years. His role transitioned to college leadership in 2013 when he served as interim dean of business development and technology. He also took a position as co-chair of the agriculture department and served as the east campus faculty senate president and president of the Illinois Association of Community Colleges and Instructors of Agriculture. In 2019, Hawes accepted the position as executive dean of east campus for Black Hawk College where he provided leadership for career and transfer programing and advocates for faculty, staff and students alike. As EWCs president, Hawes said his goal for the first month is to connect with people, both internally and externally at the college. Prior to arriving on July 1, he worked with the interim president to identify critical priorities for the college and the presidents cabinet members to learn more about the college. For me, communication is a very important piece that started before I arrived, he said. I see that continuing through the first month to hear about the future and direction for EWC. Hawes said he is a strong believer in shared governance, which requires him to listen to the faculty, staff and community before he is able to lead the college forward. He said the leadership team has identified three areas that they will evaluate: growth of the college, looking at enrollment and strategic partnerships with local industries; program evaluation and development to build curriculum to help develop the workforce; and assessing processes like accreditation procedures to best support the growth and enrollment. I lead that presidents cabinet and that executive team that will work with all of those program areas, he said. I want to nurture a culture and environment here so we are an institution where we have a shared leadership model. He believes the frontline employees and faculty know their areas best, so he wants the leadership team to support the growth of those ideas to benefit the college. Hawes said he has ideas for development and he plans to work through those opportunities to benefit the students and community the college serves. We have some great faculty on our staff in our agriculture program, welding, cosmetology, nursing, vet tech, so we have some really solid programs and we have some great transfer faculty, he said. So our job needs to be (determining) how do we assess and further expand those curriculums. One of his focus areas is evaluating how can he help the college programs expand to attract more students to campus that will prepare students for their futures. Despite only being on campus for two weeks, Hawes said he felt like he moved from one home to another. I felt like that from day one, not only here at the college, but also meeting people in the community. Its been such a phenomenal experience and it already feels like home, even though Ive only been here two weeks. As the president, Hawes said he hopes to support an environment for student success with the support of the executive team and faculty and staff. The community can meet Hawes during a formal reception planned at EWC on Wednesday, July 20 from 3-6 p.m. in the CTEC Commons area on Torringtons Campus, 3200 West C St. The event will be catered and a cash bar will be available. He will share a short speech around 4 p.m. 1872: A Nebraska temperance society was organized at a meeting at the Baptist Church in Lincoln. The state Board of Agriculture was arranging for the State Fair. The grounds had been laid out and buildings agreed upon. It was estimated that buildings and improvements would cost $16,000. 1882: Members of the volunteer fire company did not like treatment given to them by the City Council and announced their decision to disband. Lincolns Farragut Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (Union Civil War veterans) held a reunion. At the time, the posts 194 men represented 192 regiments. 1892: Two amusement places, Lincoln Park and Burlington Beach, were competing for Lincolnites patronage. 1902: The Lincoln Commercial Club decided to appeal tax cases involving the telephone, gas and traction companies. The club, predecessor of the Chamber of Commerce, held that all of the corporations were taxed too low. 1912: Work was begun on University Place High School (later to become Jackson High and eventually absorbed into Northeast High School). The Legislature passed a bill prohibiting transportation of prizefight movies into the state. 1922: The Capitol Commission opened bids for the first section of the new Capitol. Low bids for the general contract and supervision amounted to $2,269,763. 1932: Smithsonian Institution excavators in the vicinity of Gering decided the area was one of the oldest places of prehistoric human habitation in North America. An Omaha man drowned during a canoe race on the Missouri River. 1942: Lincoln had its first spectacle of World War II as an hourlong parade of men from the Lincoln Air Base marched down O Street. 1952: Two new polio cases in Lancaster County raised the total for the year to 19. 1962: Lincoln police intercepted an express shipment of stolen furs valued at more than $10,000. The incident was linked to four men arrested in Kearney for jewel theft. 1972: Newly elected Methodist Bishop Don W. Holter was preparing to move from Kansas City, Mo., to Lincoln to head the Nebraska United Methodist Church. He succeeded Noah W. Moore, who had reached retirement age. The Lincoln Airport Authority signed a $6 million bond agreement with 14 investment banking firms to finance a new terminal building and other improvements. 1982: Three rodeo workers fell ill with flulike symptoms after an arsenic-based herbicide killed 34 head of cattle at the Genoa rodeo. The animals picked up the arsenic from spray on weeds surrounding the rodeo arena. 1992: Mabel Meyer, 93, walked 6.2 miles in her first Volkswalk for the Cornhusker State Games, making her the oldest participant ever. Construction of the 25-mile MoPac East Trail began after $275,000 was raised to pay a promissory note held by two Lincoln banks. 2002: A new state laws went into effect requiring children be in car seats until they the age of 6, regardless of weight. The old law required children up to age 5 or up to 40 pounds be in car seats. The Stanley Works of New Britain, Conn., the famous tool company, reached a definitive agreement to buy Senior Technologies Inc. of Lincoln from majority owner John Brasch and minority shareholder Michael Balters. Lincoln Journal Star I was on the front porch when you drove by and I waved, glad you and I are out and about. An old friend of mine is locked up with COVID this weekend, another friend deals with a son who hates capitalism but needs rent money from his Trumpster father, and another friend suffers anxiety about having stomach cancer, which his doctor says he doesnt have (lay off spicy foods) and is now on anti-depression medication, which is rather depressing. Im not suffering from any of that, not one of my sons need rent money and I dont have COVID so I have decided to be thankful and easily approachable today. I will be more tolerant of non-signaling drivers, over-friendly waiters, misplaced car fobs, spam, and a great many irritating things that happen daily. As the old gospel song says, This world is not my home, Im only passing through so there is no point in complaining. Itd be like landing in Paris and asking everyone to please speak English, or going to church, place a twenty in the offering plate, hand it to the usher and tell him youd like a Gin Gimlet please, and a Manhattan for the wife. Wrong place. Wrong time. Its not always about you. This stage of my life is a source of constant amazement. I would not trade it for the foolishness of my twenties, the anguish of my forties, or the anxiety of my fifties, Im just starting to get a grip on life. I love home now because Ive figured out how the toaster and thermostat work. Im over 65 and retired so no one wants a meeting with me anymore, Im not interesting, Ive become a tourist in life. I enjoy being irrelevant. Supply shortages, drought, gas prices, and delayed projects are no longer my problem. Its like living in weightlessness. We reach this stage in life by Gods grace and sheer dumb luck. We have medicines that were unavailable to our grandparents. My mother taught me to always look both ways and I never got involved with venereal disease, hashish, fentanyl, or people waiting for spaceships to arrive out in the desert. My cousin, Doug, drowned at 16 in a farm pond, another cousin, David, was killed in a car accident. Both were smarter and friendlier than I will ever be, yet here I sit, in excellent health, munching pistachios. Sheer dumb luck. As kids we used to imitate old people for fun, the quavering hoarse voice, the shaky hand, the stooped back and shuffling walk, and now here we are, living punchlines of our own joke. One day youre bounding up flights of steps, the next day your vision is slightly blurred and you stumble stepping up to a curb and someone asks, Are you alright? and you say What? Eh? You said what? and suddenly an invisible sign hangs around your neck Senior and people speak to you in loud voices, kids look at you like youre a museum exhibit. Nevertheless, I am a lucky man who still gets to enjoy fresh coffee, clocks ticking, rain on the roof, walks in the park, crinkle-cut French fries, and a thousand other blessings. The sweet corn today at lunch was wonderful with my salad which contained a nicely sliced onion, not a bitter onion, but a happy onion. I think it could have started out wanting to be a carrot, looking for deeper roots, but experienced both soothing olive oil and harsh eye-opening vinegar during meal preparation and is now a better vegetable for it. Which all made the salad delicious. Stay well. Keep in touch. Recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers is challenging nationwide. To recruit top-tier law enforcement officers, you must compensate and provide benefits that compete with similarly situated positions locally and nationally. Recruiting does not end after hiring an officer. Retaining those officers requires a proactive approach in an era where the need for veteran officers far outweighs the supply. Over the last several years, our proactive actions put us in a position to compete with other law enforcement agencies and private sector jobs. Investing in our employees and their career development is twofold more training and experience results in better customer service and less liability. The return on our investment equates to a 43% overall reduction in crime during the last seven years. This figure illustrates the success, but the deputies pride and sense of belonging to a family speak volumes. The family atmosphere at the Iredell County Sheriffs Office is a product of programs that cater to our officers and their families. These programs create a platform to engage and form relationships outside the employee and employer relationship. Are you looking to start a career in law enforcement but have not been through Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET)? Our Deputy Sheriff Candidate program is a unique opportunity to join our team before attending BLET. Are you currently a sworn law enforcement officer in North Carolina? We will pay you for your experience, education, and North Carolina law enforcement certificates. I was recently asked what the starting pay was for a new hire with a bachelors degree, no law enforcement experience, who wanted to work night shift as a patrol or detention deputy. I told them about our recent work to get our employees paid what they deserve based on the market value of the position, and we could bring them in on day one at $52,166 per year. We value qualified applicants and encourage you to apply or contact us regarding these opportunities. This could open doors to new experiences in a rewarding career path with one of the countrys best retirement systems. We have a brochure that highlights just a few of the benefits of joining our team. For more information or to meet with a recruiter, please give us a call at 704-878-3180. Childrens Hope Alliance and Heartstrings Therapeutic Music & Art Program in conjunction with their collaborative partner, Iredell Arts Council, announce the July Music Speaks event featuring Sharon Owenby & Friends. The event will be held on July 28 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Heartstrings Gracie Building. The event is free and open to the community to attend. Music Speaks is an inspirational musicians speaker series that will take place monthly throughout 2022 on the Barium Springs campus. A variety of guest speakers will share personal stories of overcoming adversity on their musical journey and will also perform some of their music for the local community and at-risk kids in attendance. Out of the shadows of near-death experiences, Owenby shares her journey of courage, forgiveness, and hope through story and the soulful songs of the cello. Owenby is an accomplished classical cellist and educator in the Greater Charlotte area, and is the center director for Music Together of the Western Piedmont, an early childhood music education program in Statesville. Educators are encouraged to have their students attend. All musicians and music lovers are also encouraged to participate. Refreshments for the monthly events for 2022 are provided by The Exchange Club of Mooresville/Lake Norman. The event will take place each month at Childrens Hope Alliance Heartstrings Program Gracie Building, 153 Frazier Loop, Statesville. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reported the first case of monkeypox in North Carolina on June 23. As of Thursday, there have been 1,470 confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States, with 11 confirmed in North Carolina. As of July 15, Rowan County Public Health has its first confirmed monkeypox case in Rowan County. The individual is currently isolating, and close contacts have been notified. To protect patient privacy, no additional information about this person will be shared. Rowan County Public Health, along with federal, state, and local partners are working closely together to investigate and monitor the current national outbreak. Monkeypox is a communicable disease that can affect any person. Since May, the monkeypox virus infection has been identified in individuals with no travel history to other regions where the virus is more prevalent. Currently, a large number of the known monkeypox cases are among men who have sex with men. However, any person, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, can acquire and spread monkeypox. Monkeypox transmission typically requires skin-to-skin contact, direct contact with body fluids, or prolonged, close face-to-face contact. Although monkeypox is a rare, it can be a potentially serious, viral illness that typically involves flu-like symptoms. According to the CDC, symptoms of monkeypox can include: Fever Headache Muscle aches and backache Swollen lymph nodes Chills Exhaustion A rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus. The rash goes through various stages before healing completely. The incubation period for monkeypox is usually 7-14 days, but it can range from 5-21 days. Sometimes, people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others only experience a rash. People with monkeypox are infectious from the start of their symptoms until the lesions heal and new skin forms underneath scabs. For more detailed information, visit the CDCs website. As far as protecting yourself, the following things are suggested: Know the symptoms and risk factors of the virus. Avoid skin-to-skin contact with people who are showing a rash or skin sores, and especially if they have a confirmed case of monkeypox. Be aware that in areas with known spread, participating in activities with close, personal, skin-to-skin contact may pose a higher risk of exposure. If you were recently exposed to the virus, contact your health care provider. Monitor your health for fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes and any new, unexplained rash. If you become ill, avoid contact with others until you receive medical care. Currently, there is one vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration available for preventing monkeypox infection. According to the CDC, when properly administered before or after a recent exposure, the vaccine is an effective tool to protect people from this illness. If you feel that you have been exposed to someone who has had monkeypox or feel that you are eligible to receive the vaccine, call Rowan County Public Health at 704-216-8784 for more information. If you are looking for a portable AC, you can get Croma 1.5 Ton Portable AC at a discount of 15 percent on Flipkart. Check details. With the temperature soaring and humidity adding to discomfort, everyone is eyeing an air conditioner (AC). However, it is not that easy to maintain an AC. Either you use a window AC or a split AC, you need to have the required amount of space to fit them. You also have to drill holes in your walls to get it fitted. However, you can avoid doing so by getting a portable AC for yourself. Yes, you read that right, portable ACs exist in the market. Most importantly, you can drag it to wherever you want. One such option is available on Flipkart. Yes, you can consider buying Croma 1.5 ton Portable AC on Flipkart and that too at a discount of 15 percent. With the market price of Rs. 45,000 the Croma 1.5 Ton Portable AC is available for Rs. 37,990 on Flipkart along with several bank offers. The bank offers being provided on the portable AC include 10 percent off on SBI Credit Card, up to Rs. 1500, on orders of Rs. 5000 and above; 10 percent off on SBI Credit Card EMI transactions up to Rs.2000 on orders of Rs. 5000 and above; and 5 percent cashback on Flipkart Axis Bank Card. Also, you can buy the AC on No Cost EMI, for which you will have to pay Rs. 3,166 per month. However, you are advised to check the terms and conditions before applying for the same. About Croma 1.5 Ton Portable AC The Croma Portable AC has a capacity of 1.5 tonnes and gets an auto restart feature. Also, it comes with copper condenser, sleep mode that auto-adjusts the temperature as per your comfort while sleeping, among others. Garena Free Fire MAX redeem codes for July 17, 2022: Players can grab several exciting rewards including in-game items today. Check latest details here. Free Fire MAX Garena Free Fire MAX redeem codes for July 17, 2022: Players of garena Free Fire Max get opportunities daily to win rewards including in-game items and that too for free. Garena Free Fire MAX also organises events and programs too for the same. As per the latest information, players today have a chance to take advantage of the Incubator discount. Yes, Garena Free Fire North America informed about the same via a tweet. "A different color for every mood! Don't wait, take advantage of the incubator discount, only for a limited time!," it tweeted. Garena Free Fire Max players can also grab the Sound Crafter AK47, Bejeweled Backpack, and Feral Fantasy Loot Box by hitting the bullseye. "Think you can hit the bullseye? In Bullseye, you're guaranteed all the prizes within 9 flips! This means you can get the Sound Crafter AK47, Bejeweled Backpack, AND Feral Fantasy Loot Box!," Garena Free Fire North America informed via another tweet. This is not all! The fun part is along with the above mentioned reawrds, Free Fire MAX players will also be able to use the daily redeem codes to grab the in-game items like skins, characters, and weapons, among others. It can be known that Garena Free Fire MAX is the higher version of Free Fire and uses the same codes and redemption website to claim the in-game items for free. Players can use the codes to claim freebies by visiting the redemption website of Garena Free Fire at https://reward.ff.garena.com/en. The codes come with an expiry time of 12-18 hours and need to redeem them as early as possible. Check the Garena Free Fire MAX redeem codes for today below: Garena Free Fire MAX Redeem codes for July 17, 2022: A46N-U6UF-Q2JP 6LU6-9JJZ-J7S8 FAG4-LHKD-92GZ RHUV-SWWV-N9G4 FBJ9-MTXB-9XAP 5R8S-AGS5-MCK5 2K5A-WHD3-FKWB 4UBY-XPTW-ERES FXDS-TSWY-QTJ9 BKSK-ECCM-JZEB L8LN-F5WK-2YPN TPNA-MS84-ZE8E XKVJ-M65A-NPUQy AMCT-7DU2-K2U2 LQ6Q-2A95-G29F HDQK-XDFJ-7D4H QA97-CXS2-J0F0 W73D-61AW-NGL2 UK2P-Z3NF-GV5U NLCB-6S92-K2DE Tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are cutting back on planned office expansions in New York. (Bloomberg) -- Tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are cutting back on planned office expansions in New York. Facebook's parent company Meta has decided against taking an additional 300,000 square feet (27,870 square meters) of space at 770 Broadway, a building near Astor Place where it's already located, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is also pausing plans to further build out its new offices in Hudson Yards as it evaluates what to do with the space, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information. Nearby, Amazon has also cut back on the amount of space it had intended to lease from JPMorgan Chase & Co. at Hudson Yards, reducing the square footage it aims to take over, according to a person familiar with the matter. No deal has been signed yet. Meta spokesperson Jamila Reeves said the company remains firmly committed to New York and is looking forward to opening the Farley Building near Pennsylvania Station in the coming months. There are often a number of reasons why we wouldn't proceed with a particular deal, including office utilization, Reeves said in an emailed statement. The past few years have brought new possibilities around the ways we connect and work. We are working to ensure we're making focused, balanced investments to support our most strategic long-term priorities. Spokespeople for Amazon and JPMorgan declined to comment. Office Shifts Many tech companies have been moving toward more flexible, remote-working options since the start of the pandemic. At the same time, broad stock market declines and increasing concerns about the potential for the US economy to head into a recession have prompted some companies to slow hiring. Meta has announced plans to slow or pause hiring for some mid- to senior-level positions. While both Meta and Amazon are still building out giant offices in Manhattan, the two companies' more-cautious approach is a potential harbinger for future challenges across the city's office market as businesses seek to cut costs and re-evaluate real estate strategies. New York still faces a glut of office supply, with more than 18% of space available despite a slight leasing rebound earlier this year, according to second-quarter data from Savills Research. Meta is still committed to large leases the company signed in recent years at both Hudson Yards and the redeveloped Farley Building. Even while most of its employees worked from home, the firm continued to build out its new offices and seek extra space in anticipation of even more growth. Meanwhile, Amazon also leased space in Hudson Yards in 2019 and shelled out more than $1 billion in 2020 to purchase the Lord & Taylor building in midtown Manhattan for new offices. A giant asteroid is on the way to Earth today, NASA confirmed. Does it pose any risk to our planet? Know here. A day after an aiplane-sized asteroid hurtled very close to our planet, there is a new terror on way. Yes, NASA says an asteroid today will get extremely close to Earth. In fact, quite a few asteroids are flying in space and heading towards Earth. NASA warned about this humongous asteroid which is as big as a 50-storey skyscraper or almost double the size of the Statue of Liberty. The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth today. NASA confirmed that the asteroid will pass near Earth on July 17. This mammoth space rock known as 2022 KY4. Astronomers' eyes are on this asteroid to make sure there is no deviation in its path that may bring it even closer to Earth, or even crash into it. These giant rocks in space, known as asteroids generally travel around the Sun, but can even change their paths due to the gravitational force of planets and sometimes even collide with them! So does this asteroid pose any risk to the Earth? Will this Asteroid pose any risk to Earth? Thankfully, this asteroid will miss Earth, but not by a large margin! According to NASA, this asteroid will get as close to the Earth as about 3.8 million miles or 6.1 million kilometres. For better understanding, know that this is more than 16 times the average distance between Earth and the moon. Well, this is still a larger distance than asteroid 2022 NF, which passed near the Earth on July 7 within just 56,000 miles, around 23 percent of the average distance between Earth and the moon. Well, how big is this asteroid? NASA says that asteroid 2022 KY4 is around 290 feet or 88 meters in diameter and is travelling at an estimated speed of 16,900 mph. For reference, the Statue of Liberty in London is 151 feet tall. That means, this massive asteroid is even much bigger than the Statue of Liberty! NASA mentioned that this is not the first time when this space rock will make its closest approach towards the Earth. Earlier, asteroid 2022 KY4 made its nearest approaches to our planet, last in 1959 and 1948. According to the pattern, it will not make another close approach to our planet until May 2048. For the first time in two years, the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History has welcomed students back to its summer camps to learn about nature, animals, the human body, oceans and inventions and inventors. Its exciting; we havent had this experience in a while, so its nice to be able to have all the kids back at camp, program director Garret Leopold said. Returning camper Evan Escalante, 10, said he sees the museums camp as like a second home. I just really like it, he said. I always like coming here. I just want to come here as much as I can. Escalante, from College Station, said he enjoys how each week focuses on a different topic and said the camp is more fun than school. He enjoys the activities and videos most, saying they help explain the concepts. He also likes that they have time for a snack, lunch and to go outside, comparing it to a nature camp. Escalante said he was nervous his first year at camp four years ago, but all the teachers were supportive and nice, especially Leopold. Leopold said the camps return has been popular, leading to multiple sessions filling up with a wait list. This weeks Ocean Explorers session had 23 students, and the Digging into Dinos week later this month is full at 30 students and has a waiting list, Leopold said. Most students register for the entire week, he said, but there are some, especially in the final week, who register on a day-to-day basis. One of the changes made to this years sessions is the expansion from half-day to full-day sessions. Leopold said it gives teachers more time to incorporate activities and delve further into the lessons than previously. Escalante said he prefers the longer days because it means they can do more and learn more. It just gives us a better chance to be able to have more time to teach what were trying to teach, Leopold said. Each years camp sessions follow student interests, though oceans and dinosaurs are two topics that are offered every year. We focus on the big parts that kids really love as far as informal education goes, he said. Obviously everybody wants to be a paleontologist at some point; everyone wants to be a marine biologist at one point. We focus for sure on those things, and then some of the weeks that we have left, thats the ones we have a little bit more creative freedom to decide on what other things we want to do. Beyond learning the lessons in each session, Leopold said, each day is a building block to give students a big picture of the weeks topic. In regard to oceans, We want them to go home knowing that the oceans very important, and the ocean is something that we should pay attention to, those kinds of things. We focus on the big picture stuff, Leopold said. Texas Master Naturalists visited the camp Tuesday to explain buoyancy and how boats are used. The campers then constructed their boats out of different materials many choosing bamboo and tested their boats on Wednesday. Jake Williamson, 8, from College Station, said he decided to create a sailboat, but said it was difficult deciding what to do for the sail, whether to use leaves or feathers. Escalante said even though his favorite topic so far this summer has been anatomy, creating his bamboo boat fits in with his career goal of becoming an architectural engineer. If I see any cardboard, Im like, Oh Im going to make a cardboard house out of this, he said, noting he hopes to serve as a counselor-in-training in the future. Margaret Taylor, 6, from College Station, said she learned how to build things and enjoyed learning about what material will float or sink, noting the importance of that knowledge when constructing a boat. In the oceans session, she said, she is most excited to learn about stingrays and her favorite animal, sharks. Leopolds wife, Emily, is a kindergarten teacher during the school year but serves as a teacher at the museums camp during the summers and said she is glad to be a part of a program that allows students to express their creativity. She said some students might not get other opportunities to express themselves creatively. Garret Leopold called it fulfilling to help facilitate the students learning in a fun way. Growing up, Ive always loved being able to do the kinds of things that theyre doing, so Im using some of that information of my own memories to create something new for the kids these days, he said. Its very fulfilling for me as a career to be able to use my passions for nature and everything else natural history wise, as well as other historical things, so its a good vehicle for me to be able to express my passion for these different things, and hopefully give something to the new generation. Camp sessions will continue through the week of Aug. 8-12. For more information, go to brazosvalleymuseum.org. This July marks the 17th anniversary of the opening of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. The bridge, which connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant, officially opened to traffic on July 16, 2005, following a week-long celebration. The bridge is named after Arthur Ravenel Jr., the former U.S. Congressman and state senator who campaigned for the funding needed to construct the bridge. Before the Ravenel Bridge spanned the Cooper River, the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge and the Silas N. Pearman Bridge connected Charleston and Mount Pleasant. Grace Bridge opened in 1929. Eventually, the Pearman Bridge was built alongside the Grace Bridge to alleviate traffic and load limits. Pearman Bridge opened in 1966 to northbound traffic while Grace Bridge remained in use for southbound traffic. By the late 1970s, Grace Bridge was declared structurally unsound. Additionally, the two bridges were not tall enough to allow for the passage of modern container ships. The state of South Carolina deemed it too expensive to replace the bridges, so the Grace and Pearman Bridges remained in use. Things began to change when the Grace Bridge scored a 4 out of 100 on a safety test in 1995. In an oral history interview with the South Carolina Historical Society, Arthur Ravenel Jr. recalls, we got a report from a consultant that the highway department had hired to do a feasibility study on the Grace Bridge. And Ill never forget what the gentleman said. He says, both structurally and functionallya perfect bridge is 100. He says, The Grace Bridge, in both categories, is a 4! And everybody gasped! Concerned by this report, Sen. Ravenel returned to the state senate on the single-issue platform of raising funds for a new bridge. Thanks to partnerships with local, state and federal entities and the creation of the SC Infrastructure Bank, Sen. Ravenel helped secure funding for the bridge by 2001. The total cost of the bridge was about $700 million. Following four years of construction, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge Opening Celebration took place from July 9-16, 2005. On July 9 and 10, over 50,000 people visited the bridge for an open house event and had the opportunity to walk on the bridge for the first time. Other events included a black-tie gala fundraiser held on the bridge, an official bridge lighting ceremony, a mile-long display of fireworks across the Cooper River, and a dedication ceremony. Seventeen years later, the bridge is one of the most recognizable features in the city and popular with locals and visitors alike. Over 80,000 cars and hundreds of walkers, runners, and cyclists cross the bridge daily. On the legacy of the bridge, Sen. Ravenel said, and with tongue in cheek, I tell people its the only thing, which in my political experience, its the only thing thats ever been done in the greater Charleston area that no one complains about! Everybody loves the bridge. The nephew of a Calhoun County killer has been sentenced for his role in the Sept. 13, 2020, shooting death and robbery of Jason Adam Geiger. Logan Robert Givens, 20, of 137 Dry Swamp Road, Cordova, pleaded guilty to one count of accessory after the fact to a felony during a recent term of court. He was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact to a felony due to Geigers shooting death and armed robbery. As part of Givens plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the other charge. Circuit Judge Ed Dickson sentenced Givens under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed five years, provided that after he serves 90 days, the remainder of the sentence is three years of probation. Dickson credited Givens for the time hes already served at the Orangeburg County Detention Center. In mid-May, Jason Harris Peele, 35, of 937 Hydrick Road, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of the 45-year-old Swansea man. He was originally charged with murder. Peele also entered an Alford plea on the charge of armed robbery. An Alford Plea allows a suspect to agree that a jury would likely find him guilty, but without actually admitting guilt. Dickson sentenced Peele to 27 years in prison on both charges. Peele will serve the terms at the same time. Peele was given credit for having already served 608 days at the Orangeburg County Detention Center. Peele, of 937 Hydrick Road, killed the 45-year-old Swansea man on Sept. 13, 2020. As part of Peeles plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed his charges of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and first-offense distribution of methamphetamine. First Circuit Deputy Solicitor Tommy Scott said Peele and Geiger knew each other through the buying and selling of narcotic drugs. Warrants allege Givens was waiting in a vehicle when Peele went into Geigers workshop. Givens heard several gunshots, warrants claim. Peele returned to the vehicle, saying Go! Go! Go! Givens allegedly accepted $100 for transporting Peele and helping him burn his clothes. When deputies took Peele into custody, they found $341 hidden in a sock. At the time of Peeles arrest, Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said, It appears that this whole situation began with an apparent dispute over money. Peeles attorney, public defender Breen Stevens, filed an appeal following Dicksons sentencing. However, on July 11, the S.C. Court of Appeals dismissed the request, saying Peeles attorney failed to provide a sufficient explanation. In other guilty pleas: Joe Swearingen, 51, of 218 Ashewood St., Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault and battery. Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis sentenced Swearingen to one day in prison and credited him for time served. Johnny Lee Sweat, 28, of 2925 Surrey Race Road, Springfield, pleaded guilty to unlawful conduct toward a child. He originally faced two counts of the charge, but prosecutors dismissed the other one as part of Sweats plea agreement. Dennis sentenced him to five years in prison, suspended to two years of probation. He also ordered Sweat to undergo random drug/alcohol testing. Mike Lorenzo Walker, 41, of 78 Clover Lane, Blackville, pleaded guilty to grand larceny valued at $10,000 or more and criminal conspiracy. Dennis sentenced him to prison for eight years, suspended to three years instead. He also ordered Walker to pay restitution, work 60 hours of public service employment, undergo random drug/alcohol testing and complete any counseling deemed necessary. Michael Unique Washington, 20, of 951 Blewer Road, Cordova, pleaded guilty to first-offense failure to stop for blue lights. Dennis sentenced him under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed three years, suspended to five years of probation. He also ordered Washington to work 90 hours of public service employment, obtain his GED, undergo random drug/alcohol testing and not to shorten his probation term. He credited Washington for having already spent one day at the OCDC. w/pic -- HSHP HSHP partners with RMC Three students from the High School for Health professions selected to participate in a Medical Office Assistance paid Apprenticeship at the Regional Medical Center this summer. The apprentices will receive hands-on career training, a comprehensive education aligning with their academic and professional development. Apprenticeships can engage students, prepare them with 21st-century skills for high-demand, high-skilled jobs, and allow them to pursue their dream to become medical professionals. The students are Tamara Keller, Ky'Seanna Rowe and Kariemah Curry. w/3 pics -- CNA, Medical Office Assistance, Pharmacy Tech Students pass national, state certifications The Orangeburg High School Health Professions not only focuses on its Warrior Scholars earning their high school diplomas, it also provides them with opportunities to gain certifications while taking their high credits, which will make them prepared for life beyond the classroom through the career and technical education. Students can take certification courses Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and at the Orangeburg High School for Health Professions can become certified. Eleven students from five programs -- Certified Nursing Assistant, Medical Office Assistant, Phlebotomy, Electrocardiography, and Pharmacy Technician -- earn a total of 19 certification are now certified medical professionals. w/pic OHSHP, Claflin partner to bridge educational gap Orangeburg High School for Health Professions' CUBE is designed to provide those high school students interested in teaching with the skills required to enter and graduate from teacher education programs within this state. A significant component of the project is to provide counseling, mentoring, on-campus summer enrichment activities, and opportunities for participants to earn (over the academic year) at Claflin Universitys School of Education. Additionally, skills training in reading, writing and mathematics (needed to pass the Praxis Core examination) will be a prominent part of this program. Ultimately, the goal of CUBE is to provide an early step in supporting minority students successes in their transitions to college/university. OHSHP currently has 16 students who completed the fall session and five students in summer sessions. Leonard Pelzer has been cutting hair ever since he was a history major at South Carolina State University. "I started cutting hair for a hobby and found out that I could made a decent living off of it, so I continued to cut hair," Pelzer said. The 22-year old Pelzer ended up partnering with his younger brother, Dashaun West, in opening a community barber shop named Fading Images on June 21, 1996, on Bass Drive in Santee The men were joined with their other brother, Johnny West, in the endeavor. Though operating a community barber shop was fulfilling, the men wanted to do more. Under state law, they could only train two people in a barber shop, but by becoming a school, they could train a lot more individuals at one time. The men reached out to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce via the Workforce Investment Act. The WIA helped pay for the training of barbers and so was born Barber Tech Academy, which located in the former U.S. Army recruitment building on Russell Street. The post-secondary master barber school was located at the 1521 Russell St. location through 2010, but outgrew the facility. Barber Tech announced in July 2019 that it was expanding its services into a 4,200-square-foot building in an effort to educate more students with a larger number of amenities. The school opened at the new location at 1650 Russell St. in September 2019. The building was the location of the former Rhoad's Cleaners, across the street from the former Piggly Wiggly. The new space was more than twice the size of the former location. Now, Pelzer, Dashaun and Johnny have celebrated, along with their staff and community, the 26th anniversary of entering the barber business. The anniversary was celebrated with food and cake as well as award recognitions for students and staff. A 25th year anniversary was planned but had to be cut due to the COVID pandemic. Pelzer said the anniversary is a time for celebration and thankfulness. "I am thankful to the community and to my staff and to the people that come and patronize the business," he said. "It is a big feeling of appreciation. Those are the people we serve and is the reason why we are here." Over the past dozen years, the academy has graduated nearly 100. Pelzer said the biggest change in the business over the past quarter of a century has been the greater role his business has played in lives. "When we started out, it was about cutting hair and now it is about changing lives," Pelzer said. "When we first started cutting it was about a good fade and now it is about being a platform that other young men and women can come and get the necessary skills needed to get to the next level in life." Barber Tech Academy includes a main lobby area, 24 work stations, shampoo bowls, driers, offices, a break room and two multipurpose classrooms with a capacity of 20 individuals per class. The academy has graduated individuals from as young as 18 to as old as the 50s. High school graduates, college graduates, dislocated workers, veterans and the disabled have all successfully completed the training and received their license. The 1,500-credit-class-hour program entails both classroom and hands-on opportunities in which students receive information on the hair industry to include infection control, bacteriology, shaving, hair cutting, hair textures, coloring, hair chemicals and natural styles. The academy has partnered with Job Corps. Barber Tech is about more than cutting hair. The business believes in community outreach by providing haircuts for children in the community, working with local schools, vocational rehab, local churches and CASA Family Services. Barber Tech also partners with South Carolina State University's Small Business Development Center. The SBDC helps teach the students about small business and how to put together a small business plan. Pelzer said there is more news the school is ready to celebrate. There are plans to franchise the business and to sell the Santee barber shop to their brother Johnny. "He would be the first person to buy into our franchise," Pelzer said. "We are getting the papers legalized now." Barber Tech is also expanding to the Columbia area with plans to open a second school on Aug, 5 at 421 Bush River Road near the Dutch Square Mall. Pelzer said the opening of a second location is deemed necessary in order to be near a number of agencies that have worked closely with its students and helped in retention, success and re-entry. Some of the agencies are: South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, Veterans Affairs and the Department of Social Services. Pelzer also noted a number of students come from the Columbia and Sumter areas. Pelzer said as to the future of Barber Tech in Orangeburg, it will continue to do what it has been doing over the years. "We are very thankful to the Orangeburg community being downtown and being a part of the educational district with SC State, Clalfin and the library," Pelzer said. "It is being a part of where it all comes together." "As we educate these young men and women, we want to work hard in helping shape the industry in terms of working with them in finding gainful employment, creating educational opportunities and creating jobs here in the Orangeburg community" Pelzer said. Nwadeyi was one of the first participants in the Summer Nuclear Science Institute for High School Students at South Carolina State during the summer following her junior year at O-W. Upon graduation from O-W, she enrolled at South Carolina State University, where she began study in the nuclear engineering program and performed excellently. However during her junior year, she was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to stop school. But by the grace of God, an incredibly strong single parent mother, Ms. Mary White, and many, many prayers, Valerie recovered fully and resumed her studies in nuclear engineering. Valerie graduated summa cum laude (with highest honors) from South Carolina State University in nuclear engineering. She was also named that years Maher Scholar Awardee by the Savannah River National Laboratory, symbolic of the top nuclear science and engineering graduate in the region. Valerie was accepted to the University of Michigan with fellowship support to pursue doctoral studies. Her doctoral research focused on treatment of cancer with proton beams. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Savanah River National Laboratory in Aiken. Tanner Ewalt and his friends have a saying. "We all have to vote for Liz Cheney. I'm so sorry." Ewalt is a 20-year-old University of Wyoming student from Casper majoring in political science. In the 2020 Democratic primary, he voted for ultra-left presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Now, he and other staunch Democrats across Wyoming are changing their party registration to support Cheney -- who voted with former President Donald Trump 93% of the time during her tenure -- in next month's Republican primary. Cheney remains deeply conservative, and her family name has served as a liberal boogeyman since her father was vice president. She's attracting growing Democratic support, however, not only for her vote to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but also for her relentless criticism of the former president as a threat to democracy and the rule of law. That opposition has spurred the toughest reelection fight of her political career in the form of Trump-backed natural resources attorney Harriet Hageman. For many longtime Wyoming Democrats, the Aug. 16 primary will mark the first day they'll be registered as a Republican, in large part thanks to the ongoing battle between Cheney and Trump. Although a notable number of Democrats are crossing over for Cheney, they likely won't win the race for her because of how few liberals there are in Wyoming. A Casper Star-Tribune poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy found Hageman leads Cheney 52% to 30%. The survey of likely Republican primary voters included members of the GOP, but also Democrats and independents who plan to change their party affiliation to support Cheney. The Democratic exodus is unprecedented in recent Wyoming history, even if it appears unlikely to alter the final result. "In my time in Wyoming, there hasn't been any comparable situation," said Dr. Jim King, a political science professor at the University of Wyoming since 1992. Former Democratic Gov. Mike Sullivan, who's lived in Wyoming for 80 years, said this is "a different sort of animal than [he's] ever seen before." In previous Wyoming races, "there were much more of shades of gray than black and white," King added. "And I think the question of Trump has kind of changed the Republican primary this year into a discussion of black and white rather than shades of gray." Sullivan, a centrist Democrat who served in office from 1987 to 1995, has never registered as a Republican. "But this is different," he said. "We have a choice between the politics of courage, character and integrity or revenge, vindication and chaos," Sullivan said. "That's not the kind of politics I know. And that's not the politics that I think have existed in my political life." "It's not a very difficult choice," he added. Sullivan and his wife have lived in their Casper home for decades and are well known in the neighborhood. In mid-June, they put a Cheney sign in their front yard. They still have not decided what to do with the bright blue Cheney bumper sticker that lays on their kitchen counter. For Sullivan, this race caused him to rethink a principle he's held for decades. "I just didn't think that it was something that a former Democratic Governor oughta do -- register as a Republican," he said. Crossing over There are two main factors that drive crossover voting in Wyoming. The first is that state law allows for same-day voter registration and party changes, meaning a Democrat or independent can walk into the polls on Aug. 16, change their party to Republican, cast a ballot for Cheney, and still switch back in time for the general election in November. Plus, Republicans dominate Wyoming politics to an extent that Democrats have less to lose by not participating in their own primary. The Cheney campaign has subtly acknowledged that Wyoming Democrats will cross over. Recently, the campaign started providing instructions on her website and in mailers for how to change party affiliation to vote for Cheney. Cheney is unapologetic about seeking support from beyond her own party. Ive been a conservative Republican since I first voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984. I encourage everyone with principles who loves our country to exercise their right to vote," she previously said. "And, damn right, I will continue to give every voter in Wyoming a list of all the key rules for casting ballots in our state. If any eligible voter living in Wyoming wishes to become a Republican, they are free to do so. That is their right. More poll analysis The Casper Star-Tribune is planning a series of stories tied to its recent poll of likely voters in Wyoming's Republican primary. Today: Hageman takes a commanding lead Hageman takes a commanding lead Today: Many Democrats are supporting Cheney Many Democrats are supporting Cheney Wednesday: The impact of Donald Trump on Wyoming's House race The impact of Donald Trump on Wyoming's House race Thursday: Voters and Jan. 6 Voters and Jan. 6 Friday: A demographic breakdown of the race 'This isn't about politics' Democrats knew in the past that their vote had less impact in such a red state, but they were voting based on policies then. Now, Democrats say, they're voting on something entirely different. "I don't think [Democrats] are choosing Cheney for anything that she really stands for," King said. "They are rejecting the candidate, the former president, that Hageman is tying her campaign to." Rob Johnston and his partner have lived in Wyoming since 2002 and have been registered Democrats almost the entire time. Johnston, his partner and three other couples successfully sued the state of Wyoming in 2014 for their right to be recognized as a married couple, and for the right of other gay people to marry the person they choose. At that time, Cheney -- whose sister is a lesbian -- opposed gay marriage, though she's since said her opposition was wrong. Back then, Johnston said he would have called anyone "nuts" for saying he'd be voting for Cheney in the future. Now, he calls it a "no-brainer." "When I saw her comments and her leadership in the Jan. 6 hearings ... I was like, 'There's no mistake.' She represented, for me, a woman with guts and determination, who wanted to look and find out what the facts were before moving on," he said. Democrats and independents say they aren't taking the decision to cross over lightly. But the stakes, they say, are so high that they must. "She is the worst type of Republican that I'd never touch with a 10-foot pole, but she's not willing to go down the road saying that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president," said Kim Holloway, a former member of the Casper City Council and a self-described socialist Democrat. "Liz Cheney has elevated herself by saying a bunch of rich and powerful people should be held accountable, which should be the bare minimum," Ewalt said. "I have to remember that that is the bare minimum, but she's the only one that's above that right now." "It's not something that I want to do or be a part of because I'm not a member of the Republican Party, and I'm Wyoming enough to mind my own f****** business," said Walt Tanner, who's lived in Casper for over half his life and whose family homesteaded in Wyoming shortly before it was a state in the 1880s. "But at the same time, some members of the Republican Party have taken on such extreme positions that they've made it my business. I'm going to stand up and protect my family. This isn't about politics." A number of Wyoming Democrats say they're voting for Cheney to maintain the Wyoming they "know and love" and to fight back against a brand of politics that scares them. "Crossing over has everything to do with my defense of the dignity of this place, and for our ability to peacefully disagree with one another. I'm really really scared," Tanner said. "When it comes down to it, if my small voice can, like maybe, maybe help do something against outright authoritarianism that is willing to be violent when they don't get their way. I'm gonna do it." The cold, hard numbers There are indications that left-leaning Wyomingites are planning to cross over at levels rarely seen here. From January to July, the number of affiliated Democrats in Wyoming has decreased by 2,537. In 2018 and 2014 -- the previous two midterm election cycles -- that figure was 21 and 177, respectively. In other words, the number of Democrats who have left the party over the first six months of the year is roughly 120 times higher this year than it was in 2018. Independent registration also bucked previous trends. From January to July, independent (or unaffiliated) registration decreased by 419, whereas in the last two midterm election cycles it increased. In 2018, the number of independents grew by 332. In 2014, they increased by 512. Given that Wyoming allows same-day party changes and registration, the crossover numbers this time around will almost certainly be higher. But because of the relatively small number of Democrats in Wyoming, the practice is unlikely to be enough for Cheney. This month, the Star-Tribune commissioned Mason-Dixon Polling to survey likely voters in the Republican primary. That poll showed 12% of voters will be participating for the first time in the Republican Primary. Of those, 90% are Democrats and independents. But even factoring in their participation, the poll showed Hageman 22 points ahead of Cheney -- a commanding lead with the primary around the corner. "Certainly, it's a situation where if we come down to 1,000 votes, the Democrats who crossed over to participate in the Republican primary have potential to determine the outcome," King said. "If it's 5,000 votes, either way, no." Fear and apprehension Many Wyoming Democrats who plan to crossover declined to go on the record for this story out of fear of backlash and concern that publicly doing so could affect their jobs. It's not voting for Cheney that gives them pause, as much as the act of changing parties. Many Republicans oppose crossover voting, and Trump himself unsuccessfully lobbied the Wyoming Legislature to do away with the practice earlier this year. How you're treated and the opportunities for promotion or good working environment would all be at risk if I truly spoke my mind, said one Casper Democrat under the condition of anonymity. They plan to cross over. "I do in some ways worry that people get so enraged when others don't agree with them that there could be ... some risks to me or my property or my pets," said a Casper Democrat, who voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primary. She moved here from a liberal city in 2014, and so far she and her husband have only told their families and a very small number of friends that they're crossing over. "And there are definitely some friends that Ive chosen not to tell," she said. "I have definitely learned to be much quieter here." When 79-year-old Cheyenne resident Pat Lauber replied to a tweet on Twitter saying she would be crossing over, she said she "almost immediately" got four direct messages from strangers' accounts calling her a communist. That said, many of the people planning to cross over say they feel a sense of obligation to cast a vote for Cheney that extends beyond fear or policies they don't agree with. "What does it say about us that we're willing to forget all of the foundational principles of this country? And what would it say about us if we prove the whole country wrong, and Liz got nominated?" Sullivan, the former governor, said. "I mean, I think that would send an equally strong message. Two people died Thursday when a small plane crashed in the Bighorn National Forest, the Johnson County Sheriffs Office reported Sunday. The plane went down while while flying to Buffalo from Powell. It ignited a wildfire that, as of Friday afternoon, had burned about an acre of forest near Willow Park Reservoir, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The aircraft departed Powell Municipal Airport at about noon Thursday. The following day, the Johnson County Sheriffs Office learned from air traffic control in Salt Lake City that the plane was missing with two people on board. The same day, the forest service notified the sheriffs office that firefighters has located the wreckage of a plane while responding to a fire in a remote area of the Bighorn National Forest northwest of Buffalo, the sheriffs office says. They determined there were no survivors and that the occupants remains were not identifiable. On Saturday, a team set out to find the wreckage on foot. They found the crash site at 9:30 a.m., about four hours after leaving from Buffalo, the sheriffs office says. The team confirmed that there were no survivors. The aircraft did not have any identifiable markings, the sheriffs office reported. A search team which included members of the sheriffs office, the forest service and Johnson Countys search and rescue and coroners offices transported the remains back to Buffalo. There was no immediate update on the size of the fire, which is burning on the Powder River Ranger District. Local forest fire crews were being assisted by smoke jumpers based in West Yellowstone, Montana and the Wyoming state helicopter. A call to the Bighorn National Forest spokesperson was not immediately returned Sunday. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. In a town where residents are decidedly skeptical of taxes, voters have approved 1-cent funding for more than three decades. Theres good reason. The fifth penny sale tax had paid for a host of projects and services in Natrona County. Youve probably spotted fire engines and police cars around Casper emblazoned with the words paid for with 1-cent funds. Or youve been in buildings constructed with 1-cent revenue, such as the Hall of Justice or the Casper Events Center. The 1-cent pays for pipes that deliver our water, vehicles that respond to emergencies and buildings where we go to exercise or have fun. Traditionally, 1-cent funding is also used to pay for grants that help local nonprofits. The Natrona County Public Library, Central Wyoming Hospice and Youth Crisis Center are just a few of the groups that provide services in our community thanks, in part, to the 1-cent. The funding is not insignificant. In the most recent cycle, there was $3 million set aside for community funding. Last month, the Casper City Council heard a proposal from city officials to do away with the program. Instead, the money would have been split on a smaller set of services and groups. The bulk, for example, would have paid for admission subsidies at public pools in Casper. Nonprofits that have long relied on the funding as an essential part of their budgets were angered by the move, both because it would hurt their ability to provide local services and because city officials had avoided sharing their plans with those who would be affected. Thankfully, the council on Tuesday indicated it would reverse course and keep the community funding program. Thats good news for a couple of reasons. First, it means essential nonprofits will have the means they need to do important work in our community. But just as importantly, the decision to keep nonprofits intact will likely improve the 1-cents chances at the ballot box this fall. We view the 1-cent tax as a critical quality of life measure. And its more likely to earn the communitys support if its helping community groups thrive. While the city appears to have belatedly gotten things right, we are disappointed with the approach that city officials took as they mulled whether to do away with the nonprofit funding. The city did not communicate to the groups that a change was in the works, and apparently that decision was intentional. When asked about the lack of communication, City Manager Carter Napier said he didnt have any ill will toward the nonprofits, but in the same token, Im not going to load the council up with a bunch of haters because Im going to call them up and say, Hey, youre not being funded, you should come to the council and make your position known. Napier has done an admirable job guiding the city through a rough few years. But hes wrong. He should have contacted the nonprofits and told them exactly what was planned. That way, theyd have the opportunity to, in his words, come to the council and make their position known. Thats an important part of the public process. But more to the point, if you want people to have trust in the 1-cent program, you need to be as transparent as possible about it. That means sharing all of its successes, but also being upfront when changes may be necessary. Critics of the 1-cent tax may point to this episode as a reason not to support its renewal in November. We disagree. The response of the nonprofits demonstrates just how important 1-cent funding is for so many of the services that support our community. Whether its the library or the fire department, we use services supported by the 1-cent all the time. Its not an exaggeration to say our community would look and operate very differently without it. The city ultimately got things right on nonprofit funding. We hope voters do the same in November by adopting the 1-cent tax. For Astor50th Anniversary is the title of a series of performances in celebration of The Astor Johnson Repertory Dance Theatres (AJRDT) 50 years of existence and also in memory of the late dancer. The shows, put on by AJRDT dancers at Queens Hall, St Anns, will run from September 16 to 19. A school show is planned for September 16 from 10 a.m., a gala performance night on September 17 from 6 p.m. and a performance night on September 18, 2022, from 7 p.m. Summary: TWO men were shot and killed in separate incidents on Sunday night and yesterday morning with one murder in Laventille and the other in Petit Valley, Diego Martin. One month before his passing on May 6, 2001 the artist Carlisle Chang relived with relish th Affirm Wealth Advisors: Affirm Wealth Advisors, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC., is hosting a community Back to School Drive benefiting Flowing Wells Unified School District through Wednesday, July 20. Contributions will be accepted at Ameriprise Financial, 2484 E. River Road, during regular business hours. Items requested for donation include: Pencils, colored pencils, crayons, markers, dry erase markers, highlighters, glue sticks, scissors, college-rule paper, notebooks, notecards, Post-its, folders, tissues, hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes. For more information, call 520-338-2600 or email affirmwealthadvisors@ampf.com. Interfaith Community Services: Interfaith Community Services is looking to restock its food banks this July with the fifth annual Peanut Butter Party food drive. Now through Aug. 5, ICS is asking the community to meet a goal 10,000 jars of peanut butter to help replenish its food bank supply through the end of the year. In an average month, ICS gives out about 2,000 jars of peanut butter. Donated peanut butter (1416 oz. jars) will be accepted at the two ICS food banks, 2820 W. Ina Road and 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail, Monday through Friday, 8 to 11 a.m. For more information, visit icstucson.org/peanut-butter-party. Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons: Local students who are paying their own way through college will receive a financial break while also getting a necessary surgery free wisdom teeth extractions and a chance to put the money it would have cost towards their higher education through Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Wisdom For Wisdom program. The oral surgery practices final recipients are: Ryan May, 17, from Marana; Aysella Gherna, 17 from Tucson; and Christian Holland, 24, from Oro Valley. Tucson Street Rod Association: TSRA Rodders Days Car Show donated $15,000 to the Pima Community College Applied Technology Programs to graduate more students into the hands-on trades, including automotive-diesel and electronic vehicles; aviation; construction; welding; advanced industrial technology; CNC machining and others. The Cork and Tucson Appliance: Jonathan Landeen, owner of The Cork, store manager Rovella Ruscuitti, and Tucson Appliances Chris Edwards each purchased a canine bullet proof vest for the Pima County Sheriffs Department. The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Dan Millman, author Were no strangers to change. The world of news, information, marketing, and communication provides a constant dose of transformation and disruption. Weve played a lead role in the evolution of the Tucson region and have adapted along the way. Since our inception 145 years ago, youve known us by several different names TNI, Tucson Newspapers and most recently, just the Arizona Daily Star. While we are proud of the legacy created and the foundation of success we have laid, the time has come to adopt a brand as reflective of our future as it is our past. So, were proud to announce a new business brand that reflects where weve been and where we are going Tucson Media Partners. Our family of news and information brand names Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com, #ThisIsTucson, La Estrella de Tucson, and more remain intact, providing quality local journalism to the Tucson area. Our reach is even broader than ever through digital platforms and social media diversification. Our mission as a news organization also remains true to hold the powerful accountable, give a voice to the voiceless, and shine light into dark corners. That mission remains essential. But the way we tell those stories and support that mission has changed, and our new brand, Tucson Media Partners, reflects that change. Tucson Media Partners is a data-driven, customer-centric, full-service marketing agency built on best-in-class storytelling with the promise of robust, transparent reporting. What makes us unique? Our knowledge and experience from thousands of clients nationwide, with partners Amplified Digital and Lee Business Solutions, provide local precision to connect with your future customers. As a dynamic provider of modern marketing solutions, our clients gain more than an agency: they receive a business intelligence partner. Our approach fuels customized, omnichannel solutions, driving growth for all local businesses. Where we excel: storytelling, video, local, targeted audience, social, digital, television and much more. We are laser-focused on local businesses, large and small, helping business owners navigate and grow in the current and ever-changing environment. Add a talented, experienced group of marketing professionals thinkers and doers, creators and producers that make up Tucson Media Partners. These passionate individuals are part of this community, and they are invested in the success of local businesses and organizations. Were not intimidated by change we are energized by it and are dedicated to building the new. As our brand evolves and grows, we relish the opportunity to explore what we can do for your brand. Were ready to help you communicate with your future customers. Lets start by talking to each other we look forward to connecting! Heres to growing together! John DOrlando President & Publisher Tucson Media Partners The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: Prior to my service on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, I was an administrator and teacher in for almost 30 years. On two occasions, my staff members and I had to put our schools into lockdown because of reports that a student with a gun was roaming campus. Although no one was harmed in either incident, I will never forget the looks of fear and uncertainty on the faces of my colleagues and students. More times than I care to remember, I attended funerals of students who died as the result of gun violence. A girl who was a victim of a gang-related shooting and several suicides, including one of a sixth-grader, all bring to mind memories of anguished family and friends. There is something sickeningly incongruous about watching teenagers grieve the loss of a classmate gone at far too young an age. Gun violence is an epidemic in our country, including in Pima County. As Arizona counties are charged under state law with protecting public health, our Board of Supervisors should have the ability to protect residents from public health and safety threats. Sadly, the Arizona Legislature restricts our capacity to fulfill that duty. There is currently a statute in place (ARS 13-3108) that prohibits political subdivisions from enacting any ordinance, rule or tax relating to the transportation, possession, carrying, sale, transfer, purchase, acquisition, gift, devise, storage, licensing, registration, discharge or use of firearms or ammunition or any firearm or ammunition components or related accessories in this state. This statute prevents local governments in our state from taking virtually any action to address gun safety or violence. The Board of Supervisors learned in the last year just how restrictive this statute is. Two of us asked the county attorney to advise the board as to whether or not we could ban gun shows from being held at the fairgrounds, or at least require that gun sellers at these shows have federal firearms licenses, which require them to conduct background checks. ARS 13-3108 prevented us from taking either action. Last month, I asked the county attorney if there were any possibility of the board considering a local red flag law, which would permit the sheriff and his deputies to confiscate guns from any resident found to be a danger to themselves or others. There are 19 states with such laws and it seemed to me that the county, as the regional public health authority, should be able to put such a law in place. Again, I was told that ARS 13-3108 prohibited any such law from being enacted. In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting and the mass murder in a Buffalo grocery store, the United States Congress passed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act (SCA). I am encouraged that the process of protecting all Americans from the constant threat of gun violence has at long last been taken up by our federal lawmakers. Here are some of the opportunities the SCA has made available to the Arizona Legislature: 1. Financial incentives for enacting state red flag laws 2. The ability for women to seek legal protection from violent boyfriends. 3. Access to billions of dollars for mental health. 4. Mandatory background checks on 18-to-21-year-old gun purchasers. 5. The ability to impose stricter punishment on straw purchases of weapons (where a gun is purchased by one person to give to another). 6. Access to $250 million dollars of federal grant funds for establishing local violence intervention programs We will be electing a new legislature this year. State lawmakers must act to ensure the safety of the public they say they serve. At a minimum, each legislator should act to take advantage of the opportunities the SCA has provided them. They should also repeal ARS 13-3108 so that leaders at the local level can also act as needed to safeguard our people. Leer en espanol In her decade-long tenure, my benevolent predecessor Andi Berlin wrote at least three articles about the Sonoran side of the border. First, she went on a Spanish immersion program through community center HEPAC, where she sampled regional Oaxacan food at a festival, was welcomed into a fish barbecue in someones home and ate churros downtown. Then she went on a Border Community Alliance gastronomic tour. Finally, she went on a private tour with a local foodie. But she never talked about the Arizona side of the border. Admittedly a smaller town, Nogales, Arizona, still has a lot to offer. You can try local renditions of the Sonoran food we enjoy in Tucson at cozy neighborhood favorites like El Zerape or Rancho Grande, both recommended by Arcadio Alvarez, a local mail carrier (and a colleague of my uncles, who runs the route between Amado and Arivaca). On the weekends, you wont find any parking. Its that good, he said of El Zerape. You can also try a local spin on Italian ice (our version here would be Eegees) at Finitos, which my colleagues and Nogales hometown heroes, Jamie Donnelly and Genesis Lara, say is the best in Southern Arizona. Or, a matcha drink in the tricolors of the Mexican flag at local cafe Moqah. But theres even more! Were throwing in a few ideas of activities to flesh out the day trip possibilities. Cocina La Ley While this casual restaurant builds its reputation on its seafood, Jamie, who grew up in Nogales, recommends their AMAZING cabeza and birria tacos. Location: 226 W. Third St. Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily For more information, check out their website. El Zarape If I could marry a restaurant, it would be this one. This is the kind of food you want to come home to, every night. Hearty and bursting with flavor, the combo plate #1 made me agree with my family friend Arcadio that you cannot go wrong at this restaurant. Arcadios testimony: Very famous for their birria, and menudo too. But you can order a Mexican plate, they do everything well. Theyve been open for the longest time, a bunch of customers people keep coming back. On the weekends, you wont find any parking. Its that good. Location: 694 N. Grand Ave. Hours: 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday | 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday For more information, check out their Google Maps site. Finitos Locals will say its like Eegees, but better. Their Italian ice comes in tons of flavors, nearly two dozen, and you can get it decked out with tamarindo candies or ice cream. The lady filled my cup halfway before sprinkling a generous amount of Tajin, then loading up the small serving (which, at $2, felt like more than enough). A medium costs $3 and a large costs $4! Its the best of both worlds of raspados and Eegees. The location, tucked away on Perkins Avenue, is tree-lined unlike any street I've seen in Tucson. I saw kids in bathing suits stopping by with their families after a session at the pool. It felt like pure summer. Location: 775 N. Perkins Ave. Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday For more information, check out their Facebook page. Moqah Coffee & Beyond This small chain of cafes got its start in Rio Rico. They have a wide selection of both sweet and savory crepes, alongside bistro classics like paninis and salads. But they stand out with Instagram-friendly showstoppers like a matcha drink in the colors of the Mexican flag. The Nogales location has views of the charming hills on the other side of the border. Its bistro chairs and hand-painted window feel like you're stepping into a vintage foreign land, like France or Cuba. Bring a book and savor the ambiance! Location: 29 N. Morley Ave. (While the correct address, this Google map will take you to its former location. To get to the new spot, go to Kory's at the end of Morley Avenue.) Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday For more information, check out their Facebook page. Rancho Grande Rancho Grande was the first place Arcadio told me about. Anything you order is authentic, really good Mexican food. Menudo, posole, any Mexican drink you can think of that place is really good. Its not expensive at all, he said. Its the kind of place with regulars. Location: 270 N. Grand Court Plaza Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily For more information, check out their Yelp page. Tacos & Tarros While Rancho Grande and El Zarape give off more traditional vibes, Tacos and Tarros brings a modern twist. They have a fun vibe on the weekends and an extensive salsa bar. Location: W. White Park Dr. by the Walmart Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday | Noon to 8 p.m. Sunday Register for more free articles. Log in Sign up For more information, check out their Facebook page. Other day trip activities Pimeria Alta Historical Society Museum This museum, housed in the old city hall, is a destination for territorial history. They frequently host events and offer rotating historical exhibits, alongside standby attractions like a fire truck with a hand-operated pump and a tour of the old jail. Location: 136 N. Grand Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday For more information, check out their website. Hilltop Gallery This art gallery and event venue has been a cultural institution in Nogales since 1968. They often host live music, along with rotating fine arts exhibits. Location: 730 N. Hill Top Dr. Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday | 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday | Closed Sunday-Monday For more information, check out their website. Guided Border Hike Borderlandia is a cultural organization that hosts all kinds of events on both sides of the border region, from taco crawls in Hermosillo to historical tours local here in Tucson. Occasionally, they host urban hikes along the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales. For more information, check out the events page on their website. Border Community Alliance also runs a regular cross-border tour in Nogales, Sonora. Charles Mingus events Legendary jazz musician Charles Mingus was born in Nogales in 1922. While Nogales hosted a blowout centennial celebration this year, the city often hosts a music festival on his birthday in late April. For more information, keep tabs on their website, The Mingus Project. Paul Bond Boot Co. This is an authentic cowboy boot company with over seven decades of history. The handmade boots cost hundreds of dollars, so Id almost treat it like a museum or window shopping, but its a cool slice of country western culture regardless. The shingled barn contains the factory, ready-to-wear retail, seats for custom sizing and design, and signed photos of country stars like Johnny Cash. Location: 915 W. Paul Bond Dr. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Closed weekends. For more information, check out their website. Duty-Free Shopping Looking to stock up? There are two duty-free stores near the border in Nogales. While theyre best known for discounted liquor and cigarettes, you can also find fun imports and fine gifts like designer perfume. Locations: 421 N. Mariposa Road and 78 N. Terrace Ave. Hours: Mariposa Road location is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday | Terrace Avenue location is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and is closed Sunday. For more information, check out Duty Free Americas website. Outdoor recreation Maybe the above dining options will be great respite and indulgence after a morning hike or kayak expedition. Southern Arizona offers a lot of beautiful nature. Here are a couple options en route from Tucson: Patagonia Lake State Park If you take the scenic route, down the 82 instead of the 19 from Tucson, the Patagonia Lake State Park is just a brief detour. Otherwise, its about half an hour from Nogales. Temperatures are usually around 10 degrees cooler there than in Tucson. The lake has a beach and options for swimming, boating and fishing. You can camp in tents, your RV or in rustic cabins on site as well. Location: 400 Patagonia Lake Road Fee: As a state park, there is an entrance fee of $15-20 per vehicle or $3 per person/bicycle. For more information, check out their website. Las Lagunas de Anza Wetlands If you want to grab takeout from any of these restaurants, this could be a great spot in town for a picnic. Theres a mesquite grove with picnic tables and umbrellas to keep you cool even in the summertime. Location: W. Country Club Dr. in Nogales For more information, check out their website. Two uniquely American genres the Western and film noir come together in Dead Ringer, which the American Theatre Company will present July 21-24 at Studio 308, 308 S. Lansing Ave. Written by Gino Dilorio, Dead Ringer is a dark comedy centered on Tyrus Cole, a horse trainer, who lives on a ranch with his invalid sister, Mary. Because he cant watch her during the day, Tyrus keeps Mary confined in the root cellar. One day a stranger named Dwight Foley shows up, seeking help for his horse. When Dwight discovers Mary, it isnt long before love rears its ugly head, and plans get hatched to do away with Travis. In true noir fashion, those plans escalate, trapping all three in a complex web of greed and secrets, intrigue and mystery. Timothy Hunter directs the play, which stars Angela McLaughlin, Obum Ukabam and Steve Barker. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, July 21-23, 2 p.m. Sunday, July 24. Tickets are $16-$24. checkout.square.site. BABA presents CinderellaBroadway at Boston Avenue presents its first show after a two-year, COVID-19 induced hiatus, with Rodgers & Hammersteins Cinderella. Cinderella is the only work by Rodgers & Hammerstein written specifically for television. It debuted in 1957 with Julie Andrews in the title role, and was revived in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren, and again in 1997 with Brandy Norwood. The familiar story of a girls magical transformation to attend the gala held by a marriage-minded prince is highlighted by such classic songs as In My Own Little Corner, Impossible/Its Possible, and Do I Love YOu Because Youre Beautiful? Performances are 7 p.m. Saturday, July 23 and Friday, July 29; 2 p.m. Sunday July 24 and 31, at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, 1301 S. Boston Ave. Matt Morton directs the show, which features Maggie Duncan as Cinderella, Woody Daniel as the Prince, and Kelly Borycki as the Fairy Godmother. Cathy Venable, who was the orchestral pianist for the 2013 Tony Award-winning Broadway production, is the shows music director. Broadway at Boston Avenue has been staging a musical each summer since 1983. This will be the final show under that name; a new theater arts program called Tulsa Theater Works will take over the annual production. Tickets are $5. 918-699-0138, bostonavenue.org. Starlight BandAlison Walden, winner of the Signature Symphonys first Tulsa Sings! competition, will be the guest artist for the next Starlight Band concert, 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at Guthrie Green, 101 E. Reconciliation Way. Walden will be featured in a program titled Between the Sun and the Moon, which will include such celestial tunes as Mornings First Light, Dont Let the Sun Go Down On Me, Dusk, Moondance, I Dreamed a Dream and more. A native of Louisiana, Walden has performed with a variety of groups over the years from jazz ensembles to symphony orchestras, including several concerts with the Signature Symphony. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets or portable chairs for seating. Concession will include the food trucks Pita Place and Joshs Sno Shack. starlightconcerts.org. Featured video: The musical "Anastasia" is the story of a young woman who finds herself alone in the world, uncertain not only about her future, but also about her past. It's something that Madeline Kendall, who will be playing the title role when the Broadway touring production of "Anastasia" comes to Tulsa, understands all too well. Kendall, who was born in South Korea, was adopted by a New Jersey family when she was 7 months old. "I've been extremely fortunate because I have the most incredible family," Kendall said. "But I know that I could have struggled a great deal with who I really am, why I was given away, trying to find my true self. "So I understand how Anastasia feels, about searching for her true identity," she said. "I also like the fact that her search ends up making her a strong and independent woman, who makes the choices she does because they are the best for her." The musical "Anastasia" is adapted from the 1997 animated film of the same name, which was inspired by the legend that grew up around the possible fate of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the youngest daughter of the Romanovs, the family that ruled Russia before the Communist Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II and his family were ultimately executed in July 1918, but for years rumors circulated that, somehow, Anastasia had not only survived but had escaped Russia. It wasn't long before several women claimed to be Anastasia, although none could provide solid proof of their claims. (The case was ultimately closed in 2007, when DNA tests of the Romanov family corpses proved that Anastasia had been executed in 1918 with the rest of her family.) Musical theater, however, is not as beholden to facts as historical records and courts of law. In the world of "Anastasia," the rumor that the young duchess evaded executive turns out to be true, and the girl's grandmother, now living in Paris, offers a huge reward to anyone who can reunite her with Anastasia. When word of the reward reaches Russia, a pair of con artists decide to find a naive girl and groom her to impersonate Anastasia and claim the money. They are about to despair of finding a suitable subject when a young woman named Anya enters their office. Her remarkable resemblance to the missing royal, and the fact that she suffers from amnesia and has little recollection of her past, make her the perfect candidate for their scheme. However, the true pasts of Anastasia and one of the con men, Dmitri, will connect in ways that complicate everything. That Kendall will be portraying Anya/Anastasia during the show's Tulsa run is a bit out of the ordinary. "Kyla Stone (who is topped billed in the role) is taking a few weeks off to do another project," Kendall said. "There are three understudies for the role, so each of us will get a week to play the lead." In her usual role, Kendall is a member of the show's ensemble, and performs a number of roles throughout the production, from playing one of the doomed Romanov daughters to being one of women auditioning to be the false Anastasia. This won't be Kendall's first time to play the lead role. "We were in Albuquerque, and I got a call around midnight that I was going on as Anastasia the next day," Kendall recalled. "My roommate is a swing performer, who would have to cover all my roles, so we basically stayed up all night and went through the whole show together in our hotel room. "It was crazy and nerve-wracking to say the least," she said, laughing. "Fortunately, our cast and crew are great, and you know that they're cheering you on and making sure you have whatever you need to do well on stage." Kendall is the first Asian-American to play the role of Anastasia, just as Kyla Stone is the first African-American in the role. Kendall said this is simply a reflection of the diversity of the show's cast, rather than any sort of statement by the creative team. "If anything, I think it makes the show even more relatable," Kendall said. "It shows you that anyone can go through this journey of searching for their identity. It's something I think we all do in one way or another, and it has nothing to do with race or culture anything. "But still," Kendall said, "it is super special for me to be the first Asian to do the role. I've had a lot of kids reach out to me after a performance, to say how much it meant for them to see 'a princess who looks like me' on stage." Tulsa World Scene podcast: Water to rock features Chef Joel Bein says he always jumps at the opportunity to take part in events such as the Odyssey de Culinaire because its a unique way to learn as well as teach. Im largely self-taught as a chef, said Bein, who started his popular OK Rub food truck in 2014 and co-owns The Meat and Cheese Show with fellow chef Amanda Simcoe. When I got to the point where people were asking me to take part in charity events, I always agreed, because it was a way for me to work with and learn from many of the local chefs I admired. For me, being a cook is really a constant learning process, and you always want to learn from the best, he said. And with the Odyssey de Culinaire, that process goes both ways, because were working with young cooks and trying to pass along some of the knowledge weve gained over the years. The Odyssey de Culinaire is a two-night fundraising dinner presented by the Oklahoma Restaurant Association in partnership with Oklahoma ProStart, as a part of the Oklahoma Hospitality Foundations school-to-career initiative. The first event was held July 7 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City. The Tulsa Odyssey de Culinaire will take place Tuesday, July 19, at the River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway. Tickets for the event are $145 per person. To reserve: 405-942-8181, okrestaurants.com. Funds raised from the event will benefit Oklahoma ProStart, a program designed to introduce high school juniors and seniors to careers in the food service industry, providing them with opportunities to earn national certification through classroom activities, internships, and comprehensive exams. Five chefs in each city are paired with Oklahoma ProStart students to create a five-course dinner that will be served at the event. In addition to Bein, the Tulsa dinner will feature chefs Audrey Long and Ben Alexander of McNellies Group; Devin Levine, executive chef for the BOK Center; and Jonathan Moosmiller of Shangri-La Resort. The theme for 2022 is Chefs Playlist, with each course inspired by the chefs song of choice, accompanied by a wine selection provided by Republic National Distributing Company. Bein is working with Sylvana Pittman, a student at Tulsa Technology Center, to create their contribution to the menu. Having the theme for this years event be music has made this process pretty interesting, Bein said. Sylvana loves soul music, where I like things that are a little trippy, maybe even a little weird. Im a big fan of Massive Attack, for example, which might surprise some people. So were going to be making something that will look like a traditional soul food dish, but with a flavor profile that will catch people by surprise, he said. Roberta Helsley, Manager of Education for the Oklahoma Restaurant Association and ProStart coordinator said, Odyssey de Culinaire is an experience like none other. Our guests not only receive a one-of-a-kind culinary experience prepared by Oklahoma ProStart students, but they are supporting the future of the Oklahoma Hospitality industry by showing up and believing in these students. Bein agrees, saying, This is my second year to be a part of this event, and both of the young people Ive worked with have been really excited about the whole process. Theyre like sponges, eager to soak up everything you have to share. Ive even learned a few things from them. If these students are any indication, Bein said, then Im confident the culinary scene in Oklahoma has a very bright future. Tulsa World Scene podcast: Water to rock features Update (11 a.m. Monday): Serenity McAdoo, 18, was shot and killed early Sunday morning after an altercation near 1 S. Boston, according to Tulsa Police Lt. Brandon Watkins. The below story published in Monday's Tulsa World: Tulsa Police are investigating after an 18-year-old woman was fatally shot at the downtown landmark known as the Center of the Universe, according to an early Sunday news release and a social media post. Officers responded just before 3 a.m. Sunday to a call from a security guard in the area near Archer Street and MLK Boulevard, Sgt. Tyler Turnbough wrote in the release. The guard reported hearing multiple gunshots from the Center of the Universe and seeing people running all around. Evidence recovered by officers at the scene reportedly included casings indicating multiple rounds from different weapons had been fired. Around 3:10 a.m., Tulsa police dispatched officers to Hillcrest Medical Center upon reports a shooting victim with life-threatening wounds had arrived by private car. Witnesses in the private car said the shooting had occurred at the Center of the Universe, Turnbough wrote in the release, adding witnesses are still being interviewed and the investigation is still ongoing. At this time, we believe that an altercation took place between 2 groups of people and as one of the groups took off in a car, the other group fired several rounds at them, police said in a social media post. Several rounds struck One Williams Center building at the intersection of 1st Street and Boston Avenue, police said. While one group was trying to drive away, an 18-year-old passenger in the car was struck and they rushed her to the hospital, police said. Unfortunately, her gunshot wound was fatal and she died from her injuries later in the morning, police said. The victims name was not released Sunday night. We are working on some leads in this investigation and could use help from anyone that has information about the shooting, police said. Police asked anyone with information to call Tulsa Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS (2677). Tulsa police have arrested a brother and sister for larceny of a residence after one was caught in a sting operation. Police arrested Dan Palmer and his sister, Brenda Linam, on the charges. Police say the homeowner noticed around 4 a.m. Thursday that a generator, a weed eater and a chainsaw were missing from his garage after his housekeeper left. He filed a police report and later noticed that the generator appeared for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Officers worked with the homeowner to set up a meet with the suspect and a fictional buyer. Palmer and several associates met near 41st and Memorial at 8 p.m. Thursday with the generator hanging out of the trunk of a Ford Mustang. Police then detained Palmer and his associates for questioning. Police say Palmer told officers his sister called him to help her pick up some heavy items at a house where she was working. Palmer said he did not know where the weed eater and chainsaw were, but that his sister might know. He told officers his sister was at his apartment in Catoosa. The Catoosa Police Department helped TPD officers find Linam. Linam told officers she took the items from the homeowners residence, saying she was unhappy with a financial arrangement. Palmer later admitted to officers he sold the chainsaw earlier in the day. Officers believe the weed eater was either sold or traded. Palmer and Linam are both tribal members, and the case has been turned over to the Muscogee Creek Nation. Oklahomas 2nd Congressional District race became much clearer on June 28, when the blur of names and faces in the Republican primary shrank from 14 to two. Those two, state Rep. Avery Frix of Muskogee and former state Sen. Josh Brecheen of Coalgate, offer GOP voters a fairly distinct choice in the Aug. 23 runoff election. Frix, 28, is all Trump, all the time. And thats not surprising. The former president remains very popular in the 2nd District. Frix has also chaired the Oklahoma House Transportation Committee, and is all for spending money on infrastructure in his district. In 2018, Frix voted for the tax hikes on oil and gas production, fuel, and tobacco products that helped pay for teacher raises. Brecheen, 43, sounds a lot like his former boss, the late Sen. (and CD 2 representative) Tom Coburn. He is all budget, all the time. More specifically, hes all about bringing down the national debt. In 2018, Brecheen voted against the tax increases, instead pushing an alternate plan to pay for teacher raises through cuts primarily to business incentives. Ideological differences is where this race is going to be won, said Brecheen. My (legislative) voting record says Im a true conservative. Im not a campaign conservative. Im a true conservative. For Brecheen, the job is about rooting out the proverbial waste, fraud and abuse. His first choice for committee assignments is Oversight. Man, to get on the Oversight Committee, and dive in with the GAO (Government Accountability Office), he said. Im talking about looking at every federal agency under subpoena power and really looking and scrubbing, not just giving lip service to waste, fraud and abuse, but going in there and saying, All right, we all know we have a problem. We all know were overspending. Heres a redundancy. Why dont we address this. The underlying solution, Brecheen said, is simplicity and Biblical virtue. Frix, by comparison, talks about Trumps America First policy and notes Brecheen has been supported by at least $375,000 worth of independent expenditures from the Club for Growths School Freedom Fund. The ultraconservative Club for Growth, as Frix points out, opposed Trumps 2016 candidacy. The two later made up but have been at odds more recently over some Republican primary candidates. Frix finished first in the primary but only by about 1 percentage point. His 14.74% is the lowest to date for a first-place primary candidate in a statewide or congressional race nationwide. Five candidates finished within 4 points of the top in the tightly packed field. One of the things that set us apart was that we had that America First message, that we were unapologetically pro-Trump and supported President Trump 100% of the way, said Frix, who as House Transportation chairman was largely responsible for getting a stretch of Panhandle highway named for the former chief executive. Asked if his devotion to Trump will backfire given recent disclosures about the former presidents involvement in the Jan. 6, 2020, Capitol riot, Frix demurred. We continue to be support President Trump, said Frix. We continue to be 100% America First agenda. The term America First has come under some scrutiny because of its past association with isolationism and, in at least one case, anti-Semitism. Trumps version plays on the idea that the U.S. government does not always give American interests first priority. Frix says hes proud of the fact he is his campaigns largest donor $255,000, or more than half the total. Im committed to running my own race and not owing anybody anything, he said. Nevertheless, Frix has also benefited from anonymous outside spending including at least $250,000 to attack Brecheen from a dark money outfit called Fund for a Working Congress. Another dark money group, American Jobs and Growth PAC, has spent about $130,000 on Frixs behalf. Combined, Frix and Brecheen received less than 30% of the primary vote which means more than 70% voted for someone else. For all practical purposes, the runoff winner will be the one who persuades the majority of that 70% to give him a second look. Of the other primary candidates, Brecheen says he has endorsements from four state Sen. Marty Quinn, former state Rep. John Bennett, former state Rep. David Derby and Cherokee Nation council member Wes Nofire. Of those, only Bennett received more than 10% of the vote. Frix says he has two primary opponent endorsements Pam Gordon and Clint Johnson, both of whom were in single digits. Frix said he also has the backing of several county sheriffs, including Rogers Countys Scott Walton. However the votes break, the runoff winner will be a heavy favorite in the Nov. 8 general election against Democrat Naomi Andrews and independent Ben Robinson. Featured video: Baby bills: Oklahomas two U.S. senators, Jim Inhofe and James Lankford, signed off on proposed legislation that would allow pregnant women to claim child support payments. Dads need to step up and provide for their kids. Period. Our bill helps moms in every state have access to child support throughout the entirety of their childrens lives, not just after they are born, Lankford said in a press release. The bill would require states to enforce court-ordered child support payments, which could be retroactive to the first month of pregnancy. Payments could not be awarded without the womans consent. Health care: Health savings accounts, less paperwork and pricing transparency are the keys to cheaper, better health care, according to a House Republicans report that 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern helped draft. Writing for the The Daily Signal, a website owned by the Heritage Foundation, Hern and two other House members said: Americans deserve to know the cost of health care before they receive it. But in several areas throughout the country, unhealthy levels of consolidation among hospitals and health plans have left patients with only one choice. That leads to rising prices, lower quality of care, and worse long-term health outcomes. To address that, Republicans will identify and eliminate payment incentives and billing practices that reward harmful consolidation in the health care system and increase costs for patients. Congress must also repeal the laws that prevent medical providers from opening and operating new facilities to increase competition and give patients more options for their care. Oiled up: Inhofe and Lankford also signed onto Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs bill to stop oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from finding its way to China. Republicans have been dismissive of President Joe Bidens decision to sell a million barrels a day from the reserve in an attempt to lower oil prices and thus fuel prices. The oil is sold at auction to the highest bidder, and, according to reports, some of it has ultimately been exported to Europe and China. Experts consulted by FactCheck.org said the global nature of oil markets makes foreign transfers of oil insignificant to pricing and that the amount reaching China appears to be relatively small, but Republicans are outraged nonetheless. Inhofe said it is irresponsible to allow U.S. oil to reach China, which he referred to as an adversary and our greatest threat. Lankford said Biden is outrageously selling our emergency oil supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to nations like China. This is absolutely unacceptable. We should help American families afford gas and groceries by increasing domestic production, rather than handing over our emergency reserves to bad-actor nations. Oil and fuel prices have declined over the past several weeks, although it is unclear whether Bidens use of the strategic reserve is a factor. China, meanwhile, is reportedly buying record amounts of oil from Russia. Unchained melody: As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a business owner, 2nd District Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Markwayne Mullin figures he knows a few things about disruptions in supply chains. Last week he addressed weaknesses in the United States access to pharmaceutical and rare earth minerals by calling for federal action to increase domestic production. Specifically, he and Minnesota Democrat Angie Craig filed legislation creating incentives for stateside manufacturers of certain drugs, and Mullin separately called for loosening of mining regulations. Electric vehicles need batteries, and batteries require critical minerals, he said. While we may know what minerals to look for and often where to look, it takes 10 years to permit a mine in the U.S. with (the) current approval process. For this reason, the U.S. remains 100% dependent on imports for 17 key mineral resources and 50% dependent on imports for another 29 mineral commodities from China. Transgender law: Lankford was one of the Republican senators filing legislation to allow individuals who suffered experimental and potentially sterilizing gender-transition procedures as minors to later sue those providing the services. These procedures are life-altering, lack medical justification, and can cause irreversible side-effects. When kids as young as 11 are victims of experimental medicine in a woke culture, they need the ability decades from now to challenge their doctors actions, Lankford said. Last week, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormonal treatments are appropriate in some cases for teens as young as 14. It said some reassignment surgery is appropriate for some patients as young as 15. Certainly there are adolescents that do not have the emotional or cognitive maturity to make an informed decision, said Dr. Eli Coleman, chair of the organizations standards of care and director of the University of Minnesota Medical Schools Human Sexuality Program. That is why we recommend a careful multidisciplinary assessment. According to the Cleveland Clinic, about one in four people who identify as transgender or nonbinary have undergone reassignment surgery, with most reporting satisfaction with the results. Carbonation: Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, in line to chair the Science, Space and Technology Committee if Republicans get control of the House next year, is all in for carbon sequestration. Lucas is a sponsor of legislation that would require federal research into absorbing carbon emissions through land use i.e., plants. As a farmer and rancher, Im well aware of how sound land use practices can conserve resources and improve our environment, Lucas said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. We need an all-of-the-above approach to addressing climate change one that makes use of our many resources. Research and development into innovative solutions like this will be what drives our success in greenhouse gas reductions not restrictive mandates that raise prices on American families. Dots and dashes: Hern cast one of the 101 no votes on last weeks National Defense Authorization Act. The states other four members voted aye. House Democrats blocked a Republican resolution, backed by 4th District Congressman Tom Cole, proposing a constitutional amendment to permanently set the number of Supreme Court justices at nine. Inhofe was among a dozen senators complaining that the U.S. Agency for International Development is not distributing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians fast enough. Lankford voted against confirmation of Steven Dettelbach to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Farm state Republican senators, including Inhofe, complained that Biden administration trade policies have weakened American farmers and ranchers. The Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma received a $2 million U.S. Commerce Department grant to help tribes assess their broadband needs. Fifth District Congesswoman Stephanie Bice sponsored legislation to expand the nations network of Mesonet weather reporting stations. Lankford is spending the weekend on the Texas-Mexico border. Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World Featured video: Campaigns and elections: Democratic U.S. Sen. candidate Kendra Horn said she was among the 164,000 Oklahomans who signed the petition for State Question 820, a proposed statute legalizing all uses of marijuana by those 21 and older. I believe Oklahomans have the right to make their voices heard at the ballot box on this and other issues, said Horn, who will meet the winner of the Markwayne Mullin-T.W. Shannon GOP runoff and two other candidates in a Nov. 8 special general election to succeed Jim Inhofe. We must protect the initiative petition process that ensures Oklahomans are able to take issues directly to the people. During her one term in Congress, Horn co-sponsored legislation to allow access to the banking system for cannabis transactions that are legal under state law. In the Senate, I will work to modernize federal policy around cannabis and thoughtfully enact changes that protect businesses, consumers, and the public, Horn said. Shannon launched a series of 100 town halls, beginning last week in Bartlesville. Cleta Mitchell, the conservative activist attorney who as state Sen. Cleta Deatherage was one of the Oklahoma Legislatures most liberal members from 1976-84, reportedly is recruiting swing-state poll workers and election observers as part of an effort to influence the 2024 election. Mitchell was recently subpoenaed by a Georgia grand jury looking into former President Donald Trumps attempt to get election officials in that state to find enough votes to beat current President Joe Biden. The wife of state Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, dropped her lawsuit against Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs staffers she said were harassing her. The OCPA contested the claim, but at least some of the staffers were involved in a campaign by school voucher advocates to oust Moore via last months Republican primary. Moore handily won reelection, while the OCPA said it would file a Bar Association complaint against Moore, who is an attorney. Federal Election Commission records show Republican Senate candidate Jackson Lahmeyers campaign paid former President Donald Trump associate Roger Stones Drake Ventures at least $181,137 between Oct. 4 and June 8. Lahmeyer made much of Stones endorsement during his campaign, which ended in a primary loss to incumbent James Lankford. Crisis pregnancy: Abortion rights activists blasted Gov. Kevin Stitts Helping Every Life and Parent Task Force, which they said will promote anti-abortion rhetoric and support so-called crisis pregnancy centers that discourage people from seeking abortion care. The press release from Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice said, These kinds of facilities have long been known to promote misinformation and use intimidation tactics to dissuade people from accessing health care. Homework: Oklahoma Speaker of the House Charles McCall, R-Atoka, approved all 82 interim studies requested by members. Topics range from Quality of life for women in Oklahoma to Use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scoring in Oklahoma, and whether statutes should be considered banning such practices. Interim studies often become the basis for future legislation. Meetings and events: Gun safety organization Moms Demand Action will be featured at the Tulsa Democratic Party monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Baxters Interurban, 717 S. Houston Ave. First Congressional District candidate Adam Martin will speak to the Creek County Democratic Party at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at La Margarita, 1215 New Sapulpa Road, Sapulpa. Bottom lines: State Sen. Mark Allen, R-Poteau, spoke out against a congressional proposal to repeal an 85-year-old federal tax on guns, ammunition, and bows and arrows, the proceeds of which help pay for wildlife conservation. State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, wants the state to sue the Biden administration over its management of illegal immigration. The Tulsa County Democratic Party told members that finances may cause it to give up its office on East 31st Street. Damion Shade is the new executive director of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform. A proposed change in Environmental Protection Agency rules that would partially restore the practice of allowing accused violators to pay for remedial measures as part of settlement agreements drew the opposition of Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor, who warned that it could result in funneling public funds to third-party political allies of the administration. Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World Featured video: As election season heats up, so do the fires currently burning under the Tulsa Public Schools kettle. Gov. Kevin Stitt requested that State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd conduct an investigative audit of the school district. But in many ways, Stitts directive is the latest salvo in an ongoing battle between him and TPS Superintendent Deborah Gist. It appears to be a political distraction and possible weaponization of state resources. Stitts first concern came from TPS officials discovering less than $20,000 in irregularities with donated funds concerning a contractor for a recruitment and retention program. TPS officials notified law enforcement, and the districts chief personnel officer has since resigned. It led Tulsa school board members ELena Ashley and Jennettie Marshall to contact the Governors Office about a state investigative audit. That kicked open the door for Stitt to expand the inquiry into federal pandemic expenditures and an allegation of a violation of House Bill 1775, which bans counseling and training on gender diversity and prohibits teaching about race and gender that make students feel uncomfortable. TPS has not been accused of mismanaging pandemic funds, unlike about $8 million of the governors share of federal Governors Emergency Education Relief Funds, which was overseen by Education Secretary Ryan Walters. That is under investigation by federal auditors. It is unclear if the state auditor can determine compliance with HB 1775. Gist says she welcomes the audit. Context here is important. TPS has been a target of the governor since the pandemic, with Stitt criticizing the district in his 2021 State of the State address for its time using distance learning. Though TPS has been singled out, Oklahoma City Public Schools were in distance learning longer, along with the Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences charter school. Western Heights closed school buildings longest in the state. Gist pushed back, accusing Stitt of being a bully and failing to reach out or respond to the districts entreaties to discuss the states pandemic response. TPS is not the only entity Stitt has targeted for a state investigative audit. Not long after Byrd released a damning report on Epic Charter Schools (calling it the worst case of embezzlement of taxpayer funds in Oklahoma history and led to three arrests on racketeering complaints), Stitt requested a probe of the state Education Department. Its not clear what Stitt is hoping to uncover at the Education Department. But, his re-election challenger and early critic is State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister. We are all for accountability and transparency and have trust in Byrds integrity. Should more irregularities be found, we believe Byrd will respond ethically. But we are concerned investigative audits are being used at politically convenient times. Public schools in general, and TPS in particular, seem to be popular punching bags at a time when other, substantial allegations of fiscal mismanagement in state government require investigative auditors attention. There are real problems in Oklahoma education that need solving, like a severe teacher shortage. Lets not lose sight of that. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday attended the inauguration of a US$1.8 billion thermal power plant in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang, the Vietnam Government Portal reported. The Song Hau 1 Thermal Power Plant, costing more than VND43 trillion ($1.8 billion), is located in Mai Dam Town, Chau Thanh District, Hau Giang Province. Developed by state-run Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), the project was initiated in 2015 and put into commercial operation on May 6. With the total capacity of 1,200MW, the plant has so far generated and supplied over two billion kWh of electricity to the national grid. The facility is expected to contribute about 7.2 billion kWh a year to the national grid, meeting the demand for electricity of the southwestern region and Vietnam in general. Its annual revenue is forecast to reach about VND15-20 trillion ($639.5-852.6 million), making an important contribution to PVNs total revenue, and to the central and local budgets. At the ceremony, PVN pledged to operate the plan in a safe, stable, and efficient manner, and to cooperate with Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) in optimizing the power output of the plant. The group will also work with local authorities to ensure social security for residents and protect the environment. The combined capacity of PVN's power plants has reached 5,405MW, accounting for more than seven percent of the total capacity and about 10 percent of the electricity output of the entire national power system. PM Chinh said that the inauguration of Song Hau 1 Thermal Power Plant is of great significance as it helps ensure the countrys energy security. The operation of the plant will also help promote growth, economic restructuring, and the industrialization process of Hau Giang Province as well as the whole country, the premier added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Vietnamese team won three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze at the 2022 International Physics Olympiad, of which one gold was grabbed for the first time by a 10th grader, according to the education ministry. The three gold medals went to Vo Hoang Hai, a 10th grader, Vu Ngo Hoang Duong, an 11th grader, and Le Minh Hoang, a 12th grader, who are all from the High School for Gifted Students in Natural Science under the Vietnam National University - Hanoi, the Ministry of Education and Training said on Saturday. Hai has become the first Vietnamese 10th grader to claim a gold medal at an international physics Olympiad, the ministry said. Nguyen Dang Phuc, a 12th grader at Bac Ninh High School for Gifted Students, won a silver and Phung Cong Hieu, a 12th grader at Vinh Phuc High School for Gifted Students, grabbed a bronze medal. The five-member Vietnamese team ranked fifth out of 77 teams consisting of 368 students from 75 countries and territories at the 2022 International Physics Olympiad, hosted online by Switzerland from July 10 to 17. Vietnam placed after China, Romania, South Korea, and the U.S.. Last year, the Southeast Asian countrys team came seventh among 76 teams with three gold medals and two silver medals. This is the third consecutive year that the International Physics Olympiad has been held in an online format because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an annual international physics competition for high school students, the first IPhO was held in 1967 in Poland and it has gradually expanded to over 80 countries. The IPhOs main aim is to test the highest level of knowledge, critical thinking, problem solving, right practices of presentation and analysis, and hands-on skills in theoretical and experimental physics, as said on its website. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying munitions from Serbia to Bangladesh crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece late on Saturday, Serbian authorities said on Sunday. Drone images from the scene showed debris from the bulking Antonov An-12 aircraft strewn in fields. Greek authorities said there were eight crew members on board and a Ukrainian foreign mnistry spokesman said they were all Ukrainian citizens. Serbia's defence minister said the plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of products made by its defense industry and the buyer was Bangladesh defense ministry. He said the crew members were killed. Greek authorities could not provide information on the aircraft's cargo but the special disaster response unit and army experts were been dispatched to investigate the scene. Debris is seen at the crash site of an Antonov An-12 cargo plane owned by a Ukrainian company, near Kavala, Greece, July 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters Serbias defence minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the cargo included illuminating mortar shells and training shells. It had taken off at 1840 GMT from Nis. "The plane carried 11.5 tonnes of products made by our defense industry. The buyer was the Bangladesh defense ministry," Stefanovic said. He added that the plane's cargo was owned by Serbian company Valir, a trade company registered to perform foreign trade activities of armament military equipment and other defence products. Debris burns at the crash site of an Antonov An-12 cargo plane owned by a Ukrainian company, near Kavala, Greece, July 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters State TV ERT said that the signal of the aircraft was lost soon after the pilot requested an emergency landing from Greek aviation authorities due to an engine problem. Amateur video footage uploaded on ertnews.gr showed the aircraft in flames descending fast before hitting the ground in what appeared to be an explosion. A senior source at Jordan's civil aviation regulatory commission (CARC) denied initial reports that the plane was headed to Jordan. The source said that its flight itinerary included a stopover in Jordans Queen Alia international airport at 9:30 pm (0630 GMT), to refuel, state news agency Petra reported on Sunday. Ambulances are seen at the crash site of an Antonov An-12 cargo plane owned by a Ukrainian company, near Kavala, Greece, July 16, 2022. Photo: Laskaris Tsotsas/Eurokinissi via Reuters The wider area in Greece where the aircraft crashed has been cordoned off since Saturday night. Residents nearby have been advised to keep windows and doors shut and avoid the area of the incident. On Sunday morning, a brigade official told reporters that firefighters "felt their lips burning" and white dust was floating in the air. "We don't know what has been affecting us," fire brigade coordinator Marios Apostolidis said. A street circus performer suffered serious bleeding after he injured his stomach during a glass eating performance in Vietnam. Doctors at Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho confirmed on Saturday they had successfully treated a patient for internal bleeding brought about by a serious stomach tear. The patient, 28-year-old N.V.M., a Can Tho citizen, was admitted to the infirmary with abdominal pain, blood vomiting, and low blood pressure. Family members said M. had swallowed broken glass during a circus performance. The man then vomited a large amount of bright red blood and experienced dizziness and abdominal pain. Doctors performed an emergency endoscopy on the patient to stop the bleeding and remove the object, while carrying out blood transfusion to resuscitate him. Doctors stop the bleeding and remove the glass shard from the patients stomach. Photo: Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital The endoscopy showed that the patients stomach was bleeding profusely due to a three-centimeter cut by the glass shard. M. is now in stable condition but requires further monitoring at the hospital. Gigs such as swallowing glass, swords, and iron are extremely dangerous, said Truong Hoang Tam, a senior doctor at Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital. People should not practice or imitate these acts as they can easily lead to accidents, which can be life-threatening, Tam warned. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Here are todays leading news stories: COVID-19 Updates -- Vietnams Ministry of Health documented 705 COVID-19 cases and one pathogen-related mortality on Saturday, raising the countrys tally to 10,759,850, with 9,806,328 and 43,091 deaths. Society -- Police in southern Dong Nai Province confirmed on Saturday they had arrested a hit-and-run tanker truck driver after he had fatally hit a motorcyclist earlier the same day. -- Doctors in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have saved a 28-year-old street performer after he had seriously injured his stomach during a glass eating performance. -- More than 1,000 people participated in a fire drill organized at a company in Dong Nai Province on Saturday. The drill was organized by the Ministry of Public Security and the Dong Nai Peoples Committee. -- A woman from the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang has been fined VND4 million (US$170) and had her drivers license revoked for two months for letting a young boy sit on top of her car while they were traveling on a street earlier this week. -- Police in north-central Thanh Hoa Province confirmed on Saturday they had arrested a 33-year-old inmate who had broken out of prison in northern Ha Giang Province on July 9. Business -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration of the $2 billion Song Hau 1 Thermal Power Plant in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang on Saturday. Lifestyle -- Nong Thuy Hang, a 23-year-old beauty of the Tay ethnic minority in northern Ha Giang Province, was crowned Miss Ethnic Vietnam 2022 during the pageants finale in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday evening. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Advancing construction of Silk Road Economic Belt core area Xinhua) 09:07, July 17, 2022 Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the Urumqi International Land Port Area in the city of Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) URUMQI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Urumqi International Land Port Area in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is well on its way to becoming an important growth pole powering the region's opening-up and economic development. With a planned area of 67 square km containing the Urumqi China-Europe Railway Express Hub and a comprehensive bonded zone, the land port area stands as a landmark project in the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. When visiting the Urumqi International Land Port Area during his inspection tour in Xinjiang from Tuesday to Friday, President Xi Jinping noted that Xinjiang has morphed from a relatively enclosed hinterland into the forefront of opening up, as the country is promoting the expansion of opening up, the development of the western regions, and the joint building of the Belt and Road. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed advancing the building of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt and incorporating Xinjiang's regional opening-up strategy into the country's overall plan of westward opening up. He highlighted the importance of innovating the system for an open economy, boosting the building of large opening-up corridors, better utilizing both domestic and international markets and resources, and actively serving and integrating into the new pattern of development. Since its construction started in 2015, the land port area has absorbed over 30 billion yuan (about 4.44 billion U.S. dollars) in investment and attracted more than 340 enterprises. A cross-border e-commerce project has also been implemented there. By June 2022, the land port area had operated more than 5,900 China-Europe freight train trips via 21 routes linking 26 cities in 19 European and Asian countries and regions. The trains carry over 200 categories of goods, ranging from daily necessities and garments to mechanical equipment and building materials. The Belt and Road Initiative, which initiated a new prospect for China's opening up, has also provided unprecedented opportunities for Xinjiang, which is located at the heart of the ancient Silk Road. Since the opening of the China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train services, Horgos Port and Alataw Pass, both major rail ports in Xinjiang, have recorded a combined number of more than 50,000 inbound and outbound freight train trips. Meanwhile, the country has established 55 national-level opening-up and industry development platforms in Xinjiang. These include the economic development zones of Kashgar and Horgos, which have created favorable conditions for promoting investment and attracting industrial clusters. The region posted over 67.4 billion yuan in foreign trade value in the first five months of this year, up 30.9 percent year on year. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji) Google and the National Innovation Center (NIC) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment have launched two programs to support Vietnam's digital transformation process toward meeting its development goals. The programs were debuted at a ceremony held at the NIC office in Hanoi on Friday with the theme of Grow Together for a Better Future, as a result of the cooperation between NIC and Google. One of these programs is Google Career Certificates which provides digital talent training to increase job opportunities in the technology industry, while the other, Google for Startups: Startup Academy, will offers assistance to Vietnams technological startups. The programs are aimed at supporting Vietnams digital transformation toward achieving the countrys socio-economic development targets set for the 2021-30 period, the organizers said. Digital transformation, if fully utilized, is expected to bring an annual economic value of up to US$74 billion to Vietnam by 2030, according to the Unlocking the Vietnam Digital Potential report released at the ceremony. Two of the key action pillars to help fully harness the growth potential are developing the domestic technology ecosystem and providing digital skill training for workers and students, the report pointed out. Like in many other countries, Vietnamese businesses and their customers have been increasingly dependent on online communication and deals between Vietnamese businesses and their customers since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in early 2020. Last year saw Vietnam record 5,600 new technology businesses, which led to high demand for digitally skilled workers in information technology and data analytics. However, training programs in the IT sector have yet to keep up with the soaring need for high-quality digital human resources, resulting in an increasing gap between supply and demand of digital skills on the job market. Stephanie Davis, vice-president at Google Asia-Pacific, affirmed the mission of providing digital opportunities for more people by helping to accelerate Vietnams digital transformation process, the Vietnam News Agency quoted her as saying. The two programs are meant to create opportunities for more people by facilitating access to digital jobs and supporting Vietnamese entrepreneurs to develop their businesses, Stephanie said. Addressing the event, Tran Quoc Phuong, Deputy Minister of Investment and Planning, said that Vietnams innovative ecosystem is now in its critical development stage, which requires a lot of investment and in-depth support to develop innovative startups and build digital human resources of high quality and meeting international standards. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! ABCs Foreign Correspondent celebrates its 30th year on air with a one-hour special chronicling the extraordinary changes that have transformed our world over the past three decades. A Wild Ride will feature some of its most powerful stories from the past three decades. On revolution and war, tragedy and survival, terror and hope. It will hear from correspondents, past and present, about being on the ground as they reported history in the making including Eric Campbell, Lisa Millar, Tony Jones, Jennifer Byrne, Mark Corcoran, Sally Neighbour, David Lipson and Deborah Snow, as well as founding executive producer Jonathan Holmes. The ABC created the show in 1992, three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was the start of thirty tumultuous years. As the Soviet empire disintegrated, Foreign Correspondent was there to cover the ethnic and religious conflicts that erupted across eastern Europe, and political upheaval inside the former Soviet states. Across Asia, we reported on the people power movements which challenged and toppled dictatorships. As the new millennium dawned, the challenges rolled in. Foreign Correspondent was there to report on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the War on Terror. And to analyse it for an Australian public desperate for answers. From all around the globe we revealed the growing threat of climate change, a powerful force that is set to define the 21st century. And we charted the rise of China, with its incredible social and economic transformation, building an archive of stories few broadcasters can match. We tracked the rise of populist leader Donald Trump, his Make America Great Again movement built on the deep divisions within the United States of America. And we covered the increasing authoritarianism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his brutal invasion of Ukraine a sign of his Tsar-like ambitions to recreate the old Russian empire. Australian audiences are hungrier than ever for in-depth, on-the-ground reporting to help them understand whats happening and why and to hear the human stories behind global events. Thats our mission. Presenter: South Asia correspondent Avani Dias Producer: Deborah Richards Editor: Nikki Stevens 8pm Thursday 28 July on ABC. I actually have to be a real host. Ive never done that before, Shaun Micallef says of his new 10 series Brain Eisteddfod. I have to be functional. I have to remember things. It was more a surprise. I thought This will just be like Talkin Bout Your Generation. I went in with the best of intentions, promising myself effect that I would not be stupid. That I would show the audience a more elder statesman, kind of a more-reserved figure. But by about halfway through the first record, I was pulling bananas out of the filing cabinet, doing stupid stuff again. So Im afraid I broke my promise within about four seconds. Viewers will doubtless be happy that he did just that. Year 11 students from two schools go head to head in questions on Foreign Language, Australiana, Mathematics, History, Physics, Art and more. I was trying to think of a show where you just beam everybody in Produced by Lune Media, the series was created by Micallef in response to lockdowns. I was trying to think of a show where you just beam everybody in from wherever they were. University Challenge used to use a tiered effect with students. I thought, you could probably have them at a studio in Adelaide and (another team in) another studio. That would be a nice, inexpensive way of a way of taking advantage of the technology that was developing, and also itd be just safer, he continues. But then, of course, we realised theres a delay in Australia. So if youve got your team in Perth youd have to wait five seconds for an answer which puts them at a slight disadvantage to a program where you have to be first on the buzzer. So while it has no direct links to Its Academic or even Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Micallef acknowledges the genre similarities. In the end, theyre all the same thing. Theyre all Heres a question on a card, wait for an answer, press the button. So I think the difference is probably is the conversation around the questions and answers, getting to know the students, he explains. There arent too many kids of that age being truly represented on television I think its interesting way of getting to know a bit of the population of this country that we dont often see on television, or if we do theyre probably on a soap played by a 27 year old. There arent too many kids of that age being truly represented on television, because they got stuff to da. Theyve got to go to school. In between the format questions, our trusty host takes time to get to know his contestants, and draws upon his own experience in the classroom for learning. Its sort of what you would have in a classroom if a substitute teacher came in and didnt really know what they were doing -which is kind of (like) me. Im not suggesting for a moment that this is Dead Poets Society Im not suggesting for a moment that this is Dead Poets Society, but there is a sort of natural humour that comes from the back and forth between the teacher figure and the student figures. Thats kind of whats happening here. My best days at school were with a teacher that was very inspiring, and used to tell jokes all the time. And we told jokes back. Lo and behold, at the end of the term, you found that you actually knew some stuff about Shakespeare, because youve been talking about it in that context. So for me, thats very comfortable. Questions are based on year 11 academia, penned by long-term co-writer Michael Ward. Theres no prize on offer -although Micallef suitably jokes about one- and filming took palce at 10s Pyrmont studio with a very vocal crew, parents and school representatives in lieu of a COVID limited studio audience. All weve got there is the crew and some parents and chaperones representing the school. Thats it. So theres maybe about 10 people around there and its a very unprofessional crew who just dont seem to shut up. It feels a little bit off-Broadway. I quite like that about it. Shaun Micallefs Brain Eisteddfod airs 7:30pm Wednesday on 10. Temperatures arent the only thing skyrocketing right now. Its the summer of reinfection, with the likelihood of getting COVID yet again higher than ever, thanks to an ultra-transmissible, immune-evading subvariant. Those variants have mutated what should have been a light, breezy summer to be enjoyed into yet another heavy season to be enduredwith few opportunities for reprieve, even outdoors. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions chart shows an extended wave (or wall?) of infections, with cases slowly trending upward. But wastewater dataperhaps now our best indicator of COVID in communitiesbelies those numbers. Nearly half of nationwide sewage testing sites reported COVID levels at 60% to 100% of their all-time high as of this week, according to CDC data. Theres Long COVID to keep in mind too: Early studies show that repeat COVID infectionseven asymptomatic and mild onesput individuals at greater risk for the nascent condition, which can result in long-term disability and even death. We could all use a bit of good news right now, and the good news is this: COVID variants can evade antibody immunity all they wantbut theyll still have to reckon with T cells, the oft-ignored and not-as-well-understood other half of the immune system. While antibodies, specialized proteins produced by the immune system, search for pathogens and incapacitate or destroy them, they dont last longtypically just a handful of months. They latch on to a specific part of a virus thats subject to change with new variants, potentially reducing their efficacy. T cells, a type of white blood cell produced by stem cells in the bone marrow, dont prevent infection or Long COVID. But theyre capable of dramatically reducing the severity of a COVID infection, rendering a potentially deadly virus all but mute in some individuals, depending on their body's T-cell response. Because their response isnt limited to one specific part of the virus, as is the case with antibodies, they continue to attack, even when the virus mutates and changes shape. And their protection is much more durable, known to last for years, in some cases. Experts say that widespread accumulation of T cellsfrom vaccine and/or infectionin the population has likely led to generally less severe outcomes for new variants sweeping the country. Story continues T cells are kind of a win that I dont think are appreciated as much as they should be, Dr. Duane Wesemann, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a principal investigator in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy at Brigham and Womens Hospital, told Fortune. Theyre not quite a silver bulletbut a composite steel bullet that's worked for us and is already in hand. Society is depressed a little bit because everyone is getting infected with new variants, Wesemann said. But T cells are still at work, doing the good work of preventing severe disease. The immune system's oft-neglected other half New COVID subvariants like BA.4 and BA.5, currently sweeping the nation, have learned to evade immunity, leading to countless reinfectionseven among vaccinated people who were infected by a different subvariant just a few weeks ago. But when we talk about immune-evading variants, were really only talking about antibody immunityand thats only half of the story. Theres a whole other side of immunity that doesnt get much attention, in part because T cells arent understood as well and are more difficult to study. T cells have played a critical role in shielding us from the worst ravages of COVID-19, Harvard Medical Schools Ekaterina Pesheva writes in a recent blog, adding that they are the unsung heroes of the pandemic. When antibodies fail to stop the virus from getting into our cells, T cells come to the rescue, she writes. If antibodies are the rampart around the castle, then T cells are the elite guards inside it that disable intruders, should they manage to sneak in. That means that T cells have been a critical part of our natural immune response to COVID and vaccines. Antibodies are what we rely on to prevent infection, but if somebody becomes infected those T cells can attenuate the course of the disease in what can be a very dramatic way, Dr. Bruce Walker, director of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, a medical institute focused on eradicating disease, and co-leader of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readinesstold Fortune. . COVID infection leads to a robust T-cell response that lasts for at least 15 months, according to a study published this spring in the journal Nature Immunology. And a 2020 study published in Nature found evidence of T-cell response to another coronavirusSARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), an epidemic that emerged in 2002 and killed hundredsin previously infected patients 17 years later. Rethinking herd immunity New subvariants like BA.4 and BA.5 are increasingly running up against a wall of T-cell based immunity in the population at large, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Fortune. Classic herd immunitya potential end game floated by some officials during the beginning of the pandemicisnt possible with COVID because it continues to mutate, vaccine uptake isnt where it needs to be, and antibody protection wanes. T cells, while less potent, offer some level of durable defense against severe infection at a population levela herd protection of sorts, though how much T cells help an individual depends on their body's individual response. Everyone focuses only on antibody-induced immunity, but for severe disease, the T-cell immunity is very, very important, and its not something you can just get around, Adalja said, adding that immunity is a spectrum that ranges from merely protecting against death, hospitalization, and severe infection, to preventing infection altogether. Hospitalizations will undoubtedly rise during the BA.4 and BA.5 wave, he said. But will they become unmanageable? Thats become increasingly difficult for COVID to do in the U.S. On a similar note, Walker believes that T cells are really whats going to turn this pandemic into something more controllable. As these new variants are arising and people are getting exposed and infected, what weve seen is that, in general, the virulence of the disease has not been as great, he said earlier this month. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that people have generated some level of T-cell response. For weeks now more transmission has been occurring, but hospitalizations havent gone through the roof. I think it speaks toat least for nowsome of the wind having been taken out of the sails of the pandemic. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg President Volodymyr Zelenskiy removed his national security head and Ukraines top prosecutor, alleging that some employees collaborated with Russian intelligence. The firings, which target sensitive posts for a country at war, include Security Service chief Ivan Bakanov, a personal friend whose agencys tasks include counterintelligence. Russias defense minister instructed military units to step up combat activity in Ukraine as advanced Western weapons boost Kyivs counterattack capabilities. A UK defense official said 50,000 Russian troops have been killed and injured. (See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.) Key Developments Russian Assets Barely Touched Across EU With $14 Billion Seized Naftogaz CEO Says Ukraine Pushed It to Delay Bond Payments Russia Visited Iran to View Drone Capabilities, US Official Says On the Ground A week ahead of the wars five-month mark, Russian troops have been commanded by the nations defense minister to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas. Sergei Shoigus directive on Saturday followed a series of deadly missile strikes on civilian targets far from the front lines. On Sunday, Russian rocket strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region triggered field fires, state officials said. Russian missiles hit an industrial facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, the citys mayor said. Ukraines troops repelled Russias advance near villages close to the town of Bahkmut, which together with Siversk is the next target for Kremlins offensive in the east, according to an update from military headquarters in Kyiv. In the Kharkiv region Russias troops are focusing their efforts on holding defence to prevent Ukrainian counterattacks. Story continues (All times CET) Ukraine Says Russian Warships Moved From Crimea (10:12 p.m.) Ukraines navy has concluded that Russia moved a number of warships from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, shifting them eastward away from the Ukrainian-held coastal areas, the Ukrinform national news agency reported. It cited a Telegram post by Serhiy Bratchuk, adviser to the head of the Odesa regional military administration. Zelenskiy Cites Treason by Security Officials (9:35 p.m.) Zelenskiy said his state security chief and Ukraines top prosecutor had to go because more than 60 employees of the two agencies were working against Ukrainian interests in Russian-occupied areas. He cited multiple probes into state treason, allegedly committed by law enforcement officers in frontline regions, including Kherson and Kharkiv. Crimes against national security, and ties between Ukraines law enforcement agencies and Russias intelligence service that have been recorded, put very serious questions to the respective chiefs, Zelenskiy said in a video address. Under pressure from Ukraines western partners, he also called for the appointment of a new head of Ukraines anti-graft prosecution office and a process to pick the head of a separate anti-graft agency. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is among those pressing Zelenskiy for those actions. Zelenskiy Removes State Security Head, Prosecutor (8:55 p.m.) Ukraines president removed State Security Service head Ivan Bakanov from office and replaced the countrys top prosecutor, according to official decrees published late Sunday. Bakanov was dismissed under a disciplinary statute. He and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who has opened thousands of cases of alleged Russian war crimes, were removed under presidential wartime powers. Bakanov is part of a circle of Zelenskiy friends from his days as a television comedian. He fell out of favor after a series of failures and the loss of the Kherson region, Politico reported in June. Dissident Journalist Reported Detained in Russia (8 p.m.) Russian police detained journalist Marina Ovsyannikova in Moscow region, Novaya Gazeta Evropa reported. Ovsyannikova, who held up an anti-war sign on the air during a state-run television channels news show in March in a rare example of open opposition, was taken away in an unknown direction, her lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov told the outlet. Ovsyannikova held one-woman protest near Kremlin in Moscow on Friday, featuring a poster saying President Vladimir Putin was responsible for the deaths of 352 children in the Ukraine war. Hundreds of Outbound Trucks Stuck at Latvia Border (5:47 p.m.) Some 1,250 trucks were stuck at two Latvian border crossings with Russia on Sunday, according to the State Revenue Service. Waiting times ranged up to 153 hours. Lines also formed at Latvias border with Belarus with some 450 trucks sitting at two crossings and waiting times of 32 to 67 hours. July 10 marked the end of a transition period which allowed sanctioned goods to be exported from the European Union to Russia, and to be imported to the EU from Russia under previously concluded deals. 50,000 Russian Soldiers Killed or Injured: UK Defense Official (5:41 p.m.) Russia has lost more than 30% of its land combat effectiveness in Ukraine, Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the defense staff for the UK, said on Sunday. What that actually means is 50,000 Russian soldiers that have either died or been injured in this conflict, Radakin told the BBC. He estimated that nearly 1,700 Russian tanks and nearly 4,000 Russian armored fighting vehicles had been destroyed as the war in Ukraine nears the end of its fifth month. Zelenskiy Marks 2014 MH17 Crash Anniversary (1:36 p.m.) Ukraines president recalled the 298 victims of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that crashed in Ukraines Donetsk region in 2014, promising to punish Moscow for the jets alleged downing and other actions. The most convincing scenario is that the jet was hit by a Russian-supplied Buk surface-to-air missile, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said last month. A trial began in March in The Hague, Netherlands, with a verdict likely by year-end. Nothing will go unpunished! Every criminal will be brought to justice!, Zelenskiy said on Twitter. Ukrainian Plane Crashes in Greece Transporting Ammo to Bangladesh (12:33 a.m.) Ukrainian officials traveled to inspect the site where a Ukrainian-registered cargo plane crashed overnight in northern Greece, en route from Serbia to Jordan and on to Bangladesh. Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the plane had been carrying Serbian-made mortar ammunition purchased by Bangladesh, the Associated Press reported. Russia Braces for Counterattacks in South, UK Says (7:22 a.m.) Moscow is reinforcing its defensive positions across occupied areas in Ukraines south, likely in response to anticipated counteroffensives, the UK defence ministry said on Twitter. That includes the movement of manpower, equipment and defensive stores between Mariupol and Zaporizhia, and in Kherson, as well as increased security measures in Melitopol. Canada Told Russian G-20 Delegates Theyre Liable for War Crimes (11 p.m.) Canada warned a Russian delegation participating in a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs in recent days that it views President Vladimir Putins economic advisers as personally responsible for aiding war crimes. Russias economic technocrats, who work to fund Putins war machine, are personally complicit in Russias war crimes, just as Putins generals are, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she told the group. Zelenskiy Vows to Retake Territory (10:33 p.m.) President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine will gradually liberate the occupied areas of the country. It is obvious that any missiles and artillery of Russia will not succeed in breaking our unity and knocking us off our path, Zelenskiy said Saturday in his nightly video address, marking the anniversary of Ukraines declaration of sovereignty from the then Soviet Union in 1990. It should be equally obvious that Ukrainian unity cannot be broken by lies or intimidation, fake information or conspiracy theories, he said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2022 Bloomberg L.P. The dissonance of winning the Premier League and another Champions League knockout exit has prompted more spending for Manchester City this close season. While Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Phillips make for high-profile signings, Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus have headed for the exit. According to reports, however, City are not willing to let one particular player go despite interest from abroad. TOP STORY MAN CITY TO FIGHT FOR BERNARDO SILVA Manchester City have no intention of selling Bernardo Silva to Barcelona this window, despite reports in Spain suggesting otherwise. Pep Guardiola was prepared to let the talented midfielder move to Spain last year for personal reasons, but Barcelona failed to come up with the necessary funds to make a deal happen. In the meantime, the Portugal international has become a pivotal piece in City's midfield, with Guardiola now viewing him as an important part of his plan's for this upcoming season. Despite suggestions from Spain that City have given Silva's agent Jorge Mendes the clearance to finalise a deal, the Premier League champions are reportedly looking to keep their star. ROUND-UP Meanwhile, City appear set to sell Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal for 30million, according to Fabrizio Romano. Chelsea will make a move for Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde after failing to secure Nathan Ake's signature, per The Times Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has informed the club's hierarchy to persist for Frenkie de Jong's signature, even if he has not joined them by the start of the Premier League season, The Guardian is reporting. Juventus are in contact with Atletico Madrid to bring back Alvaro Morata after his two-year loan spell at the club ended at the end of last season, Calciomercato reports. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will announce on Saturday during an Arab summit that the United States has committed $1 billion in new near and long term food security assistance for the Middle East and North Africa region, a senior administration official said. Biden, on the second leg of his first Middle East trip as president, has focused on the planned summit with six Gulf states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council and Egypt, Jordan and Iraq . The GCC leaders are also committing $3 billion over the next two years in projects that align with U.S. partnerships in global infrastructure and investment, the official said. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Ghaida Ghantous, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) Sinn Fein Vice-President Michelle ONeill is to travel to Washington on Monday (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire) Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill has said she will brief senior US politicians on the need to restore powersharing at Stormont during a visit to Washington. Ms ONeill will travel to the US on Monday for a series of meetings with Congressional members and Irish American leaders. She said the US remained a critical partner for peace and progress in Northern Ireland but added that the Conservative Government had proved it was an untrustworthy partner. Powersharing in Northern Ireland is in limbo after the DUP blocked the formation of a devolved executive following Mays election in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol. The actions of the Tory party in Westminster have demonstrated they are an untrustworthy partner in Ireland and internationally Michelle O'Neill Unionists and loyalists are enraged at trade arrangements that have resulted in new checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and have demanded that the UK Government introduce changes. A contentious Bill that would empower ministers to override aspects of the arrangements is currently moving through its stages at Westminster. Sinn Fein emerged as the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections and Ms ONeill would be in line to become First Minister if the DUP dropped its boycott of the devolved institutions. Speaking ahead of her trip to Washington, she said: Having travelled to Brussels, Dublin and London since our historic election in May, this is my first visit to Washington where I will emphasise the value of the relationship with the United States who remain a critical partner for peace and progress. I will tell politicians, diplomats and business leaders that the majority of people voted for change, and there is a strong commitment from a majority of newly elected MLAs and Assembly parties to work together and make politics work so we can deliver for the whole community. The continued stand-off by the DUP who are denying the public the democratic representation and leadership they are entitled to cannot continue. Story continues The political cover by the Tories must be robustly challenged. The Good Friday Agreement must be both applied and upheld in full. Unionists object to checks on goods entering Northern Ireland required as part of the Northern Ireland Protocol (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire) Ms ONeill said a devolved Government was needed to set a budget to assist families and workers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. She also sharply criticised the Conservative Government over its controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. The Bill aims to provide the promise of immunity from prosecution for perpetrators of Troubles offences who agree to provide information to a new truth body and move to end conflict-related civil cases and inquests. The legislation has been criticised by all political parties in Northern Ireland as well as victims and survivors groups and the Irish Government. Ms ONeill said: It is important that all those in the US who value the close political, economic and cultural bonds with the island of Ireland understand what is now at stake after a quarter century of peace and stability. It is vital that we underscore the reckless actions of the British government who are trying to sabotage our political agreements through their anti-Good Friday Agreement agenda which is disingenuously dressed up in a pro-agreement rhetoric. They have abandoned victims and survivors and taken a fundamental departure away from the Stormont House Agreement by legislating unilaterally in order to protect the interests of the British State itself. They are legislating to breach international law and denounce the protocol which limits the impact of their hard Brexit on society and business here, and prevents a hard border. The protocol is supported by a majority of MLAs because it is working, and gives us access to the EU single market which is helping business export (and) create more jobs and economic success. They do this at a time of major conflict in Europe. The actions of the Tory party in Westminster have demonstrated they are an untrustworthy partner in Ireland and internationally. Their actions remain a challenge to all who value our agreements. Now is the time to assert the primacy of politics, the honouring of agreements, and respect for international law which protects the all-island economy and prevents a hard border on the island of Ireland. into Vietnam. At the trial. (Photo: VNA) At the trial held by the Military Court of Military Zone 7, Le Van Minh, former Major General of the Coast Guard Zone 4 Command, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Le Xuan Thanh, former Major General of the Coast Guard Zone 3 Command got 12 years behind bar. The duo are among 14 defendants in the case, of whom former Colonel Phung Danh Thoai, head of the Petroleum Offices Logistics Department under the Coast Guard High Command, received a jail sentence of seven years for smuggling. Another former Colonel, Nguyen The Anh, Commander of Kien Giang Provinces Border Guard, was sentenced to life imprisonment for receiving bribes and two years for helping others flee abroad illegally. His total sentence was life imprisonment. Cao Phuoc Hoai, from Tam Quan Bac Ward, Hoai Nhon Town, Binh Dinh Province, was handed down a jail term of six months and 21 days for not reporting the crime. However, the man was freed right after the trial as he spent the same detention period. The others who shared the charge of receiving bribes got jail terms ranging from two and a half years to up to 16 years. According to the indictment, Dao Ngoc Vien, Director of Hai Phong Ocean, and Phan Thanh Huu, Director of Phan Le Hoang Anh, asked Thoai to use his influence on the Coast Guard to help smuggle of about 200 million litres of gasoline, worth about 130 million USD, into Vietnam. Thoai contributed 5 billion VND (213,730 USD) and in return made profits of more than 22 billion VND (940,410 USD) between September 2019 and February 2021. Nguyen The Anh took advantage of his position and power to help cover the gasoline smuggling activities and took bribes of 6.2 billion VND (265,020 USD) and 560,000 USD. Anh asked his cousin, Nguyen Van An, residing in HCM City, to receive money between October 2019 and January 2021. From February 2021, Anh also asked Cao Phuoc Hoai and Nguyen Van Quan to help receive money. Between December 2019 and January 2021, Le Van Minh received 6.9 billion VND (294,940 USD) to help cover the smuggling activities, while Le Xuan Thanh asked his wife, Phan Thi Xuan, to receive 1.8 billion VND (76,940 USD) from gasoline smuggler Phan Thanh Huu. Several suspects, including Phan Thanh Huu and Dao Ngoc Vien, have been put on trial in Dong Nai Province. Source: VNA HAU GIANG Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended an investment promotion conference in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang on Saturday. He hailed efforts by authorities and people in the nearly 20 years since the provinces establishment to overcome the most difficult periods. Hau Giang converges many favourable factors and has great potential and advantages for socio-economic development, especially in agriculture, logistics, energy and tourism, stressed Chinh. He expressed hope that the province can take advantage of policies dedicated to the Mekong Delta region, and turn potential into resources for socio-economic development, to better locals' lives. The Government leader also suggested several areas where businesses should invest in Hau Giang such as socio-economic infrastructure development, especially investment in traffic infrastructure and urban development; industry, particularly energy, processing, manufacturing, food industry; high-tech and organic agriculture; tourism; logistics; and information technology. He asked Hau Giang to coordinate closely with ministries, sectors and other localities to anticipate investment flows to create a breakthrough and new motivation for rapid recovery and sustainable socio-economic development, and prepare to meet the higher requirements of businesses and investors. The PM also requested investors to implement their commitments and cooperation agreements, uphold their responsibility for environmental protection and in creating a safe, friendly and harmonious working environment for labourers. He affirmed that the Vietnamese Government commits to creating a better and more favourable business and investment environment. PM Chinh also witnessed the hand-over of investment certificates to 12 projects in Hau Giang Province, with a total capital of VN19 trillion (US$810 million); and witnessed the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoU) on investment cooperation and investment intention with 10 investors, with a total capital of more than VN204 trillion. On this occasion, State-owned enterprises also presented VN28 billion to finance the construction of schools and give gifts to people who rendered service to the nation in Hau Giang Province. VNS NGHE AN National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong inh Hue attended a ceremony in the central province of Nghe An to present certificates recognising martyrs great contributions to the nation, ahead of Viet Nams War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27). The certificates were presented to families of 75 martyrs by the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and in 30 provinces and cities nationwide. On behalf of the Party, State and the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) leaders, Hue expressed his gratitude to "heroic mothers, heroes of the armed forces, wounded and sick soldiers, families of martyrs, and all of those who rendered service to the nation." According to the top legislator, over the past 75 years, the preferential policies and targeting laws for martyrs, invalids, families of martyrs, and people with meritorious services to the revolution have been revised and supplemented continuously in line with the country's economic and social development. To date, 9.2 million people who rendered service to the nation have enjoyed preferential policies. The NA leader paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at Kim Lien Special National Historic Site in Nam an District, his hometown. He also visited and presented gifts to 84-year-old hero of the armed forces oan Minh Nguyet in Nghi Loc District, and heroic mother Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh in Vinh City. The same day, Hue offered incenses and flowers in commemoration of martyrs at the ong Loc Cross-road historic site in Can Loc District, the central province of Ha Tinh, and Truong Bon historical site in central Nghe An Province. The ong Loc cross-road was an important intersection during the war time. US forces tried to ravage this area in order to block the supply of weapons, food and personnel from the North to southern battlefields. In just 240 days and nights, from March - October, 1968, the US air force dropped 48,600 bombs of all kinds down here. The area also witnessed the heroic sacrifice of 10 young volunteer girls who were on their duties to repair the road after a fierce battle. In the Truong Buon historical site, the NA Chairman offered incenses at the memorial house for 1,240 heroes and martyrs who died on the legendary Truong Bon road to protect the route. On October 31, 1968, 13 of the 14 youth volunteers of Company 317 were killed by US bombing in this area, a few hours before the US declared a halt to the bombing of the North of Viet Nam. Since then, the site has been a symbol of the bravery of Vietnamese youth volunteers. From 1964 to 1968, the US dropped 18,936 bombs and tens of thousands of rockets onto o Luong District, including Truong Bon area. However, tens of thousands of Vietnamese soldiers, youth volunteers and locals persisted in fighting the enemy and securing the route for trucks carrying support to the southern battlefield. VNS HA NOI All five students of the Viet Nam National Team won medals at the 2022 International Physics Olympiad (IPhO 2022), hosted in Switzerland from July 10-17 in virtual format. Viet Nam ranked fifth overall after China, Romania, South Korea, and the United States. The Vietnamese delegation won three golds, one silver and one bronze medal. Three gold medals went to 12th-grader Le Minh Hoang, 11th-grader Vu Ngo Hoang Duong, and 10th-grader Vo Hoang Hai all from Ha Noi University of Sciences High School for the Gifted of Natural Sciences. This was the first year that a 10th-grade student was chosen to represent Viet Nam and he proved his worth, winning gold. Nguyen ang Phuc, 12th grade, Bac Ninh Province High School for the Gifted, won silver and Phung Cong Hieu, 12th grade, Vinh Phuc Province High School for the Gifted, obtained the bronze medal. The 2022 International Physics Olympiad had 368 contestants from 77 delegations from 75 countries and territories. The Viet Nam National Team competed online from the Ha Noi National University of Education. The organisation of the exam was carefully prepared, fully meeting the requirements of the IPhO Organising Committee. The excellent results of the Vietnamese delegation in 2022 affirmed the efforts of students, lecturers, teachers, and schools in the context of complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the education ministry. VNS Thu Ha, Nhat Hong & Bao Ngoc The Phuc uc antique shop on Ha Noi's Ta Hien Street is commonly referred to as the "ancient fan museum" since it houses hundreds of European antique fans. The shop, as you might imagine, is very cool indeed. The shop was founded by Tran Cong Phuc, who spent years restoring and repairing antique fans, earning hundreds of millions of ong in the process. In 2012, Guinness Viet Nam named Phuc as the owner of the country's largest collection of vintage fans. The Phuc uc Antique Fan shop is tucked away on Ha Noi's Ta Hien Street. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hieu After his death, Phuc's son, Tran Hong uc, and Phuc's apprentice, Nguyen Van Ngoc, continued his work. Ngoc said that repairing antique fans was a key part of his life, given that he has worked here for nearly 20 years. "I love this job. It suits my personality. I must confess that I'm not very quick, but I'm more of a person with meticulousness and creativity. With the same component, I can think of many different ways of using it. After thinking of a new way to perfect a component and assemble it into the fan to make it work well, I feel very satisfied and love this job more," he said. "It's a lot of fun to fix up an old fan that's been damaged and give it a second chance at life, almost as if it were the original. It fills me with a sense of triumph and excitement." Tran Hong uc (left) and Nguyen Van Ngoc continued his work after the founder of the shop, Tran Cong Phuc passed away. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hieu According to the skilled technician, his job appears simple but requires much effort. "Fixing these items is more sophisticated than fixing new ones. First it is because of its structure, and second because many parts are unavailable. When a new fan is broken, we can remove the broken parts and replace with new ones immediately, and then it will work again," he said. "But it is hard to find alternative parts when it comes to these old fans. We even have to manually craft a new part or order to have a single one to be made, so usually, the costs are very high." Antique fans take up the entire room. On the ceiling, the blades of the ceiling fans have been removed so that they can hang closer together and conserve more space. Under the floor, there is no place without fans and related equipment. The vast majority of these fans were produced in the early part of the 20th century and originated from well-known manufacturers such as Marelli (Italy), Emi (Netherlands), and Eole (France). In the past, the French exported fans to Viet Nam for use in manors and villas to cope with the country's hot and humid climate. These fans were mostly seen in the homes of the wealthy. "There used to be very old fans, powered by steam engine. They do, however, have a new owner. Our oldest fans are currently those born between 1917 and 1919, the years in which the electric motor was first developed." Ngoc said. The price of a Marelli fan that contains parts made from bronze can range anywhere from several million to hundreds of millions of ong. Ngoc said that due to the expensive price of the antique fans, the people interested in purchasing them were mostly the wealthy, hotels or vintage fan enthusiasts. The price of a Marelli fan that contains parts made from bronze can range from several million to hundreds of millions of ong. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hieu "The most expensive fan we have sold cost VN120 million. It had such a high price because of its rarity, longevity and special design. As you can see, the fans here are very expensive compared to the new ones. Table fans are about 3 million or more, and ceiling fans are about 7 million because they are rare and not available on the market anymore," he said. "Our customers are usually middle-aged. Often they have nostalgia for antiques and living styles of the past. Vintage fans like these, in terms of colour or shape, are very suitable to be placed in spaces which remind us of the past. Therefore, they are the customers that we target." VNS A crash early Saturday morning near 18th Street and Clay Avenue killed one person and seriously injured two others, Waco police announced. Officers responded at about 2:15 a.m. and provided immediate medical aid to everyone involved, according to a police press release. Crash investigators learned a Dodge Charger was traveling southbound on 18th St. and hit a Chevrolet Silverado traveling east, the press release says. The impact spun the Chevrolet around, turning it over on its passenger side. The driver of the Chevy was pronounced dead at the scene by a justice of the peace, and the driver and a passenger in the Dodge were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said. The driver and passenger in the Dodge were in stable condition by later Saturday morning. Next of kin of the Chevy driver has been notified. Police have not provided names or ages of the people involved or specified what they believe led to the crash. A traffic light operates at the intersection of 18th and Clay. The Waco Fire Department and American Medical Response participated in the response. The investigation is ongoing. When Caryn Winclechters husband was stationed at Fort Hood in 2018, she took it as a sign to enroll in Texas State Technical Colleges welding program nearby in Waco and pursue a longtime fascination. She is working toward a certification in structural welding, at a time when TSTC officials and area employers say skilled welders are in particularly high demand. Welding is something Ive always had an interest in, Winclechter said. I already have a college degree from back in the day. I took an art welding class through a branch campus of my alma mater and it was just really cool. I think working with metal is a great skill, because we have to be so much more conscious of our future and the way that we use materials. Winclechter said her favorite type of welding is the gas tungsten arc welding, even though it is the most challenging. I think its the most beautiful, Winclechter said. A pretty weld is satisfying to the eye no matter what, but TIG welding is just extremely beautiful and its very intricate and you can work on a lot thinner materials. I think thats really interesting. That can translate to the aviation world, so airplane parts. Winclechter said her post-graduation dream job would be working with someone who restores vintage cars. I like that this kind of opens up doors of opportunities for different experiences, she said. You have a skill set that you could kind of bring into several kinds of situations. TSTC lead welding instructor Carl Wilmeth said welders are in high demand largely because they are required in such a broad range of industries. Starting pay varies widely based on specific concentration. Some local shops start at about $18 per hour, while jobs in the oil field offer upwards of $65 per hour, Wilmeth said. Everything has welding involved in it, he said. Building a building has to have welders that do the ironworks and piping for the air conditioning. Especially here in Central Texas, theres quite a bit of construction going on. Lone Star Ironworks owner Noah Smith said there are not enough qualified welders overall, and high oil prices are driving many to that industry. A lot of pipeline welders that we use on construction projects have gone back to West Texas or oil fields, because they can make more working 18-hour days in the oil field than they can on construction sites, Smith said. A lot of pipeline welders and oil field welders, when the oil field is slow, will pick up work in construction. Now that the price of oil has gone up and its picking back up, they are all booked for months and months out, getting all the equipment in the oil field up to par. To temporarily combat the shortage of welders, Smiths company has increased pay and searches for welders willing to travel in from around the state. Traveling is how we are kind of filling the gaps, paying people per diem, wherever we can find them, to go to the projects, Smith said. Tyler Linderman, owner and lead welder at Two Rigs Welding, said he believes there are more jobs than there are qualified welders to fill them. Its a difficult skill to master, and some of the welders we found were not good enough to stay, Linderman said. There are not enough people with a passion for welding, and it requires a lot of work. Wilmeth, the lead TSTC instructor, also said a good welder has to have a strong willingness to work. Youre going to have to want to bear down in the heat and get things going, Wilmeth said. If you aint motivated, welding is not for you. Wilmeth first earned a welding certificate in 1993 and has been working in the TSTC welding department for four years, even picking up an associates degree in that time, in 2020. The welding department typically see about 200 new students each fall semester as it works to prepare skilled welders to fill a range of needs for a range of industries. I would say we are probably about 60% traditional, right out of high school, and the rest kind of changing plans, Wilmeth said. The welding department has a hybrid model, with three hours of online coursework and six hours of in-person lab work typical for a semester. Our first day, we hit the road running. We do a little safety spiel and then well start welding the first day, Wilmeth said. We are designed as if theyve never struck an arc or turned on a machine. If they come walking off the streets and theyve never touched a welding machine, we start from the ground up and develop them all the way to the end. The welding department also is working on changing its curriculum schedule to better accommodate students who have a job that prevents them from being in class in a typical 8-to-5 window, Wilmeth said. The shift is tentatively scheduled for 2024. TSTCs welding facility has about 400 machines students can use to work on a variety of welding tasks. Waco native Francisco Torres said he had an interest in pursuing welding since he left high school in 2011 but did not have prior welding experience when he more recently started pursuing a TSTC associates degree in welding technology. I went into the workforce, and being in the workforce since I was like 17 or 18, I realized it wasnt really what I wanted for me, Torres said. I decided to quit my job, which I was at for six years, to pursue welding. I know that theres a lot of opportunity and advancement in welding, as well as money. Torres said his ultimate goal once he gets his degree is to move to the Houston area, where there are even more welding jobs available than other areas. The physical aspect of welding can be difficult for some people, but for Torres that element is not a huge adjustment from his past job. Ive done outside work for six years as a cable technician, so as far as that goes to me, its not much, Torres said. It is tough as far as the welding goes. Welding student Esther Garciapina said she initially was hesitant about attending TSTC to study welding. Garciapina attended Waco Independent School Districts Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy before she graduated from high school in 2016. She received a scholarship at McLennan Community College and decided against pursuing welding immediately. She attended MCC for two years, earning an associates degree in teaching. She was scheduled to transfer to Tarleton State University to continue on that course of study, but the pandemic and a knee surgery put a halt to that plan. The switch to virtual classes early in the pandemic meant she would have been unable to get the hands-on teaching experience she wanted. And her surgery meant she had difficulties walking for about seven months. Garciapina enrolled at TSTC last fall and was able to dive right into welding classes since she had already completed the basic college courses. Now, she is aiming to graduate at the end of the year with an associates degree in welding. When you learn a skill, its something that nobody can take from you, Garciapina said. I learned how to do this and there are so many doors and opportunities for women to do what they didnt think they could do. Thats something Ive always loved about welding. Its like therapy for me. Its not like an oh I have to go to school and do this, I actually enjoy it. With COVID-19 hospitalizations trending higher over the past five weeks, a McLennan County public health official said a public testing site could be set up quickly if needed. It would take a week to two weeks to set up a testing site, said Stephanie Alvey, assistant director of the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District. Alvey said contracts remain in effect with vendors that supported local public testing sites during the omicron surge this past winter. The agreements are similar to a retainer, she said. The sites served as collection points for samples sent to labs for analysis. Commercial pharmacies, hospitals and medical practices around the county continue to provide lab-based testing for people who have health insurance, Alvey said. For uninsured residents, Were going through normal channels with our health care partners, like Waco Family Medicine, Alvey said. Congress did not renew the funding in April for the federal government to pay for lab testing for the uninsured, she said. At-home COVID-19 tests continue to be available through the federal government at no direct cost, she said. Waco Mayor Dillon Meek and Alvey both said there is good supply of COVID-19 tests available at health care providers, local pharmacies, as well as those distributed directly to residents by the federal government. We do not plan to open additional testing sites, Meek said by email. We are continuously monitoring the data on COVID-19 numbers, its impact on health outcomes, and the availability of testing options for our residents. The health district monitors whether local hospitals are struggling with testing lines and whether testing appointments are filling up at commercial pharmacies, Alvey said. If it starts to see those resources stretched, the health district would recommend city and county officials bring back public testing sites, she said. Officials with the local hospital groups indicated that when the next wave hits, they expect to need the same testing support the health district provided in the last wave. Alvey also said the county is not seeing hospitalizations increase as quickly as the pace of infections. Even where there are high community transmission levels, we are not seeing a significant impact on hospitals, she said. The health district reported Waco hospitals were treating 27 COVID-19 patients on three days this past week, after a general upward trend since seeing four patients on June 11 and June 12. The county had 24 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Friday. Local COVID-19 hospitalizations had remained in the single-digits between mid-March and mid-June, with a few days without any COVID-19 patients hospitalized locally in April and May. Statewide, the number of COVID-19 hospital patients has grown slowly and steadily from May 9, when there were 735, to Fridays 3,307 patients. The total ticked down to 3,240 Saturday, when the state health department reported a total of 8,178 staffed hospital beds available across Texas. Across the state, new confirmed daily cases saw a spike June 21 at about 12,600 cases. But the rolling seven-day average for new cases has continued higher since mid-April. The state reported 9,635 new cases Saturday. In McLennan County, the weekly average new case count stood at 129 Friday, after a recent high of 131 on Thursday. That average has been generally on the rise since standing in the single-digits through early April. Six McLennan County residents have died of COVID-19 so far this month, according to the health district. While nearby Bell County reached the high community COVID-19 level on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions assessment tool, McLennan County remains at a medium level. McLennan County was bumped up from low to medium earlier this month. In other parts of Texas, Dallas, Tarrant, Harris and Bexar Counties are at a high COVID-19 community level, while Travis and Williamson counties remain at medium. Public health officials continue to say that masking in crowds of strangers and getting a vaccine, or booster when eligible, remain the best ways to keep the spread of COVID-19 in check. At the high community COVID-19 level, the CDC recommends everyone wear a mask indoors in public. At the medium level, the CDC recommends people at higher risk for severe disease discuss with their health care provider whether they should wear a mask in public and take other precautions, among other recommendations. Zoning for a new subdivision bordering Cameron Park that spurred the local neighborhood association into action earlier this summer will be up for Waco City Councils consideration again Tuesday. The development would bring 151 new homes with varying styles and lot sizes to a 36-acre site between the Waco Center for Youth and Cameron Park in North Waco. Members of the Cameron Park Neighborhood Association voiced worries that the development would bring unsustainable traffic volumes to their neighborhoods and environmental damage to the park. Last month, developer Turner Behringer requested the council rezone the property to a Planned Unit Development, which allows for more flexibility than regular residential zoning categories. After neighborhood association members voiced their concerns again during a public hearing on the item June 21, the council voted to hold off on a vote and to continue the public hearing during its July 19 meeting. After the postponement, Turner Behringer withdrew the PUD request. Waco City Manager Bradley Ford said that means after the hearing Tuesday, the city council can vote to either approve Turner Behringers request to withdraw the PUD application, deny that request and rezone the property to a PUD, or extend the public hearing to a later date. Some Cameron Park Neighborhood Association members may attend and speak during Tuesdays meeting, said Kristin Dreyer, volunteer spokesperson for the neighborhood association. Our original hope is that city council looks at any proposals with the park top of mind, Dreyer said. The property is currently zoned for low- and moderate-density residential development as well as zero-lot-line homes, according to Wacos subdivision ordinance, all of which are included in Turner Behringers initial application. Ford said rezoning to a PUD gives a developer more creative freedom. If the zoning remains the same, the development could lose some of its more unusual features, like housing units developed around shared courtyards. That will go away in the event it develops under traditional zoning, Ford said. And well have much less influence on the matter. Dreyer said the developers have indicated that without the PUD they could fit more houses onto the property, but she wonders if that is the case. It would be interesting to see what somebody might come up with, she said. The limits of the current zoning would allow denser development than the PUD would allow, city Planning Director Clint Peters said during the June 19 council meeting. Anyone who wishes to speak during the public hearing can register at https://bit.ly/3yLWeR7 or by emailing CSO@wacotx.gov. The public hearing is on the agenda for the councils business session, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Bosque Theater at the Waco Convention Center, 100 Washington Ave. Starting Saturday, July 16, people in need of any kind of mental health support can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. The new dialing code does not replace the already existing Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, but it makes the resource easier to remember during emergencies. The shortened version may make the mental health resource more accessible to people experiencing distress, experts say. People in distress can also chat with a trained counselor by visiting 988lifeline.org. Heres what you need to know about the new hotline. What is the 988 hotline? The new three-digit code is a direct line for people experiencing mental health distress to seek help from trained counselors. The hotline is staffed 24/7, allowing people to seek help at any time. In 2005, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration launched the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline under the phone number 1-800-273-8255. Since then, it has received more than 20 million calls, according to the Lifeline website. The new dialing code 988 routes callers to the same service, but it will be easier to remember than the original phone number, said Margie Wright, executive director of the Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas. Why is a new number needed? People might find it difficult to remember a 1-800 number when theyre experiencing mental health distress, Wright said. The shorter three-digit code is better than having people try to remember a long number, she said. Once [the new number] gets out there and advertised, I think it will make things simpler. The new 988 code is easy to associate with 911 and 211, the social service hotline. Blanca Garcia, director of mental health resources at the Grant Halliburton Foundation in Dallas, said this association will make it much easier for people to remember the hotline dialing code during emergencies. Who can call the new hotline? Anyone in the U.S. who needs mental health support or who is with someone in mental health distress can call or text the number to seek help. They do not need to be in danger of suicide to reach out to the lifeline. The same is true of the preexisting 1-800 number. About 3,309,000 adults in Texas are living with a mental illness, according to Mental Health Texas. And 754,000 adult Texans have had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Despite the high numbers of mental health illness in the state, 61% of Texans who needed mental health support in Texas did not receive any, according to Mental Health Texas. The new hotline is free to use, as is the 1-800 number. Can I still call the old hotline? Yes, the current Lifeline phone number, 1-800-273-8255, will still remain available after the new three-digit code is launched. What happens when I use the hotline? When people call, text or contact the hotline service via chat, they will be connected to trained counselors who are part of the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network, according to the Lifeline website. The network is made up of about 200 local crisis centers, and callers will usually be connected to the center closest to where theyre calling from, Garcia said. When people connect with the 24-hour service, the counselors will listen, provide support and connect callers to additional mental health resources if necessary. How will the new number increase access to mental health resources? Many people often call 911 when they need mental health support because they cant remember the 1-800 Lifeline number, Garcia said. Every year, millions of 911 calls involve a person experiencing an emergency related to a mental health or substance use disorder, according to the Pew Research Center. But police officers arent always trained to deal with mental health crises and cant be expected to provide the proper support during those situations. What Im hoping is that now with 988, officers wont be involved as much with some of these crisis calls, Garcia said. She also noted that many communities, especially among people of color, wont call 911 when experiencing mental health distress because they might not have good relationships with police. And if they didnt have the 1-800 number memorized, they would have no one to turn to for help. Now, with a three-digit number thats easier to remember, those communities may seek mental health support more often, Garcia said. Amy Grosso, a board member of the Central Texas chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said she anticipates an influx of people calling the Lifeline when the new number becomes available Saturday. She said people are much more likely to use an emergency resource when its widely talked about and easily memorized. Grosso used the rapper Logics song 1-800-273-8255, named after the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, as an example. After Logic performed the song at the Grammys in 2018, the Lifeline saw a spike in calls that the British Medicine Journal said was a result of the songs widespread attention. Hopefully, this new Lifeline code will also spark an increase in calls, Grosso said. Garcia hopes the new number will help continue national conversations on mental health. Putting the 988 number alongside 911 and 211 could help normalize it and make it a little less intimidating, she said. Now were saying that physical health and mental health are both health, and its OK if youre struggling with each and theres a way for you to get immediate help, Grosso said. And it also helps people know that if it is a mental health crisis, that there is a number they can call specifically to get specific mental health help and be connected with the proper resources right off the bat. Join us at The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, and hear from 300+ speakers shaping the future of Texas including Joe Straus, Jen Psaki, Joaquin Castro, Mayra Flores and many others. See all speakers announced to date and buy tickets. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/15/988-suicide-prevention-hotline/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. As part of the First Flight Society Celebration of National Aviation Day at Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo, North Carolina on August 19th, the Capital Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) will be providing warbird rides in its WWII-era General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bomber nicknamed Doris Mae. National Aviation Day (NAD) celebrates the development of aviation. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the NAD via proclamation in 1939, designating that August 19th, the anniversary of Orville Wrights birthday, was an appropriate date for the holiday. The TBM Avenger is much the same as the 1903 Wright Flyer. It was wings. And an engine. But that is where the commonality ends. The Wright Flyers engine produced 12hp. The Avengers 14-cylinder radial engine produces 1,900hp. The first flight travelled 120 feet. The Avengers wingspan is half that distance at 54 feet and the aircraft has a range of 900 miles. The Wrights airplane had fixed wings. The Avengers wings fold back against the fuselage. However, there is something else in common between the Wright Flyer and the TBM Avenger: both flew with one pilot, or aviator, if you prefer the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard term. Interestingly, there is a is a TBM connection to the airport itself. During WWII it was a U. S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) commissioned on March 3rd, 1943 and used for special training of Navy squadrons including Grumman Avengers, making the event a homecoming of sorts for this TBM. Advance purchases for rides in the TBM can be made online at the link HERE. We can think of no better way to celebrate National Aviation Day than taking a TBM Ride, especially for a WWII aviation enthusiast or military veteran. You will be experiencing flight operations from this very airport, in a similar fashion to being there during its navy days. For more information please visit us at https://nationalaviationday.org DES MOINES The Iowa Dental Board has restricted the practice of two Iowa dentists, citing concerns with their competency. The board recently entered into a settlement agreement with Dr. Paymun Bayatt of Sioux City. Bayatt was charged with failing to maintain a reasonably satisfactory standard of competency with regard to implants while practicing dentistry in Waterloo. The board had received a patient complaint regarding four implants, and a subsequent review of Bayatts clinical records resulted in a finding that he had failed to meet the necessary standard of care. As part of the settlement, the board warned Bayatt that future violations may result in disciplinary action. Bayatt has agreed to have his license restricted in a manner that prohibits him from placing dental implants. In an unrelated matter, in October, the board filed a statement of charges against Dr. Zavash Zarei-M of Coralville, who was first issued an Iowa dental license in 1988. He was charged with failing to maintain a reasonably satisfactory standard of competency in the practice of endodontics, and with failing to adequately maintain patient records. The board also accused him of publicly responding to an online review by addressing the patient-reviewer by name and, while refuting the online review, discussing the treatment that was performed. He also was accused of texting a patient in a less than professional manner that in some way violated Iowa regulations for dentists. The board did not elaborate. As part of a recent settlement agreement with the board, Zarei-M has agreed not to provide endodontic treatment in the future without the boards prior approval. He also has been warned that any future violations of the laws and rules governing the practice of dentistry may result in further disciplinary action, and he has agreed to pay a $1,000 civil penalty and complete three hours of training related to patient privacy. Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. CEDAR FALLS The City Council will consider signing off on a contract for a survey Monday that staff says will allow them to gain a better understanding of the culture and climate within the Public Safety Division. The employee climate survey will be devised and administered if an agreement with the University of Northern Iowa for $7,908 in related services is approved during a 7 p.m. meeting at the Community Center, 528 Main St. The citys public safety budget allocates funding for some 75 full-time and eight part-time employees. Despite the focus on that department in the agreement, officials had discussed including all city employees in a climate survey, which is a council goal. The survey also comes before the council in advance of future discussions this winter about possibly bringing in a third-party consultant to conduct a larger review of the public safety departments overall operation. UNIs office of research and sponsored programs would begin the project this summer. It would take approximately 11 weeks for a final report to be developed. Joyce Coil again appointed to fill vacancy on Cedar Falls school board Coil, a former board president, has a quarter-century of board experience, and will take over for Brenda Fite who resigned last month because of plans to relocate to Ohio. Several vendors/sources were reviewed, and UNI was selected as best meeting our needs with the benefit of serving as a local resource, said Bailey Schindel, city human resources manager, in a memo to the council. The assessment will be designed to monitor employee feedback in a number of areas including job satisfaction, communication, department restructuring and leadership. It will also be used to establish a satisfaction benchmark for future comparison, but the primary goal will be to provide the city of Cedar Falls with information targeted at improving and fostering the relationship between leadership and employees, as well as between employee groups, said the project overview provided to the council. Specific services include survey development, design and distribution; and data collection, entry and analysis. Casa Montessori Preschool searches for new home after losing its church space Director Gretchen Koinzan anticipates having to undergo a gap year," meaning fall 2023 is when some 30 to 50 families could hope their 2 1/2 to 5 year old children return to Casa Montessori. In other scheduled business, the council will consider: Accepting bids on $3.86 million in general obligation loan notes being sold on the municipal market. Adopting the annual action plan for the spending of Community Development Block Grant and HOME Consortium federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The agenda item also marks a continuation of discussion from an earlier council meeting. Approving an ordinance, on first reading, rezoning 0.98 acres at 2209 N. Union Road, formerly the Martyrs Retreat, and another 8.86 acres located adjacent to the south, from residential to agricultural. Approving an ordinance, on first reading, amending the newly adopted downtown zoning code to require that new buildings in the Urban General, Urban General 2, and Storefront frontage areas be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Adopting an ordinance, on its third and final reading, extending the no-parking ban on the east side of Southlawn Road from Stanwood Drive through to Melendy Lane. Purchasing two polymer mixing pumps involved in the biosolids handling operations of the Water Reclamation Division, ultimately for what will be a total cost of about $65,000. Accepting 23 temporary construction easements needed for the future reconstruction of Main Street from Sixth Street to University Avenue. Entering closed session to discuss the purchase or sale of real estate. Prior to the meeting, council committees will convene at 5:35 p.m. at the Community Center. Discussion topics include a new Cedar Falls Rotary Club Memorial Plaza on West First Street; private shared parking requirements for new development in the downtown; the West 12th Street speed limit from Barnett Drive to Union Road; and council meeting procedures. WATERLOO A proposal to develop a taxpayer-backed municipal broadband communications system could be put to voters this fall. The Waterloo City Council on Monday will consider setting a Sept. 13 special election on the matter. Its one of two major decisions being discussed by the council. The other is establishing a goal for the city to be carbon-free in its electricity generation by 2050. The 5:30 p.m. meeting is in the council chambers at City Hall. Voters would be asked in the proposed ballot question if the city should enter into a loan agreement and issue general obligation capital loan notes for as much as $20 million to pay for all or part of a fiber optic backbone and fiber to the premise (FTTP) broadband communications system. The general obligation notes would be repaid with property tax dollars. The backbone project will connect 100 miles of fiber optic cables to city facilities and is expected to cost $29.28 million. The FTTP project will connect broadband to Waterloo homes which is estimated at $86.38 million. The potential project has been under review by Magellan Advisorsof Denver, Colo., since January 2020. The citys so-called Community 24x7 Carbon-Free Electricity Goal is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, enhance public health, attract business, create local job growth and enhance energy security. A resolution being considered by the council states that the city experienced the effects of climate change through high temperatures and extreme weather events like record rainfalls and flooding. A 2018 United Nations report on climate change highlighted in city documents says in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius there needs to be a 45% reduction of greenhouse gasses between 2010 and 2030. That would enable Waterloo to reach a net-zero impact by 2050. The city would do this by partnering with utilities, businesses, residents and community stakeholders to identify an approach that could achieve the emissions targets. In other scheduled business, the council will: Hold seven public hearings one of those on the demolition of five houses near downtown. A resolution that could be approved at the meeting recommends awarding a bid to Lehman Trucking and Excavating, Inc., of Waterloo in the amount of $70,521 for demolition of 928 Mulberry St., 1526 E. Fourth St., 1527 E. Fourth St., 307 Sumner St. and 335 Sumner St. Among the other public hearings are those on the Fourth Street Bridge and dam lighting project and the citys asphalt seal coating program. Consider a resolution authorizing the purchase of BriefCam, a surveillance camera system, for $120,642. The resolution states the purchase is in conjunction with the Smart City project. The surveillance equipment allows video to be searchable and reviewed in minutes, enabling an immediate response to situations of concern.Consider changing to an all-way stop at the intersection of Hammond Avenue and Shaulis Road. There are currently only stop signs on Hammond. Before the meeting, there will be a council work session on animal control operations at 4:15 p.m. The housing authority board will meet at 4:45 p.m. and the finance committee will meet at 5:10 p.m. EVANSDALE Riders once again gathered Saturday in Evansdale to remember the two girls who were kidnapped and murdered there ten years ago this week. Approximately 140 riders filled the street in front of Loftys Lounge for the 10th Annual Memorial Ride and Drive to help remember Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, cousins who disappeared on July 13, 2012 and were found dead five months later during December. The annual event, with the help of the Elizabeth Collins Foundation, the non-profit organization created by her father, Drew, has become a platform to raise awareness for other unsolved abduction and murder cases. Several participants in the event on Saturday could be seen within the crowd holding signs seeking information about their own loved ones cases. Out in the street, Pastor Quovadis Marshal of Hope City Church in Waterloo was on hand to bless the bikes and lead riders in a prayer. Guest speaking inside Loftys was Anna Williams, the mother of 13-year-old Abigail, who, along with friend Liberty German, 14, were found dead in there home state of Indiana in February 2017. At 11 a.m. on the dot, kick stands were up and the riders began their trek towards Angels Park, named after the two cousins, before driving to Jesup, Quasqueton, La Porte City and returning to Evansdale. Proceeds from the ride and will go towards Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, the Elizabeth Collins Foundation and for maintenance of Angels Park. WATERLOO Firefighters spent a couple hours Saturday afternoon handling two fires at an abandoned, historic building. At 12:53 p.m., Waterloo Fire Rescue responded to smoke reportedly coming from the old Rath Packing Company Administration Building, 1515 Sycamore St., at the corner of Elm and Lafayette streets. Battalion Chief Bill Beck said firefighters found a fire not too big in size on the first floor, and another more significant one on the fourth floor (attic). The fires were contained to their rooms of origin, he said. Beck estimated crews spent two and a half hours there, and attributed that to the structural status of the building. No one was on scene when first responders arrived at the long-time vacant building, which is owned by the city and on the National Register of Historic Places. Online records say the building is 94,395 square feet and was built in 1925. The cause remains under investigation. We cant rule out anything, said Beck. Iowas representatives in Congress are starting to hear from constituents on priorities for the next farm bill, a broad package of agricultural policy that is up for renewal next year. Both U.S. senators from Iowa and two House representatives Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne and Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra sit on their respective agriculture committees, giving them a key presence as Congress plans to write the next farm bill. The last farm bill, passed in 2018, is set to expire in September 2023. The package included funding and programs addressing crops and livestock, nutrition, forestry and research. Axne wrote in an email that farmers and other stakeholders at a recent roundtable discussion said they were interested in keeping in place safety net programs like crop insurance as well as increasing regional processing options for livestock producers. Ive worked on many of these issues during my time in Congress and look forward to supporting them in the upcoming farm bill. Axne said shed like to see more conservation and climate action items in the next farm bill, incentivizing farmers to take part in carbon sequestering and greenhouse gas reduction. As we look to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and sequester more carbon, there is significant opportunity for American agriculture to be a global leader in developing those markets and practices, she said. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said beyond maintaining crop insurance for farmers, hed like to see a boost in funding for agriculture research added to next years bill. It seems to me that with 9 billion people on the face of this earth, weve fallen behind on agricultural research. As a percentage of the total amount of federal dollars that go into research, agriculture is really flagging, he told reporters on Wednesday. In an emailed statement, Feenstra said farmers in his district have asked for more transparency in the cattle market, expanded access to foreign markets and strong safety net protections. In the months ahead, I will continue to meet with our farmers, producers, and their families to discuss their priorities in the Farm Bill, he said. What is the farm bill? The farm bill is comprehensive legislation reauthorized roughly every five years that funds a range of programs affecting agriculture and food. Two of the major and consistent provisions in previous farm bills have been crop insurance and nutrition assistance for low-income Americans in the form of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Crop insurance provides repayment to farmers for adverse events like droughts, natural disasters and disease. The 2020 derecho in Iowa that leveled farms across the state was one such case, where farmers received $343.3 million from the program, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Nutrition assistance made up about three quarters of the 2018 farm bills total $428 billion in spending over five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. One question looming over the bill is the fate of SNAP benefits. With Republicans favored to win control of the House this November by election analysts, changes to these benefits could be on the table. In 2018, spurred on by the House Freedom Caucus, House Republicans version of the farm bill included stricter work requirements for food assistance, restricting who was eligible for benefits and requiring recipients to work 20 hours a week or enroll in a job training program. The final law didnt include these provisions after a compromise with the Senate. Axne said shes concerned about efforts to cut SNAP in the next iteration of the bill. Beyond it being the right thing, studies have shown that SNAP benefits generate a positive economic return and help our farmers, she said. Ill fight for a robust nutrition title that supports growers and ensures Iowa families dont go hungry. Feenstra did not answer a question about whether he would support stricter work requirements for SNAP benefits. What ag groups want The Iowa Farmers Union, part of a national group that advocates for independent and family farmers, has begun holding forums with members about what theyre looking for in the next farm bill. Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Heley Lehman said after two years in a pandemic that upended supply chains and agricultural markets, the organization is not looking for a status quo farm bill. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation has not yet set its policy priorities for the next year, the organizations communications director Andrew Wheeler said. During a September policy meeting, the bureau will lay out policy goals that include its interest in the next farm bill. Lehman said members are hoping the safety net programs, which help cover losses when commodity prices drop, are bolstered under the next bill. While farmers are currently getting high prices for crops, input prices are through the roof, he said. The Farmers Union is advocating for higher triggers at which federal programs will cover losses. Lehman echoed Feenstras concerns about transparency in the cattle market and other agriculture markets. He said the Farmers Union will advocate for a competition portion of the farm bill, which has not been included in the past. With only a handful of businesses controlling large shares of sectors like beef processing, Lehman said small-scale farmers often dont get a fair shake when selling their products. These concerns have already hit the federal level: President Joe Biden in January launched a $1-billion campaign to bolster independent meat processing plants, and two bills aimed at curbing the cattle consolidation introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley recently passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee. But Lehman said he wanted to see those regulations made permanent with the farm bill. Those monopolies will lead to fewer choices, less innovation and higher prices for consumers and will eat away at profit margins for farmers, he said. President Joe Bidens reelection prospects have seemed doubtful for months now. Many voters think the nations oldest president ever he turns 80 in November is too old for the job and is certainly too old for a second term. Many others think hes simply doing a bad job. Many think both. And that includes Democrats who voted for Biden as well as Republicans who didnt. Now, we seem to have reached a turning point. In recent days, the most influential media voice among Democrats, The New York Times, has published two articles that appear to lay a foundation for pushing a reluctant Biden out of a reelection race in 2024. The first was published July 9 with the headline, At 79, Biden Is Testing the Boundaries of Age and the Presidency. Dont be fooled by the gentleness of the headline. The article clearly suggested Biden is too old to be president. It reported that Bidens Middle East trip last week was originally going to be part of his European trip last month until aides realized that putting the two destinations together in one trip would have made for an arduous 10-day overseas trek and that such extended travel might be unnecessarily taxing for a 79-year-old president. One official even called the idea crazy. Bidens aides acknowledge that he looks older than just a few years ago, the Times reported, calling that a political liability that cannot be solved by traditional White House stratagems like staff shake-ups or new communications plans. While the Times called Bidens energy level impressive for a man of his age, it nevertheless said Bidens energy is not what it was, and some aides quietly watch out for him. [Biden] often shuffles when he walks, and aides worry he will trip on a wire, the Times reported. He stumbles over words during public events, and they hold their breath to see if he makes it to the end without a gaffe. Those public appearances have fueled the perception that Biden is too old to be president, the article said. His speeches can be flat and listless. He sometimes loses his train of thought, has trouble summoning names or appears momentarily confused. During the European trip, the paper said, Bidens fellow leaders protectively treat[ed] him like a distinguished elderly relative. In all, Bidens age has become an uncomfortable issue for Democrats, the paper reported. If he mounts another campaign in 2024, Mr. Biden would be asking the country to elect a leader who would be 86 at the end of his tenure, the Times said, testing the outer boundaries of age and the presidency. Testing the outer boundaries of age? For many Americans, the simpler way of saying that is too old. Now, the Times has published a devastating poll the paper conducted with Siena College. The survey found 64% of Democratic voters want a different nominee in 2024 just 26% want the party to renominate the president. On top of that, the poll shows Bidens job approval among all Americans at just 33%. And, on top of that, just 13% of those surveyed believe the country is on the right track. With the country gripped by a pervasive sense of pessimism, the Times wrote, the president is hemorrhaging support. And what is it about Biden that particularly worries his partys voters? Age. Concerns about his age ranked at the top of the list for Democratic voters who want the party to find an alternative, the paper reported. Im just going to come out and say it: I want younger blood, said Nicole Farrier, a 38-year-old preschool teacher in East Tawas, a small town in northern Michigan. I am so tired of all old people running our country. I dont want someone knocking on deaths door. Farrier voted for Biden in 2020 in hopes he might heal the nations divisions, the Times said, but now she is preoccupied with what she described as crippling increases in her cost of living. The second-highest concern is Bidens job performance. The Times reported: He hasnt done what I think hes capable of doing as president to help the American people, said Kelly King, a former factory worker in Greensburg, Indiana. As a Democrat, I figured he would really be on our side and put us back on the right track. And I just feel like hes not. The poll offered one glimmer of good news for Democrats: Even in his weakened condition, Biden could still narrowly defeat Donald Trump 44% to 41%, in a hypothetical 2024 head-to-head matchup. But even Democrats who would definitely vote for Biden against Trump would still prefer another nominee. What does it all mean? It means Biden is in trouble. But that has been clear for quite a while. Voters have long been concerned about the presidents age. They have been concerned about his ability to handle the worlds most demanding job. And they have wished there were some better alternative. What is perhaps more newsworthy now is that the media institution most respected among Democrats, especially Democratic opinion leaders, has so frankly put the spotlight on Bidens problems. From a Democratic perspective, it is one thing when Republicans complain about Biden. It is another when The New York Times does it. And now everyone, except perhaps the most dogged Biden loyalists, is alarmed about the state of Joe Biden. My parents were politically conservative but sane. We lived in a conservative community in a conservative state, so its no surprise I became a conservative Republican at a young age. In fact, my first presidential vote was for Barry Goldwater in 1964. You cant get much more conservative Republican than that. I couldnt bring myself to vote for Nixon in 1968 and so voted for my first Democrat, Hubert Humphrey. By 1972, I was so sick of the Vietnam War and Nixons phony plan to end it that I voted for Democrat George McGovern. I voted for Republican Gerald Ford in 1976 because I thought the Nixon pardon, while disgusting, was the best thing for the U.S. at that time. Jimmy Carter was not as bad as people think and got my vote in 1980. Ronald Reagans policies completed my transformation to a Democrat, and I have voted for Democrats for president since then. I liked John McCain in 2008 until he picked Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. That was a huge mistake on his part. To be clear, I believe in the two party system. Almost every issue usually has at least two perspectives and neither is right nor wrong. Its just a question of what we value. If done properly, our system leads to disagreement, healthy debate, and ultimately, compromise. While I disagree with many Republican positions, Im glad they are presented. We need that. Republicans believe in fiscal responsibility, anti-choice, mixing religion and politics, controlling education, reducing our trade deficit, lower taxes, freeing markets, closer oversight of the Federal Reserve, and many other positions listed in their platform. While I disagree in whole or part with many of their ideas, I do recognize there are legitimate, justifiable differences between what Republicans and Democrats believe. To be blunt, I think its okay for someone to be a Republican, and I hope they think its OK for me to be a Democrat. This brings me to Donald Trump. If you have watched any of the Insurrection Committee hearings, you must have been overwhelmed by the lengths Trump to which has gone in trying to steal the 2020 election. This was a massive conspiracy involving scores of people whose intent was essentially a coup. Theres a steal attempt all right, but Trump is the thief. And he almost succeeded. Further, it is clear Trump is positioning himself for another run in 2024. A successful reelection could prove to be a huge problem for our future. He is driven by only one thing: his ego. He has no respect for traditional norms and values and believes he can do anything he wants and get away with it. Worst of all, he has no belief in or understanding of our Constitution. Republicans have many qualified candidates for president. I have been impressed with Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and I think either could beat Biden. And they are both good people. Republicans need to cut loose from Trump, who is definitely not a real Republican, and return to their traditional values. Trump is bad for the party and bad for the country. Get him out of politics. 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18 Oct (9) 4 Oct - 11 Oct (11) 27 Sep - 4 Oct (14) 20 Sep - 27 Sep (19) 13 Sep - 20 Sep (13) 6 Sep - 13 Sep (12) 30 Aug - 6 Sep (15) 23 Aug - 30 Aug (15) 16 Aug - 23 Aug (16) 9 Aug - 16 Aug (14) 2 Aug - 9 Aug (15) 26 Jul - 2 Aug (20) 19 Jul - 26 Jul (10) 12 Jul - 19 Jul (13) 5 Jul - 12 Jul (21) 28 Jun - 5 Jul (15) 21 Jun - 28 Jun (20) 14 Jun - 21 Jun (10) 7 Jun - 14 Jun (13) 31 May - 7 Jun (13) 24 May - 31 May (13) 17 May - 24 May (15) 10 May - 17 May (16) 3 May - 10 May (11) 26 Apr - 3 May (21) 19 Apr - 26 Apr (17) 12 Apr - 19 Apr (20) 5 Apr - 12 Apr (16) 29 Mar - 5 Apr (19) 22 Mar - 29 Mar (17) 15 Mar - 22 Mar (23) 8 Mar - 15 Mar (22) 1 Mar - 8 Mar (21) 22 Feb - 1 Mar (22) 15 Feb - 22 Feb (25) 8 Feb - 15 Feb (25) 1 Feb - 8 Feb (21) 25 Jan - 1 Feb (23) 18 Jan - 25 Jan (19) 11 Jan - 18 Jan (35) 4 Jan - 11 Jan (23) 28 Dec - 4 Jan (27) 21 Dec - 28 Dec (28) 14 Dec - 21 Dec (23) 7 Dec - 14 Dec (22) 30 Nov - 7 Dec (19) 23 Nov - 30 Nov (22) 16 Nov - 23 Nov (19) 9 Nov - 16 Nov (15) 2 Nov - 9 Nov (17) 26 Oct - 2 Nov (10) 19 Oct - 26 Oct (12) 12 Oct - 19 Oct (13) 5 Oct - 12 Oct (19) 28 Sep - 5 Oct (14) 21 Sep - 28 Sep (17) 14 Sep - 21 Sep (19) 7 Sep - 14 Sep (22) 31 Aug - 7 Sep (15) 24 Aug - 31 Aug (14) 17 Aug - 24 Aug (9) 10 Aug - 17 Aug (5) The Russian Federations Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response, in coordination with designated federal executive authorities, continues to carefully record numerous crimes committed by the Kiev regime against civilians, as well as the use of educational institutions and residential buildings by Ukrainian nationalist groups for military purposes: in Soledar, Donetsk Peoples Republic, in the school 14 (Krasnoflotskaya st.), the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have deployed their strongpoint, a munitions depot in the basement and heavy armament at the adjacent territory; in Kharkov, at the lower and upper floors, as well as on the roofs of residential buildings (Pushkinskaya st.), Ukrainian armed groups have deployed large-calibre machine guns and multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) crews, as well as munitions depots. At the same time, residents are forbidden to leave their flats, while any attempts of civilians to evacuate to safe areas are severely suppressed; in Odessa, in the school 100 (Vernenskaya st.), AFU units have deployed armoured equipment, heavy artillery and MRLS, observation posts have been deployed along the perimeter of the educational entity, the approaches to the buildings are mined, but the local population has intentionally been left uninformed about it; in Slavyansk, Donetsk Peoples Republic, in the social orphanage Sails of the Hope (Serafimovicha st.), militants of nationalist groups have deployed barracks and a strongpoint, while preschool teachers and children are retained in the basement as a human shield. These acts commited by Ukrainian authorities show again their inhumane treatment to the lives of innocent Ukrainian citizens and total disregard to all moral norms and principles of the international humanitarian law. It occurs with the tacit consent of the collective West that continues turning a blind eye to the numerous war crimes of the Kiev regime. In Poltavka, Zaporozhye region, militants of Ukrainian armed groups have mined the motorway bridge over Yanchur river for exploding it and accusing Russian Armed Forces of allegedly indiscriminate attacks at transport infrastructure facilities with wide coverage by Ukrainian and western mass media, in accordance with the well practiced scenario. We emphasise again that Russian Armed Forces and military units of the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics do not launch attacks at civilian infrastructure facilities, treat the civilian population with high humanity and provide it with comprehensive assistance and support during the special military operation. Despite all the difficulties and obstacles imposed by the official Kiev, 28,424 people have been evacuated from dangerous areas of Ukraine and Donbass over the past 24 hours, including 5,148 children, and in total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 2,612,747 people have already been evacuated, including 412,553 are children. The state border of the Russian Federation has been crossed by 417,210 private motor vehicles, including 5,150 over the past 24 hours. More than 9,5 thousand temporary accommodation centres continue to operate in the regions of the Russian Federation. The arriving refugees are individually attended and promptly assisted in resolving various issues related to their further accomodation, employment, providing children with pre-school and educational services, as well as supplying with social benefits and allowances. The hotline of the Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, federal executive authorities, regions of the Russian Federation and various non-governmental organisations have received 42 requests to evacuate to Russia, the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics, as well as to the Russian Armed Forces-controlled areas of Zaporozhye, Nikolaev, Kharkov and Kherson regions. In total, the database contains 2,759,354 appeals of this kind from 2,139 settlements in Ukraine and Kiev-controlled territories of the Donbas republics. In addition, 70 foreign vessels from 16 countries remain blocked in six Ukrainian ports (Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhniy). The threat of shelling and high mine danger posed by official Kiev prevent vessels from entering the high seas unhindered. As a result of a series of measures taken by the Russian Navy, the Mariupol harbour continues being under mine clearance works, the port infrastructure is routinely under reconstruction. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have created the necessary conditions for the operation of two maritime humanitarian corridors that constitute safe lanes for navigation: in the Black Sea (every day from 08:00 AM to 07:00 PM) to leave Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhnyi ports towards south-west from Ukraines territorial sea, 139 miles long and 3 miles wide; in the Sea of Azov (uninterruptedly) to leave Mariupol port, 115 miles long and 2 miles wide, towards the Black Sea. Detailed information on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridors is broadcast daily every 15 minutes by VHF radio on 14 and 16 international channels in English and Russian. The Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area. The danger to navigation from Ukrainian mines drifting off their anchors along the coasts of Black Sea states remains. The Russian Federation is taking a full range of comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of civilian navigation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Demining detachments of the Russian Armed Forces and the EMERCOM of Russia continue clearing the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics of explosive remnants. A total of 4,040,89 hectares were explored (including 35,17 hectares over the past 24 hours), 39 buildings (including 13 socially important facilities), 4 bridges and 9.64 km of roads. 63,474 explosive remnants (over the past 24 hours: 3,153) have been detected and neutralised. Federal executive authorities, in coordination with the regions of the Russian Federation, various public organizations, patriotic movements, continue to accumulate humanitarian aid. This work has been mostly contributed by: Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Federal Service of Court Baliffs, Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs; the republics of Bashkortostan, the Chechen Republic, Crimea, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Sakha (Yakutia) and Tatarstan, as well as Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Leningrad, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Primorie, Rostov, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Tula, Voronezh and Yaroslavl regions, the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region, as well as the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Sevastopol; among political parties and non-profit organisations: United Russia, the All-Russian Public Movement Peoples Front, the All-Russian Public Organisation of Veterans Battle Brotherhood, the autonomous non-profit organisation to support humanitarian programmes Russian Humanitarian Mission, the Open Joint Stock Company Russian Railways, the State Space Corporation Roscosmos and the All-Russian Public State Organisation Union of Russian Women. Over 47.3 thousand tonnes of prime necessity items, groceries, medication and medical products have been prepared at the collection points. Since March 2, 2022, 44,560,6 tonnes of humanitarian goods within 1,316 humanitarian campaigns; over the past 24 hours, the civilian population has been provided with 353,8 tonnes of humanitarian goods within 5 humanitarian campaigns held in the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics, as well as in Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions. On June 16, 2022, four humanitarian campaigns are being carried out in the Donetsk Peoples Republic, in Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions, during which 356.7 tonnes of basic necessities, medicine and food are distributed. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine. High-precision attacks launched by Russian Armed Forces resulted in the elimination of 115th Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) that had operated towards Seversk. Over the past 48 hours, this brigade has lost over 600 servicemen. Residents of Seversk, Nikolayevka and other nearby Ukraine-controlled settlements are being urgently mobilised for manning the brigade. High-precision attack launched by Russian Aerospace Forces at a provisional base of 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade of the AFU deployed in Nikolayev has resulted in the elimination of up to 200 nationalists and foreign mercenaries, as well as 13 armoured and motor vehicles. In terms of successful action of Russian Armed Forces and considerable losses of the AFU, Ukrainian nationalists refuse to be involved in operations in Donbass. Particularly, 45 nationalists of 204th Battalion from 241st Territorial Defence Brigade abandoned their positions near Artyomovsk and demanded to redeploy them to the eastern part of Ukraine. Russian Federation Armed Forces continue launching attacks at military facilities located in Ukraine. Attacks launched by high-precision long-range air-based armament have resulted in the elimination of workshops for producing components and repairing Tochka-U ballistic missiles, as well as MRLS projectiles in Yuzhny Machinery Plant located in Dnepropetrovsk. In addition, high-precision attacks launched by Russian Aerospace Forces have resulted in the elimination of 4 command posts, including those of 80th Air Assault Brigade near Serebryanka (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and 3rd Tank Brigade of the AFU near Novopokrovka (Kharkov region), as well as a munitions depot near Konstantinovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and 25 areas of AFU manpower and military equipment. Within counter-battery warfare, 2 MRLS plattons, 15 Giatsing-B howitzer and D-30 artillery gun units deployed near Verkhnekamenskoye, Serebryanka, Seversk, Artyomovsk, Avdeyevka and Georgiyevka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), as well as artillery units at their firing positions in 73 areas have been neutralised. Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery have neutralised 21 command posts, 5 munitions depots, as well as 189 areas of AFU manpower and military equipment concentration areas. Fighter aviation of Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed 3 airplanes of Ukrainian Air Forces during an air combat: 2 MiG-29 near Novopavlovka (Nikolayev region), Vladimirovka (Dnepropetrovsk region) and 1 Su-25 near Seversk. In addition, 2 Ukrainian helicopters (Mi-8 near Velikaya Novosyolka and Mi-24 near Seversk, Donetsk Peoples Republic) have been shot down in air. Russian air defence means have eliminated 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Dolgenkoye, Izyum, Malaya Kamyshevakha (Kharkov region), Kamyshany (Kherson region), Reshetilovskoye (Zaporozhye region), Alchevsk (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Serebryanka, Grigorovka, Sparatak, Krasny Oktyabr and Krinichnaya (Donetsk Peoples Republic). 1 Tochka-U ballistic missile has been intercepted near Novozvanovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), 2 Uragan MRLS projectiles near Izyum (Kharkov region). In total, 256 airplanes and 139 helicopters, 1,557 unmanned aerial vehicles, 355 air defence missile systems, 4,073 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 746 combat vehicles equipped with MRLS, 3,149 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 4,364 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation. At the command post, Sergei Shoigu was informed by the commander of Southern group of troops General of the Army Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Central group of troops Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin and other commanders about the current situation, the action of the enemy and the progress of combat tasks fulfillment by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. After being informed, the chief of Russian military institution gave necessary decrees for intensifying the action of the groups of troops at all fronts in order to prevent massive missile and artillery attacks launched by the Kiev regime at civilian infrastructure facilities, population of Donbass and other regions. Artillery units of the Russian Federation Armed Forces destroy the artillery batteries and the defensive structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), neutralise the command posts, the firepower, the armament and the military equipment of the enemy within the special military operation. The range of fire of Msta-S 152 mm self-propelled howitzer crews is up to 30 kilometres. Servicemen use high-explosive, fragmentation and high-precision munitions that allow to maximise the damage to fortifications, concrete-reinforced positions and armoured vehicles of the enemy. The units use Msta-S 152 mm self-propelled howitzers being capable of firing as from sheltered fire positions, as directly without preliminary preparation of fire positions. After launching the projectiles, the artillery battery redeployed to additional firing positions in order to avoid a counterattack of the enemy. WtR Weather Alert ...Another Round of Thunderstorms This Week... * Another surge of monsoon moisture will bring back thunderstorms to the region this week, with the best chances being today, Wednesday, and Thursday. * Each day today through Thursday, most areas will have a 20 to 40 percent chance of seeing a storm in the afternoon and early evening hours. Nocturnal showers and thunderstorms are possible tonight and again Wednesday night. * Impacts will range from lightning, new fire starts, and strong outflow winds with blowing dust, to periods of heavy rainfall and flash flooding. * Ensure you have a way of receiving weather alerts or monitoring radar on your phone. If you live in a flash flood prone area, especially near a burn scar, be ready to act quickly if heavy rainfall occurs. In its July 3 editorial on New Mexicos Elk Private Land Use System (EPLUS), the Journal fell short of understanding the real issues and the real people at the heart of the issue. Perhaps this is because rhetoric and misinformation have long clouded public discussions on the topic. Most concerning is the persistent mischaracterization and maligning of New Mexico landowners by advocates seeking to eliminate the EPLUS program. Framing the narrative as wealthy outsiders vs. average New Mexicans needing to fill their freezers and their families bellies, is a tactic designed to generate public sympathy. Yet any honest assessment tells a different story. In reality, New Mexicos landowners are diverse. They are multi-generational landowners and newcomers who have chosen to invest in our state. They are farmers and ranchers. They are families. They sit on the school boards and library boards and local commissions. They are volunteer firefighters and local businesspeople. They are the backbone of communities all across New Mexico. According to the University of New Mexicos BBER Center, New Mexico is unusually land-rich and cash-poor. We rank 49th in poverty but have a higher than national average of home and land ownership. Of the 25,044 farms in New Mexico, one in three have Hispanic/Latino producers and one in four have Native American producers. In contrast, nationally only 2% of farms have Native producers and 4% have Hispanic producers. Most landowners enrolled in EPLUS have small to modest acreage but provide disproportionate and costly habitat for wildlife. There are very limited ways to generate sufficient income to keep lands intact and to support rural livelihoods. Ranching and farming are the primary means of doing this across much of New Mexico, yet in many cases damages from elk to fences and competition for forage with livestock threaten the economic viability of these operations. EPLUS was designed to address this. Two things happen when land cannot sustain livelihoods: it is either sold to wealthy individuals or developed. The elimination of the EPLUS program would result in significantly greater inequity across the state. The proponents of repealing EPLUS often cite other states for comparison. Yet these are apples-to-oranges comparisons. For example, in Arizona nearly 90% of elk habitat is located on public land, whereas in New Mexico private landowners are supporting 50% of the habitat. The Editorial Board references a legislative audit of the EPLUS program. The audit, however, failed to include assessment of the secondary and special elk management zones. Beyond the public draw in which 84% of the licenses/permits for each hunt are reserved for New Mexico residents, approximately 40% of EPLUS authorizations go to resident hunters. Many of these are donated by landowners to youth, veterans, neighbors in need, resident sportsmen and charitable causes. When tags are sold to out-of-state hunters, it benefits local economies because non-resident hunters bring in outside money to purchase goods and services. Landowners play a disproportionate role in sustaining New Mexicos wildlife. It is landowners investment that is keeping the most valuable habitats intact, including much of the critical winter elk habitat, calving grounds and vital water resources. If New Mexico is serious about conserving its lands, wildlife, cultural heritage, food security and hunting tradition, it needs to work with, not against, the landowners that make this possible. This op-ed was part of a point/counterpoint feature. To read an opposing viewpoint, click here. New Mexico has experienced a devastatingly destructive wildfire season again this year, including the two largest fires in our states history, the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, now at more than 340,000 acres, and the Black Fire, which has burned more than 325,000 acres. These fires, and others like them, continue to damage our forests, which cover 43 million acres in New Mexico and Arizona. These forested areas provide more than just recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat, timber and other valuable resources they are vital because they are also the source of a majority of the water used by our cities and our agriculture industry. This valuable forest acreage is being lost to wildfire at an alarming rate that must be addressed with a climate-smart reforestation program. Thats why New Mexico State University is committed to advancing the understanding of restoration activities on forested areas. We have the knowledge, we have the research and we have the facilities, including NMSUs John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora, which has played an integral role in restoring the beauty and value of these landscapes for many years. The JTH Forestry Research Center is one of 12 NMSU science and research centers around the state, and it is a national leader in applied reforestation research, specializing in improvements to the reforestation pipeline, from seeds to nursery systems to planting and with a unique program on drought-resistant seedlings. As the only large forest nursery in the state and one of only two nurseries in the Four Corners states, it plays a critical role in reforestation efforts in the Southwest region. In late April, the Mora facility was evacuated due to the Calf Canyon Fire, which reached the property on May 1. Thankfully, our team stayed safe, and although our nursery production and our research projects experienced a major disruption including the dramatic rescue of the seed bank and thousands of seedlings our work continues in areas such as drought conditioning, planting strategies that mimic natural regeneration, understanding how microclimates affect tree establishment, and exploring how future climate change may affect reforestation efforts. Reestablishing forest lands in the Southwest devastated by wildfire is an enormous challenge, and NMSU is well-positioned to support that effort by applying our research to guide the use of disaster relief funds, Replant Act funds and other federal support. As many as 1.5 million acres will need to be reforested in a way that makes sense for our arid climate, and that will require as many as 225 million seedlings. At our current production capacity in New Mexico of about 300,000 seedlings per year, were looking at more than 750 years to restore these lands. Obviously, we cannot wait that long. NMSU continuously addresses global challenges through our research and outreach efforts and our land-grant mission. Thats why we are leading a proposed partnership with other universities in the state, along with the Forestry Division of New Mexicos Energy, Mineral, and Natural Resources Department, to establish the New Mexico Reforestation Center. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this consortium would help meet reforestation needs for the region by producing up to 5 million seedlings per year. It would also establish programs to support the reforestation pipeline, support education, research and outreach activities related to reforestation, and develop and support forest-based economic growth in the region. Developing a climate-smart reforestation program for the Southwest requires new reforestation approaches in order to plant forests that will be resilient to a changing climate. NMSUs research efforts will provide the data and scientific knowledge needed to continually adapt to a changing environment. Importantly, this approach can also help drive policy at the national level that can help improve our reforestation efficiency across the United States. Its critical for the U.S. to invest in the reforestation pipeline, employing research-based policies and practices to protect and restore these valuable natural resources for future generations. The expansion of our current efforts, through additional greenhouses, faculty, staff, students and funding, will put the Southwest on the right track to recover our lost forests. At NMSU, we stand ready to lead these important efforts, in collaboration with our partner educational institutions and state and federal agencies. Congress is considering the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual bill that provides the budget and general framework for how our national security will be conducted for the next fiscal year. One urgent issue that the NDAA must address is the danger posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in many ways is the greatest, broadest, most comprehensive, long-term threat that we and our allies face. Indeed, the threat of China is wide-ranging and persistent. The Chinese government seeks to conduct cyber and industrial espionage, influence our policy and policymakers, and overtake U.S. military and economic capabilities to the detriment of the American people. Political leaders from both sides of the aisle agree China is intensifying these efforts and danger is growing. The good news: the United States still has time to confront this challenge, and New Mexico is uniquely positioned to lead our technological and military push-back against China. That is why I am proud to have offered several amendments to the NDAA that will ensure a stronger country for generations to come. During the COVID pandemic we learned a hard lesson that the U.S. does not have the necessary manufacturing base for vital supplies such as pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. We also learned the U.S. has been providing direct funding to the Chinese government for research, all while China conducts vast espionage operations against our own research institutions. I am offering amendments to the NDAA that would directly address these issues. First, I have offered an amendment that requires the Food and Drug Administration to identify regulations that are making it difficult to produce lifesaving drugs and medical supplies domestically, so the United States can take back medical production from China. Second, I offered a bipartisan amendment that forbids American tax dollars from being used to fund research projects with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. We cannot subsidize the technological advances of our adversaries, nor can we be supportive of their scientific advances at the expense of our own research institutions. This is especially true considering Chinas haphazard lab safety record. The China University of Petroleum in Qingdao reported 110 university lab accidents between 2000 and 2018, resulting in 102 injuries and 10 fatalities, although the real number of accidents is likely higher. U.S. Diplomats in Beijing visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in 2019 and sent warnings back to Washington about safety concerns in the lab three years later, the COVID lab-leak theory has become more and more plausible. Continuing to send our taxpayer dollars to Chinese research institutions makes no sense. These amendments will not only enhance our national security but also help New Mexico. Our state has abundant human capital to ensure our national defense. Our universities and national labs will benefit from research dollars going exclusively to American institutions rather than Chinese ones. Additionally, bringing home domestic manufacturing will both benefit research institutions and help more New Mexicans to find good-paying jobs. One of my amendments is specifically aimed at New Mexico, ensuring that Holloman Air Force Base has the most up-to-date military testing capabilities. The amendment provides for the repair and modernization of Hollomans High Speed Test Track (HHSTT), which allows our military to test weapon systems they need to protect our nation. The HHSTT is vital to our national security as well as our rural economy, being the premier rocket sled test track in the world. New Mexico should be at the forefront of our cutting-edge technology development to stand up to Communist China. I will continue to advocate for policies that counter Chinas aggression, bolster our national security and ensure New Mexico is well-equipped to fulfill its vital role in Americas national defense preparedness. The Journals June 19 editorial ,Sanctioned encampments are supposed to clean up city, not sacrifice areas, rightly deplores the conditions in Coronado Park. However Coronado Park is (not) a sanctioned encampment, also known as a safe outdoor space. It most emphatically is not. The piece also fails to give readers an accurate perspective on the extent of the citys homeless programs and the challenges faced by the people who actually work with the homeless. If you want to know what a sanctioned encampment looks like, you need look no further than Camp Hope in Las Cruces. The site consists of 40 tents accommodating one to two persons each. A central building houses bathrooms, showers and a group kitchen. It is surrounded by a tall, view-blocking fence and has only one entrance/exit which is monitored 24/7. Guests enjoy a stable mailing address, lockers to store medications and other valuables, and a place to deposit their refuse. The community is self-governing, and all the guests are expected to make a contribution to the security and maintenance of the facility. Guests who cannot or will not comply with rules are required to leave. Camp Hope has won recognition from the Las Cruces City Council, the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services and the U.N. Human Rights Council. The Journal editorial mentions Bernalillo Countys Tiny Home Village as the type of place we need to offer the unhoused. THV is indeed a beautiful facility, consisting of 30 120-square-foot buildings with electricity, climate-control and fire suppression systems and a large central building with toilets, showers, a group kitchen and meeting/counseling rooms. However, built at a cost of $4.34 million, it is unlikely to be replicated on a scale commensurate with the size of the homeless problem. Camp Hope is in many ways a more rudimentary and much less expensive version of THV. The Journal editorial fails to accurately portray the extent of the homeless programs and the challenges they face. It mentions, in passing, the Westside Emergency Housing Center. WEHC manages to feed and house up to 400 people every night of the year, despite the former detention center being in serious need of repair. The city also maintains separate facilities for scores of families with children. At the height of the COVID epidemic, it operated multiple hotels to protect vulnerable adults and isolate persons with COVID, both homeless and from the community at large. When the epidemic temporarily waned and a life-threatening cold snap hit, the city deftly pivoted and moved at-risk folks from Coronado Park into those same hotels. While many homeless are ordinary people suffering through difficult circumstances, some of the homeless suffer from untreated mental illness, substance abuse or both. They are often intoxicated, volatile and unruly. This challenging population makes it very difficult to recruit and retain the very special people who possess both compassion and ability to set firm interpersonal boundaries. These are the unsung heroes of the homeless programs, and their difficult work deserves recognition in any discussion of this issue. A 50% increase in K-12 English language arts and math achievement by the 2025-26 school year might seem aspirational, until you realize where New Mexico is starting from. At last count, prepandemic, just one in five N.M. students was proficient in math and one in three proficient in reading. If those numbers were still accurate doubtful with the learning loss remote education inflicted reaching these goals would mean just one in three students will be able to do math and only half will be able to read at grade level. But especially given the landmark Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit that said New Mexico is not providing sufficient education to students, particularly minority and at-risk, our Public Education Department has to start somewhere. Unfortunately, the draft action plan released in May starts, and ends, with aspirations. Nowhere in the 55-page report are there details of how districts, schools, teachers or students are going to reach them. And so we are left with broad-stroke goals, including: A 15% increase by 2025 in graduation rates for Indigenous, English-language learner and low-income students. Laudable, but diplomas must be worth the paper theyre printed on and prepare grads for college, vocational training, the workforce, military or adult life. A 20% increase in Hispanic, 7% increase in Native American and 3% increase in African American teacher representation, all by 2025-26. First, around 34% of educators in New Mexico identified as Hispanic in 201617, more than four times the national average, and 3% identified as American Indian/Alaska native, according to NewMexicoKidsCan. With roughly 22,000 teachers in the state, that goal is around 1,500 more Hispanic and 46 more Native American teachers. It takes four years to get a degree. Are these teachers-in-training in the pipeline? If not, how will PED hit those goals? Meanwhile much more goes into being an exemplary teacher beyond identity politics, and in our minority-majority state role models of the same race, ethnicity and gender identity can make schools a relatable and safe space for students, especially those at risk of dropping out. Lowering the states average counselor-to-student ratio from 426-to-1 to 250-to-1 by 2026-27 and ensuring every high school has at least one fully-certified counselor. Increasing instructional support staff is also laudable, but budgeting for hundreds of new counselors, social workers and occupational therapists is a lot easier than hiring them, just ask Bernalillo County and the city of Albuquerque, which have been trying to beef up civilian response teams with similar hires for years. Perhaps most concerning, the plan concedes theres no way to compare student achievement over time because baselines are unavailable. Thats because Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams very first act as governor was to jettison the method of standardized testing, PED removed student achievement from teacher evaluations, and the Legislature killed A-F school grades that easily explained how a school was meeting different student populations academic needs. Lujan Grishams administration has yet to release partial results from new standardized testing in the spring of 2021. So instead of detailing whats in the K-12 toolbox to ensure student success, we get 55 pages of goals and self-congratulatory mentions of how this governors administration has delivered major salary raises for teachers and new social studies standards for the first time in two decades progress yes, but not really the point of the lawsuit or this exercise, which is to ensure every N.M. student gets an adequate K-12 education. State Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus lauds the Martinez/Yazzie Discussion Draft Action Plan as not just a plan for the future; it also reflects all the work thats taken place since the beginning of this administration, and it challenges all of us with strong performance targets to move the needle on key student outcomes. OK, but how? Lujan Grishams administration has had three and a half years since a state judge found the state violated the constitutional right of a sufficient education for socioeconomically disadvantaged, English-language learner, Native American and students with disabilities. The court said students had unequal access to qualified teachers, quality school buildings and lessons tailored to their cultural background and needs. Its been four years now since the ruling, and I think thats been enough time for our state to really start making these changes, Wilhelmina Yazzie, a mother of three whos lived most of her life on the Navajo Nation and the original Yazzie plaintiff, told the Journal. Laurel Nesbitt, senior attorney with Disability Rights New Mexico, has a point when she says the draft action plan is a disconnected, scattershot approach, lacking cohesive threads and a real vision for change. Melissa Candelaria, on the legal team for the Yazzie group and education director for the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, says education advocates were hoping for a comprehensive plan, with timelines, with staffing needs, measurable goals, short- and long-term action plans and multi-year financial investments. Instead, they got amorphous goals for Indigenous children, English-language learners, children with disabilities and those that come from low-income families, who collectively comprise 70% of New Mexico public school students. And no detailed or action-oriented way to reach them. Albuquerque Public Schools, the states largest school district with more than 70,000 students, also appears underwhelmed. Officials wrote in a response the draft plan is currently a collection of initiatives created by the New Mexico Legislature and NMPED. In its current form it reads like a prescriptive list, rather than a visionary roadmap for districts. And without a roadmap, its easy to get lost. Especially when your starting point is at the back of the pack. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. From the Depression years to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a human through line weaves among heroism, deprivation, power and oppression. Open at the Monroe Gallery of Photography, Imagine a World Without Photojournalism explores those repeated connections through a roster of 24 photojournalists and 50 prints. The photographs cover an arc of 20th and 21st century social and political change, from the battles of World War II to the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s, from the Dust Bowl to the devastation of climate change, from the frenzy of presidential elections to the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. I think of it as a survey of our 20 years in Santa Fe, gallery co-owner Michelle Monroe said. Were reinforcing the power of being educated by a free press. Were trying to draw parallels between past events and current events. David Butows haunting portrait of a Ukrainian woman and her son leaving home for an unknown future in Poland reflects the uncertainty of migrants everywhere. Its the heroism of every day people, gallery co-owner Sidney Monroe said. He was in Ukraine covering the exodus when millions of people were trying to evacuate. He just returned from Uvalde, Texas (the site of the latest school massacre, where a gunman killed 21 people). He was also at Sandy Hook. Margaret Bourke-Whites 1936 image of a line of African American flood victims lining up for food and clothing beneath a sign touting the American Way reveals her ironic and subversive intent. Similar lines formed during the ravages of COVID-19. Louisville Flood Red Cross Relief Station, Kentucky, 1936. (Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection) Stop Police Killings, Selma March, 1965 (Courtesy of Steve Schapiro) A lone man stops a column of tanks near Tiananmen Square, 1989 Beijing, China. (Jeff Widener/AP) Prev 1 of 3 Next Steve Schaprios Stop Police Killings, Selma March, 1965 could have been taken at a Black Lives Matter march. Its never changed; the concept of an armed occupier, Michelle Monroe said. They cant manage power responsibly. A photo of floating Zanzibar primary school students holding empty water jugs leads to the treatment of women, particularly in Muslim countries. Daily life in the Zanzibar Archipelago centers around the sea, yet the majority of girls who inhabit the islands never acquire even the most fundamental swimming skills. Conservative Islamic culture and the absence of modest swimwear have compelled community leaders to discourage girls from swimming. The rate of drowning on the African continent is the highest in the world. The swimming lessons challenge a patriarchal system that discourages women from pursuing things other than domestic tasks. Its a through line to the oppression of women, Michelle Monroe said. Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener captured the iconic photograph of a lone man standing in front of a column of tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989 Beijing. Widener was one of just a handful of photojournalists at the site. There were very few that got out with their film, Michelle Monroe said. He hid it and let them take other canisters in his bag to get out, Sidney said. That image is completely forbidden in China now, he continued. That whole movement has been erased. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal He bought her sex toys, joked about showering with her and in one instance rubbed her back and pleasured himself as she slept. He was a Rio Rancho school resource officer and she was a 14-year-old relative. Those were among the allegations made against Joseph Frantz, a former Rio Rancho police officer and New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department employee accused of sexually assaulting the teen last year at a Rio Rancho home. The 37-year-old was indicted by a grand jury June 17 on charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor, indecent exposure and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the case. Mr. Frantz is devastated by the accusations. He is a man who has devoted his entire life to protecting others and protecting his community. This allegation strikes his core, Lisa Torraco, Frantzs attorney, said in an email. We do not understand some of the allegations and we will know more once we get the police reports and interview witnesses. State Police spokesman officer Ray Wilson said the case was conflicted out to the 1st Judicial District Attorneys Office by the 13th Judicial District attorney and forwarded to prosecutors in mid-March. New details in the case are contained in a report recently released to the Journal in response to a request under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. Charlie Moore-Pabst, a CYFD spokesman, said Frantz worked for the agency as a Child Protective Services investigations case worker from June 2015 to March 2019. On Oct. 25, 2019, the Rio Rancho Police Department posted on Facebook to congratulate Frantz on joining the department. We are so proud of you! the department wrote. Rio Rancho Police Department Lt. Jacquelynn Reedy said Frantz, a former RRPD officer assigned to Cleveland High School, was placed on administrative leave and relieved of his law enforcement duties on Dec. 19, 2021. Mr. Frantz then applied for FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). Mr. Frantz subsequently resigned from the City of Rio Rancho on May 12, 2022, she said in an email. According to an incident report obtained by the Journal: New Mexico State Police responded on Dec. 19, 2021, to reports of a sexual assault at a home in a neighborhood northwest of Southern and Unser. The girls aunt and uncle told police they took the girl out of the house after learning of the assault, which allegedly occurred the night before. Frantzs wife told police he began acting strange, told her he had exposed himself to the girl and should have killed himself when he started acting inappropriate. She said Frantz packed his things and went to a friends house. The wife told police she met Frantz in 2016 when they were both working for CYFD and the pair had recently had marital issues. The date the allegations came to light, Frantz turned in his duty equipment and was taken to Presbyterian Rust Medical Center due to suicidal threats. Frantz declined to speak with police at the hospital. The girl told police Frantzs inappropriate behavior began when he bought her two vibrators and, after she denied wanting them, would leave them in her bathroom or elsewhere. She said Frantz then began to get touchy with her, joked about taking a shower together and she more than once walked in on him masturbating in the kitchen. The girl told police the most disturbing thing was when she was having a dream about people touching her and awoke to Frantz rubbing her back and pleasuring himself. She said she made him leave but he came back and started doing it again, this time saying sexual things. The girl told police she was scared to the point of shaking and couldnt sleep, so she texted her grandmother and boyfriend to tell them what happened. Detectives were able to track down the receipts of the vibrators Frantz bought, along with surveillance video of the purchases. They also found text messages from Frantz to the girl referencing the vibrators he bought her and other inappropriate sexual topics. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Albuquerque was the second most dangerous metropolitan area for pedestrians in the U.S. in 2020, according to a report by Smart Growth America. According to the report, titled Dangerous by Design 2022, the Albuquerque metro area has averaged 4.19 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people a year from 2016 through 2020. The report states that 192 pedestrian deaths were recorded in the metro during that same period. The report states that the Albuquerque metro area has become increasingly deadly for pedestrians since 2016. The average fatality rate here increased by 84% since 2015. Albuquerque was previously ranked as the 12th most dangerous metropolitan area in the Dangerous by Design 2021 report. This crisis will continue to get worse until those with the power finally make safety for everyone who uses our roads the top priority, the report states. The Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida, metropolitan area was ranked No. 1 at 4.25 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people. The report ranks New Mexico as the most dangerous state for pedestrians in the nation with an average of 3.76 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people. This is an epidemic and unsafe road design is a major culprit. We need to improve roads so that no one has to risk their life when crossing the street, Calvin Gladney, president and CEO of Smart Growth America said. SGA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring urban development policies promote safe community growth. The report argues that U.S. streets are dangerous because they are essentially designed for fast vehicle transportation and have little regard for safe pedestrian travel. While driving decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pedestrian deaths continued to increase nationwide in both 2019 and 2020. The report also notes that American Indians and African Americans are more than twice as likely to die while walking compared with other ethnic groups. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal An Albuquerque Animal Welfare employee has acknowledged posting a video of a dogs euthanasia on social media but said it was intended for public education, according to a newly released investigation. The citys Office of Inspector General writes in a new report that it substantiated an anonymous complaint that a city staffer recorded the euthanasia of a dog in the citys care last December and subsequently posted the video on TikTok. The post has since been deleted, according to the report. The subject stated they immediately deleted the video upon speaking with their supervisor and (human resources), the report says. The intent was that this would be informative for the public to show that euthanasia, when necessary, is humane, sanitary, and peaceful. The report does not identify the employee by name. According to the OIG, the citys prevailing social media policy does not specifically address employee activity on their personal social media accounts, including whether they can post about events that occur in the workplace. But the employees supervisor told investigators that she has approval authority over all matters for social media posting, and that she addressed the issue with the employee the day in March she learned about it. She said employees are not allowed into exam rooms during procedures, according to the report. The inspector generals report does not say what, if any, actions department management took as a result of the employees social media post. An Animal Welfare Department spokeswoman said Friday that the employee remains on the staff but did not say if he or she had been disciplined. While we cannot discuss the details of personnel issues, we can say that the matter was addressed immediately upon management being notified, spokeswoman Desiree Cawley said in a statement. The employee is still working in the department and has been retrained on our policies. Santa Fe County commissioners urged U.S. forest managers to do a more comprehensive environmental review of plans to restore large swaths of forest that border the capital city, passing a resolution fueled by frustrations that have been mounting in the wake of a devastating wildfire sparked by the governments planned burns. The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved the resolution, but not before some of the elected officials and members of the public blasted the U.S. Forest Service for not taking into consideration the exceptionally dry conditions that have plagued many parts of the West for the last two decades. Numerous missteps by the agency resulted in prescribed fires erupting this spring into the largest wildfire in New Mexicos recorded history. The blaze has yet to be fully contained after more than three months, and firefighters most recently have been focused on reseeding some of the blackened areas and trying to mitigate post-fire flooding. Santa Fe resident Valerie Gremillion told the county commissioners that she has been reviewing the report that outlines mistakes made by the agency, including its failure to use updated fuel models, to take into account the extreme drought conditions or to follow through with other protocols. I would not let them run a carnival in my backyard, much less set a fire to the back of the Santa Fe National Forest, she said. U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a statement released along with the report acknowledged the heartbreak among New Mexico families and communities. Several hundred homes were burned, thousands of people were forced to evacuate and farmers, ranchers and municipal officials are worried about the environmental and social consequences that will be felt over the coming decades. Fires are outpacing our models and, as the final report notes, we need to better understand how megadrought and climate change are affecting our actions on the ground, Moore wrote, adding that the agency must learn from the fire. The resolution aims to push the agency further in that direction, specifically calling for forest officials to respond to a full and fair discussion of significant environmental impacts, examine alternatives that include preserving forests in their natural condition and document unavoidable adverse effects before starting any project aimed at clearing out overgrown and dead vegetation. I think its very timely that we bring this forward and encourage the Forest Service to rethink its practices in a big way, said Commissioner Hank Hughes. Moore halted his agencys prescribed burn operations pending a formal review, but Commissioner Anna Hansen, who introduced the resolution, said prescribed burns should be ceased until federal officials address the concerns of both community members and independent scientists. A high-ranking Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office official and three other first responders battling a small wildfire in northern New Mexico were all killed when the helicopter they were in crashed Saturday evening in a remote area near Las Vegas. A sheriffs office spokeswoman said the crew had been providing bucket drops and other air logistics needs to fire crews on the ground prior to the crash. The BCSO helicopter dubbed Metro 2 crashed at about 7:20 p.m., spokeswoman Jayme Fuller said in a news release. The cause of the crash is unknown, she said, adding that an investigation is underway and the information provided is still considered preliminary. Officer Ray Wilson, a State Police spokesman, said the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The helicopter was left mangled and in multiple pieces in a field peppered with small trees near the small northern New Mexico village of Chapelle. BCSO identified those killed as Undersheriff Larry Koren, Lt. Fred Beers, Deputy Michael Levison and Bernalillo County Fire Department rescue specialist Matthew King. Koren, a pilot, had been with the sheriffs office for more than 23 years, while Beers had been with BCSO for 13 years. Deputy Levison was also a member of the New Mexico Air National Guard, and King was an accomplished paramedic of 17 years. Seldom do you lose one or two, much less undersheriffs and lieutenant officers as well as patrol deputies to a single event, said Dr. Drew Harrell, a University of New Mexico associate professor of emergency medicine who knew all four men and has worked on numerous rescue missions with BCSO. Its a terrible hole and a sadness for the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Department that will certainly reverberate for quite some time. He said he and others were preparing to respond to Saturday evenings crash before they were called off. There were no survivors. Paying tribute Police and firefighters from throughout New Mexico lined Interstate 25 on Sunday afternoon to pay tribute to the four first responders as their bodies were escorted to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque. Flags were raised along the route and many saluted as the somber caravan of motorcycles, police vehicles and fire trucks brought the men back home. Sheriff Manuel Gonzales and BCSO deputies mourned behind closed doors on Sunday as other public safety leaders remembered the men killed as heroes. Our hearts are broken by the tragic and distressing news that we lost four of the states finest public servants, killed in the line of duty, state Public Safety Cabinet Secretary Jason Bowie said in a statement. Its a sacrifice no one should have to make. Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina tweeted, Prayers for our brothers and sisters in the county and all those (affected) by the loss suffered as a result of this tragic accident. East Mesa Fire The helicopter was a Bell UH-1 Iroquois, according to the online flight tracking website FlightAware. It crashed about 25 miles south of Las Vegas. BCSO said the crew had been helping to fight the East Mesa Fire and that the helicopter was heading back to Albuquerque. Wendy Mason, a spokeswoman with the state Forestry Division, said the East Mesa fire is burning on private land south of La Liendre. She said the fire had grown to about 75 acres as of Sunday evening and was 65% contained. The fire started on Thursday evening and the cause is under investigation, she said. New Mexico has seen a record setting fire season in 2022, with the two largest wildfires in state history burning this year. BCSO aircraft has been called on to help fight several fires in recent months. We need prayers New Mexico State Police announced the crash at about 12:15 a.m. Sunday morning in a tweet. State Police is on scene of a helicopter crash with four fatalities in San Miguel county, the agency said. (The Federal Aviation Administration) and NTSB are responding to investigate. BCSO announced minutes later that its helicopter was the one that went down. There are no known survivors, Fuller said in her initial news release issued at 12:22 a.m. BCSO later tweeted, We need all the prayers we can get right now, above a picture of a black band across a sheriffs office badge. News of the deadly crash left New Mexicans from the governor to parishioners at Sunday services stunned. Bernalillo County Commissioner Charlene Pyskoty took to social media to say she was absolutely devastated, while Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was heartbroken by the tragic loss of four New Mexicans while in the line of duty. These were four dedicated public servants who were doing what so many of our first responders do day in and day out: working tirelessly to serve and protect their fellow New Mexicans, Lujan Grisham said in a statement. This wasnt the first fatal crash in the state involving law enforcement or first responders. Including the BCSO deputies who died Saturday, there have been 15 local, state and federal law enforcement officers killed in aircraft crashes in New Mexico dating back to the 1950s, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. In 2009, a New Mexico State Police sergeant and pilot and a UNM graduate student were killed when the helicopter they were in crashed in the mountains near Santa Fe. In 2014, three crew members on a medical flight died in a crash while on their way to Tucumcari. An experienced crew When Beers was promoted to lieutenant during a 2020 ceremony, Undersheriff Sid Convington praised his experience. After joining the sheriffs office in 2009, Beers at different points in his career was a firearms instructor, a member of an emergency response team and part of the Special Victims Unit. He also volunteered as a member of the honor guard, where he represented the sheriffs office at funerals, graduations and other ceremonies. Beers wife, Anita, and son, Daniel, attended the ceremony. Daniel pinned the badge on his father, with Anitas help. Everything is built from other people, Beers said. From below us who have built it up, everyone else has helped me to get to where Im at. Beers was also part of Cops on Top, where officers summit mountain peaks to honor fallen officers. In 2017, he organized a hike to the top of Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico, as part of that effort, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Matthew King had been a paramedic since 2005, when he graduated from the University of New Mexico EMS Academy Paramedic Program. He was a rescue specialist and helicopter hoist operator and had also been a part-time faculty member at Central New Mexico Community College. He has worked for Bernalillo County for 11 years. Levison, in addition to working for the sheriffs office, was a member of the New Mexico Air National Guard. Koren was one of two BCSO undersheriffs. He had been with the sheriffs office for more than 23 years. Prior to his career in law enforcement, he was an aircraft mechanic and pilot. He told the Journal earlier this year that when BCSO bought a repurposed military helicopter for $1 in the early 2000s, he personally overhauled and rebuilt it. It was all in addition to my duties as a field deputy out on patrol on a graveyard shift, Koren said. I would come in and work extra, and volunteer a lot of hours and blood, sweat and tears into those programs. During his recent unsuccessful run for sheriff, Koren said that despite the defund the police movement, he hadnt given up on Albuquerque and wanted to continue to work in law enforcement. Have I given up and has the community given up? Koren said during his campaign. I havent. Im still in the fight right now fighting crime and protecting others. Outstanding individuals Harrell, the UNM associate professor of emergency medicine, said he was a physician on many rescue missions piloted by Koren. Were not sure the man ever slept; he was the consummate professional, he said. If you needed to talk to him, he picked up the phone. He described Beers as a thoughtful, pragmatic deputy. Koren piloted the New Years Day rescue of 19 TEN 3 employees and a tram operator who got stuck while descending in the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway on New Years Eve. Beers also helped in the rescue. Over the last 24 hours weve had a lot of time for introspection and retrospection, and I cannot recall a time that I ever remember Undersheriff Koren or Lt. Beers being anything other than two of the calmest individuals working through a problem, Harrell said. I never worried with Larry at the controls about how we were going to handle the rescue. He described the crews ill-fated Saturday mission as routine. It takes a huge team to make these operations work. And weve lost a huge part of that team, Harrell said. And its going to take a long time for everyone to come to grips with that. Weve lost four outstanding individuals who dedicated their lives to making sure that the people that live in Bernalillo County and Albuquerque in the greater metropolitan area and the state of New Mexico are safe. Editors note: This article has been corrected to accurately state how long Matthew King worked for Bernalillo County. VINNYTSIA, Ukraine As Russian troops pressed their offensive in Ukraines east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his state security chief and prosecutor general on Sunday, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments and other law enforcement agencies. In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutors office and the SBU (state security service) have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state, Zelenskyy said. Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the states national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Zelenskyy dismissed Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend and former business partner whom he had appointed to head the SBU. Bakanov had come under growing criticism over security breaches since the war began; Politico last month cited several unidentified Ukrainian and Western sources saying Zelenskyy was looking to replace him. He also dismissed Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, and replaced her with her deputy Oleksiy Symonenko. Venediktova has helped lead war crime investigations. Meanwhile, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities earlier Sunday at Mykolaiv, a key shipbuilding center in southern Ukraine. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said the missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility. Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraines entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade, and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldovas separatist region of Transnistria, which hosts a Russian military base. Early in the campaign, Ukrainian forces fended off Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which sits near the Black Sea coast between Russia-occupied Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odesa. Since then, Russian troops have halted their attempts to advance in the city but have continued to pummel both Mykolaiv and Odesa with regular missile strikes. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Russian missiles destroyed a depot for anti-ship Harpoon missiles delivered to Ukraine by NATO allies, a claim that couldnt be independently confirmed. The Russians, fearing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, also sought to reinforce their positions in the Kherson region near Crimea and in part of the northern Zaporizhzhia region that they seized in the opening stage of the war. Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south whilst the fight for the Donbas continues indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday. For now, the Russian military has focused on trying to take control of Ukraines eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas, where the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces are located. Ukraine says its forces still retain control of two small villages in the Luhansk region, one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, and are fending off Russian attempts to advance deeper into the second one, the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian militarys General Staff said Sunday that Ukrainian troops thwarted Russian attempts to advance toward Sloviansk, the key Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, and attacks elsewhere in the region. Yet Russian officials are urging their troops to produce even more territorial gains. During a visit to the front lines Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued an order to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas. The Russian military said it has struck Ukrainian troops and artillery positions in Donbas in the latest series of strikes, including a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. The Russian claims couldnt be independently verified. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russias Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, responded to Ukrainian officials statements that Kyiv may strike the bridge linking Crimea and Russia, warning that would trigger devastating consequences for the Ukrainian leadership. They will momentarily face Doomsday, Medvedev said Sunday. It would be very hard for them to hide. Medvedev, once touted by the West as more liberal compared to Putin, said Russia will press its offensive until fulfilling its stated goal of denazifying and demilitarizing Ukraine. He predicted the fighting will undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime in Kyiv. Zelenskyy condemned Medvedevs Doomsday comment as intimidation and said it was Russia that would eventually face a `Day of Judgment. And not in a figurative sense, not as loud talk, but literally, he said Sunday. While focusing on the Donbas, the Russians have hit areas all across the country with missile strikes. In central Ukraine, relatives and friends attended a funeral Sunday for Liza Dmytrieva, a 4-year-old girl killed Thursday in a Russian missile strike. The girl with Down syndrome was en route to see a speech therapist with her mother when the missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia. At least 24 people were killed, including Liza and two boys, ages 7 and 8. More than 200 others were wounded, including Lizas mother, who remains in an intensive care unit. I didnt know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm, priest Vitalii Holoskevych said, bursting into tears as Lizas body lay in a coffin with flowers and teddy bears in the 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia. We know that evil cannot win, he added. In the Kharkiv region, at least three civilians were killed and three more were injured Saturday in a pre-dawn Russian strike on the city of Chuhuiv, just 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Russian border, police said. One resident of the apartment building that was hit said she was lucky to have survived. I was going to run and hide in the bathroom. I didnt make it and thats what saved me, said Valentina Bushuyeva. Pointing to her destroyed apartment, she said: Theres the bathroom explosion. Kitchen half a room. And I survived because I stayed put. ___ Anna reported from Pokrovsk, Ukraine. ____ Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine I have relatives on different sides of moral issues than myself. Every now and then I try to find middle ground. It usually turns into one giant online dogpile, with random people I don't know coming out of the woodwork to unload all their venom and anger at me. I'm grateful I've had a stepsister, a cousin, and a stepbrother-in-law (married to a different stepsister) who are brave enough to step up and argue the same side as me after I've withstood the initial barrage, but it generally is an exercise in futility. My most recent experience was thus: My relative posted one of those propaganda reposts. It stated: "It's not about marriage, it's about inheritance, it's about visiting people in hospitals, it's about benefits, that is why we must keep fighting!" I believe the idea was that since Dobbs overturned Roe v Wade, Obergefell (redefining marriage to include homosexual relationships) was on the table. I responded that I supported changes to inheritance laws, changes to hospital regulations to allow visitors, and changing of laws regulating insurance and benefits to include nonmarried unrelated persons, and that marriage did not have to be redefined for them to get what they want. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. During the exchange there were a few things left me scratching my head. Here are a few examples: Inheritance: They complained that one homosexual woman that was in a homosexual relationship for 40+ years was taxed over $395K in federal taxes when she inherited her roommate's stuff. Their major argument was that a married spouse was exempt from federal inheritance taxes, so their solution was to redefine marriage. My solution: get rid of the inheritance tax. That has already been done, so why the fuss? The next complaint was if the individual had a family and they fought legally to take the stuff, the homosexual partner would not have any recourse. Their solution, redefine marriage. My solution, make a will. You can bequeath your stuff to whoever you want. If you don't have one when you die, your lack of preparedness could cause a lot of pain and heartache among your surviving friends and family. Somehow, redefining marriage is supposed to prevent this. Hospital Visitations: I have never been denied access to visit a friend at a hospital even if they were dying. My relatives claim it is because I'm a heterosexual white male. I always assumed that it was because the people where I live aren't jack-donkeys. I recently had a friend go into the hospital, in ICU for just over a week, with the doctor's unsure of if he'd make it. He's black. Life experiences have also taught him to be racist against whites. (Knowing his life stories, I can't say I blame him. His distrust of whites is a healthy response to his experiences.) We are definitely not related, but neither the hospital staff nor his family ever tried to prevent me from visiting him. I personally couldn't fathom hospitals or families of the deceased preventing anyone from visiting a sick person in the hospital (unless there's a restraining order or medical reason to limit contact). Anyone who does is a jerk of the highest order. Their solution to people being jerks: Redefine marriage! My solution would be to change the laws regulating hospitals. You can regulate hospital policies, but unfortunately there's nothing you can do about the rest of the family being jerks. Another problem they brought up was being unable to make medical decisions for your homosexual partner once rest of the family shows up. Their solution: Redefine marriage! My solution: file a medical power of attorney. You can name whoever you want on it, and it's legally binding. One person started to argue that once someone is dead, medical power of attorney expires, thus the person with medical POA gets cut out by anyone with a marriage license. I understand they were trying to invalidate my point, but consider what would have to happen for that scenario to take place. A homosexual person would have to have a heterosexual marriage. Then they would have to leave that heterosexual marriage, without a divorce, and find a homosexual partner. Then when they finally do die, drama ensues. Their solution to this drama and pain? Redefine marriage! My solution... don't have extramarital affairs. The homosexual in this hypothetical situation is the real villain: cheating on and abandoning a spouse, and once they die, both former sex partners are left traumatized and hurt by this homosexual's choices. There are means already in existence to deal with visitations and such, but don't expect immoral choices to result in sunshine and puppies for everyone affected. That's why these things are immoral -- they hurt others. Benefits/Insurance: The complaint is that they won't be able to put a non-child or non-spouse on your insurance, nor can you get your benefits to apply to them either. Their solution: Redefine marriage! My solution: make it legal to put a non-child or non-spouse on your insurance and benefits. No need to redefine marriage. If you have a friend with no medical insurance, and you both agree, why not add them to your insurance? My wife says it's a bad idea because some people (like herself) can't tell moochers no. To me, being able to put a non-child, non-spouse on your insurance is preferable to redefining marriage, and a better solution to the uninsured than socialized medicine. Marriage is a right: I'm not sure when, but at some point, the courts defined marriage as a right. This is wrong. I was shouted down, called an idiot, but they went into meltdown mode when I very clearly stated, "marriage is not a right" and maintained that position. Marriage being a right completely ignores the function of marriage. Historically marriage has been about three things: bringing families together, perpetuating the family tree, and social approval for sexual activity between the individuals involved. None of these are things an individual can do without other people's permission. Rights tend to be things that don't require consent from other people. Freedom of Religion, freedom of speech, the right to keep and bear arms, the right to be secure in your papers and effects -- you don't need permission for any of these. But a right to marriage? You need permission before sexual activity. You need permission before making an alliance between families. You need permission before creating life. If any of those things happen without permission, it can become a crime, sometimes a very serious crime. But it's not about any of these things. If it wasn't about marriage, as they stated, I would not still be getting notifications about more people trying to counter me. I speculate they want homosexuality to be socially sanctioned and considered equal to heterosexuality. No matter which way you look at it, they are not equal and not the same. While both activities tend to produce anxiety and mental health issues in people, only one of them perpetuates the human species. That also happens to be the only one that can, when exercised per traditional moral ideals shared by all civilized societies, improve mental health, strengthen families, and strengthen societies. There is a reason all civilized societies have the ideal of abstinence before heterosexual marriage and fidelity after. Without that ideal society goes to chaos, and we're seeing it happen before our very eyes. Monroe Wesson is the pen name of an author, engineer, and translator enjoying a traditional marriage. The United States in the 1950s transformed into a non-constitutional form of government, where federal departments collectively hold more authority than elected officials. The transformation broadened in the 1960s and leveled off during the 1990s. The ability to transition back to three branches of government as defined in the U.S. Constitution is the intent of the growing citizen majority today. The increasing friction among all involved parties for restoring the constitutional form of government is heating to a flashpoint by way of strife. Dwight Eisenhower cautioned against this transformation during his farewell speech with his warning of the military-industrial complex growing beyond manageability. The U.K. prime minister's selection process is a close example of the identified U.S. government transformation. The U.K. people vote for a party to be in the majority, then the elected party members select a prime minister. The U.K. P.M. is selected by party members instead of elected directly by the people. The U.S. moved to operate government a jubilee ago by selected federal department members instead of elected federal officials for many roles in all federal departments. Congress outsourced its work, and now it cannot regain control of its work to fulfill its responsibilities. Any part of the Legislative Branch ceasing to fund any federal department results in the Executive Branch redirecting funds from unaffected departments to continue operations of the de-funded department segment. The inability of the federal Legislative Branch to hold a federal department or worker accountable today is conclusive proof of this assertion. John Kennedy won the 1960 presidency by a narrow margin an overwhelming majority . Lyndon Johnson, however, won the 1960 presidency by an even more overwhelming majority. He continued the Kennedy policy visions by undertaking the Great Society (G.S.) initiative. The initiative caused Johnson not to run for re-election in 1968. The G.S. was viewed as impossible due to race riots and federal budget choices. The Vietnam events contrasted with the G.S.'s vision. Concisely, the 1968 voting populaces proved that the G.S. was for some but not all, causing oppression by the some on the rest of society through elitism. The tangible to this reasoning was that the G.S. violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The G.S.'s vision failed by concept and design to accomplish its necessary structures through its proposed funding. The arrival at societal and political conditions seen today are clear outcomes based on the election history of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The voting trend pattern shows voter dissatisfaction with the G.S.'s vision matched with the change of election power between parties. The events of the late 1960s are playing out again today in the U.S. Successive budget approvals for the past 40 years show concisely the inability to operate the federal government by purposed-based funding alone but also by adding unrelated funding efforts to approved budgets. Things as a whole are far out of control for the U.S. at many societal point structures. There is little interest abroad for the U.S. to take any time to regain its governmental footing. Ronald Reagan moved to out-build and subsequently defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War by the latter's inability to keep up with defense production. It worked. The Cold War never went hot. We now see the desire of Russia to surge back to the Soviet Union days of greatness by their invasion of Ukraine. The same logic could play out again many times, where one country decides to return to its olden days and force the global economic community into chaos. The G.S.'s vision is then seen by those suffering economic turmoil as not only impossible to accomplish, but also as enabling the turmoil to occur. The answer for the U.S. to get out of the form of government in power since the 1950s is simple. The states must fix the problem. The federal government has neither the ability nor the interest to fix the federal government. Look to U.S. governors for the path forward to resolve this problem. The Republican Governors Association launched in April 2022 what they call The American Governors' Border Strike Force (AGBSF) to unify their intentions. The effort is to resolve what they identified as both disastrous and dangerous. Twenty-six out of 28 signed the agreement. Charlie Baker (Mass.) and Phil Scott (Vt.) did not sign. Twenty-six governors out of 50 states is 52% of the country. The two out of 28 who did not sign equates to only 7%. No governor is going to sign any cross-state initiative and take subsequent matching action without already holding widespread support from his constituents. The majority of America is with these 26 governors. There is no dissembling occurring within these states of both their statehood and collective intent to repair the breach of U.S. governance that is under their control to rectify. There are four pressing items that are not clear now but will soon play out before our eyes. First, where is the flashpoint? There will be an ultimatum between the AGBSF and the federal government contesting the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Second, will the states of the signed governors continue to back the effort once the ultimatum is issued and acted on by the federal government? Probable, but not certain at this point. Third, will the AGBSF hold together after the federal response? This answer is defined largely by support from countries abroad who side with either the states or the federal. Finally, will the federal Legislative Branch take back control from the federal departments after the acted on ultimatum occurs? This item is the biggest place where the conceptual meets the tangible for state and federal views of the U.S. Constitution to rub together. It is doubtful the constituents today will care as much about the federal view going forward. Their pain experienced from changes in how public schools are operated, federal distribution of funds to political pandering instead of federal budgeting without partiality, and the consistent immigration increase to the U.S. occurring over the past two to three decades all occur in concert. It is unclear what is next for this dissatisfied group. There is no indication this pushing back will stop, slow, or remain narrow in focus. There is abundant evidence that the pushing back will grow in pressure, accelerate, and broaden in scope. Humanity has a way of working things out in a civilized manner. The civility tendency tends to occur after pushing one another around for a long time. Push is coming to strife in America. Sufficient trust of elected officials at the federal level by constituents is running out of proverbial gas on both sides of the political equation. The used-up trust given by followers is not being replaced in leaders due to long-term patterns of poor and toxic leadership, not only recent events. Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. Contact him at service@shdawson.com. Names are extremely important in all cultures, and especially in Judaism. The Torah teaches that when Avram makes his covenant with God, his name is changed to Avraham to reflect his heightened spiritual awareness. When someone is extremely sick, there is the custom in both Judaism and other traditions of giving him a new name to enhance his healing. Many cultures believe that if you are named after someone, then you carry a bit of that persons soul. The concept of names is so important that the second book of the bible (known as Exodus in English), is actually named in Hebrew, Shemot, which means names. Given this truth, we need to ask the question as to why two of the largest non-profit Jewish organizations in Los Angeles have recently chosen to change their names and remove any reference to Judaism from their new monikers. We additionally need to see how this is a larger pattern of re-naming that is taking place with individuals and organizations, and is reflective of some disturbing challenges. There is an old saying that the Jews are a canary in the coal mine for a nation; they historically are often microcosmic models of what is happening in the general population. The Los Angeles Jewish Home, known for over a century just as The Jewish Home was founded in 1912 to give shelter to five Jewish men. With an annual budget of over 50 million dollars, this non-profit has over 1500 Jewish seniors as residents, and serves another 2500 through health and community services. As would be expected, the vast majority of donors to this non-profit organization are Jews and Jewish organizations, who desire to help elders of their own faith in the last years of their lives. But on July 1, the time when many people are away on vacation, and Jewish clergy are busy preparing for the upcoming High Holidays in September, the Jewish Home made a quiet but hugely significant change to their entire persona. They removed the word Jewish from their identity. They are now known as LAJHealth. Their fundraisers will undoubtedly attempt to say to donors that it is still a Jewish organization servicing Jewish elders; but if that is true, why make such a marked change? The subtle change in direction can be found in the words of their CEO, Ilana Springer, who says in her July 1 letter to resident family members that this is really just an evolution of our brand. She is correct that it is an evolution -- but one away from an organization proud of its commitment to a Jewish identity into a more secularized goal. Its not just that The Jewish Home is turning its back on being proud of its commitment to the Jewish community. These types of subtle secularizations have been happening over the last few years as Jews on the boards of non-profit organizations want to reach out, be inclusive, and diversify away from being focused on the Jewish community, and attempting to change their very identity with re-branding. They are not the only example in the Jewish world. In 1931, Jewish Vocational Services was founded to help Jews develop marketable skills and gain employment. Many of the participants in their programs were new Jewish immigrants hailing from nations where they had escaped persecution, including Holocaust survivors, Russian refuseniks, and Persian immigrants. They helped countless Jewish families settle into this country through their amazing work and programs. But in 2018, they changed their name from Jewish Vocational Services to JVS SoCal. They were very clear in their announcement of the name change. a fresh identity and new name that more accurately defines our mission to build better lives, one job at a time. They redefined JVS, which now stands for Jobs+Vision=Success; and CEO Alan Levey was clear in his press release that with this new identity, we will continue to leverage our legacy of positive community impact while expanding our services throughout Southern California as regional leaders in workforce development. An admirable and valuable goal, but what happened their original identity of serving the Jewish community? Are the JVS Jewish donors, who have thought that they were giving to help other Jewish families, now aware that their donations are helping other non-Jewish groups and individuals, including some who may even be anti-Semitic and/or anti-Israel? Can any of us imagine other cultural groups changing their names and removing the cultures affiliation? Would the NAACP change its identity and become the National Association of People? Although we wish they would, does anyone foresee BLM changing their name to All Lives Matter? Is LULAC, the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latino civil rights organization in the country going to remove the reference to its cultural roots and become the League of United American Citizens? And can anyone imagine that CAIR will suddenly let go of its connection to Islam in order to be inclusive and change its name to the Council on American Relations? No, of course none of those organizations would ever remove their identity from their names. These and other organizations like them are strengthening their identities rather than watering them down. It seems that 21st century American Jews are the first large cultural group willing to sabotage their identities, their purpose, and themselves in their quest for inclusiveness: and by changing their names and removing their Jewish identity, they are taking the first steps towards becoming entirely secular and homogenized, as well as sowing the seeds for their own destruction. As is consistent with the concept of Jews being reflective of society in general, we see this disturbing changing of names, and subsequently identities throughout our world. And it is not beneficial for anyone. We find this re-naming as the first step of changing identity in the lives of individuals as well. Teachers are encouraging young people to try out being gender-fluid by changing their names as an initial move towards changing their gender. Children are being told to try out the name of Lee instead of their birth name of Leah, or shift from identifying as Joe to becoming Josie as a starting step to becoming non-binary and eventually taking drugs or having surgery. This changing of names to rebrand is seen in all areas of society. Pro-abortion was first rebranded as pro-choice, and the killing of not only a fetus, but in some cases even after the baby has left the womb is now being called reproductive rights. As activists and the media start to use that term, the rebranding of killing babies becomes associated with an inherent right, and if we allow that re-naming to continue, we will find that over time this right will become acceptable to the majority. Is this really what we want for our world? This nation used to be proud of being a melting pot of different cultures, people, and ideas with common goals and purposes but still retaining our individuality. But these name changes are leading us to the ugliness found in both Lenins politics and Lennons song Imagine, where there is no distinction between individuals, cultures, and even no difference between Heaven and Hell: leading to the conclusion of making a moral equivalence between good and evil. History, theology, literature, and common sense dictate that this will not lead to harmony, but instead to a subjugation of the masses to authoritarianism as each person and group loses their identity in the name of inclusiveness. Changing names, whether for a Jewish organization or a political cause, creates a change in perception, which leads to a shift in reality: a homogeneity that loses individual identities in favor of a group think. The beauty of a rainbow is found in the distinction of the colors that also co-exist next to each other. If that distinction is eliminated, then there are no beautiful colors, only a mass of grey-ish brown. And names are the first part of the distinctions that create that beauty. May individuals and organizations reject this homogenizing of identity that is being exemplified by the Jewish Home, media, and childrens teachers. And may we all embrace the beauty and distinction of our heritage and names rather than succumb to the currently popular movement towards the homogeny of inclusiveness. Rabbi Michael Barclay is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Ner Simcha in Westlake Village, CA; the author of Sacred Relationships: Biblical Wisdom for Deepening Our Lives Together; and can be reached directly at Rabbi@NerSimcha.org Having had their way with Thomas Jeffersons Monticello, it turns out that leftists are also defiling James Madisons Montpelier. Rather than being shrines to the men who seeded American liberty even if they applied it imperfectly in their own lives, both are now shrines to Critical Race Theory. Charlotte Cushman wrote at American Thinker about the woke assault on Monticello. The entire tour is about nothing more than slavery. Every one of Jeffersons extraordinary accomplishments has been made subordinate to the fact that he had slaves, something he did as part of a continuum going back to the dawn of mankind. (That is, unlike the Nazis, he was not a man committed to an evil entirely out of step with his place in human intellectual evolution). This takeover has no regard for the fact that Jefferson articulated principles that helped bring that evil institution to an end. Monticello was turned into a Critical Race Theory monument because Democrats have taken over the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. In addition, David M. Rubenstein, a leftist billionaire, donated $20 million (because in America, communism is a billionaire-funded enterprise), so Monticello ended up being bought and paid for by people who hate American exceptionalism. It turns out that the same historic re-writing has been done to Montpelier, the home of James Madison, who is the true father of our Constitution. Before getting to Montpelier, let me make a point about James Madison. After the Americans won their Revolution, it was Madison who did the research, trolling through ancient and modern history to determine which form of government would provide the greatest benefit for a free people. He was a product of his time and place so, for political purposes, he understood the idea of free people to be White men. What matters for posterity is that the principles he stated confer that same benefit on all free people, regardless of race, sex, color, country of national origin, or creed (although some creeds have a doctrinal core antithetical to individual liberty). If youre swept within the Constitutions purview, youre good. As for Montpelier, its gorgeous. Its not a large home but, when I last saw it, it was in the middle of a vast grassy field surrounded by lush trees. And like every historical rich persons home in the world (and Ive been to many), it was the result of forced labor. Throughout world history, before fossil fuel and the individual liberty that lies at the heart of Madisons Constitution, the rich relied on the labor of slaves, serfs, peons, prisoners, and minimally paid wage slaves. Madison...and Jefferson and Washington and all those other imperfect Founders, along with other 18th- and 19th-century thinkers and inventors, paved the way for change. Image: Montpelier by Andrea Widburg Put now Montpelier is luxuriating in a $10 million grant from David M. Rubenstein and its also dedicated itself to bashing the Founder whom its meant to honor and remember: No American flags fly at Montpelier, Madisons plantation home in rural Virginia, and not a single display focuses on the life and accomplishments of Americas foremost political philosopher, who created our three-branch federal system of government, wrote the Bill of Rights and the Federalist Papers, and served two terms as president. Instead, blindsided tourists are hammered by high-tech exhibits about Madisons slaves and current racial conflicts, thanks to a $10 million grant from left-leaning philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. Let me be straightforward: Slaves contribute nothing to a society but labor. This is true no matter the society, no matter the nation, no matter the identity of the slaves or the master, and no matter the race involved, whether slave or master. Slaves are the units of energy that existed before fossil fuels. High-tech exhibits about slaves tell us nothing about the events and ideas that shaped this country. Its enriching to understand what slaves ate, wore, and did (and suffered), but its useless information in terms of understanding either the men who effected change or their ideasideas that, if leftists werent so filled with race-hatred and stupidity, could bring America and Americans to heights of prosperity and individual happiness never before seen in the world. Ill be at Montpelier next month on a visit planned (and paid for) long before this news broke. Im sure Ill have questions for the guides. It should be illuminating listening to their answers and, I can assure you, Ill keep you all posted. The panic regarding the threat of Christian nationalism is actually one big smoke screen. In reality, the default state religion of our day more closely resembles a type of neo-pagan nationalism. Dr. Peter Jones describes it thus: Common moral binaries of the past, like normative heterosexual marriage and male-female distinctions, are denied. Anti-biblical morality is imposed on all (e.g., the Biden administration has accused parents who do not want their children taught Marxist Critical Race Theory or radical gender philosophy of being "terrorists"). Controlling and punishing public speech is a laudable moral value. The central philosophies behind the founding of the country are rejected. The growing politicization of sexual morals and rejection of traditional governing principles are leading us down a path to the normalization of "pagan nationalism." A land without a law giving designer will eventually devolve into hedonism.* A pleasure-driven, dependent society is ripe for tyrannical rule and widespread oppression. The territorial goals of the progressive pagan reflects a disregard for the sanctity and design of the image-bearer as chief object of special creation. Rather, the preservation and promotion of lower things will prevail at the expense of living souls meant to fellowship with a divine, sovereign deity. Agenda 2030 vividly represents this neo-pagan mission, where the will of the people is subverted and subjugated on behalf of the power elite. The myth of religious neutrality is easy to recognize once the dogmatic groupthink of the pagan mind begins to take hold of all things. To be shunned and penalized by the lords of neo-paganism is swiftly becoming the new normal. It's all part of a social engineered reset of society, where arbitrary rule and civil enslavement reign. Is this progress? That's for you to decide. There remains a better and more faithful way. It's a way worth staking our lives on. The future of our loved ones is worth fighting for. At the very least, we should not be silent. *There is a categorical difference between God and creation, which theologians often call the Creator-creature distinction. Image via Pixabay. Canadas medical assistance in dying (MAiD) law is already the most permissive euthanasia and assisted-suicide legislation in the world. Understandably controversial in itself, there are many horror stories surrounding its implementation. For example, as lifesitenews.com recently reported, A 71-year-old widower was admitted to a Southwestern Ontario hospital after a fall. His family says during his admission he contracted an infectious diarrheal illness. He was humiliated by staff for the smell of his room, his family said. He developed a new shortness of breath that was not comprehensively assessed. In this context, a hospital team member suggested he would qualify for MAiD. The team said he had end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and it was terminal. The patient was surprised by the diagnosis but trusted the team. Within 48 hours of his first assessment, he received a medically assisted death. Post-mortem testing showed he did not have end-stage COPD. His family doctor, when notified of his death, also stated he did not have end-stage COPD, but the team had failed to contact her when they were assessing his history. Oops. Sorry. First, do no harm? Respect for life? Canadian nice? Nonetheless, the Great White Norths federal expert panel on MAiD has recommended mental illness be added to the list of maladies making one eligible for MAiDapparently without any legislative changes. How nice, euthanasia by administrative fiat. What could go wrong? To some degree, mental illness is in the eye of the beholder. It can be quite subjective and has historically been used as a tool to advance totalitarian political agendas. Hence, the gulags and re-education camps. Dont believe in global warming? Are you an anti-vaxxer? Trump supporter?! Didnt vote for Xi jinping Justin Trudeau? Driving an 18-wheeler in a Freedom Convoy? Then you are, sadly, mentally ill. But, someday soon, in Canada at least, the nice people in the white smocks may be able to help you. In fact, you may not have a choice. Graphic credit: Public domain via Open Clip Art The press and other Democrats have been out to get President Trump dating from his first presidential campaign in 2016. It began as they spread lies about Trump and Russian collusion. There were endless investigations, including by the Mueller special counsel's office. It was loaded with Hillary Clinton supporters and they still couldn't find evidence that Trump did anything wrong, but that doesn't matter. There was evidence of massive corruption in the Obama Justice Department and lying to the FISA court in order to illegally spy on and destroy Trump associates, but criminal activity by government bureaucrats didn't matter to them because they weren't the target. Trump was. The criminals in the Obama administration were above the law. After the 2020 election, where many states violated their election laws, and where Mark Zuckerburg illegally spent millions to tamper in the election, we were told that the candidate the media supported, who was mostly hidden in the basement, got a record number of votes and the election was completely clean. The truth never matters because the target is Trump. Somehow, after four years of false reporting and calling Trump an illegitimate president, people didn't trust the results. Now we have a new hearing loaded with people that hate Trump as much as most of the media does, called the January 6 commission. The FBI already concluded that what went on at the Capitol, where a crowd got out of control, wasn't an incursion into the halls of government, nor was it coordinated, but the truth doesn't matter; the target is Trump. It doesn't matter that Trump said march peacefully and patriotically. Now there is a huge new story: Jan. 6 witness Trump allegedly tried to call was White House support staff, sources say The person whom former President Donald Trump was accused of having contacted following the Jan. 6 hearing when former administration aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified was a member of the White House support staff, sources told ABC News. Trump supposedly called a potential witness but didn't talk to him or her. That news has received massive coverage by the media because not talking to someone is a huge crime? That is as important a story as some people may have requested a pardon that Trump didn't grant. Another huge story is that the Secret Service supposedly deleted requested texts. Secret Service Denies Deleting Text Messages, Blames Phone Reset "The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false," Guglielmi's statement said. "In fact, the Secret Service has been fully cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) in every respectwhether it be interviews, documents, emails, or texts." The media and the January 6 committee are very interested in this story, but they seem uninterested in Secret Service agents saying that another January 6 witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, didn't tell the truth in her claims that President Trump grabbed a steering wheel from a Secret Service driver because that would help Trump. The media and other Democrats never had any interest in Hillary violating security laws, deleting messages, or destroying documents because they were campaigning for her. The truth and laws never mattered. The target was Trump. What gets much less coverage is when the Secret Service denied the accusations because that didn't fit the agenda. Meanwhile, the media buried the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election with the false claim that it was Russian disinformation, and now continues to bury the story with new leaks and revelations. Corrupt presidents, the truth, and the law don't matter because the target continues to be Trump. All the criminal activity and deaths at the border also don't matter. Joe Biden's disastrous policies are intentionally destroying the country but that doesn't matter to the complicit media. If the media and other Democrats are eventually successful in destroying Trump, they will set their target on Ron DeSantis, Sen, Tom Cotton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, or whoever else is the Republican candidate. After all, they have targeted Republicans for decades, whether it was Reagan, Bush, McCain, Romney, or Trump. The only thing that mattered was infecting the U.S. with leftist politicians and policies. Power is all that mattered. People should recognize that the New York Times hasn't supported a Republican for president since Dwight Eisenhower and the Washington Post has never endorsed a Republican for president. It is no wonder the media and other Democrats are the party of personal destruction because their policies are so destructive and unpopular. They need to mislead the public. I wonder why people don't trust the media! Image: Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 Representative Adam Kinzinger (Rino-IL) introduced an amendment to H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023, that reduces by $100,000,000 operations and maintenance funding to the U.S. Air Forces Flying Hour Program. That funding will instead go to a program touted as training Ukrainian pilots to fly our F-16s. The House passed the NDAA on Friday. Im sure OpEds are in draft right now discussing both why this is crucial to our safety and security and why its a really bad idea. I would just like Congress to acknowledge the truth: that this is, de facto, their agreement to declare our full participation in the Ukraine war. Yes, Ukraine has about 30 fighter pilots with sufficient English language skills to be trained to operate our military jets. Thomas Medwick over at The War Zone has a thorough article describing the thinking behind this plan. Why do we need this extra $100 million on top of all the other funding headed their way? You remember H.R. 7691, the special appropriation for Ukraine from a couple of months ago? That contained $9 billion for military operations and maintenance including for things like training. Has that all been budgeted away? It certainly hasnt been spent by now, not even a little bit. The Kinzinger (R-eally glad hes not running again-IL) amendment includes training, potentially on all our air combat platforms. But lets get down to brass tackswhat happens when you give a mouse a cookie? Hes going to want a glass of milk. Theres no sense in training pilots if were not going to give them the jets. Do we have a bunch of surplus jets, in good condition, just sitting around that we can send to Ukraine? And a bunch after that, and then another bunch? Because, you know, if we do send them then Russia is going to up her air game. As recently as a couple of months ago, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander didnt think this was such a good idea. Image: Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor (edited) by Rob Shenk. CC BY-SA 2.0. Ukraine flag (edited) by wirestock. Kinzinger ( R D-IL) also included training using potentially all our munition types. Funding is there to cover becoming better friends. Training Ukrainians to become trainers of pilots in Ukraine and elsewhere is also in there, as well as training on the air combat platforms of NATO countries. Were picking up NATO members tabs once again. And sorry to bring this up but, after incident upon incident in Afghanistan, will we be vetting these Ukrainians for loyalty to Ukraine and the West? So, were just going to be training pilots? Nope, thats not the half of it. Its not the tenth of it. To keep a bird in the air you need a flock on the ground. If we train pilots who then go off to war, we will need to have trainers on the ground in the field of operations to do follow-up, problem-solving, and remedial work with those pilots. We will need to establish warehousing and logistics for routine and specialized maintenance of the aircraft and munitions. That will require our logistician types and a set of interpreters and support staff. It will also necessitate training their mechanics, who probably dont have sufficient English language skills to come here for that training without a technically proficient translator or two. Then well provide in-place supervisory oversight for those operations, as well as the security operations necessary to safeguard our people and material. Were going to be on the ground in Ukraine. Or will all this be based in and operated from some nearby NATO country, one thats willing to take the hits should Russian ire be raised? And do we care if our planes are shot down over Russia? Are there any components in there that we might not want Russians to get their hands on? Communications equipment may have to be modified in the jets to be compatible with Ukrainian military systems. More jets will require more fuel and other lubricants. Jet fuel is already a very tight market in Europe. So, will we be drawing down our Strategic Reserve even further and sending it to be spent against the Russians? I hope and pray the Senate, and House members again in committee, will thoughtfully consider all this as this bill is negotiated to its final form. Anony Mee is the nom de blog of a retired public servant. The pay is low. The prestige is falling. The housing is often dilapidated and roach-infested. You move around a lot and your children constantly have to say 'goodbye' to their friends. The wars are lost and the border stands unguarded from invaders. The indoctrination is pure wokesterism, advising you that you're the bad guy and the flag you serve under is worth taking a knee. You take a vaccine known to harm young people, or else. You shower with unreconstructed transgender individuals. You watch as your highly bemedaled top commander doesn't bother with basic military fitness regulations required of you. The consultants get their big-dollar military contracts. You? You just aren't as important. Any surprise that military families' willingness to recommend the uniformed service to family members is dropping sharply? Here's a report from ZeroHedge: Substantially fewer military families would recommend uniformed service to others, a new survey by Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN) finds. Just 63% of surveyed service members and family members would recommend service to someone considering it. That's a big drop from just two years earlier, when 75% said they'd encourage others to join. The results released on July 14 are from a far-ranging survey of more than 8,600 people conducted in late 2021. The finding is an ill omen for military recruiters who are already struggling to meet their goals. The U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) says a whopping 71% of youth do not qualify for military service because of obesity, drugs, physical and mental health problems, misconduct and aptitude. Meanwhile, USAREC likes to call the Army a "family business," noting that 79% of recruits have a relative who served. Substantially lower enthusiasm among those who've served is certain to throw a wet blanket on recruiting efforts. Many of the problems cited by the families in the poll are age-old problems -- such as bad housing, constant moving around, and low pay. According to ZeroHedge: When researchers delved into the thinking of service members, veterans and family members who won't recommend military service, five top rationales surfaced: Military service is hard on marriages, family relationships and relationships with children Military pay is too low, especially given the job's difficulty and stress Some military leaders are bad, corrupt, abusive and controlling Benefits such as health care aren't worth the challenges associated with service Frequent moves between duty stations and frequent overseas deployments I think of the example of my cousin, who is a young military wife married to a Navy NCO, who has had to endure some of these conditions described in the poll and it's all very real. This year her family was ordered to move again, their third or fourth move in about ten years, from San Diego, this time to Camp Lejeune, as their nine-year-old son cried over the coming loss of his friends and their happy home. During the move, which I helped on, the moving company operator asked for a free lunch, which she would have been willing to give, except that she'd gotten an email from the military asking all military families to not serve lunches to movers, because many enlisted families were too poor to afford it, so she could not. When she made it to Camp Lejeune, where her husband was placed with a Marine unit, the housing was utterly substandard, filled with cockroaches, a terrible thing given that she'd just had a new baby who was fragile, and the family had to move to a hotel. Such are the ordinary hardships military families across the country endure with little alleviation. But something has changed now that we see the sharp shift downward in willingness of military families, who are the military's top recruiters, to recommend military service. The poll is likely a good proxy for military morale in general, and at least must partially explain why the military is having trouble meeting its recruitment quotas. The clue can be found in the "bad, corrupt, abusive, and controlling" military leaders section. That sounds like a catchall for bad political leadership at the top, given that the fish stinks from the head don, which includes wokester indoctrination and force-fed vaccines. It coincides precisely with Joe Biden taking the helm at the White House. That new factor is crappy leadership. Nobody, no matter what the flag, wants to serve under a bad leader whose entire cabinet and party pretty well hate the country and the men and women who defend it. They are content to lose wars. Joe Biden, Antony Blinken and others, remember, went on vacay when the Afghanistan debacle was played out and American service members -- best and brightest ones in fact -- were pointlessly killed while nobody back home was held responsible, let alone fired. Biden is losing wars, blaming others, throwing troops and all their sacrifices under the bus and expecting that no one will notice. That is a tremendous blow to the American military's prestige, casually sacrificing servicemembers' lives through incompetence, Joe Biden checking his watch as the coffins come home. They treat servicemembers as disposable, cogs in their wokester machine to remake America in their leftist image, with zero tolerance of dissent. They're the ones dismissing service members for refusing the highly questionable COVID vaccine, which has led to the sudden deaths of many young people. They're the ones pushing transgender people with their original organs into the opposite sex showers, with zero regard for the dignity of the other service members. In short, they don't have servicemembers' back, as President Trump once did. To these bounders, troops are expendable, unimportant, an afterthought, fodder for social and medical experiments, and certainly not allowed to win wars, let alone celebrate. It runs roughly parallel to the mass exodus of police officers commissioned to protect and serve cities as wokester district attorneys take over and let criminals run free. Many cities have seen huge losses in police forces based on this failure of leadership. When the leader is someone you don't want to follow, you get out. And that brings us back to the shoddy state of the military today, where military families are warning off their sons, daughters, cousins, nephews, nieces and others to avoid the service like a bad smell. That bad smell is Joe Biden and his atrocious leadership. The troops know when they are being led by a fraud and loser and nobody wants to make the kind of monstrous sacrifices the military life requires for an establishment that hates them. That explains Joe Biden right there. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License Its been enjoyable watching the Democrats frantic response to the Supreme Courts abortion decision. That decision did not ban abortion in America, instead returning it to the states where it belongs, but the Democrats have decided abortion is indeed dead and the past couple of days have seen two loony, unconstitutional plans for resuscitating it. The first plan is to pass federal laws legalizing abortion across the nation. Jeff Charles sums up the two Democrat bills this way: These two bills, if passed by the Senate, would essentially codify Roe into law. It is their second attempt at passing laws that would promote abortion and would even go beyond what Roe allowed. Two bills ought to be enough, right? Oh, no. The young leftist guns in the House have an even better ideapass a law saying that the Supreme Court cannot rule on abortion cases: A group of House progressives led by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to strip the Supreme Court of its abortion jurisdiction. We write to urge your support for restricting the Supreme Courts appellate jurisdiction in the areas of abortion, marriage equality, non-procreative intimacy, and contraception, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the congressional leaders. In doing so, we can ensure that, as Congress takes legislative action to codify each of these fundamental rights, a radical, restless, and newly constituted majority on the Court cannot further undermine the protections we would enact. Shockingly, todays Democrat members of the House of Representatives dont understand the constitutional system in which they serve. I guess it makes sense, though, because you achieve leftism through ignorance, not knowledge. Heres a little knowledge. Image by Andrea Widburg Art I to the Constitution holds that All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Democrats believe this language means that, if they can pass a bill, theyve got the power. This ignores the words Powers herein granted. When creating a federal government for a conglomeration of thirteen highly independent states, all jealous of their rights and powers, the Founders did anything but grant Congress unlimited power. Art I, Sec. 8 defines a very short list of powers granted to Congress, all of them essentially procedural (government functioning), rather than substantive (the minutiae of Americans lives), to ensure a functioning national government. The states cant mess with those powers. But just to drive home the point that the federal government has a short leash, the Tenth Amendment states, 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. The Art. III federal court system has an equally narrow mandate, given those jealous individual states. Federal courts were meant to preside over purely federal procedural affairs or to serve as a neutral forum in matters between the individual states, between citizens of the different states, or between the states and the federal government. It was Chief Justice John Marshall who bestowed on the Supreme Court the power to determineyes or nowhether a law or action falls within the Constitution. Justice Marshall probably gets a pass on that arrogation of an unstated power because someone needs to make that decision and the Constitution doesnt assign explicit responsibility to any branch. The real Supreme Court sin was when it created for itself the imaginary notion of substantive due process, through which it acquired the power to legislate, creating substantive rights out of whole cloth. With the Dobbs case, todays Supreme Court dealt a death blow to substantive due process. Seeing neutered the Supreme Court that has given them so much, House Dems are demanding that, with the Court bowing out, Congress legislate abortion. They dont understand that Dobbs stripped abortion power from all parts of the federal government. Thus, governing abortion is not one of those Powers herein granted. Instead, abortion is a power[] not delegated to the United States by the Constitution. Not only is it barred to the federal court system, but its also barred to Congress. As for legislation cutting the Court off from abortion cases, thats a non-starter too. Nothing in Art. I gives Congress the power to carve out exceptions to issues the Court may hear if those limitations arent already in the Constitution. Arguably, Congress could try legislation stating that Chief Justice John Marshall got it wrong when he said the Supreme Court was the correct institution for determining a statutes constitutionality. However, that would give Congress way too much power and the American people wont like that. Youd think that congresspeople would know this kind of thing. Its their job, after all. UPDATE: A reader very politely reminded me that I forgot Art. III, Section 2, Clause 2, under which "the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions...as the Congress shall make." I've always read that to mean procedural exceptions but it's absolutely true that it can also be read to give Congress the power to remove whole areas of law from the Supreme Court's purview. Almost a third of pub visits are now completely alcohol-free as the trend for moderation among drinkers continues to grow, according to new research. Around 29% of pub visits and 37% of restaurant visits are now alcohol-free, according to an industry report commissioned by KAM and Lucky Saint. The figures come amid a wider reduction in the levels of alcohol consumption across the UK in recent years, with many reducing cutting intake due to health concerns and other reasons. It showed that 55% of UK drinkers consume fewer than 10 units of alcohol per week. In 2019, NHS research reported that 60% of adults drank up to 14 units per week. Katy Moses, managing director of sector research firm KAM, said: Without a doubt, alcohol consumption habits are shifting in the UK. Despite short-term flux during the pandemic, an overwhelming proportion of Brits intend to cut down their consumption over the next 12 months. The growth in popularity of the alcohol-free category isnt primarily driven by those who never drink alcohol, but rather the huge number of Brits who simply want to moderate their intake and are looking for a great-tasting alternative. A raft of major brewers, including Heineken and Budweiser, have expanded into non-alcoholic beers in recent years in search of growth as other areas of the beer industry see restrained demand. Luke Boase, founder of non-alcoholic lager brand Lucky Saint, said he believes we are at the start of a cultural shift in our attitudes towards drinking in the UK. The company said it has seen like-for-like growth of 180% since the start of 2021 amid a surge in demand after hospitality operators returned to growth following the pandemic. He said: The likes of Spain, France and Germany all have at least five times the market share for low and no (alcohol) options compared to the UK. Consumers want taste and quality, but historically theres not been a product that fits the bill. We need to rethink what we understand as a non-drinker in the UK. Those who move fast to tap into this market in the UK will see huge rewards in the coming years. MIAMI (AP) Rapper Kodak Black was arrested in South Florida on charges of trafficking in oxycodone and possession of a controlled substance. The rapper, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, was booked Friday into jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he awaits a bond hearing. The Florida Highway Patrol said in a release that troopers pulled Black over because he was driving a purple SUV with window tints that appeared darker than the legal limit. They detected a marijuana smell and then searched the SUV and found a small clear bag with 31 white tablets and almost $75,000 in cash. The tablets were later identified as oxycodone. The agency says record checks also revealed that Blacks vehicle tag and drivers license were both expired. Black's attorney, Bradford Cohen, said on Twitter that "there are always additional facts and circumstances that give rise to a defense, especially in this case. We will get him a bond today and move forward with resolving the matter quickly, he said. Black was also arrested earlier this year in South Florida on trespassing charges. Prosecutors later declined to proceed with the case. In January 2020, then-President Donald Trump commuted a three-year federal prison sentence the rapper had for falsifying documents used to buy weapons. Black had served about half his sentence. The rapper is one of the artists on the lineup for the Rolling Loud Festival 2022, which starts next Friday. He is scheduled to perform on July 24. Black has sold more than 30 million singles and has had several massive hits including his most recent Super Gremlin," which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 this year and a remix was released earlier this year by DJ David Guetta. Other smash hits by Black include Zeze, No Flockin and Roll in Peace. Cuban motorists wait in line at a filling station in Havana on Thursday. (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press) Dany Perez had spent four days in a line of vehicles waiting to fill his truck with the diesel fuel he needs for the 560-mile trip from Havana to his home in eastern Cuba. Taxi driver Jhojan Rodriguez had been waiting at another station even longer it was nearing two weeks but he was finally near the head of the line of hundreds of vehicles in the Playa district of the capital. Such lines have become increasingly common in Cuba, where officials apparently have been sending the island's scarce diesel fuel to power generation plants rather than filling stations for vehicles. It's not the first time the island has suffered fuel shortages, but it's one of the worst. I have seen pretty bad situations, but not like now, said the 46-year-old Perez, who was eating and sleeping in his 1950s-era Chevrolet truck, which he has outfitted as a bus with room for some 40 passengers. Drivers in the lines have tried to organize themselves by creating lists of those waiting and updating them daily as they wait for tanker trucks to arrive with fuel. Because of the lists, those who live nearby can go home for spells keeping track of any progress via a WhatsApp message. I'm a professional taxi driver. ... I pay taxes, social security. I'm legally established," said Rodriguez, the 37-year-old owner of a gold-and-white 1954 Oldsmobile, refitted with a diesel engine years ago when its gas engine wore out. My home, my family depend on this diesel. The car had run out of fuel and Rodriguez had to push it into the line. That was 12 days earlier. Authorities say drivers can only fill their tanks, not other containers. For Rodriguez, that's 16 gallons, which he said will last him three days. The recent fuel shortage largely affects diesel used by heavy vehicles and classic cars whose original engines were long ago swapped out, often with Eastern European truck engines rather than the gasoline used by most of the world's cars. Rodriguez expressed frustration at the lack of clear explanations from officials. Nobody has said, This is what is happening with the fuel,'" Rodriguez said. If at some point there was information that, Look, there is no fuel because the situation of the country requires it to give electricity to people,' I would understand. Experts agreeing with the scuttlebutt in the streets say the country can't afford to buy all the diesel it needs and what it has is being directed to generate power. What we are seeing is what we call the domino effect," said Jorge Pinon, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas in Austin. The collapse of the thermoelectric plants has caused an increased demand for diesel generation groups. Venezuela has not been sending Cuba the quantity of diesel it needs, so Cuba has had to take part of the supply that was dedicated to the transport sector for the diesel electric generation groups," he said. Half of Cuba's power comes from 13 thermoelectric plants, which burn fuel to produce steam that drives turbines that generate electricity. Eight of the plants are more than 30 years old. They usually depend on the island's own heavy crude oil, but their operation has been erratic. So the island turns to diesel units to try to cover the shortfall. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba used about 137,000 barrels a day of fuel gasoline, diesel, natural gas and derivatives to keep the economy moving. About half of that came from political ally Venezuela, which itself has sunk into economic crisis and, under mismanagement and U.S. embargoes, has found it increasingly difficult to produce and ship fuel. A series of recent power blackouts caused public grumbling and led Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to try to explain the situation on national television and tour thermoelectric plants. International news media and tanker tracking sites reported that a Russian tanker carrying 700,000 barrels of oil reached Cuba in recent days, though authorities did not comment. We think it's a shipment from Russia in place of Venezuela that it is a triangulation where Russia is substituting for Venezuela with this shipment, later to be paid by Venezuela and not by Cuba," Pinon said. Meanwhile, Cubans are adapting as they can whether by sticking it out at home or by making plans to head abroad. I am going to keep struggling because I can't stop working," Perez said at the station in Guanabacoa, east of central Havana. but if there's no [fuel], we will have to park it. At the station in Playa, the taxi driver Rodriguez said he was thinking of other options. My Plan B is to sell the car and leave the country with my family," he said. "I don't know what I am going to do." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A woman posing as a nurse tried to abduct a newborn from a patients room at a Moreno Valley hospital, California sheriffs officials say. Deputies arrested Jesenea Miron, 23, of Moreno Valley on suspicion of kidnapping following the incident Thursday, July 14, at Riverside University Health System Medical Center, the Riverside County Sheriffs Department said in a news release. Miron entered the hospital posing as a newly hired nurse and gained access to a medical unit for newborns, deputies said. She entered a patients room, identified herself as a nurse and tried to take a baby, the release said. Hospital employees prevented her and notified security but the woman fled. Sheriffs deputies responded to reports of the incident at 10:30 a.m. and investigators identified Miron as a suspect, the release said. Investigators searched a Moreno Valley home with a warrant and arrested her. She was being held on bail of $1 million. Police ask that anyone with information call the Moreno Valley Sheriffs Station at 951-486-6700 or the Riverside County Sheriffs Department at 951-776-1099. Moreno Valley is a city of 208,000 southeast of Riverside in Southern California. Dad with child in SUV ran over wife at Utah airport after family trip, reports say Dad hears sons screams as 11-year-olds mom stabs him to death, New Mexico sheriff says 35-year-old man accused in hit-and-run ATV crash that killed 2 kids, California cops say Walnut farmer Craig McNamara in his barn in Winters, Calif. His father, Robert McNamara, secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, was a key architect of the Vietnam War. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Craig McNamara had come prepared to talk about heavy things. He was, after all, promoting a new memoir about his father, Robert McNamara, the polarizing secretary of Defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, whose actions prosecuting the Vietnam War had hung over his sons entire life. The books title is a gut punch: "Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family, From Vietnam to Today." Walnut farmer Craig McNamara stands next to a chair once belonging to his father, Robert McNamara. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) And McNamara, the former head of Californias Board of Food and Agriculture, was also carrying a weight of worries about what climate change is doing to his familys walnut farm. He bought the property here on the banks of Putah Creek four decades ago not long after he returned to the United States from Mexico and South America, places he had fled to to escape what his fathers war was doing to the country, and to himself. It was all so much that McNamara, now 72, at one point appeared near tears. But none of this, apparently, dimmed his joy at zipping around his 450-acre farm in an electric four-by-four vehicle at a high rate of speed. A very high rate of speed. Hold on, he said, gesturing to a handle mounted on the side of a door frame. With no more warning than that, he dropped into low gear and gunned the engine. The vehicle surged up an overgrown dirt path. Branches whipped past his face. The slow-moving waters of Putah Creek appeared to glimmer from above an impossible angle. The vehicles electric motor groaned. Would it make it up the embankment? What would happen if it didnt? Would it plunge into Putah Creek? Along with the great blue heron perched regally on a branch, there were possibly leeches in that water, not to mention poison oak lining the banks. Would one of the leading lights of California agriculture and a Times reporter have to splash through brackish creek water and then hoist the buggy onto dry land? But with a last whine of its engine, the little farm vehicle popped up, off the embankment and back onto a proper dirt road leading through the orchard of walnut trees. McNamara made no comment although his son Sean later described his fathers driving as totally insane, adding: We need a support group of giving him more [guff] for his driving." The tour continued. Here were the hundreds of chickens that McNamaras daughter Emily pastures for her egg business. Over there but shhh, dont distract Seans dog Penny who is hard at work were the sheep Sean was using to clear brush, part of the farms sustainable approach to land management. (When they were finished with their work, some of the sheep were bound for slaughter, their meat another source of income for the farm.) Here are the rows of peach trees planted by young people involved in the Center For Land Based Learning, the nonprofit McNamara and his wife, Julie, founded to inspire and educate future generations of farmer and community leaders. Karen Ross, the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, called the effort life-changing for the young people involved. Hes always been a leader in organic and sustainability issues, she said. But his programs for young people gave them confidence and this understanding of nature and the environment and agriculture and science and I have met so many of them and they can tell you how it changed their lives. Craig McNamara holds a commemorative calendar from the days of the Cuban missile crisis in his office in Winters. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Here is an imperfect peach, warm from the sun, that should be eaten right this instant. And this is an apricot, and not just any apricot, an heirloom, fragile and so hard to ship that they are not often commercially grown, but so flavorful. And over here is the most important stop on the tour. The place where, metaphorically anyway, McNamara tried to bury all his grief and fear and confusion into the soil, in hopes that something new and restorative could grow in its place. :: The Cathedral Block of walnut trees, the oldest trees on the farm. This is the grove where the McNamara family celebrates important family events, and walks beneath the moonlight to take stock of life. It is also where McNamaras role as a progressive California farmer who is so close to his own children he went into business with them braids together with his lifelong struggle to figure out what it means to be Robert McNamaras son. The final chapter of McNamaras book is set here. He tells the story of a Vietnamese artist, Danh Vo, who set out to make an art installation with some of the wood harvested from the grove. This is significant because it is actually the artists second art installation involving sacred possessions of the McNamara family. The first was when Vo obtained two chairs from the Oval Office where McNamaras father and Kennedy sat as they pushed the United States into Vietnam. Vo disassembled them into a sculpture that offered a haunting commentary on America and Vietnam, memory and imagination. Its hard for people who didnt live through it to understand how polarizing the Vietnam War was, or how large Robert McNamara loomed as the face of it. More than 58,000 American troops died in the conflict, along with millions of Vietnamese people, with estimates ranging from 2 million to 3.8 million dead. President Lyndon B. Johnson confers with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in Washington in November 1963. (Associated Press) Robert McNamara eventually turned against the war, and he left his job as secretary of Defense in 1967 for the World Bank at President Johnsons behest. In later years, he publicly expressed regret for his role in the conflict, writing in his 1995 memoir that it was wrong, terribly wrong. Many, including the editorial page of the New York Times, castigated him. "His regret cannot be huge enough to balance the books for our dead soldiers," the paper's editorial page declared. "The ghosts of those unlived lives circle close around Mr. McNamara." Will Rogers, Craig McNamara's lifelong friend and the former head of the Trust for Public Land, said his friend "really struggled with what his father had done." He added: Having spent time off and on with his father, I was also very much aware that it was a loving family. Which, of course, made it that much harder. Craig McNamara was 15 in 1966 when he called his father from boarding school in advance of a teach-in against the war and said: Dad, if you have any information or leaflets that support your position on the war, will you send them to me? Recalling the event in the first chapter of his book, McNamara imagines his father hearing about body counts and napalm bombings wondering how to explain it all to his only son. The leaflets never arrived. Walnut farmer Craig McNamara poses for portraits on his farm in Winters, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) By the time McNamara graduated from high school and enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 1969, the antiwar movement was raging at full force and Robert McNamara was working for the World Bank. The Stanford student joined the antiwar movement, writing that his fathers refusal to speak publicly to pressure his successors to get out of Vietnam was a primary reason that I started to protest the war. If he wouldnt tell the truth, I would do it for him. Still, he was drifting, with middling grades and no idea what he wanted to do after college, except that it needed to be far removed from Washington, D.C., politics, business and the military industrial complex. So, in the spring of 1971, he and Rogers got on motorcycles and rode south. McNamara stayed for two years, spending time in Santiago, Chile, where he became an admirer of Fidel Castro, and on Easter Island, where he started a dairy cooperative. He returned to the U.S. in 1973, but left months later for Mexico, where he worked on a farm in Michoacan. His mother, who died in 1981 and with whom he was always very close, visited him during his travels, but his father did not. By the time he returned to the U.S. in the fall of 1974, he had decided to become a farmer. He hitchhiked from San Francisco to Davis and enrolled in the University of California campus there as an ag sciences student. He met his wife, Julie, at school and in 1980, with funds from his father, they bought their orchard on the banks of Putah Creek. When people think of California farmers, they often picture the corporate giants who squared off against Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers. Rich men who fly private planes into thousand-plus acre spreads in the San Joaquin Valley to oversee multimillion-dollar operations employing hundreds of seasonal workers. But there are about 70,000 farms in California, and only about 2,400 of them are larger than 2,000 acres. Most farmers in the state who collectively produce about half the fruits and nuts eaten in the United States and also export food to other countries post sales of less than $100,000, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. And eking out that living requires backbreaking work, seven days a week. McNamara reported that for the first 25 years he owned his farm, his take-home pay was about $50,000. And he worked so hard, he related in his book, that when his oldest son Graham was born at the height of the harvest in 1984, delivery room nurses were hesitant to let him hold his newborn because his hands were stained black from picking walnuts. He described his early years farming this way: "My dirty hands became more heavily calloused and my work boots quickly wore out. I was more exhausted than I had ever been, and I was happy." :: Winters, the little town closest to McNamaras farm, has between 6,000 and 7,000 people depending on whether you consult the sign at the east end of town or the one on the west. It sits at the base of the Berryessa Mountains, which tint blue most evenings when the sun sets behind them, amid an ocean of orchards and fields of lavender and sunflowers. For these and many other reasons, it is hard to imagine Craig McNamara could have found a place more different than the three-story house full of Washington powerbrokers he had grown up in if he had tried. And yet, even here in his refuge, McNamara soon found himself at the center of things. He was appointed to numerous boards, including the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, where he served under Governors Davis, Schwarzenegger and Brown. He launched nonprofits. He traveled the state meeting other farmers and attending meetings. His office on the farm is decorated in true Washington style with photographs of elected leaders. Sean McNamara, 34, said his father has always been part of the agricultural community and part of the larger conversation around agriculture. It appears to come naturally to him, said his friend of more than three decades, Rich Collins, an asparagus seed producer in Solano County. He does not shy away from challenges, or leadership, or problems, and in fact he is probably attracted to those things, and maybe much to his wifes dismay at times, Collins said. Collins attributed this, in part, to "the background that he comes from. It is a manifestation of that. But he added that his friend also seems to have an abnormal amount of energy a fact that was brought home when they went on vacation together, and McNamara was go go go the entire time. :: In 2009, Robert McNamara died at the age of 93. His son was in Washington, and at his fathers bedside within the hour. A few years after his death, McNamara made his first trip to Vietnam, along with his daughter, Emily. Rich Rusk, the son of Dean Rusk, who was the secretary of State to Kennedy and Johnson, was supposed to be there too, but he died by suicide shortly before departure. While in Vietnam, McNamara wrote, I felt the absence that defined his relationship with his father. So much of being my fathers son has been contained in that feeling of a missed connection and the inability to mark certain tragedies, so they linger. The following year, in 2018, McNamara spent a year at Stanford, where he started working on his memoir, at the age of 68. He knew it would feature his father, of course, but he also envisioned there would be much more about farming, his love of the land and his embrace of organic and sustainable practices. A nameplate on the back of Robert McNamara's chair in the office of his son Craig McNamara. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) But the book turned out to be mostly about his own journey of coming to terms with being Robert McNamaras son. It recounts their shared love of the wilderness and hiking in the Sierra, and the terrible distance between them. In the weeks since publication, McNamara said he has been moved by the people who contacted him to share how moved they were by the book, and how it echoed their own complicated relationships with their fathers. :: McNamara, it is clear, has tried to be a very different kind of father to his own three children. After attending college on the East Coast, Emily and Sean have moved back, living in houses near their parents and trying to make a go of a small family farm in 21st century California. Having his children home is "the greatest gift," McNamara said, but brings its own weight. The Central Valley's blistering heat waves have become more intense and frequent, scorching the walnuts and lessening the yield, even as shipping costs driven in part by the pandemic have gone up, cutting into margins even more. Sean and Emily working 12-hour days and scrutinizing budgets and markets and distribution networks are keenly aware of the challenges, with Emily observing that running a family farm "shouldn't be this hard." And yet both say they wouldnt do anything else. Farming is a terrible way to make money and have a work-life balance, Sean said. But its creative. It's purposeful. Its challenging. I learn constantly. I get to take care of the place where Im from. After conducting his tour of the farm, McNamara sat on the graceful porch that wraps around his house and tried to describe the mixture of joy and worry that comes from handing down the farm. You know, I have a little welling up of fear, he said, his voice breaking a little. Youre sitting on this porch of this remarkable resource and land that we cherish and put our heart and souls into, he said, one that has sustained my family for 40 years and if we have another year like 2020, we may not survive. In fact, he said, the family had recently made the difficult decision to cut down many of the trees in the Cathedral Block, because they are so old they no longer yield large harvests of walnuts. It was a culling, McNamara wrote, that he had put off time and again, but had finally become unavoidable. Some of that wood went to Vo, the Vietnamese artist, for his art installation piece. And where the mighty trees once grew, something else will take their place, he said. The gift is we have two of our three children [living here] who want to change the future of the farm, he said. One might think a legacy is set in stone, he said, speaking both of his family and his farm. But this legacy will grow. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Illinois doesnt have a large population of venomous snakes, but there are a few and there are ways to deal with them should you cross paths with one. Illinois Department of Natural Resources specialist Scott Ballard said the types of venomous snakes commonly found in the metro-east area are not aggressive toward humans unless they are provoked. Ballard said theres no cause of fear only caution. In the meantime, snakes serve a useful purpose. Snakes help control tick and mouse infestation. One snake will eat a pillowcase full of mice each year, which is about 9 pounds worth, Ballard said. Rodents are the No. 1 carrier of ticks so less mice means a decrease in tick-borne diseases such as lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The state of Illinois is a large farming community and farmers have issues with rodents destroying crops year round. Snakes are beneficial in this case due to the fact that they eliminate many of the rodent pests. Generally people can expect to see snakes during the warmer months once theyve left their winter hibernation. But their first instinct is always to get away from a person, even venomous snakes. Ballard is out every week and he said he is lucky if he sees one venomous snake a week. He said copperheads are common in the metro-east but their fangs are so short that they can barely penetrate denim jeans. Ballard recommends hikers wear protective clothing including long leather boots instead of open toed shoes. Ballard has a few copperheads in captivity for programs. He says their venom is weak and may take two venomous bites to kill a mouse. Those who are allergic to bee venom are at risk to more severe reactions because snake venom and bee venom share similar proteolytic enzymes, he warned. Nonvenomous snakes pose some degree of risk, too. Bites can cause infections and an allergic reaction so Ballard recommends that people treat every type of snake bite with caution. What you should know about Illinois snake population: There are 40 species of snakes common to Illinois. Native nonvenomous snakes include the common garter snake (most common snake in Illinois), Dekays brownsnake, common watersnake, and plains garter snake. Illinois venomous snake varieties include the copperhead (most found in the southern two-thirds of Illinois), cottonmouth water moccasin (only found in Southern Illinois), timber rattlesnake, and eastern massasauga rattlesnake. Snake venom symptoms According to Johns Hopkins University, they include: Bloody wound discharge Excessive bleeding and difficulty with clotting of blood Fang marks in the skin and swelling at the site of the bite Discoloration, such as redness and bruising Enlarged lymph nodes in the area affected Diarrhea Burning Convulsions Fainting Dizziness Weakness Blurred vision Fever Increased thirst Loss of muscle coordination Nausea and vomiting Numbness and tingling, especially in the mouth Rapid pulse Altered mental state Shock Paralysis Breathing difficulties Venomous snake bite treatment: Also, according to Johns Hopkins: Antivenin, also known as antivenom, is the most common snakebite treatment available in U.S. Call emergency help and go to local hospital Clean the bite with soap and water Keep the bitten area still and below your heart Remember what the snake looks like Monitor breathing, heart rate and swelling Venomous snakes can require your dog to be hospitalized and treated for the bite If you need help identifying a snake then you can reach the Illinois Department of Natural Resources contact, Scott Ballard. To contact him, you can send a photo of the snake to his email: scott.ballard@illinois.gov or give him a call at 618-694-3398. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Pennsylvania lawmakers on Saturday, where she said the Supreme Court's decision to let states outlaw most abortions "is deeply harmful to our nation." Vice President Harris traveled to Philadelphia to discuss with Pennsylvania state legislators and members of Congress the Biden administration's commitment to protecting reproductive freedoms. Vice President Harris said states not only are criminalizing medical professionals who provide abortions but also are making no exceptions in the cases of rape or incest. "We are talking about a situation in our nation right now where states and so-called leaders are passing laws that would criminalize medical health professionals, health care providers. We are talking about several states in our nation who will not allow an exception for rape or incest," Vice President Harris said. She also emphasized that the high court's decision is having profound repercussions in reproductive medicine as well as in other areas of medical care. "It must be understood that on this subject we are not asking anyone to compromise their beliefs or abandon their faith. We are simply saying the government should not be in the position, nor should the government have the power to replace its beliefs for those of the woman," Vice President Harris said. Some patients are choosing sterilization rather than risking an unwanted pregnancy. Others who develop dangerous pregnancy complications are getting delayed care as doctors struggle to assess if their lives are truly in danger. Some patients with lupus or arthritis who don't plan to get pregnant are losing access to a helpful drug that can cause miscarriages. The American Medical Association's president says it's a "frightening and fraught time.'' The Supreme Court on June 24 overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had protected the right to an abortion. Additional reporting by The Associated Press. Chilling hearing I attended the June 7 S.C. House of Representatives hearing on abortion. The session began with a presentation of suggestions for drilling down deeper into abortion restrictions just days after the fetal heartbeat bill became law. The problem with the Republican abortion law is that it gives no consideration to the life of the mother or the child, beyond delivery. Republican legislators destroy lives in the name of saving them by taking no responsibility for providing the financial, social and health care mothers need to care for babies that they did not intend to have. These lawmakers fail to consider a womans reasons for seeking an abortion because they are focused on the biology of a fetus that is not even able to live outside the womans body. I sat in a room with 100 women. We were like sheep, helpless and knowing we would have to conform when the suggested becomes law. It was chilling. I am petrified for this nation as our government legislates exploitation and abuse of women, and walks away. Pamela Reading-Smith, Bluffton Stop ban We recently celebrated Independence Day, but as a woman living in South Carolina, I do not feel free or independent. My liberty is in jeopardy as is my bodily autonomy. Reproductive health care is health care. There are no laws written that limit mens rights to determine their health care needs, yet women continue to be subjected to the whims of lawmakers instead of the scientific evidence and guidance of the medical community. Abortion care is health care and should be available to all. Public support of the rights of women to determine their own reproductive health care is at an all-time high. Placing more limits on womens freedom to make their own reproductive choices will create even more disparities within our state that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation (approaching that of developing countries). I have asked the legislature to vote against a ban on all abortion care in our state. JoAnne Gatti-Petito, Bluffton Move on I find it hard to fathom that with all the pro choice rhetoric by Joe Biden, he has not been publicly chastised by the Vatican. Maybe the Pope just doesnt care. Who knows? Others with less offensive opinions have been excommunicated. The Supreme Court has ruled on abortion, so move on! Leo Krejci, Bluffton Why the disparity? In light of the recent political assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a stark and unfavorable comparison has been drawn between similar murder rates in Japan and the United States. Media reports indicate that in the past year there was only one such occurrence in Japan while in the U.S., the murder rate is in the thousands. Why the vast disparity? I believe there are legal and cultural reasons. Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, and occupation by the United States under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur, a new Japanese Constitution was drafted. Beyond limiting the powers of the emperor to a ceremonial role, the new Japanese Constitution incorporated many of the principles outlined in the U.S. Constitution, with few exceptions, including no reference to the U.S Second Amendment, the right for citizens to keep and bear arms. Moreover, their new constitution specifically prohibited a standing army. And, while popular elections are provided for, there is no Electoral College provision to dilute the majority will. Every governing document, no matter how perfect it may seem, is an evolving work in progress. Does this not give us pause to stop and think? Henry Druckerman, Bluffton Cheers for Simpson Again, I dont agree with every position Congressman Simpson takes, but I applaud him for putting in the work regarding the restoration of our rivers and the salmon populations. Im proud to have such a conservation-minded representative willing to work with all affected parties who deserve a seat at the table discussing the removal of the Lower Snake River dams. I hope that all parties can see the imperative in front of us to breach the dams, restore the salmon and steelhead populations which will in turn benefit the larger ecosystem, and thus bolster an already stellar sportsman and recreation economy. Choosing to fix this mistake made in the not-so-distant past by removing failing and costly dams will be one of the greatest conservation efforts in modern history, and I hope representatives in Washington hear out Congressman Simpson regarding this time-sensitive issue. Congressman Simpson is absolutely right: I love living in Idaho because of the vast public lands and access to healthy fishing waters. We need people to put in the work and make hard decisions that very few people in politics are willing to make, so thank you, Congressman Simpson. Dustin Henkelmann, Twin Falls Breach dams Within Kirk Williamsons June 12 article Dams and salmon: Time to breach lower Snake River dams? Or is it a plan that wont work?, former Tri-Cities Herald Director Ken Robertson suggests that a trans-oceanic climate change problem is to blame for dismal salmon returns. Although ocean conditions are a driver of salmon and steelhead abundance, natural predation and changing ocean conditions can only cause salmon extinction if they are already at risk. Idaho is home to the best salmon habitat remaining in the lower 48. Our high mountain rivers can act as a stronghold against the effects of climate change, if salmon are able to come home safely. This can only be achieved by providing the most favorable and consistent river migration conditions possible. The lower Snake River dams slow water flow in hotter months, causing higher water temperatures along the salmons crucial migratory path. Breaching these dams is a proactive approach to give these fish the advantages necessary to overcome adverse conditions. And according to Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslees recent draft report, removing the lower Snake River dams and replacing their services is our best bet at restoring salmon to abundance. Mitch Cutter, Boise Court oligarchy Two-hundred and forty-six years ago, our founding fathers created our government to be one by the people, for the people. The British Parliament imposed taxes on which no colonial citizen had a say, leading to an entire war for secession. An entire war based on the ideals that people should have a say in decisions by the government that affect them. So what of the taxes on our bodies, imposed by an elite few? A group in which there are three women, a population of 33% who can even imagine the consequences of this attack. If I believed that the Courts ruling reflected the opinion of the majority of Americans, I would still be enraged, but I would respect that decision. Democracy has worked since Ancient Greece, and who am I to disagree? Yet so far since the leak of the Supreme Court decision in May, I have yet to see a majority of Americans that support the ruling. In fact, I have seen more outcry in opposition than not. Since when did the United States become an oligarchy? Because I do not believe that American conservatives would ever be considered a silent majority, yet thats how the Court makes it seem. Halley Hoellwarth, Eagle Thanks Crapo Given the increasing intensity of wildfires in western Idaho and across the state, I was pleased to see that the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Senator Crapo helped pass makes wildfire prevention a priority. The recent announcement of $103 million for wildfire risk reduction efforts nationwide, made possible through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will protect Idaho communities and firefighters. On top of investing in programs that support state and local efforts to fight wildfires, the new infrastructure law also establishes a wild-land firefighter health and well-being program. These investments will help ensure the mental and physical health of firefighters, further ensuring the safety and well-being of not only our communities but those who protect them as well. Idaho communities and firefighters will be better off thanks to these climate-smart investments, especially as wildfire season worsens. Im grateful to Senator Crapo for his leadership on the bipartisan infrastructure law. These investments are good for local communities and represent a smart path forward for Republicans looking to lead on climate-related issues. James Manning, Mesa Living children As I watch the unfolding of the results of the latest Roe vs Wade Supreme Court decision, as well as the news of this years mass shootings, I am left confused. Who does abortion affect? The mother and her fetus. If she is lucky, the babys father as well. Why arent people more concerned with the babies and children that are alive? Or focus on taking away the death penalty? Or work to limit gun ownership that takes away the lives of so many and affects not only their families but society as a whole? I see a double standard being used against women by white men in power who have used religion to further their political agendas. Please vote in November to show support for women and support for common sense restrictions on gun ownership. Lori Poublon Ramirez, Meridian Health dangers Being a pregnant person will become much riskier for those of us living in Idaho. With the abortion ban comes the possibility of having your miscarriage investigated as a possible crime. If you happen to have a pregnancy complication, your doctor, fearing prosecution, might be apprehensive about providing safe and medically approved care. How close to death does a pregnant person have to be before there is a life-saving intervention? How many liters of blood must be hemorrhaged? What happens if there are severe genetic abnormalities? All of these questions will be decided not by the patient and her doctor but by the republican Idaho state legislators. Eileen Schoenfelder, Boise Martin Lawrence cast in a recurring role as Uncle Forty Martin Lawrence is set to return to screens nationwide next year after being cast in an upcoming sci-fi comedy series from AMC, Demascus. The six-episode series follows 33-year-old Demascus, played by Okieriete Onaodowan, as he explores the potential of a technological invention allowing people to swap between different versions of their lives, the cable channel announced in a press release. Lawrence guest stars in three episodes as Uncle Forty, who is described as a hot-tempered man wanting to be recognized as the family patriarch amid his ongoing health ailments. Martin Lawrence (Credit: Erik Voake) The show will premiere on AMC and its streaming service AMC+, the company said, at date yet to be announced. The series will also star Janet Hubert, who portrayed the original Aunt Viv in the hit 90s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Hubert, who also starred in Pose and The Last OG, will play Dr. Bonnetville, a quick-witted psychotherapist who assists patients along their journeys of self-discovery. Penned by writer and playwright Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, the 30-minute episodes delve into different Black male identities and perspectives. Damascus seeks to find himself with the help of the new technology, as reported by Deadline. Onadowan is best known for his roles as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in Hamilton. He also appears in the ABC drama Station 19, a spin-off of Greys Anatomy, as Dean Miller. Actor Caleb Eberhardt of Judas & The Black Messiah fame will star as Redd, Demascus best buddy. Redd, a former troublemaker turned Bohemian artist, is on his own path of self-improvement. Actress Shakira Janai Paye, who starred in All Day and a Night, will portray Naomi, a performer who becomes Demascus love interest following a chance encounter that leaves him worried he may have missed his shot. Lawrence recently teamed up with the cast of his hit 90s comedy show Martin for a 30th-anniversary reunion special on BET+. The special reunited Lawrence with co-star Tisha Campbell and other cast members, including Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II. Lawrence signaled that a fourth installment of the Bad Boys film franchise remains in the works with Will Smith, despite the infamous Oscars slap, Variety reported. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Martin Lawrence to guest star in AMC sci-fi comedy Demascus appeared first on TheGrio. A Missouri patient infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba after swimming at a beach has died, the state health department told CNN on Friday. The victims name will not be released. Its the first confirmed case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), in Missouri in 35 years. Only 154 cases have been identified in the United States since 1962, said Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman for DHSS in a previous statement. Officials believe the patient was exposed to Naegleria fowleri, otherwise known as the brain-eating amoeba causing the infection, while at the Lake of Three Fires State Park beach in Iowa. The beach will be closed to swimmers while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test whether there is a risk of added exposure, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The patient was hospitalized and treated in an intensive care unit. No other cases of the infection are being investigated in either state, the Iowa health department said. People can contract the infection when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. The infection cannot be spread from one person to another and cannot be caused by drinking contaminated water, according to the CDC. The microscopic, single-celled amoeba is found in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers and ponds. Once a person is infected, the amoeba travels to the brain and begins to destroy tissue, the CDC said. While PAM infections are rare, those swimming can decrease the risk of infection by limiting the amount of water going up the nose, according to DHSS. The DHSS recommends the following precautions: Hold your nose shut, use nose clips, or keep your head above water when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater. Avoid putting your head under the water in hot springs and other untreated thermal waters. Avoid water-related activities in warm freshwater during periods of high-water temperature. Avoid digging or stirring up the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas. Symptoms of infection include severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, seizures and hallucinations. Anyone who experiences symptoms after swimming in a warm body of water should contact a health care professional because the infection progresses quickly. The Stars Sophia Belshe contributed to this report The accused were identified as Chakra Dharji alias Chakradhar alias Chakri, 32, his wife Sita Dargi, 25, and their friend, Upendra Pradeep Shahi, 38, said the police. Hyderabad: The Kukatpally police arrested a couple and their friend, all natives of Nepal, for stealing cash and valuables worth about Rs 1 crore from the house of a businessman in Kukatpally earlier this month. The gang spent about Rs 1.10 lakh in less than a week on expensive phones, watches etc during their stay in Bengaluru post the burglary, said the police, adding that they had planned to shift to Mumbai. The accused were identified as Chakra Dharji alias Chakradhar alias Chakri, 32, his wife Sita Dargi, 25, and their friend, Upendra Pradeep Shahi, 38, said the police, adding that the recovered Rs 28.90 lakh cash along with gold and diamond ornaments weighing about 137 tulas, worth Rs 71.10 lakh, from them. House owner Vadepally Damodar Rao of Vivenakanagar colony in Kukatpally had employed Chakri, from Nepal about seven months ago to work as a domestic help. The worker, along with his wife, stayed in the servant quarters of the house. On July 12, around 8 pm, Damodar and his family went to attend a function and returned around 11 pm to find the domestic help missing and their house ransacked, said the police. About four days prior to the offence, Upendra, also a native of Nepal, had joined the couple by taking a flight from Lucknow and introduced himself as a relative of the domestic help. Police said that the trio could be seen moving inside their house in the CCTV footage. While leaving the house with the stolen loot, they took away the WiFi router, mistaking it to be the DVR. We have checked the footage from the DVR and also confirmed via other CC cameras that they engaged an autorickshaw to Moosapet, police said. Nearly all Eastern Kentucky counties have moved into the high COVID-19 community level, along with a number in the western reaches of the state, the most recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update shows. Last week, the CDC rated 37 of the states 120 counties at a high community level. As of Thursday night, that number had jumped to 61. Just 14 counties are considered at a low level. The upswing comes as the dominant BA.5 omicron variant crawls across the U.S., even as public health measures to limit transmission dwindle. COVID-19 community levels The CDC updates its data Thursday evenings. As of July 15, more than half of Kentuckys counties were scored at the high level, where officials recommend individuals mask in indoor, public places. The levels are determined using three factors: new cases per 100,000 people, new COVID hospital admissions per 100,000 people (both are seven-day totals) and percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients (a seven-day average). This U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map shows Kentucky counties by COVID-19 community level. The orange are considered high, the yellow are medium and the green are low. In low level counties, the federal health agency recommends you get vaccinated or boosted and test if you have symptoms. The same is true for counties at medium, but the CDC additionally advises people at high risk for serious complications to also consider masking and other precautions. Anyone who has contact with someone COVID-positive or who has symptoms should get tested and mask if they must be in public. In all, 35% of U.S. counties were at high community levels as of July 15. Under a separate metric, all but four Kentucky counties are at high level of community transmission. Those counties Trimble, Adair, Ballard and Hickman are all at the next highest level, substantial. The COVID-19 community transmission levels are calculated by the CDC based on new cases per 100,000 people and percentage of positive nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), both in the past seven days. Kentucky state data The state reports its own COVID-19 data each Monday. The latest report, dated July 11, shows nearly 11,000 new cases in the state over the week it covers, as well as 62 new deaths. The state reports 16,244 deaths in Kentucky attributed to the coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic, a handful fewer than the 16,258 reported by John Hopkins University and Medicine. The case totals are an undercount, Gov. Andy Beshear noted July 7, citing the availability of home testing. COVID-19 in Fayette County CDC data show Fayette Countys case rate for the past seven days was 250.97 as of Friday afternoon, with a positivity rate of 18.53%. That exceeds the states reported positivity rate of 16.96% About 67.5% of Fayette County/Lexington residents are fully vaccinated. July 13, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reported 373 new cases in the area over the week prior. The agency continues to offer the vaccine and boosters, free of charge, to those ages 6 months and older at its public health clinic three days a week. Do you have a question about COVID-19 in Kentucky for our service journalism team? Wed like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com. If American politics had an address, it would have been in downtown Tampa this weekend. Dueling conferences hosted by the Florida Democratic Party and the conservative group Moms for Liberty converged at adjoining Marriott hotels, where all the messiness, urgency, anger and hope inherent to Florida politics today reflected back and forth. Protesters often stood in between. The moment hammered home how education has become a focal point of Floridas midterms, as Moms for Liberty held sessions with titles like Gender ideology in our schools and Democrats vowed to fight book bans and bigotry. It also highlighted each partys efforts to energize the grassroots of their bases, including whether theyve been successful in creating a bench of up-and-coming candidates who often start at the school board level. Even two years ago, I couldnt name one school board member, said Angela Dubach, the chairperson of the Pinellas County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit that supports parental involvement and conservatives priorities in schools. I probably didnt even vote for school board in the August (2020) primary and its just not the case anymore. Gov. Ron DeSantis spent much of a speech he delivered to the group on Friday giving a play-by-play of how the controversy over the Parental Rights in Education bill, or the so-called dont say gay bill, took place. And he gave advice on how the Moms for Liberty organizers should proceed, hinting at a political momentum that will extend far beyond school boards. If you just show people that youre willing to fight for them, man, they will walk over broken glass barefoot for you, DeSantis said. With everything that weve stood up against, and all the incoming weve taken, every step of the way weve had a reservoir of patriots throughout this state who are standing up. At Moms for Liberty event in Tampa, a push to win school board elections Democrats were happy to make comparisons between the two events, highlighting the dangers they said the Republican focus on school lessons poses. Some said they are optimistic Republicans messaging on this issue could backfire with moderates. The people across the street, they have a game plan, said Nikki Fried, Floridas agriculture commissioner. We have to stand up and fight back like we have never fought back before. A sign for Nikki Fried for Florida Governor is seen during the Leadership Blue annual gathering and fundraiser for the Florida Democratic Party on Saturday, July 16, 2022 in Tampa. The Florida Democrats Leadership Blue event was larger, with 700 tickets sold for their formal gala alone, not including attendees who skipped the fundraiser but showed up to earlier caucus meetings. Moms for Liberty had about 500 attendees from around the country. But what Moms for Liberty created by current and former Florida school board members fighting school mask requirements lacked in official party structure, it made up for in star power. DeSantis, first lady Casey DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos all spoke to the group, encouraging the ballroom full of mostly white women to keep fighting against critical race theory and the sexualization of their kids. The Florida Democrats, meanwhile, held caucus meetings to coordinate messaging, discuss a range of issues and hear from all the top Democratic candidates in the midterms, including gubernatorial primary rivals Fried and Rep. Charlie Crist, attorney general hopefuls Aramis Ayala and Daniel Uhlfelder, chief financial officer candidate Adam Hattersley, and Rep. Val Demings, who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat. The galas keynote speaker was Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker. Charlie Crist arrives with his new Fiance Chelsea Grimes before the start of the Leadership Blue Gala for the Florida Democratic Party on Saturday, July 16, 2022 in Tampa. Education as a microcosm Moms for Liberty is technically a nonpartisan group focused solely on education issues, though their summit received sponsorships from conservative heavyweights like the Heritage Foundation. Some of the attendees and speakers, including podcaster James Lindsay, said the energy surrounding schools is about more than education, but about Americas cultural future. Lindsay claimed Marxist leftists are trying to infiltrate curriculum to radicalize children, estrange them from their families and change the course of broader society. He called public schools Maoist thought reform prisons. This is how education has been stolen, said Lindsay, speaking on the main stage directly after Casey DeSantis. The purpose is to fuel a gigantic public-private partnership between corporate and state power so they have absolute control. He and others also openly questioned the fact that transgender people exist. Stephen Gaskill, president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, warned his groups meeting that the anti-trans and similar rhetoric surrounding Florida public education is an existential threat to vulnerable youth. (Republicans) are coming into blue areas ... theyre making inroads in Broward County, theyre here in blue Tampa, he said. We need to fight. This is a four-alarm fire. Theres no other sugarcoating. We are losing this battle. Former Miami-area state Sen. Dwight Bullard, who is the senior political adviser for the progressive grassroots organization Florida Rising, said he believed Florida Democrats need to be more aggressive in explaining the value of public education and paint Republicans concerns with curriculum as a desire to maintain control. I think its part of a larger theme: controlling womens bodies, controlling content in our education, said Bullard, a former public school teacher. No ones buying their belief in freedom because theyre restricting ... freedoms. Crist argued that Republicans, mainly DeSantis, have honed in on school curricula to fulfill political ambitions. Not teaching our students what our actual history is, is mind-blowingly ignorant, Crist said. (DeSantis) is singing to a choir. But it aint the truth. Recruiting for the future Multiple Democrats admitted that their party has, in the past, neglected to recognize the importance of recruiting people for local, down-ballot races a contrast to groups like Moms for Liberty. The only way to get your party entrenched is literally at the local level; you have to start with school board and then from there you go to mosquito control board then on to state representative, said Cynthia Garrow, vice president of the Trinity Democratic Club in Pasco County. The Democratic Party needs to realize thats where we need to put the money. Johanna Lopez, an Orange County school board member whos running for state House, is an example of someone working to inch up that hierarchy of public office. She said she was spurred to pursue an office in state government after the DeSantis administration preempted school boards from being able to require requiring masks. Multiple Democrats expressed optimism that Republicans movement to the right will give them the upper hand, including on issues like affordable housing or abortion. Seeing the radicalization of the Republican Party is not only exciting the Democratic base, Fried said. It certainly is waking up independents and true conservative Republicans saying, What has happened to my party? Booker is the first Black Kentuckian in state history to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul holds a commanding fundraising advantage over Democratic challenger Charles Booker heading into the final months of their top-of-the-ticket race in Kentucky. Paul raised more than $3.1 million in the three-month period through June, while Booker collected more than $1.3 million, each campaign said. Paul bolstered his campaign cash reserves, with $9.2 million still in the bank. Booker had about $900,000 in his campaign account. FILE U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul holds a commanding fundraising advantage over Democratic challenger Charles Booker heading into the final months of their top-of-the-ticket race in Kentucky. (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File) Paul a former presidential candidate seeking a third Senate term in November is better positioned than ever to win reelection, said Jake Cox, his deputy campaign manager. Rand Pauls pro-liberty message continues to resonate with Kentuckians who depend on him to defend their freedoms in the Senate, Cox said in a news release. Booker, a former state lawmaker, has acknowledged that Paul can throw all his big money into the campaign but has insisted he can overcome the disparity. Booker pointed to his campaigns surging numbers among small-dollar donors. He acknowledged that more financial contributions are critical while stressing that his campaign is winnable and worth the investment. In a statement, Booker said hes proud to be a campaign that is funded by the people. The people of Kentucky deserve a U.S. senator who sees them and will fight for them. Democrat Charles Booker Speaks to a gathering of supporters as he announces his candidacy for the United States Senate at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in Louisville, Ky., on July 1, 2021. Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul holds a commanding fundraising advantage over Democratic challenger Charles Booker heading into the final months of their top-of-the-ticket race in Kentucky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, FIle) Kentucky hasnt elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in three decades. The Senate race has at times seemed to be overshadowed by the states emerging 2023 governors race. Several Republican hopefuls are jockeying for advantage in whats shaping up as an intensely competitive GOP gubernatorial primary next spring. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is seeking a second term. The campaign between Paul and Booker is a battle between starkly different philosophies. Booker is a progressive who promotes such social programs as Medicare for All and a basic universal income, saying the initiatives would uplift people from poor urban neighborhoods to struggling rural communities. He also supports a clean-energy agenda and criminal justice changes. The last time Rand Paul ran in a midterm election, he only received 26% of the votes of all registered voters in Kentucky. We win by lifting up the voices that get ignored and turning out voters who have felt left behind. Yes, we will win this race. Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) July 11, 2022 Paul is a libertarian-leaning conservative first elected to the Senate in the tea party-driven wave of 2010. Paul rails against socialism and big-government programs he says encroach on individual liberties and drive up the nations debt. The senator also denounces what he views as government overreach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Booker is the first Black Kentuckian in state history to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Rand Paul holds commanding fundraising advantage over challenger Charles Booker in Senate race appeared first on TheGrio. Sen. Ted Cruz said Saturday that the U.S. Supreme Court made a mistake when legalizing same-sex marriage. The Texas Republican made the remarks while discussing the vulnerability of Obergefell v. Hodges the 2015 landmark civil rights case in which the countrys highest court ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples during an interview with conservative commentator Liz Wheeler. He then shared the exchange on his YouTube channel. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing to examine a post-Roe America, focusing on the legal consequences of the Dobbs decision, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing to examine a post-Roe America, focusing on the legal consequences of the Dobbs decision, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik/) Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nations history, Cruz said when asked what would be the arguments for overturning the case if Obergefell was in front of the Supreme Court again. Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states. We saw states before Obergefell some states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships. There were different standards that the states were adopting, he said. Cruz argued that if the Supreme Court had not ruled the way it did, the democratic process would have continued to operate. However, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Court said, No, we know better than you and now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage, he said. That decision was clearly wrong when it was decided, Cruz said, adding that the Court was overreaching. And there it is. Ted Cruz says the Supreme Court was wrong to legalize same-sex marriage. pic.twitter.com/WoprwsLV4R Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 16, 2022 LGBTQ rights advocates have been on high alert since late June when the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Even though Justice Samuel Alito wrote that nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas seemed to have gone a little further. Thomas, in his concurring opinion, suggested that a reversal on rights involving same-sex marriages, gay sex, and birth control is not off the table. In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is demonstrably erroneous, we have a duty to correct the error established in those precedents, he wrote. Kansas voters face one of the most important questions in state history on Aug. 2. Theyll decide if the Kansas Constitution will make women second-class citizens, with fewer rights than men. Theyll decide if a womans most intimate and personal health decisions should be handed to politicians. Theyll decide if Kansas policy will be dictated by theocrats and authoritarians, without regard to an individuals personal beliefs, faith or morality. The voters answer to these questions must be no. We urge a no vote on the Kansas constitutional amendment. Right to personal autonomy, human dignity In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court said the states Bill of Rights establishes a fundamental right to abortion, independent of the U.S. Constitution. At issue here is the inalienable natural right of personal autonomy, which is the heart of human dignity, the justices said. It encompasses our ability to control our own bodies, to assert bodily integrity, and to exercise self-determination. The proposed so-called Value Them Both amendment overturns that idea. The constitution of the state of Kansas does not create or secure a right to abortion, the amendment says. The people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion. Supporters of the amendment say that language doesnt ban the procedure. Thats true, but deeply misleading: The amendment clearly enables major abortion restrictions. Its the critical permission slip lawmakers must have to enact the abortion laws they desire. And no one should doubt no one that the Legislature will attempt to ban almost all abortions in Kansas, for anyone, if the amendment passes, subject only to whatever federal laws might still allow the procedure for some patients. There is no other reason for putting this question on the ballot. Anti-abortion groups in Kansas, and their friends in the Legislature, did not fight Roe v. Wade for nearly 50 years only to settle now for merely keeping abortion clinics clean. Look at Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri, and you can see the future in Kansas if the amendment prevails. No pro-life legislator were aware of has stepped forward to say new abortion restrictions will be off the table forever in Kansas if the amendment passes. That silence should speak volumes to voters. No. All evidence suggests the Kansas anti-abortion community wont be content simply to renew commonsense regulations, which were passed with Roes protections in place. Now that Roe is gone, legislative restraint will go as well. Rejecting the amendment does not remove the Legislatures authority to pass abortion laws, by the way. In its 2019 opinion, the Kansas Supreme Court said abortion restrictions are still allowed, if Kansas has a compelling interest and has narrowly tailored its actions to that interest. Thats the proper standard, and it remains intact even if voters reject the amendment. If an abortion statute can meet it, then it remains on the books. Some pro-lifers want a much lower, so-called rational basis for abortion laws and rules. Thats wrong. Abortion rights should not be decided by a handful of legislators chatting over a water fountain, deciding what they think is rational. Legislators cant take away the inalienable The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade makes much of the idea that abortion policy shouldnt be decided by the courts. It is time to return the issue of abortion to the peoples elected representatives, the majority opinion says. Why? Why should state legislators get to decide if a pregnant woman must carry a fetus to term, regardless of her circumstances? Political disputes are usually considered and settled by the electoral process. But that isnt always true: The nations founding documents (and the Kansas Supreme Court) say some rights are inalienable, which means they cant be taken away by lawmakers or a vote of the people. Could the Legislature prohibit Kansas families from having children, or require abortions? Of course not: The right to have children and raise a family is clear and inalienable, even though the right is not explicitly guaranteed in the states Bill of Rights, or the U.S. Constitution. In the same way, a woman has a fundamental, inalienable right to choose an abortion. It is not something for the peoples elected representatives to decide, no matter what Samuel Alito thinks. Its for the woman to decide. Anything less reduces her to second-class status, unprotected by the law, and not free. State legislators often make horrible choices. Over the decades, state lawmakers in this country have enabled slavery, endorsed segregated schools and public facilities, protected child labor and a host of similar initiatives. Theyve rejected marriage equality, criminalized private behavior between consenting adults and outlawed contraception. In some states, women and their doctors face prison if they seek abortion services. In almost every case, the courts have had to remind politicians that fundamental rights cant be canceled on a whim. If the Kansas amendment prevails, the courts will be largely powerless to stop the Legislatures routine interference with a womans health care rights. And not just any legislature, but the one we now have: the charlatans, the science deniers and just plain kooks who serve there. Must women be required to put their health in the hands of such people? The answer, like the vote, must be no. Abortion is not mandatory The Roe decision, recently discarded by the U.S. Supreme Court, was an effort to recognize the states interest in protecting a fetus, particularly late in a pregnancy. We supported the Roe framework, which largely remains intact in Kansas, at least for now. The rights of the state to protect a fetus, however, cannot always supersede the rights of all women to make their own choices with their own bodies. Severe abortion restrictions in Kansas would mean sickness, and perhaps death, for some women. Already, doctors in other states report confusion concerning strict anti-abortion statutes, or if they apply to so-called Plan B medication or intrauterine devices, or ectopic emergencies. Some physicians are refusing to treat patients without legal advice first. That chaos is headed directly to Kansas if the amendment passes. Abortion is not mandatory those who oppose the procedure can still convince mothers not to undergo it. They can provide support for women facing unwanted pregnancy. They can accelerate efforts to help women (and men) raise children in a safe, nurturing environment. We support those efforts. We want as few abortions as possible. But we do not support the heavy hand of the state interfering with a womans most difficult, intimate, personal health decisions. We know this vote involves faith obligations for some voters. Kansans have an absolute right to worship as they see fit, or not to worship at all. They have the right to vote as their religion dictates, or vote their conscience if it differs from the leaders of their church, synagogue or mosque. But no faith has a right to impose its views on those who do not share its beliefs. To think otherwise is un-American, and unworthy of a free people. Will Kansans act to protect liberty and autonomy, or will they succumb to misleading claims of moderation from amendment supporters? Do Kansas voters understand the dangers of providing unlimited power to state legislators? What other freedoms might be next? Kansans once bled in the name of equality. The state was among the first to recognize a womans political rights. Now, Kansans must act again, as the nation watches. The Legislature moved this election to the August primary, hoping you wont vote. They put confusing language on the ballot, further obfuscating its true intent. Amendment supporters have run a campaign of misdirection. All of this is regrettable. But the vote is still yours. Your voice is the only one that matters. No means no. Vote no on Aug 2. Ted Budd, guns Ted Budd may be completely tone-deaf in regard to gun violence in America as the July 10 editorial correctly points out, but voters should also be concerned about Budds actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Just hours after the Capitol riot occurred, Budd voted to disenfranchise millions of American voters in swing states that Donald Trump lost based solely on Trumps election lies. As weve seen, American democracy is more fragile than we ever might have imagined. We need elected officials who put the country and democratic principles first. Electing Budd would be a grave mistake. Barry Jordan, Charlotte Student debt Regarding Student debt distress, (July 10): Affording college is really just simple economics. How much is the total cost of the college you want to attend and how are you going to pay for it? If you have money saved, good. If you have to take out a loan, then does the cost of the degree produce a job that will pay back the loan and your post-college living expenses. Too many students dont seem to match the college or degree to what they can afford. They take out loans and then look for the government to forgive part or all of it. Anyone who pays federal taxes should be overwhelmingly against student loan forgiveness because its you who is paying, not the government. Jim Shuback, Charlotte Aiding ICE The writer is Mecklenburg County sheriff. Gov. Roy Cooper was right to veto the bill that forced N.C. sheriffs to work with ICE. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. When police chiefs and sheriffs are forced to step in, trust among our communities erodes. My community is safer when all members are able to assist law enforcement with investigations and report crimes without fear of repercussions as severe as deportation. Forcing sheriffs to honor ICE detainers also risks running afoul of the Constitution. Once someone completes a sentence or makes bond, law enforcement agencies have limited authority to detain that person for immigration purposes and could face civil liability. North Carolina sheriffs do work with ICE, as state law requires. Coopers veto supports safe communities, responsible government, and keeping immigration enforcement where it belongs. Garry McFadden, Charlotte NC climate policy I applaud Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania whose climate rule took effect July 1, forcing Pennsylvanias coal and natural gas-fired power plants to pay for each ton of carbon dioxide they release. Now that the Supreme Court has crippled the EPA, we must rely on individual states to improve living conditions. I hope Gov. Roy Cooper will enact similar protections for our state. With hurricanes, flooding, fires, tornadoes and extreme heat all affecting N.C. residents, a stronger local climate policy has become imperative. Kim Fanelly, Mint Hill Clarence Thomas Justice Clarence Thomas risks taking conservatism off the guardrails of sanity. Above all, we conservatives should be concerned with preserving liberty laid out in the Declaration of Independence and guarded by the Constitution. According to Thomas and ultra-originalists, anything state legislatures and majorities say goes, even at the expense of individual liberty. Originalists seem to forget the Ninth Amendment protects unenumerated rights, even those not directly cited in the Constitution. Conservatives must answer whether they prefer individual liberty or state power that vastly expands government power to regulate everything from access to birth control to romantic partners. Gabriel Russ, Lincolnton US aid to Ukraine It is a natural thing for Americans faced with economic hardship to resent the amount of aid going to Ukraine. But Sen. Thom Tillis is to be commended for realizing that the front line of freedom is currently on the steppes of Ukraine. Failing to arm and resupply Ukraine will lead to a Europe held hostage by Russian arms and oil, leaving America isolated. The burden and mantle of freedom is a hard one, but no other nation has the capacity to do what America does. Standing with Ukraine is what America should do. Carlton Huffman, Granite Falls Writing off Biden Its too early to write off President Biden. I suspect that most Republicans, certainly Trump supporters, will automatically say in any poll that they disapprove of him. But the political trends of the country are changing and the idea that regional and local candidates must ride the coattails of the presidential candidate is not a current sure bet. In a world where the media spends a lot of time speculating on what Bidens low approval numbers mean, be patient concerning the countrys mood. The mid-terms are still months away. Sam Roberson, Fort Mill New QB Best of luck to the Panthers from Cleveland! You traded for a more than competent QB and the Browns mortgaged their future for a player of dubious moral character. Baker Mayfield helped turn our long dysfunctional team around. Its my hope that he starts game one and annihilates the Browns. Who knows? I may be sporting Carolina Panthers blue this fall. John Bryan, Chagrin Falls, Ohio The Wichita Eagle won its first Emmy on Saturday at the Heartland Emmy awards ceremony in Oklahoma City. The Eagles 2021 documentary, Once Was Lost: The 70-Year Search for Father Kapaun, won in the category of Documentary Program: Topical. The film, which recounts the recovery of the remains of Korean War chaplain and Pilsen native Father Emil Kapaun, was produced, written and directed by Eagle multimedia journalist Travis Heying. Eagle visuals editor Jaime Green and Eagle executive editor Michael Roehrman also earned awards for their roles as producers of the film, as did freelance writer Roy Wenzl for his role as writer/director. Carter Green composed the films score. The film was published on The Eagles website, Kansas.com, in November. Heying and Wenzl traveled to Honolulu; Houston; Washington, D.C.; and Dover, Delaware, while making the film and researching an accompanying story a process that took more than five months. The Wichita Eagle and Kansas.com picked up its first ever Emmy on Saturday in Oklahoma City for the documentary film Once Was Lost: The 70-Year Search for Chaplain Emil Kapaun. Pictured are, second from left, The Eagles Jaime Green, Travis Heying and Michael Roehrman. Pictured at far left is the films music composer, Carter Green. Im elated that the Emmys honored The Eagles work, Roehrman said. Father Kapaun was an extraordinary man, and Im thrilled his story as well as the story of those who found him have touched so many people. The Heartland Emmys award outstanding work in television and broadcast content from Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. Ceremonies took place simultaneously on Saturday in Denver and Oklahoma City. The Eagles film was in competition against documentaries produced by Oklahoma City television station KOKH, by The Denver Broncos, and by the PBS series Roadtrip Nation. The Eagles Emmy-winning documentary can be viewed at kansas.com/kapaun. One of the most prolific British screen actors is looking forward to swapping the studio for one of the most unique performances of his career. Toby Jones has brought to life characters as diverse as Dobby the house elf in Harry Potter and fictional 1970s spy Percy Alleline, and is recently best known for his role in Detectorists. But, this weekend, he will perform on a boat drifting in the reeds on Lough Erne to read excerpts from one of his favourite playwrights. Jones will be one of the headline stars of the Happy Days Enniskillen Beckett Festival, which returns to the Co Fermanagh town for the first time since 2019. John Minihans photograph of playwright Samuel Beckett (Sothebys/PA) The five-day international multi-arts festival runs from Thursday and will also feature Dame Sarah Connolly, Fleur Barron, Tadhg Murphy, Liam O Maonlai and Adrian Dunbar. Jones will perform readings in the Breandrum Chapel of Rest in Enniskillen on Saturday, and on Sunday morning he will go out on the Kestrel ferry to near Devenish island and drift among the reeds as he reads two sections from the end of Krapps Last Tape. He told the PA news agency he is looking forward to his first visit to the west of Northern Ireland and being immersed in Beckett. Im familiar with working on that kind of programme but whats fantastic is that its Beckett, one of the first writers I ever as a teenager got really into, he said. Its a great opportunity for me to acquaint myself with literature in an extraordinary situation. At school I loved literature and acting gives you this great opportunity to experience literature in three dimensions and often to experience pieces repeatedly and to explore them repeatedly in performance. Devenish Island in Lough Erne (PA) Thats one of the privileges of the job you get to immerse yourself in stuff that you were first enthusiastic about at school, like Beckett, and then you come as an adult, you get to revisit Beckett three dimensionally in movement on stage or here on a boat who is going to turn that down? What a fantastic opportunity. Beckett was born in Dublin but spent several years in Enniskillen as a pupil at Portora Royal School before he went on to study at Trinity College. The festival is the largest global celebration of the Irish Nobel Laureate, with a plethora of Beckett-inspired performances. It is celebrating its 10th anniversary and returning for the first time since the pandemic. Jones urged hearing the authors work spoke rather than simply reading it. All his writing is, in a sense, very direct even if its enigmatic, and at time apparently very austere and strange on the page. As soon as you start saying it, it has a chattiness and a directness and often a humour and certainly a humanity. Hearing it often makes it more accessible than sitting down and reading it, he said. Meanwhile, Jones is set to film a one-off extended episode of Detectorists next month. Festival founder and artistic director Sean Doran said he is delighted to be returning to Enniskillen after the pandemic. After a three-year enforced silence by Covid, we are delighted to be bringing back to Enniskillen its unique and only international festival, Happy Days, he said. It is a truly special festival, attracting not only international names and faces to perform but also attracting audiences from across the globe. We are particularly thrilled to be remounting for our 10th anniversary three Made in Fermanagh classics of the last 10 years: Walking For Waiting For Godot, Ohio Impromptu and Inferno-Not I. These bespoke productions define this destination festival from other summer festivals. Not only are they are site specific to Fermanagh using the beautiful Fermanagh landscapes to heighten the experience of Becketts plays but they involve experiential travelling to the event by audiences whether it is on foot for Waiting For Godot, by boat for Ohio Impromptu and Inferno-Not I is truly unique. Bookings can be made at www.ardhowen.com, with most tickets priced from 5-15. For more information and the full programme of events, see www.artsoverborders.com. A universal household levy could offer a viable alternative to the BBC licence fee, a new report has suggested. The Lords Communications and Digital Committee said the model, in which each household would be required to pay a flat fee regardless of consumption, could provide the broadcaster with predictable and sustainable levels of income. In a report into the future funding of the BBC, the committee said it would need to be means-tested to make it fairer than the current model, with linking the fee to council tax a way of achieving this. In the 73-page document, the committee said many of the advantages of the existing licence fee are under threat and the model has become regressive (PA) This method has been adopted in Switzerland and Germany. The committee also urged all parties to consider a hybrid model in which public service content would be publicly funded, while other programming, such as high-end drama, would be behind a paywall. The report said the model would give audiences choice while ensuring the BBCs core programming remains universally accessible, but warned there would be significant commercial risk with no guarantee of success. In the 73-page document, the committee said many of the advantages of the existing licence fee are under threat and the model has become regressive. It ruled out two funding models touted widely during the ongoing debate over the corporations funding. It recommended against entirely subscription or advertising-funded models, as well as ones in which the BBC is fully funded by Government grants. A purely advertising-funded BBC is highly unlikely to be viable and would mean a multi-billion pound reduction in income for the BBC whilst damaging the rest of the public service broadcasting sector, which relies on advertising. BBC programming may also need to scale back to refocus on core public service programming under a significantly reduced budget, the report added. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has announced a review of the licence fee (PA) The committee also dismissed a subscription service model similar to that of Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV+ because it would generate insufficient income whilst introducing disproportionate barriers to access. It said the model would also undermine the BBCs ability to deliver its services across the UK and come with various technical challenges. Additionally, the report said the BBC faces major challenges in the coming years, which will be characterised by rising competition and costs, and constrained funding. It will also have to compete with vastly better-funded international streaming giants while answering questions about its value in a media landscape in which consumers have more and more choice. It comes after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced in January that the licence fee will be frozen at 159 for the next two years until April 2024. The minister said she wants to find a new funding model before the current deal expires in 2027 as it is completely outdated. She also announced a review of the BBCs funding model, which she later said was due to begin before the Commons summer recess on July 22, although this has been thrown into doubt following the resignation of Boris Johnson as Tory leader. In the report, the committee said it is concerned about the lack of a specific plan regarding the upcoming review and warned the Government risked undermining the legitimacy of any changes it may propose. Chairwoman of the committee, Baroness Stowell of Beeston, said: The greatest threat to the BBCs future isnt a battle amongst politicians about the licence fee though decisions about how it is funded are important to get right and becoming increasingly urgent. The real danger is if the BBC doesnt seize this opportunity to reform and demonstrate why its of value to audiences in this new world of endless choice. Thats why the committee concluded that, when it comes to what the BBC does, the status quo is not an option. There will be choices for the Government and Parliament to make when it comes to funding mechanisms. But these decisions must be informed by a bold vision of what the BBC exists for and what it will deliver. So first, we are calling on the BBC to define its role more clearly and respond confidently with a plan that is positively ambitious about what and how it will change to serve the public interest in this fast-changing world. A BBC spokesperson said: We welcome the Lords report. We agree we need to keep reforming which is what we have been doing at pace. Clearly the BBC needs to keep relevant and we welcome the reports finding that a market failure BBC wouldnt be a good outcome. Beyond that, we are open minded about the future and it is right there is a debate on whether the licence fee needs to evolve and if so, what comes next. Two years after a West Virginia woman was found in a pool of her own blood outside her house, bludgeoned to near-death, she woke from a coma and pointed the finger at her brother. Wanda Palmer was discovered by lawn care workers on June 10, 2020, nearly dead in Cottageville, according to police. Since then, she has been at a New Martinsville long term care center. Until she woke up. The keys to the whole thing lay with the victim herself and with her unable to communicate we were left with nothing, Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellenger told WV Metro News. Now low and behold two years later and boom, shes awake and able to tell us exactly what happened. Wanda Palmer, left, and brother Daniel Wanda Palmer, left, and brother Daniel Palmer identified her brother, Daniel Palmer, as her attacker, according to officials. He has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding. Mellenger said investigators had a little bit of an idea what happened but not enough to make an arrest in the two years. Police have still not publicly identified a motive or released any details on the attack, but Mellenger said he believes Palmer was bludgeoned over the head with a machete or a hatchet. Chinese FM expresses sympathy to Pakistani FM over suffering caused by floods in Pakistan Xinhua) 09:49, July 17, 2022 NANNING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday sent a message of sympathy to Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari over the suffering caused by the floods in Pakistan. In his message, Wang said that he was shocked to learn that many parts of Pakistan were hit by heavy floods, which had caused serious casualties and property losses, and he expressed his deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families, the injured and the people in the affected areas. The Chinese government and people will always stand side by side with the Pakistani government and people, Wang said, expressing his belief that under the leadership of the Pakistani government, the Pakistani people will surely overcome the disaster and resume normal work and life at an early date. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji) Officials said 83 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Visakhapatnam district from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. As many as 85 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the viral disease during this period. The total cumulative case load as of Sunday was 587. Representational Image/DC Visakhapatnam: More than 50 per cent of the patients hospitalised due to Covid-19 here are pregnant women as their immunity level is low," sources at King George Hospital said. On Sunday, nearly 35 Covid-19 patients were being treated in the 23-bed isolation ward at KGH. About 50 per cent of these were affected by the pandemic. All are safe, however, and are responding well to treatment, the sources said. Dr Vidya Rama, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Andhra Medical College, said, We are screening every pregnant woman before admitting her to the hospital for pregnancy-related treatment. Covid-19 is spreading rapidly now, but people treat it as viral fever. Dr Shantilatha, gynaecologist from Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad, said pregnant women were usually exposed to Covid-19 as their physical immunity was lower than that of normal people. During this Covid-19 active period, family members should take extra care and isolate pregnant women from others at home, said Dr Shantilatha, who previously worked at KGH and then got transferred to Osmania. Officials said 83 new Covid19 cases were reported in Visakhapatnam district from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. As many as 85 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the viral disease during this period. The total cumulative case load as of Sunday was 587. Till the first week of July, the total number of cases was around 200. Till the third week of June, the total cumulative case load was less than 200. "During the third wave, in the fourth week of December 2021, we saw an increase in cases. By the fourth week of January 2022, the cases reached their peak in the state. On January 24, the state recorded an average of 12,107 cases per week with a single-day peak of 14,502 cases. Now, the same is true, especially in Vizag. The situation seems to be getting back to square one, a health official told DC. Highlights Active cumulative cases 587 as on Sunday The highest daily Covid19 caseload in Visakhapatnam was 2,117 in the fourth week of January 2022 Single-day caseload crossed 2,000-mark in the 3rd wave in January 2022 In 2nd wave, highest caseload reached 2000 in May 2021 The injured personnel have been admitted to a hospital, and are out of danger, the previous official had said An Indo-Tibetan Border Police jawan fired at his three colleagues at a camp in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI File Image) Jammu: An Indo-Tibetan Border Police jawan Saturday fired at his three colleagues at a camp in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, before he himself received fatal bullet wounds, with a senior official saying the exact sequence of the event is being investigated. Earlier officials had said Constable Bhupendra Singh had shot himself dead after firing at his colleagues around 3:30 pm at the Devika Ghat community centre in the district. But, later an official said there was not much clarity on how Singh died. He said Singh could have been killed either in an exchange of fire, or he might have shot himself, or possibly he was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from his own weapon. The exact sequence of the event is being investigated, the senior ITBP officer said. The injured personnel have been admitted to a hospital, and are out of danger, the previous official had said. He had also said that Singh had shot himself from his INSAS service rifle and he died on the spot. The jawan belonged to the 8th battalion of the force and was presently deputed to the 'F' company of the 2nd ad-hoc battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) deployed in Jammu and Kashmir for security duties. Preliminary inputs suggest some altercation took place between the jawans, but the exact cause that led to the incident is still being probed, the official said. A court of inquiry has been ordered by the border guarding force, he said. The ITBP is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China apart from rendering a variety of roles in the internal security domain of the country. The incident comes a day after an Army jawan shot himself fatally after killing another colleague and injuring two others in Poonch district of the Union territory. BJP's strength in Parliament makes Dhankhar's win a foregone conclusion Union Home Minister Amit Shah with WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankar. Dhankhar has been chosen as the BJP-led NDA's candidate for vice-presidential elections in 2022. (PTI Photo) New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday named "kisan putra" (son of the soil/farmers son) Jagdeep Dhankhar, 71, currently West Bengal governor, as the ruling NDA alliance candidate for the post of next vice president of the country. A prominent member of the Jat community, which has been firmly supporting the BJP since 2014, even after the year-long farmers protests against the now repealed farm laws, Mr Dhankhar was often in the news for taking on West Bengal chief minister and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee over various issues. This newspaper was the first to report that Mr Dhankhar has emerged as the "frontrunner" for the constitutional post in the NDA camp. The vice president is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The NDA has enough numbers to get its VP nominee elected, for which the electoral college consists of members from both houses of Parliament. Election will take place on August 6. Incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidus term is ending on August 10. The last day for filing the nomination for the VP polls is July 19 and the new vice president will be sworn in on August 11. Opposition leaders will be meeting on Sunday to discuss their vice presidential candidate. Mr Dhankhar had played a key role in getting OBC status for Jats in his home state, Rajasthan. The BJP parliamentary board, which met at the party headquarters and was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other top brass, decided on Mr Dhankhars name to succeed Mr Naidu. "Kisan putra Jagdeep Dhankhar is known for his humility. He brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career. He has always worked for the well being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. Glad that he will be our VP candidate," tweeted the PM after the BJP officially announced Mr Dhankhars name. The PM also praised the NDA VP nominee for his excellent knowledge of the Indian Constitution and said he is also well versed in legislative affairs. "I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha and guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress," wrote the PM. It can also be mentioned that Mr Dhankhar had played a crucial role as a Bengal governor. His running feud with the state chief minister, Ms Banerjee had also "exposed the flaws and apparent misrule in the state," a BJP functionary said. He had also sent a report to the Centre on the states law and order situation after the BJP president J.P Naddas convoy was attacked in the state in 2020. He was often described as "Mamatas bete noire". Some within the party went to the extent of saying that "Mr Dhankhars relentless efforts to work for the people of Bengal had shown tremendous result." His nomination is also expected to send a strong signal to the people of Rajasthan, a Congress-ruled state. Mr Nadda, who announced Mr Dhankhars name, described him as a kisan putra who established himself as a "people's governor". Mr Nadda said that Mr Dhankhar's life reflects the spirit of the new India that is overcoming innumerable social and economic hurdles and achieving one's goals. BJP leaders noted that Mr Dhankhar has been in public life for more than three decades. Mr Dhankhar completed his education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh and is a Physics graduate from the University of Rajasthan from where he also pursued his LLB. He practiced law at the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court. He is a former president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association and was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Jhunjhunu in 1989 and has also served as MoS, parliamentary affairs. He was appointed West Bengal governor in 2019. by Sumon Corraya Patrash Soren, from the Diocese of Dinajpur, still goes from village to village to preach the Gospel and prepare others for their baptism. Among the tribal people, There is a great opportunity to touch the hearts of non-Christians, many of whom love our way of life, our culture, and Christs teachings," Soren explains. Dinajpur (AsiaNews) Catechists are a hidden but essential face of the proclamation of the Gospel in Asia. Patrash Soren, 72, is an example of that. Born into a Baptist family in India, he and his family moved to Bangladesh when he was two. Later they became Catholics. For 47 years, Soren served as a catechist in Bangladesh. "I started my career as a catechist in 1975 with a monthly salary of 900 taka (US$ 9.60). I brought God's message to thousands of people and many of them received it. Preaching the Gospel gave me immense pleasure." An ethnic Santal, the father of six (four daughters and two sons) began as a teacher at the Novara Primary School in Suihari, Diocese of Dinajpur, northern Bangladesh. Eventually, he left this job for a life as a catechist, to preach the faith directly, mostly to tribal people. "Generally, we reach a village to preach Gods message if we get an invitation, he explains. Once there, We teach them the catechesis, hymns, and the Holy Bible for at least three years. But there is more. We involve them in church activities. Presently, we have catechumens in 44 villages in the parish of Suihari, where people are preparing to receive the baptism." The Diocese of Dinajpur has 18 parishes and each has several villages with their own catechumens. PIME missionaries were the first to preach the Gospel in this region of northern Bangladesh. Some PIME priests together with the Missionaries of the Immaculate are still present, but most of the preaching is carried out by local catechists. In this area, there is great opportunity to touch the hearts of non-Christians who want to receive the baptism, Soren explained. I asked some why they want to join us? They told me that they love our way of life, our culture, and Christs teachings," he added. "We never promise them that if they receive Christ, they will get some favours. Yet tribal people are coming to us and asking to receive the baptism. If we see that they are eager and sincere and regularly attend prayers and Sunday Mass, after at least three years of teaching and preaching, we baptise them it with the help of the bishop and local priests." Soren reports that more than 100 tribal adults were baptised this year thanks to catechists efforts and preaching. "We have 32 catechist nuns, 20 full-time paid catechists and more than 50 prayer leaders, who play the main role in winning the hearts and minds of new believers. Our main achievement is that, seeing the life of new believers, other non-Christians also want to receive Christ." Soren retired five years ago, but he is still active. In addition to preaching, he teaches new catechists. But this can be a challenge. Nowadays young people are not very interested in becoming catechists. But there is great demand for them in the Catholic Church of this country. Priests and bishops cannot do everything, but we catechists can live with people in the catechumens village and be with them as witnesses." Even though Muslims represent 90 per cent of the countrys population, the elderly catechist says he never faced any threat from Islamic radicals. "Instead of threats I received support from Muslim brothers who watched us as we transformed the lives of tribal people. They saw that by receiving Christianity they abandoned bad habits like alcohol or nature worship. Soren remembers with great emotion 1976 and 1977, when many people Hindus received the baptism. "Now that I reached the last stage of my life, I think I can say that I have had a wonderful life as a missionary, preaching the message. This was my vocation. God called me to it. As I worked for God, he also gave me plenty of blessings. I see this every day in my children's lives." Francis issued new appeal during the Angelus. He also expressed his closeness to the people of Sri Lanka, calling for a peaceful solution to that countrys political crisis. He urged the faithful to use summer holidays to open the Gospel and read it slowly, letting themselves to be challenged by those pages. Next Sunday, he will begin a penitential pilgrimage" among the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Addressing the faithful in St Peters Square at the end of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis expressed once again his closeness to the grief-stricken people of Ukraine, struck every day by a hail of missiles. How can one fail to understand that war only creates destruction and death, driving peoples apart, killing truth and dialogue? Francis asked. I pray and hope that all the international actors will truly work to resume negotiations, not to fuel the senselessness of war. The pontiff also this occasion to express his renewed closeness to the people of Sri Lanka, who have been struggling with a serious political crisis for weeks. I join you in prayer and I urge all parties to seek a peaceful solution to the present crisis, favouring, in particular, the poorest, respecting the rights of all. I join the religious leaders in imploring everyone to refrain from all forms of violence and to initiate a process of dialogue for the common good. At the start of the Angelus, Pope Francis dwelt on the passage in todays liturgy (Lk 10:38-42) centred on Marthas and Marys hospitality towards Jesus. Jesus overturns our way of thinking many times, while Marthas philosophy seems to be this: first duty, then pleasure. Indeed, hospitality is not composed of fine words, but demands that you put your hand to the stove, that everything necessary is done so the guest feels welcome. Jesus is well aware of this. Jesus acknowledges Marthas effort. However, he wants to make her understand that there is a new order of priorities, different from the one she had followed until then. What is the better part that Mary chose? It is listening to Jesuss words, Francis answered. Mary did not listen while standing, doing other things, but she sat at Jesus feet. She understood that he is not like other guests. The word of Jesus is not abstract; it is a teaching that touches and shapes our life, changes it, frees it from the opaqueness of evil, satisfies and infuses it with a joy that does not pass. This does not detract from the value of practical effort, but it must not precede it; instead, it should flow from listening to the word of Jesus. It must be enlivened by his Spirit. Otherwise, it is reduced to fussing and fretting over many things, it is reduced to sterile activism. From this comes Franciss call to the faithful to use the holidays to listen to Jesus. For many people the rhythm of life is frenetic and wearisome. However, Summertime can be valuable also for opening the Gospel and reading it slowly, without haste [. . .]. Let us allow ourselves to be challenged by those pages, asking ourselves how our life, my life, is going, if it is in line with what Jesus says. The faithful, the pontiff said, ought to ask themselves the following: When I start my day, do I throw myself headlong into the things to be done, or do I first seek inspiration in the Word of God? At times we begin the day automatically, we start doing things like hens. No. We must start the day by, first of all, looking to the Lord, taking his Word, briefly, but let this be the inspiration for the day. If we leave the house in the morning keeping a word of Jesus in mind, the day will surely acquire a tone marked by that word, which has the power to orient our actions according to the wishes of the Lord. At the end of the Angelus, the pope mentioned the apostolic journey that will take him to Canada next Sunday where he is scheduled to meet with the countrys Indigenous peoples who in the past suffered policies of cultural assimilation, including by many Christians as well. And now I am about to embark on a penitential pilgrimage, which I hope, with God's grace, will contribute to the journey of healing and reconciliation already undertaken, Francis said. I ask you to please accompany me in prayer. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao reached Bhadrachalam on Sunday to assess the flood situation in river Godavari. The chief minister left for flood affected districts by road along with ministers and senior officials. KCR was supposed to conduct an aerial survey of undivided Warangal and Khammam districts which were ravaged by floods. However, CMO sources said the aerial survey was put off due to bad weather condition on the advice of officials. The chief minister visited Eturu Nagaram and Mulugu before reaching Bhadrachalam. He performed shanthi puja at Godavari river. He later visited a relief camp set up at Government Zilla Parishad High School and interacted with flood victims. The chief minister stated that the state government will construct permanent relief colonies for people of Bhadrachalam since the area is witnessing floods frequently. He directed district collector Anudeep to identify suitable land parcels which are not prone to flooding, for constructing the colonies. Back when this 2014 Moto Guzzi Griso 1200 8V SE was in the previous owners possession, its stock headlamp got replaced with an aftermarket LED substitute from Eagle Lights. The bike is currently located at a Wisconsin-based dealership, where its valve clearances have been checked and optimized last month.Furthermore, this pristine Griso rides on freshly-installed Continental ContiMotion tires, and its getting ready to hit the auction block as we speak! Displaying approximately 9,200 miles (14,800 km) on the counter, the Italian predator will be listed at no reserve on Bring a Trailer until the early evening of July 20. With two days remaining before the auctioning deadline, the top bidder is prepared to spend $7,000 in order to seal the deal.Mandello del Larios two-wheeled spartan comes to life thanks to an air- and oil-cooled 1,151cc V-twin engine, which packs four valves per cylinder, 11.0:1 compression, and a Marelli fuel injection setup with dual 50 mm (two-inch) throttle bodies. The twin-cylinder mill is capable of spawning 110 horses at 7,500 rpm, along with 80 pound-feet (108 Nm) of twisting force at 6,400 revs.A six-speed gearbox lets this force reach the Guzzis rear 17-inch wheel by means of a driveshaft, and the whole procedure can lead to a top speed of 130 mph (209 kph). When its 4.4-gallon (16.7-liter) fuel tank is empty, the motorcycle will tip the scales at 489 pounds (222 kg).As far as the suspension hardware goes, youll find a set of 43 mm (1.7-inch) upside-down forks up north and a fully-adjustable monoshock with progressive linkage down south. At the front, stopping power is obtained from 320 mm (12.6-inch) floating brake rotors and four-piston radial Brembo calipers. On the other hand, the rear hoop is ground to a halt by a single 282 mm (11.1-inch) disc and a two-piston caliper. The new number does not include an estimated 1,540 aircraft needed by Russian carriers. Manufacturers are not permitted to sell aircraft to Russian entities based on the ongoing aggression the country has leveled on Ukraine.Shorter term, 10-year demand inched up to 19,575 units; a projection that also excludes Russia. Single engine aircraft are expected to make up 75% of the demand, with over half being replacement aircraft and not fleet additions. Wide-body aircraft demand is just 17% of the total, numbering 7230."That's a function of a depressed environment in 2021 falling off and a new trend year in 2031 being added," Darren Hulst, Boeing vice president for commercial marketing, told reporers in a briefing ahead of the Sunday release. "It comes very close to our 2019" outlook if Russia was included.The new forecast still almost doubles the global airline fleet in the next twenty years as airlines welcome an increase in travel demand as the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic that all but grounded global air travel.Boeing projects that global freighter fleets will grow by 80% over the next two decades. The company believes air cargo business has benefitted from e-commerce networks shift from air to sea. Although air cargo still accounts for only 1% of global trade.Boeing has been grappling with the same supply shortages that other manufacturers have had to endure. In addition, the compnay is plagued by manufacturing problems with their flagship 787 Dreamliner 737 MAX certification, and delays in the introduction of the highly anticipated 777X . Competition from Airbus SE, the multinational European aerospace company is also a concern for the over 100-year old company. The introduction of the Airbus NEO is viewed as significant threat to Boeing' s dominance of single-aisle airplane sales. In a recent Statement of Clarification , BMW of North America briefly explained how their recent ConnectedDrive Upgrades (aka Functions on Demand) will work in the US market.It is important to note that BMW ConnectedDrive Upgrade is intended primarily as a digital aftersales solution and will not affect options that were ordered at the time of the vehicle purchase.Turns out your behind will not experience a sudden drop of temperature while driving your brand new BMW , given youve already opted for heated seats when you bought it. So its not like paying for putting workable hardware in your car, only for them to have you pay extra dollars in the form of a subscription for it to actually function. Or is it?If heated seats can be activated via software updates, that also means they can be shut down in the same way, depending on your subscription choice (month / year / 3 years / lifetime). It also means that your car already has the necessary hardware from the get-go but lacks functionality until you pay for it.Now whether you choose to exchange cash upfront (when you configure your car) or you opt for a subscription later, thats up to you.There could be some silver lining with this model, in that maybe you dont need heated seats all year, so you can only pay for them for a few months when you actually use them.If a vehicle is initially ordered with heated seats, that option will remain fully operational for the life of the vehicle.Ultimately, your brand new BMW already has the necessary hardware for such features. The subscription only comes into play if you change your mind later and decide youd want to try (or keep) something you initially did not. It will be the young driver's ninth pole position start and his first since Long Beach in April. The record of 10 consecutive IndyCar races without a repeat pole-sitter set back in 1952 is safe. Scott Dixon will join Herta on the front row for the 85-lap, 11-turn race set on the bumpy 1.786 temporary street course.After winning the pole Herta praised his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda and the Andretti Autosport team. He has won four races since joining the series full-time in 2019. All of those victories came on road courses. Herta regained the feeling for an IndyCar after spending two weeks in Portugal testing cars for McClaren's Formula One team."I was a little bit worried about maybe taking a session to get back into it,'' he said. "But as soon as I got in the car, the seating position and everything is so different that it was almost kind of like a light switch just flicked in my head that this was the IndyCar. It took maybe one or two laps. The actual driving style isn't incredibly different, so it was pretty seamless to kind of go back and forth.''Herta will be joined by teammate Alexander Rossi, who qualified near the front in fourth.Dixon, the New Zealand driver for Chip Ganassi Racing had to settle for second. He has not had a non-Indianapolis pole position start since 2016 and needs just one more victory to tie Mario Andrett i (52) and become No.2 on the series career wins list. While many look for vehicles made during the muscle-car era , others are into older, luxurious cars such as the Lincoln H-Series. Yes, that's the official name for the example that you see here, even though it is advertised as a 1947 Zephy r. Still, as long as this model's aficionados know what this is, they won't have a problem with that.Lincoln introduced the Zephyr in 1936 , and it was designed by Eugen Turenne Gregoire, who was a close friend of Edsel Ford. The luxurious vehicle stood on the assembly lines until 1942, when it was withdrawn due to WWII. Come 1946, the carmaker started to build vehicles again, and the Zephyr re-entered production with the Sedan, Club Coupe, and Convertible Coupe, according to the body style. It was powered by a flat-head V12 powerplant that provided 130 hp (132 PS) to a three-speed gearbox, sending the oomph to the rear.Sometimes in this unfortunate car's career, it was abandoned and forgotten. Its engine and transmission are gone, which might give the buyer a terrible headache. A restored, correct-era Lincoln V12 engine worth more than $20,000. In addition, a properly restored three-speed manual gearbox from the same era and company might also cost over a grand.But there are some good news, too. The car has solid floorboards, and there are a lot of other parts that come with the vehicle. Sure, there are no keys for the trunk, but a regular locksmith should have no trouble opening it. But don't expect to find that 267 engine in there because it's not. Furthermore, some windows are missing and also the entire interior, albeit there are some parts (including the dashboard) that are included in the sale.Considering this, the buyer has three options: rebuild the vehicle with a correct-era drivetrain, complete it with whatever engine might find (even a V8 will do it), or create a stunning restomod. Still, no matter the choice, this Lincoln has slim to none chances to become a numbers-matching vehicle.But if you want to see the car in person, you should go to Clearlake Park, California, and inspect it thoroughly. The Sea King, or the Westland Sea King, is a British license-built version of the Sikorsky S-61 Sea King. It entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1969 and has been used extensively in action in the Gulf War, the Balkans, Iraq, and Iran, with the last unit retired in 2018. The dedicated search and rescue Sea King known as HAR3 was introduced in 1979 and famously wore a yellow livery.Ben Stonehouse, the local businessman mentioned above, is now the owner of three such HAR3s, which he bought from the Ministry of Defense (MoD) with plans to bring them back to their former glory so that other people could also enjoy them. The idea came to him after he bought the first Sea King shell some years ago and, not realizing the high cost of getting original parts, was eventually forced into selling it. Stonehouse regretted the decision so much that he sat on the money until the MoD auctioned other Sea King shells.Unlike many glamping pods out there (after all, the idea of turning an aircraft hull into a pod of some sort is not new), Stonehouses units stand out because they feature cockpits restored with original parts as well as original blades and wheels. The rear part is turned into a living area with bunk beds, kitchen and bench seating, and its exactly what youd expect from a glamping unit. But once you enter the front, you can get a better appreciation of what it mustve been like to fly one such helicopter.Of the three HAR3s, two are already completed and available for tourists looking for a history lesson from their accommodation at the Pinewood Park campsite. The third is also completed, but its yet to find a location its this one that comes with a very famous connection.Registered XZ589, it was flown several times by Prince William during his time with the search-and-rescue team between 2010 and 2013. In fact, Flight Lieutenant William Wales was onboard XZ589 when he completed his first active mission with RAF, so its historical importance, especially for royalists, cant be overlooked.In January this year, Stonehouse spoke to the Yorkshire Post about the challenges and obstacles his project had come across, including the councils refusal to allow him to buy a plot of land on which to set the helicopter pods up on account of light pollution and disrupting the view of the night sky. They were deemed eyesores, in fewer words.Also then, he explained that his idea was to give back something to the community, which is why hed chosen to restore the cockpits. It was no trifle to do so , even with all the help he got from aircraft enthusiasts and former RAF engineers: each unit reportedly cost 250,000 (approximately $300,000 at the current exchange rate) to bring to the condition it is today.Stonehouse plans to use the Cafe Kiosk, Prince Williams former helicopter, as a non-profit base that would benefit local charities, including the Yorkshire Ambulance Service. They arent an eyesore theyre part of our heritage, he said at the time. As of the time of press, with the Kiosk still not in business, hes only halfway to honoring this heritage. In the world of civilian and military test pilots, hooning is just as much a way of life as it is for Ken Block or Travis Pastrana. In the case of Pan Am and the Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde SST, the hooning took place at nearly three times the speed of sound. And yet, it was seemingly all for nothing in the end. This is the story of the Pan Am Concorde that never was.The Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde was an all-time great achievement in civil aviation. A luxurious, exclusive, and supremely capable supersonic transport airliner that promised to bring the future of the airline industry into what the presumed present day of the late 1960s was supposed to look like. As far back as 1962, Pan Am personnel were in talks with the joint Anglo-French Engineers in charge of the project to be the first in line when the finished airplane was ready to fly.Even before Air France and the British BOAC Airliner signed on the dotted line for their Concorde orders, Pan Am had already placed an order reservation for six complete airframes. By 1969, Airlines the world over were salivating at the thought of keeping a supersonic airliner in their fleet. One can only imagine when Pan Am higher-ups got their first look at the finished Concorde, they all jointly said something to the tune of "You SOB, I'm in."Global airlines like Lufthansa of Germany, Iran Air, Sageha of Belgium, Qantas from Australia, Japan Airlines, and even America's Continental, American, and Trans World Airways (TWA) waited in line, licking their chops all the while just to get up close to Concorde. As funds for Boeing's 2707 SST dried up and the Soviet Tu-144 "Concordski" failed to be so much as a decent paperweight, all eyes were directly on what many believe is the last amazing thing built at least partially in Great Britain.On November 8th, 1969, mere months after Americans first landed on the Moon, Pan Am finally had the chance to evaluate Concorde properly. Of course, with Pan Am being America's premier airline of the era, Concorde absolutely must have passed their test pilot's rigorous and grueling test trials to be accepted. Long story short, it was time to hoon the absolute hell out of the thing. Safe to say, Ken Block would be proud.With Captain Paul Roitsch and Flight Engineer John Anderson at the controls, Pan Am's first and, as far as we can tell, only series of flights on Concorde pushed the plane to its absolute limit. These tests happened to be performed on Concorde 001, the very first prototype to leave the factory. During the tests, Pan Am's crew flew the Concorde up to an altitude of at least 41,000 feet (12,496.8 m) or perhaps even higher. Way above typical jetliner cruising altitudes.Astonishingly, legend has it that Pan Am crews were able to push Concorde beyond the estimated top speed of Mach 2.04 rated by Aerospatiale/BAC. Eventually reaching a maximum speed of a scarcely believable Mach 2.6 or just under 2,000 mph (3,218.7 kph). That's not only face-meltingly fast for an airliner, but almost pushing up on SR-71 Blackbird territory for the title of the fastest manned jet airplane ever to fly.All the while, Captain Paul Roitsch was quoted saying something to the tune of, I never want to put this bird back down. So then, in the most basic definition of hooning, it appears as if Concorde didn't disappoint. Based on all of this, one would assume delivery of Pan Am's Concordes was all but a lock. But sadly, concerns about fuel prices, profitability, environmental sustainability, and sonic booms being, for lack of a better term, really annoying, meant this wasn't the case. According to Captain Roitsch himself , "Ultimately, all of the U.S. airlines canceled their orders for the Concorde for economic as well as environmental reasons. John Anderson and I were tremendously disappointed." By 1973, all American airliners that'd placed orders for Concorde decided not to pursue them any further. Only Air France and BOAC ever took delivery of the prized airplane. Since 2003, the type's been relegated to static museum service.Today, you can go and see museum exhibits of the Concorde in places across North America and Europe. Like at the USS Intrepid Air and Space Museum in New York City, a place we here at autoevolution is more than a little familiar with. Check out that piece if you want to learn more. ADILABAD: In a damage control exercise over large-scale food poisoning of students of IIIT-Basar, the college authorities lodged a complaint against the food contractors of the hostel about the incident that took place on Friday. The police also lodged an FIR against the contractors under sections 273, 357 and 59 of the FSSA. The Deccan Chronicle reported previously that the use of rotten eggs resulted in food poisoning to students who ate at E1 and E2 messes on Friday. The district administration is also jumping into action, on instructions of ministers, to pacify students, who are once again likely to hold agitations over the incident. Over the recent past, IIIT-Basar has been marred by protests over several issues, ranging from the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor to college amenities, including food served at the mess. Nirmal collector Musharaff Faruqui Ali said they are conducting an inquiry and will take action against the mess contractors in connection with the incident. Officials, in a preliminary inquiry, found that rotten eggs were used in preparing egg-fried rice. It was found that the students who ate the vegetarian fried rice were not affected. Hundreds of students also staged a protest at the administration building on Saturday evening. They alleged that besides rotten eggs, spurious edible oil was also used in the rice preparation. As protests started raging again, some sources said that the college restricted entry of parents as well, including those whose wards had fallen sick. Meanwhile, political parties are trying to gain mileage out of the situation. Senior Congress leader hit out at the autocratic government for not allowing him to visit the IIT-Basar campus, after police arrested Congress leaders, led by DCC chief Ramarao Patel, during their visit to meet the victims. Police also arrested BJYM leaders and Telangana Jana Samiti leaders who attempted to meet the IIIT-Basar students. BJP state president Bandi Sanjay is also reported to have spoken with the students who fell sick and consoled them over the phone, wishing them a speedy recovery. kW The Canadian company has made a name for itself thanks to the high-quality campers it has built for the past 36 years. Their motorhomes are hand-crafted and custom-fit to meet customers needs. The Pleasure-Way Rekon 4x4 is part of the new generation of camper vans that can offer everything a family needs for an extended-time adventure away from civilization. The van is capable of tackling the harshest terrains and has everything on board to allow for spending weeks at a time off-grid.You can consider the Rekon a direct competitor to the Winnebago Revel , offering a similarly capable camper van on the back of the Sprinter 4x4 platform. The two campers are quite different, though, and this starts with the water tank housed under the rear floorboards. In the case of the Rekon, it can hold up to 40 gallons of fresh water, which is in the Class C RV territory. For comparison, the Revel has a much smaller 21-gallon tank. This allows the Rekon to provide for longer journeys off-grid.In fact, off-grid is Rekons middle name , as everything is tuned to allow spending as much time as possible without needing resupply. The electrical system uses a 400-Ah LFP house-grade battery bank and a 2-inverter. The battery can be charged using the 400-watt solar panels or the engines alternator while in motion. Everything is computer-monitored and controlled via a 10-inch touchscreen. The system is clever enough to predict when the battery will deplete based on current and average usage.A propane-powered Truma unit handles the air and water heating in the camper. At the same time, the electric cooler is also a 60-liter Truma box, which can work both on 12 volts or 110 volts. A second 10-inch touchscreen handles thermal comfort and monitors water levels, and an optional air conditioning unit can be installed on the roof. The Rekon does not feature a dedicated kitchen but has a sink and a portable induction cooker. This can be placed on the desk surface in the rear while cooking.Pleasure-Way cleverly installed all the plumbing and water tanks inside the camper, so theres no danger of freezing in colder climates. The Rekon is advertised as a four-season couch. The thermal insulation, heating, and air conditioning ensure the camper stays inhabitable all year round, no matter the temperature outside. The best part is that no equipment hangs from beneath the van, so the ground clearance is not affected in any way. This makes it perfect for off-road adventures.As usual with a camper van , space utilization is pushed to the extreme, sometimes leading to compromises. For instance, the bathroom doubles as a gear locker or cabinet to hang your clothes, thanks to the removable shelves and the closet bar. It also features a 5-gallon cassette toilet and a handheld shower. Clever, but you must take everything out when you need to use them. On the plus side, you can toss your watersports or dive gear into the shower and dry it using the heater vent.The same compromise is evident with the bed system. The Rekon comes with a murphy-style bed which folds down from both walls at the rear of the van. This approach saves space, as the area can turn into an office space or kitchen area with little effort. The downside is that you cannot use the bed while someone else is working at the desk. With the bed deployed, there is still a vast storage space under the bed, 52 cu-ft (1,472 liters) to be precise.The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis is powered by a strong 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel engine, which sends 188 horsepower to all four wheels via a seven-speed automatic transmission. The cabin reflects Mercedes-Benz expertise, with the MBUX multimedia interface powering all the vehicles functions. Pleasure-Way sells the Rekon fully packed for a price of $175,500. This puts it in the mass-market category and reflects its enhanced capabilities. Consider the 4x4 Mercedes-Sprinter base, which doesnt come cheap, especially as it is already fully packed with extras from the factory. For comparison, its main competitor, the Winnebago Revel 4x4, starts at $210,292. This means you can have the Rekon plus another vehicle of your choice for the same money. This story starts rather mysteriously, with a random, unnamed man, with his face covered by a mask and cap, walking up to a white tesla and getting to work keying the car. Keeping with the theme of ridiculous decisions, this individual is later caught on camera again, returning to the scene of the crime to rub the scratches with his hand, a process he repeats as if he was a diligent car wash employee. This might have been a brilliant move, trying to make the scratches look as if they happened by accident a while ago, had it not been for the Tesla recording the hilarious event.Our main character makes another bad decision when he returns yet again to the same area where the Tesla catches him again, on multiple cameras, circling the vehicle. He then proceeds to apply the same pinstriping treatment to a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited , parked right on the driver side of the Tesla. After having finished his endeavors, the individual drives away in his Cadillac XT5.The owner of the Tesla then happeens to see the footage shortly after the incident. The ridiculous keeps piling up as the Tesla owner locates the offender still in the parking lot. He proceeds to call the police, which leads to the capture of our protagonist, who now has to pay a tidy sum of $4,800 for the paint damage he caused to the Tesla. The remains of that partnership now lie in the grass at Classic Cars of SC's lot in Gary Court, South Carolina. The merger between these two classic American brands directly led to the development of the Studebaker-Packard Hawk series upon which the Golden Hawk was based.Between 1956 and 1958, the Golden Hawk was as close to a Cadillac , a Lincoln, or an Imperial without coming from a big 3 Detroit manufacturer. Instead, the Golden Hawk was built in Packard's facility in Utica, Michigan. Here, the last ever iterations of the famous Packard V8 engines were put under the hood of the Golden Hawk before the plant was sold to Curtiss-Wright and switched to the 4.7-liter Studebaker V8 instead. By 1958, production on the Golden Hawk had ceased.Soon after, the Packard company as it once was would disappear forever, and Studebaker itself wouldn't be too far behind, lasting until 1967. In perfect condition, a Studebaker Golden's been known to sell for as high as $99,000 via auctions like Barret Jackson. But in the positively dismal state, it serves as something other than a collector's item. Instead, this poor little Studebaker with the engine, transmission, and most of the front end missing or rusting, is a perfect metaphor for the company that made it. Studebaker-Packard serves as a grizzly reminder that not all corporate buyouts are done with A, the best intentions, or B, with much thought for the future. But just in case you want the remains of this Golden Hawk for something like a neat art sculpture, it can be yours for just $1,000. His experience as a carpenter doubled with a period of living in a small house during volunteer work in New Zealand gave Anzu the confidence to take on the challenge. With a firm base on his trailer and a lot of leftover wood from work, this modern-day truthseeker (in his own words) broke ground. He refused to draw plans; armed with a firm "just-start-building-and-the-plans-will-reveal-themselves" attitude, Aaron soon finished the structure of his new house.Although the trailer wasn't as large as he'd wished, the man took up the challenge, and with four-by-six timber frames as his preferred material, the idea was set in motion . The wood is thick enough to support the windows (see in the gallery how big the windows are) but also thin enough to keep the overall weight of the entire structure under the 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) limit.In the video at the end of this story, you can see how Anzu has organized well the interior. His ingenious solution to get up on the loft consists of next-to-the-wall vertical posts of different lengths that he climbs on to. And the kitchen is a minuscule-yet-sufficient arrangement out on the deck. Thanks to its 20-by-8 feet (6 x 2.4 m) size, the deck also accommodates the original "gym" for when the owner feels like working out (which he does daily).A handy tool shed is mounted onto the wall at the back of the trailer/house for the fixer-upper of a pigpen which Anzu has begun transforming into a wood shed. Speaking of tools, the deck bench next to the open-space kitchen (pun intended) used to be a wood horse, and the table served its purpose in life as a big wooden cable spool.No paint was necessary, for the carpenter got the better of his craft and applied the Japanese Shou-sugi-ban technique. The wood frames are burnt (or, more often than not, charred on the surface), wire-brushed and oiled. However, to keep the rawness feel of the wood, Anzu went easy with the burner and oil brush.Very nice work, but also tedious . Especially the wooden shingles, although the house looks quite beautiful with its scaly yet welcoming outside walls (with no plumbing or electrical wires fitted in them). An open-air shower and a composting toilet (read outhouse) are next to the trailer home. To keep the cost in control, Aaron used cheaper fence boards to make the walls, and the roofing is a post-and-beam style made out of 4-by-6 posts (10 x 15 cm). He opted for this solution because he wanted a big enough loft to be able to sit in without having to bow. As for the sofa under the loft, the frame from an old bed proved to be just perfect for a refit.Heating comes from a tiny wood stove, which gets hot fast but needs fuel every hour, so the decorative plants can stay safe during cold weather. In a twist of fate, the shelves on which the plant pot sit were traded for two avocado seedlings that Aaron grew himself. As for the cold, despite his day-to-day habit of swimming in rivers, no matter how cold, a propane instant heater will make the outside shower a lot more enjoyable.Coming from a "long lineage of truthseekers, artists, warriors, and lovers ," Anzu advises other adventurers: "Don't be shy to ask for help, do one thing at a time. And just keep going." Palmdale, CA (93550) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. High 104F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph, becoming SW and increasing to 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low around 75F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. The polling will take place in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies between 10 am and 5 pm for which ballot boxes have already reached their destinations. (DC Image) Hyderabad: Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India. In this election, the NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu has a clear edge over joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour. The polling will take place in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies between 10 am and 5 pm for which ballot boxes have already reached their destinations. The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25. With the support of regional parties such as the BJD, YSR Congress, Telugu Desam, BSP, AIADMK, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and JMM, Murmus vote share is likely to reach nearly two-thirds and she is set to become the first woman from the tribal community to occupy the top post. All necessary arrangements have been made for the 16th Presidential election in the Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad on Monday. Political parties are taking all steps to ensure that every one of their MLAs votes without fail and that there is no cross-voting. Parties have decided to hold mock polling for MLAs before they cast their votes to ensure that there are no invalid votes. While the ruling TRS, Congress and AIMIM extended support to joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, the BJP is supporting Droupadi Murmu. A total of 119 MLAs will cast their votes. The TRS has 103 MLAs out of 119 in the Legislative Assembly, followed by AIMIM (7), Congress (6), and BJP (3). The TRS has nine MPs out of Telanganas total of 17 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP has four, the Congress has three, and AIMIM has one. Seven of Telanganas representatives in the Rajya Sabha are TRS members. As preparations were made for the election, Krishna Kumar Dwivedi, who has been appointed as the Observer for the state of Telangana, paid a visit to the Assembly on Sunday. According to a press release from the Telangana Legislature Secretariat, the Observer inspected the polling station and store room on the first floor of the Assembly building. Additionally, Dwivedi spoke with the Telangana Legislatures secretary V Narasimha Charyulu, presiding officer Ch. Upender Reddy, and assistant returning officer V.N. Prasanna Kumari. Vikas Raj, chief electoral officer, said that 119 MLAs from Telangana and one MLA from Kandukur constituency in Andhra Pradesh would cast their votes at Hyderabad. Two voting compartments have been readied to cast votes at the Committee Hall No. 1 in the Assembly Building, he added. He said that for marking the vote on the ballot paper, the Election Commission has supplied particular pens. The pen will be given to the electors in the polling station by the designated official when the ballot paper is handed over. Voting by using any other pen shall lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting, he said. After the voting, these ballot boxes will be sent to Delhi. All ballot boxes from other parts of the country, too, will reach Delhi ahead of the counting on July 21. Robert Price is an Emmy award-winning reporter-commentator for KGET-TV. His column appears here Sundays; the views expressed are his own. Reach him at rprice661@gmail.com or via Twitter: @stubblebuzz. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Port Arthur ISD is the latest school district in the region to approve new security measures for its schools, notably in the form of additional metal detectors at its elementary and secondary campuses. The Port Arthur ISD school board in June approved the purchase of more than $64,000 in metal detectors for the district's eight elementary schools and other secondary campuses. The decision came almost a month after a shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde that killed 19 students and two teachers. Metal detectors have been in place at Memorial High School, Memorial 9th Grade Academy and Port Arthur ISD's two middle schools for two years. RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Walk through school security measures with BISD's police chief "Nothing is failsafe," Port Arthur ISD Police Chief Alton Baise told The Enterprise. "These metal detectors are just another tool to increase our safety in the schools." The metal detectors, made by Garrett Metal Detectors, are sensitive, meaning that even small objects such as jewelry can make them sound, Baise said. The detectors also can tell an officer where the alert is on the body. For example, if someone were to walk through the detector with a knife or other weapon tucked into their shoe, the detector would alert the monitor to the approximate location of the device. In addition, each metal detector comes with a hand-held wand, which allows an officer to screen someone for a more detailed look. RELATED: Local company offers free active shooter response training to area teachers There is no timeline as to when the metal detectors might be installed because they're in high demand, Baise said. Baise said his department consists of nine officers, including himself and his Assistant Police Chief Eugene Wilson. For a district of about 8,000 students and 15 campuses, Baise said his force is mostly concentrated at the high school because the students and fights are bigger, usually requiring more manpower to break up. There is an officer at the ninth grade center and one located at each of the middle schools as well. "Myself and my assistant chief, we bounce from school to school because we get calls at the elementary school(s) about different stuff," Baise said. "We try to cover the high school and the middle schools -- the ninth grade center. Those are the most important, where, more than likely, if something's going to go down, it's going to go down with the bigger kids. So, we try to concentrate our efforts here." RELATED: Map: Every Texas school shooting since 1970 Baise said the district does not utilize public safety or school resource officers but does have unarmed hall monitors who make sure students get to class in a timely manner. Baise said that if the district's school board provided the department more openings, they'd look to hire qualified candidates. However, Baise said those positions could be hard to fill regardless because, "Nobody really wants to be a police officer nowadays." "Back in the day, you'd have 26 to 30 police candidates go into the police academy," he said. "Now, you have 14 to 16." In fact, Baise said if he was 21 and was able to do it all over again, he's not sure he'd even be a police officer. RELATED: Silsbee ISD looking to recruit police officers where others couldn't "Police officer would be at the bottom of my list because police work is much more complicated now than it used to be," he said. "We've had some new recruits fresh out of the academy come through, especially in Port Arthur PD, and they'll see how complicated it is now and after a week or two they're like, 'Nah, I don't want to do this, I think I'll do something else.'" Wilson said the problem isn't just local -- it's a nationwide issue. Baise said the workload is a lot heavier than when he entered the job. So, while he and Wilson would like more officers to help patrol campuses, even if the positions were allotted, they aren't necessarily confident in the ability for them to be filled. RELATED: Texas approves $105.5M for school safety, mental health in wake of Uvalde With the measures that are in place, like the metal detectors, Baise said he feels they've been effective in at least discouraging students from bringing weapons on campus. "Students who were thinking of bringing a gun or a metal object (know) not to, because they know they're going to get searched when they come through," Baise said. "We've got the metal detectors, we've got the wands. So, why even take that chance, right? Whereas if you don't have (those measures), they're going to take that chance." Since the Uvalde shooting, Baise said the district is looking at adding buzzers outside of more school entrances. Many of the schools already have them at main entrances -- visitors can't get inside the building unless they buzz in and speak to someone at the front desk, who then decides whether they can be let in. RELATED: How to contact lawmakers in Texas and Washington about gun violence "Some of the schools don't have the outside buzzer on them but we're fixing it," Baise said. "We're also trying to get them installed on some of the exterior doors leading into the dressing rooms and stuff like that." Baise said students will sometimes leave a door that typically locks automatically open for their friend by putting a pencil in the mechanism to prop it open. "The door will look like it's closed, but it's not," he said. "So, we are looking at putting some buzzers on those doors so that if that door doesn't lock, the buzzer will go off." All of the doors leading in-and-out of the district's campuses automatically lock, Baise said. However, they can be opened from the inside -- a student could open the door for a friend, allowing them to enter at any point instead of re-entering from the front after they've been buzzed in per protocol. RELATED: Port Arthur's Memorial Stadium getting major upgrades Wilson said the district's biggest safety risk is the students themselves. "Kids don't like to follow the rules," he said. "They think of the convenience, the convenience of (letting) someone in. They don't think about the 'What if?' And that's the problem." A growing concern among some parents is that schools are being over-policed. But Baise said in today's society, the police are needed on campuses. "Back then it wasn't (necessary) because you had students, teachers, parents who respected officers more back in the day," he said. "An officer would say, 'Can you do this? Yes, sir.' Nowadays, it's not like that. There's a lack of respect for law enforcement -- that's what we're dealing with." RELATED: Port Arthur ISD exhibit teaches students various sectors of Black history Baise and Wilson say they see that same trend at the schools they police with the students. "It starts at home with the parents," Baise said. "If the parents don't teach them to respect themselves or law enforcement, when they leave home they won't." For officers assigned to specific campuses, Baise said it's good for them to build rapport with those students because then they feel that they can trust that officer and reach out to them in a time of need. The more students trust the officers, the more likely they will also report if they hear another student might be planning something, Baise said. RELATED: Check out Southeast Texas' valedictorians, salutatorians Wilson said they are seeing more students come forward when they hear potential threats, but he also wants to stress the use of Crime Stoppers. Students, teachers, parents and community members can call 409-724-8477 and anonymously report concerns that they have or potential threats that they come across. Wilson said the district is trying to push that more as way for people to reach out when they hear something. "Some of these kids are scared," he said. "Some will tell an officer, but some don't. With Crime Stoppers, they don't have to give their name." RELATED: States most dependent on gun industry: Where does Texas rank? Baise and Wilson highly recommend students use Crime Stoppers if they see on social media a classmate or anyone talk about bringing a weapon or doing harm at one of Port Arthur ISD's campuses. Threat assessment teams are also in place on campuses, Wilson said. These teams are comprised of teachers, custodians, food service workers -- people aside from police who spend enough time with students to notice odd behavior that they can then report. "If they notice something, we have forms that enables us to document (behaviors)," Wilson said. "If someone writes up a threat assessment, then we started keying in on that person. We'll bring their parents in, talk to a counselor and see what's going on. It may not necessarily be that they want to shoot themselves or the school -- they could have something going on at home. Somebody could be bullying them. But you have to go to the problem. We always see it, but we've never documented it. That's our problem as a society." RELATED: Port Arthur organization discusses how to report pollutants Baise said he and his team look for ways to be as proactive as possible to prevent a potential situation. When it comes to active shooter drills, Baise said that's not something the district like to publicize as to not alert a potential offender of plans. Students are also kept out of the loop in the case that the student could one day use those drills to act out an attack. But, Baise said the Port Arthur ISD Police Department does respond immediately to active shooter threats. "We're going to do what we have to do to make that situation safe," he said. During the summer months, Baise said he and his team utilize different campuses for trainings, sometimes working with other school districts or the city police. RELATED: Local charter pays teachers almost $10K more than area districts "It's the same concept," Wilson said. "I don't care if it's Memorial High School or if it's Vidor High School -- it's the same concept." Wilson said it's important for the community to work together to remain safe. "Kids need to know that it's not OK to let your homeboy in here because he didn't want to go through the metal detector," Wilson said. "You've got to be aware of your surroundings. Not just here, anywhere in the world. You could be at the mall, it happened there. You could be at the movies, it happened there. It happens everywhere." Wilson said in the past, district police would wait for a SWAT team to come and eliminate such a threat. Today, that is no longer an option. "We signed up to be police officers," Baise said. "We've got to put our lives in the place of yours. That's what we signed up for -- to do police work, to shoot guns and try to take out bad people. We've got to do what we signed up for." Beaumont residents could know who their next city manager will be in a matter of weeks. The City Council has been meeting in executive session since earlier this summer weighing the pros and cons of each of the three finalists identified for the job. Even before that, the council members were tasked with completing worksheets to identify what theyre looking for in a person to replace the citys longest-serving manager, Kyle Hayes, who retired in April. After resumes were submitted, the council members chose their top five candidates out of a list of 16 semi-finalists identified by the firm tasked with the nationwide search, Baker Tilly US. RELATED: Beaumont says final farewell to longest-serving manager Those lists ultimately were compiled by the firm to come up with three finalists Interim Beaumont City Manager Chris Boone, former Petersburg, Virginia Deputy City Manager Lionel Lyons and retired Buda, Texas City Manager Kenneth Williams. None of the two external finalists or even top 16 candidates are currently in positions in jurisdictions with a population like or managing a budget as big as Beaumonts. In fact, aside from the Interim City Manager Chris Boone, out of the field of 16 semi-finalists, neither of the other two finalists are in a position with the largest population, budget or staff size. The external candidate from the city with the largest population is an assistant city manager in a town of 210,000 people. The external candidate operating under the largest budget is a city manager dealing with $150 million, while the external candidate managing the largest staff leads 745 people, according to application documents obtained by the Beaumont Enterprise from the city of Beaumont. RELATED: Beaumont city council seeks interim manager, national search firm Comparatively, Boone is the interim city manager in Beaumont, which has a population of 115,282, a $295.6 million budget and 1,317 staff members. The city of Petersburg, Virginia, where Lyons previously was employed, logs a population of 33,438 and a $108.3 million budget. Lyons led 619 staff members, according to the application documents. And Buda, the city from which Williams retired, has a population of 18,323 people and a budget of $87 million. Williams department had 139 staff members. Ward I Council member Taylor Neild and Ward II Council member Mike Getz acknowledged that these numbers have to be part of the decision. I know in the construction business, just because you build a doghouse, you cant build a hotel, Neild said. Theres a big difference between having 100 employees and 1,000. RELATED: Check out the resumes of each of Beaumont's 16 city manager semi-finalists But that doesnt paint the entire picture, he and other council members told the Enterprise. You have to look at somebodys skillset. Once you get up to this level, the person cant be a micromanager they have to gain the trust of the department heads to keep the morale up, he said. They come into a more visionary role. More specifically, Neild said hes looking for a candidate who can take Beaumont to the next level while still being engaged with the community. A desire to grow the city was a sentiment echoed by Council members Albert A.J. Turner, Getz and Randy Feldschau. Council members Charles Durio and Audwin Samuel, as well as Mayor Robin Mouton, could not be reached for comment. To Turner, growing Beaumont means finding a candidate familiar with reinvestment zones and Economic Development Corporations so they can explain to the council how each system works and could be used to benefit residents and grow population. Feldschau is looking for a candidate who can articulate their vision for the city and speak to power tell the council no when necessary and help the council understand barriers to certain actions. RELATED: Beaumont City Manager to retire We need a city manager that has a vision for our city and part of that vision is what can we do to develop downtown Beaumont and move our city forward, he said. We also all know that the city manager needs to be someone who understands the demographic of Beaumont and has the unique ability to pull our city together. To pull the city together, however, means the individual must be respectful, willing to listen to all ideas and is a good mixer willing to mingle with the community to hear what theyre looking for, Getz said. Ultimately, while each council member has their ideal pick and the new manager will need at least four votes from the council, all four men said theyre confident one of the finalists will be able to find such a consensus. We feel theyre all good-quality people. Thats important, Getz said. You want somebody who is a good-quality person. Weve been provided a good slate, and we can rest comfortably on that. Feldschau said he thinks the selection of the next city manager could be the most important decision he makes on the council. Now, I would just ask the citizens for (residents') prayers and support, said Feldschau. This is new for us. But its a critical decision. We seek the support and prayers of our citizens. Protesters in Kuala Lumpur call for the arrest of Jho Low, portrayed as a pirate on this sign, for his alleged role in the theft of billions from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, April 14, 2018. Malaysias attorney general has said that his office rejected fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Lows attempt to settle the notorious 1MDB criminal case against him earlier this year. Low Taek Jho, (better known as Jho Low), the subject of an international manhunt, is wanted for his role in the alleged embezzlement of billions of dollars from the sovereign state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB. Attorney General Idrus Harun, in a statement issued Saturday, didnt give a reason for the rejection of Lows offer or disclose the settlement amount offered by Low through his representatives, but a report in The Edge Markets Malaysia said it was 1.5 billion ringgit, or U.S. $337 million. 1MDB and four of its subsidiaries have sued Low for $3.78 billion, The Edge said. The AGC [Attorney Generals Chambers] confirms that Jho Low, through his representatives, has made attempts to engage with the Government of Malaysia for a settlement this year, the attorney general said in the statement. In these attempts, Jho Lows representatives met with agencies of the Government of Malaysia including the AGC. All offers for a settlement from Jho Lows representatives were rejected by the AGC. A former attorney general, Mohamed Apandi Ali, whose tenure coincided with that of former Prime Minister and UMNO member Najib Razak, said in a statement to select media Saturday evening that he facilitated the meetings. The 1MDB scandal is said to have been the reason for UMNOs defeat in the 2018 polls, the first electoral loss in more than 60 years for Malaysias grand old party. Ali, also a member of UMNO (United Malays National Organization), the party that leads Malaysias ruling coalition, said he was approached by a Washington law firm Kobre & Kim at the end of May to arrange the meetings with the Attorney Generals offices, which he did. BenarNews contacted Ali, who refused to comment and referred to his statement. I have already issued a written statement. That is sufficient. No need to expound the narrative further, he told BenarNews via a text message. In his statement, Ali said that at the meetings with the AGC, the government of Malaysia was represented by the attorney general and his officer, and a senior officer from the countrys anti-graft body. He said the purpose of the meetings was to discuss the repatriation of funds allegedly siphoned by Low from 1MDB. All seemed to be working out well at the time the meetings were held, before it was aborted and called off by the AGC for reasons best known to them, he said in the statement. Low faces criminal charges in Malaysia and the U.S. for his role in the alleged embezzling through his relationship with former Prime Minister Najib. Najib has been convicted for corruption in one 1MDB-linked case and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The conviction is up for final appeal, which will be heard next month. A second case is ongoing. Malaysian and U.S. prosecutors allege that at least $4.5 billion (18.8 billion ringgit) was stolen from 1MDB in what they described as the worst kleptocracy scandal in recent times. Facilitators motives questioned On Sunday, a federal opposition lawmaker Ramkarpal Singh questioned Alis motive. It is strange that the very person who was once interested in bringing back Low to face charges in Malaysia is now involved in settlement negotiations with him, he said in a statement. [Ali] should clear the air soonest to avoid unnecessary speculation that may arise from such negotiations. Singh said Ali should make clear whether the deal was intended to see criminal charges against Low dropped. Any attempt to settle Lows criminal cases in exchange for a sum of money can be a form of corruption and Apandi [Ali] must disclose if he was informed by Lows representatives that this was Lows intention, Singh said. Singh added that Ali was supposed to demand Lows surrender instead of representing him, as he was the attorney general at the height of the 1MDB scandal and had cleared former Prime Minister Najib of any wrongdoing in the case. Meanwhile in April, a U.S. jury found a former Goldman Sachs banker, Malaysian citizen Roger Ng, guilty of all charges tied to a scheme to steal billions from 1MDB. The U.S. Justice Department alleged that Ng, joined by another former Goldman Sachs executive Timothy Leissner, Low and others, conspired to steal more than $2.7 billion from 1MDB. Leissner had pleaded guilty in 2018 to two charges related to money laundering and agreed to forfeit $43.7 million. He had admitted to bribing officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to procure bond deals for Goldman Sachs. In October 2019, the United States announced a settlement with Low and his family over assets valued at $700 million which it said were purchased using funds misappropriated from 1MDB. The settlement, along with previous forfeitures, has resulted in the recovery of more than $1 billion, which Washington said it was returning to Malaysia. The assets included a business entity related to the Park Lane Hotel in New York, as well as a super-yacht, valued at over $120 million. Several government doctors were found to be prescribing medical drugs from private pharmacies although the same medicines were available at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHC), Sub-District/Divisional Hospitals (SDHs), and District Hospitals (DHs). (Representational Image/DC) Hyderabad: The State Health Department has decided to seize all medical shops within a three-kilometer radius of government hospitals in the city, citing a possible unholy nexus between government hospital doctors and pharmacies. A decision to this effect was taken at a recent review meeting held by health minister T Harish Rao. According to highly placed sources in the health department, several government doctors were found to be prescribing medical drugs from private pharmacies although the same medicines were available at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHC), Sub-District/Divisional Hospitals (SDHs), and District Hospitals (DHs). Sources said some doctors even operated pharmacies on the premises of government hospitals, compelling patients to pay for medications that were otherwise free. Recently, the government seized a few medical shops, including a pharmacy within the Jangaon district hospital. In light of this, Harish Rao convened a meeting with hospital managements, including Resident Medical Officers (RMOs), Superintendents, and others, and gave them instructions to emulate Tamil Nadus policy of not allowing private medical shops to operate within three kilometres of government hospitals and ensuring that all 820 branded medications that were shortlisted by the department are available in the states hospitals. Further, the Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSMSIDC) was additionally tasked by the health department with keeping a three-month supply of medicines by monitoring their expiration dates. The TSMSIDC has been ordered by the government to upload outpatient data as well as a list of all the drugs that are now available in every hospital in the state. The TSMSIDC should procure all 820 medicines and distribute them to government hospitals. PHCs, CHCs, SDHs, and DHs should upload the inpatient and outpatient drug data online to ensure transparency and accountability. The heads of the department should ensure that patients receive the best care and medical facilities at government hospitals, said a senior official from the health department requesting anonymity. The TSMSIDC was also instructed to improve and repair the diagnostic centres run by the government so that they are on par with the private ones. Peru On a sunny day in the highest town in the Commonwealth, hand-rung church bells from the white church overlooking the town green kicked off the 250th birthday celebration for the town of Peru. The chimes played background to a spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday Peru from a crowd of about 100 residents who gathered in the center of town to share their love for Peru during its sestercentennial ceremony. On Saturday, the town of Peru will throw itself a birthday party. Anyone have 250 candles? PERU A lot can happen in 250 years. In a quarter of a millennium, the Berkshire County town of Peru has seen a name change, a short-lived go Grand Marshal Darryl Darby, the towns former police chief, presided over the anniversary celebration in a ceremony that featured the Chapter 65 Vietnam Veterans, Historical Commission chair Jim Kenney, current and former select board members, a bevy of volunteers and Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru. Ive always loved the town of Peru, its who I am, Darby said during the opening ceremony. Ive never wanted to live anywhere else [except] maybe in January or March. Once youre in Peru it gets in your blood and youre here for life, Darby added. If not physically, then its in your mind and your spirit. Peru gets a hold of you and it doesnt let go. Residents have been planning Perus big day for years, organizing festivities which included historical reenactments from the Rogers Rangers and the Hinsdale Encampment, a classic car show, craft market, historic tours, live music and a fireworks display. The coronavirus pandemic delayed the town get-together, pushing things back to Perus 251st year. But residents didnt bat an eye at the belated bash. And as with any birthday celebration, the day came with gifts. The first gift was to a treasured resident, Lealon Sonny L. Russell. The Vietnam veteran was the recipient of the revival of Perus Boston Post cane. A tradition started in 1909, the Post presented Peru and 700 communities in New England with a ceremonial cane made of ebony and capped in gold to be presented to the oldest citizen in each town. The cane was intended to be passed from one resident to the next as generations passed in Peru, but over time the original cane was misplaced and the tradition was lost to time. Historical Commission Chair Jim Kenney said that with some help from Rep. Mark, Peru received a replacement Post cane which from now on with be displayed with a plaque recording its recipients in the town hall. The cane was only one of the gifts provided by Mark on Saturday. The representative and Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, surprised their constituents with a replica of the legal document that founded the town. Passed by Massachusetts General Court in 1771 still years before the founding of the United States or the Republic of Peru the document declares the town of Partridgefield (today known as Peru) incorporated and grants its inhabitants with all the powers, privileges and immunities that the inhabitants of other towns within this province enjoy. Mark got in touch with the state archives in Boston where the document resides. To get a replica he and Hinds covered the cost of having the archives restore the document to its original condition and to preserve it. The replica, which will also be displayed in town hall, is an apt gift for a day focused on the endurance of the small town that stands as a refuge for residents past and present in the Berkshire woods. I often think of the people that carved this town out of the wilderness, 251 years ago now, Darby said. The spirit they must have had, the endurance. I hope that theyre looking over us today and are happy to see what weve become and what this town has become. Ever enduring through winters, hot summers, black flies, mosquitos," he said. "Were still here and enjoying this great town. The programme will support 100 meritorious Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students across India with financial aid Sensodyne, an oral health care brand by GSK Consumer Healthcare announced its partnership with Indian Dental Association (IDA) for Shining Star Scholarship Programme. The scholarship has been introduced as a part of GSKs ongoing corporate social responsibility initiative. The Sensodyne IDA Shining Star Scholarship Programme is focussed towards providing financial support to underprivileged and meritorious Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students across India. Under this scholarship programme, 100 deserving students will be selected who are pursuing their first year of BDS courses in government colleges or government-funded colleges. Each selected student will be provided with the financial assistance of INR 1,05,000 per year, for four years, to support their academic and living expenses incurred towards their BDS programme. Sensodyne IDA Shining Star Scholarship Programme is GSK Consumer Healthcares CSR initiative to provide scholarships to underprivileged students who aspire to become dentists. The programme has been designed to ensure that students achieve their goals of pursuing professional dental education without any financial hindrances. HYDERABAD: The next chapter of an ongoing cold war between the Telangana state government and Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan is expected to unfold in the backdrop of the severe flooding of the Godavari river, with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and the Governor planning to visit Bhadradri-Kothagudem district on Sunday. This will be the first time that the Chief Minister and the Governor will be visiting the same district, on the same day, but separately. And in an apparent continuation of Chandrashekar Rao and Dr Soundararajan not seeing eye to eye, the two will be visiting the district separately Chandrashekar Rao by helicopter that will leave from Warangal on Sunday morning, and Dr Soundararajan leaving on Saturday night by a train, the Goutami Express, from Secunderabad, to reach Manuguru early on Sunday morning. Chandrashekar Rao too left Hyderabad on Saturday evening by road and reached Warangal, from where he will undertake the aerial survey. It may be recalled that the Governor had previously hinted at the state not providing her with a helicopter for her visits to other districts. This is the second time she has taken a train ride to the Bhadradri-Kothagudem district. The first was in April this year. The Telangana Chief Minister and the Governor have not had the best of relationships ever since she turned down the TRS governments proposal to nominate Padi Kaushik Reddy as an MLC towards the end of last year. Though the two met formally during the recent swearing-in ceremony of Telangana High Court Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan at the Raj Bhavan in June, it remains the only face-to-face meeting between the two in several months. The Governor, on multiple occasions, made it clear that the Telangana government was not according to her even the basic courtesies during her visits to different parts of the state, and that it ignored the protocols to be followed on issues related to her office. She had also briefed Union home minister Amit Shah on this issue. While the Chief Minister never reacted to her comments, several TRS ministers and party leaders criticised her, alleging that she was politicising her office and even went to the extent of alluding to her as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party. On Sunday, Chandrashekar Rao is expected to fly over the Kadem dam in Nirmal district, and along the Godavari rivers course till Bhadrachalam, one of the worst-hit towns by the flood in the river. At Bhadrachalam, the Chief Minister, according to his office, will be going around the town accompanied by minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, TRS MLAs, and senior district officials to get first-hand information on the situation. The Governors office, meanwhile, said despite her scheduled visit to attend President of India Ram Nath Kovinds farewell dinner in New Delhi on Saturday, she spoke with the President and apprised him of the severe flood situation in the state, and informed him about the urgency in visiting the flood-affected areas in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district. The Governor was moved by the plight of the flood-affected people in and around Bhadrachalam, and cancelled her visit to New Delhi, her office said. She also asked the Indian Red Cross Society, and ESIC Medical College teams to offer medical and other relief measures to people in shelter camps and other flood-affected areas. Both the Chief Minister and the Governor are expected to visit shelter camps and interact with the people. Dr Soundararajan also appealed to people and organisations to come to the aid of the flood affected people by generously donating, carrying out relief measures, and for extending possible humanitarian help. (Marine Corps Cpl. Jailine Alicea-Santiago / media.defense.gov) In 2015, one year after a US-backed coup ushered in a US-friendly, far-right-dominated government in Kiev, University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer issued a stark warning. "The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path," he said. "And the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked." Mearsheimer's cause for concern was what he identified as a US-led campaign to convert Ukraine into a NATO proxy on Russia's border. The events since have proved him to be both tragically prescient, and understated. In using Ukraine to "fight Russia over there", as Adam Schiff put it in January 2020, the US has not only sacrificed countless Ukrainian lives. Four months into Russia's invasion, the Biden administration is signaling its willingness to sacrifice the rest of the planet, particularly the most vulnerable areas. In an article headlined "Ukraine War Pushes Millions of the Worlds Poorest Toward Starvation," the Wall Street Journal summarizes the impact of the Ukraine war on global hunger: The World Food Program says that increases in the cost of food and fuel since March have pushed an additional 47 million people into acute food insecurity, when a person is no longer able to consume enough calories to sustain her life and livelihood, taking the total to 345 million people world-wide. Of those, some 50 million are living on the edge of famine. In the energy crisis that has followed Russia's invasion, the New York Times adds, "the poorest and most vulnerable" have felt "the harshest effects." In Asia and Africa, the International Energy Agency recently warned that "higher energy prices have meant an additional 90 million people in Asia and Africa do not have access to electricity." By invading Ukraine rather than exhausting all diplomatic solutions, Russia bears obvious responsibility for the crisis. Ukraines grain exports, which feed multiple countries, have plummeted. Russia has denied blocking Ukrainian grain, instead faulting Kiev's extensive mining of its Black Sea ports. Ukraine has refused to de-mine those ports on self-defense grounds, claiming that doing so could invite further Russian incursions. Turkey, which has been brokering talks between the two sides, has just announced a pending deal to break the impasse. But even if the Turkey-backed deal is implemented, a major cause of the food crisis will remain. The US-led sanctions regime against Russia has blocked international payments for Russian goods and necessary export licenses, including food shipments. As the New York Times notes, "[s]oaring fertilizer prices, driven by sanctions on Russia and Belarus, along with high global energy prices, are broadening the scope of food shortages by making it more expensive to produce and transport food around the world." The head of the African Union, Macky Sall, has linked US sanctions to the continent's food shortages. "Anti-Russia sanctions have made this situation worse and now we do not have access to grain from Russia, primarily to wheat," Sall warned in June. "And, most importantly, we do not have access to fertilizer. The situation was bad and now it has become worse, creating a threat to food security in Africa." Rather than seek a diplomatic solution in Ukraine that could end the war and its worldwide deprivations, the US has shunned talks with Russia and made clear that it is even willing to tolerate global starvation. Citing interviews with the White House, the Washington Post reports that Biden "officials have described the stakes of ensuring Russia cannot swallow up Ukraine an outcome officials believe could embolden Putin to invade other neighbors or even strike out at NATO members as so high that the administration is willing to countenance even a global recession and mounting hunger." (emphasis added) Left unquestioned is why a group of officials in Washington have arrogated themselves the right to "countenance" a global recession and mounting hunger including pushing millions toward famine -- on behalf of the rest of the planet. Since the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first vaccines for COVID-19 in late 2020, the government and much of the media have insisted that the medicines developed in record time are safe and effective. Those who raised questions about them have been routinely dismissed as conspiracy theorists. And yet an online database co-administered by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control has compiled more than 1.3 million reports of vaccine-implicated adverse events running the gamut from mild to severe, including 29,000 deaths. Representative entries include: A 44-year-old male from California with a blood clot in the brain (CVST) five days after receiving Pfizer vaccine, dose unknown. A 31-year-old female from Pennsylvania with heart inflammation (myocarditis) two days after receiving Modernas booster. A 58-year-old female from California with blood clots in legs (DVT) after receiving Johnson & Johnson booster. She reported: Day after booster on 11/16/21 my right leg was aching. 7 days later on 11/23/21 my sole of my right foot was very painful upon walking. This resolved 2 days later by 11/25/21. On day 11 (11/26/21) my ankle was slightly swollen and painful to touch. These symptoms continued to migrate up my leg to my inner thigh. On 12/13/21 I was seen by my primary care Doctor and was sent for a d-dimer blood test which was 1.77. I was seen in vascular dept and ultrasound indicated multiple DVT from my groin to my ankle. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin: Wants victims to testify. These reports are not anecdotes from anti-vaxxers on the dark web. They come from the federal governments open-source log, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. It allows anyone to go online and report a bad reaction that could be linked to any vaccine, including those for COVID-19. (RealClearInvestigations has linked above to VAERS reports posted at Openvaers.com, an independently run and easier to navigate database that copies reports verbatim from the CDCs less user-friendly WONDER system.) While the reports are unfiltered and unexamined, the idea is that such public input will allow researchers to identify potential problems. But the sheer number of reports, and their specificity, have the attention of concerned scientists and even some politicians like Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who has invited people harmed by vaccines to testify before Congress and advocates compensation for them. Johnson's office said he has been admonishing the health authorities over the VAERS reports for a year. "The senator believes the CDC and FDA need to take their own adverse event early warning system seriously and be transparent with the American people," it said in a statement. "To date, they have not been." More than 1.3 million COVID vaccine "adverse events" reported. VAERS was created in the late 1980s as an outgrowth of a congressional mandate to create a system for compensating vaccine victims and their families. In 2015, the CDC said the average number of annual reports was roughly 30,000. In 2021, there were nearly 1 million. Given the large increase during a politically charged pandemic, the usefulness of VAERS is the subject of great debate even among scientists Some health experts believe that the number of reports is primarily a function of increased publicity around the COVID vaccines, a high number indicating only that many more people are aware of the system and concerned about potential side effects from the shots. Others say the number and strong indications in certain symptom categories such as the cardiovascular examples cited above paint a bleaker picture of the vaccines safety. Dr. Peter McCullough, cardiologist: Wanted vaccines pulled off the market in April 2021. Dr. Peter McCullough, a renowned cardiologist and academic physician with over 600 papers published in medical literature, was one of the first professionals to publicly question the safety of the COVID-19 injections. On April 21, 2021, on his podcast The McCullough Report, he read out some of the early, alarming statistics from VAERS including reports of 502 heart attacks, 84 miscarriages, 321 cases of low blood platelet counts (thrombocytopenia) and 2,342 deaths. For Dr. McCullough, these numbers were a huge red flag. For comparison, he cites the last mass vaccination program undertaken in the United States, the 1976 swine flu vaccine. Dr. McCullough noted that there were approximately 55 million people vaccinated, with an accompanying 500 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, and around 25 deaths. And the government officials at that time said, were going to pull it. Dr. McCullough said that by April 2021, VAERS reports were already so numerous that he felt the COVID vaccines should be pulled off the market. That same month, Fox News host Tucker Carlson voiced doubts about the vaccines' effectiveness, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's top medical adviser, blasted him for pushing "a typical crazy conspiracy theory." Dr. Anthony Fauci: Blasted Tucker Carlson for "a typical crazy conspiracy theory." As of today, the system has more than 29,000 reports of deaths. VAERS reports, however, are not hard evidence. Its website explains: A report to VAERS generally does not prove that the identified vaccine(s) caused the adverse event described. It only confirms that the reported event occurred sometime after vaccine was given. No proof that the event was caused by the vaccine is required in order for VAERS to accept the report. VAERS accepts all reports without judging whether the event was caused by the vaccine. Some of the FDA and CDCs most senior veterans advise caution in interpreting the data. Susan Ellenberg, PhD, the former Director of the Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the FDAs Center for Biologics, told RCI that anything that gets reported goes directly into the [VAERS] system so mostly what you get is noise. She said that its nearly impossible to prove causation with this dataset alone. Dr. Walter Orenstein, formerly the CDCs director of immunization, concurs. He said, Thats why its called adverse events as opposed to reaction because reaction implies causation. Event is basically something that follows. Elderly people, for example, die regularly; if they are dying days or weeks after being vaccinated, that does not necessarily mean the vaccine is killing them. Pointed disagreements over vaccine "adverse events." There are many reasons why the VAERS data is usually insufficient to prove causality between vaccination and adverse events, including: There is no reliable denominator to establish event rates and no control group against which to measure adverse events. Reports are often messy or incomplete. Underreporting has been a consistent and documented issue. (One CDC study shows that the system may capture as few as 12% of adverse events, meaning the total for COVID-19 vaccines could be as high as 10.8 million.) On the other hand, overreporting is also an issue, as noted in this 2003 CDC review: Other potential reporting biases include increased reporting in the first few years after licensure, increased reporting of events occurring soon after vaccination, and increased reporting after publicity about a particular known or alleged type of adverse event. In the case of childhood vaccinations, vaccine sets are co-administered, making it nearly impossible to know which specific vaccine caused the adverse event. So why continue using an unreliable system apart from the fact it was required by Congress? Experts agree that VAERS can be extremely useful in picking up signals of causation, which can be confirmed with further study, usually employing the governments other major monitoring system: the CDCs Vaccine Safety Datalink. The VSD uses the combined databases of nine major healthcare systems nationwide, providing detailed patient data, and the ability to look at control groups of unvaccinated patients. The downside to the VSD is that unless an issue comes through the healthcare system, its not going to be reported. So if someone dies at home after being vaccinated, it wont make it into VSD, though it might make it into VAERS. Susan S. Ellenberg: "Mostly what you get is noise. One prime example of VAERS picking up a signal leading to an important safety discovery occurred in the late 1990s with the RotaShield vaccine for rotavirus an ailment that causes diarrhea and vomiting in the very young. While clinical trials revealed a small number of cases of intussusception the sometimes-deadly folding of the intestine in small children the finding was not seen as prohibitive. Nonetheless, public health researchers flagged it as something to look for in VAERS as the vaccine was distributed widely. When reports started piling up in VAERS, it led to a review process, which ultimately led to the manufacturer pulling the vaccine off the market and the FDA pulling its license. A clear success for the system. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine products, Dr. Orenstein said VAERS has been a success, and that the large number of reports has been helpful in identifying certain issues. The increased volume may be a good thing. Because of the increased reporting weve been able to detect causally related problems, with mRNA problems with myocarditis and pericarditis, and with J&J coagulation problems and Guillain-Barre, so in essence, VAERS is important. Jessica Rose, an independent researcher in Israel, agrees, and has devoted the past year and a half to putting VAERS under a microscope. Dr. Rose has a PhD in computational biology from Bar-Ilan University, a post-doc in molecular biology from Hebrew University, and another in biochemistry from the Technion, widely considered Israels MIT. She has become a fierce critic of the COVID-19 vaccines and spent countless hours poring over VAERS reports to craft her articles on the emergent issues. This journal stands accused of quashing a current problem in cardiology as regards COVID vaccines. For Rose, who has been collaborating with Dr. McCullough, the information available in the VAERS system on its own is sufficient to prove causality when it comes to vaccine-induced myocarditis from all three vaccines, especially the mRNA-based shots from Pfizer and Moderna. They specifically raise concerns around the high rate of myocarditis reported among boys ages 12-15. Their paper stating this was received, peer-reviewed, and accepted by Elsevier, the publisher of Current Problems in Cardiology, where the piece was to be released. It was then withdrawn from the site at the discretion of the editor. No basis was given for the removal. Dr. McCullough described the situation in detail to Bret Weinstein on his Dark Horse podcast in December. When asked for comment, Dr. McCullough told RealClearInvestigations: Elsevier, the world's largest medical publisher, has for the first time in its history started violating publication contracts with unilateral retractions in the pandemic era. These papers were fully peer-reviewed, contracted, and published without any threats to scientific validity. The one thing in common for these retractions they provided data on COVID-19 vaccine injuries, disabilities, and deaths. Thus Elsevier has broken the trust of the consuming public, doctors, and patients. In addition to legal exposure, Elsevier is losing ground to MDPI and other publishers that do not engage in corrupt censorship. Asked to respond to the cardiologist's comment, Elsevier issued this statement to RCI: We do not agree with these assertions; this article in press was withdrawn following our standard policies which are all publicly available on our website. The Lyme Disease Precedent Dr. Orenstein and the federal health apparatus now acknowledge that adverse outcomes like myocarditis, coagulopathies/thrombosis, and Guillain-Barre have been established as causally related to the COVID-19 shots in certain cohorts and that VAERS played a role in making those connections but see them as rare. Former FDA epidemiologist Ellenberg says the sheer number of events in VAERS may reflect the revival of an old phenomenon: high adverse publicity around vaccines, similar to what happened with the Lyme disease vaccine and arthritis. Lyme disease can cause arthritis. So can aging. When many reports of arthritis started appearing in VAERS after that vaccine was rolled out in 1998, bad publicity followed. Ellenberg started receiving phone calls from lawyers asking her when FDA was going to pull the vaccine. Ultimately, FDA convened a panel to look into the correlation, and no causal connection was found. But because of the publicity, use of the vaccine waned and eventually the producer took it off the market. Jessica Rose: VAERS is functioning as a pharmacovigilance tool right now. Regarding the COVID-19 vaccines, Jessica Rose said VAERS shows a grim picture that has nothing to do with publicity. The reporting system is functioning as a pharmacovigilance tool right now, she said. There are an enormous number and range of safety signals being thrown out. In March 2022, after the COVID-19 vaccine had been available for 15 months (462 days), she compared the number of VAERS reports related to these shots versus those for flu vaccines. Given the greater number of COVID shots administered during that period, she predicted that the rate of reporting in VAERSshould be about twice for COVID than for flu. What she found instead was 117.6 times as many reports of adverse events in the context of the COVID shots. Rose is adamant. This is not about the number of doses, this is about these products doing more damage [than the flu vaccines], she said, systemic, comprehensive damage that weve never seen before. Theres no doubting that these products are different. When RCI queried Rose as to which three adverse events might be most readily proven as being caused by the vaccine with data posted in VAERS, she replied, Myocarditis, Bells palsy, and anything related to clotting. Quietly, large numbers of peer-reviewed studies have been accumulating in legitimate journals, lending credence to those who believe many adverse events are occurring, and that they are causally related to vaccination. Just recently, a study of vaccines in three Nordic countries revealed a strong correlation between getting the Astra-Zeneca shot and a higher incidence of cardiovascular injury, and a lesser but still significant correlation for recipients of the Pfizer and Moderna products. Finally, a preprint study (not yet peer reviewed) uploaded June 23 and co-authored by Peter Doshi, a senior editor at the British Medical Journal, as well as physicians from UCLA and Stanford, concludes that a careful analysis of all available data now suggests that the benefits of vaccination do not outweigh the potential harms. To make their calculations, the researchers used data from VAERS as well as its European equivalent, EudraVigilance, and the WHOs VigiBase. But the story remains complicated. For instance, Rose agreed drawing conclusions is complicated by the lack of data in VAERS about whether reporting patients have also recovered from COVID. Studies have now shown that having had COVID also increases the risk of cardiovascular events in the year after recovery. On the other hand, an Israeli analysis shows a correlation to vaccine rollout, but not to COVID-19 infection rates. With such variables, the task of monitoring vaccine safety can seem almost futile. But Dr. Robert Chen, the creator of VAERS, disagrees. He believes the system, in concert with the Vaccine Safety Datalink and other resources, has worked well in alerting the public health community to issues due to vaccination. He told RCI that in terms of its main function of telling you that something is going on, its amazingly effective. Dr. Orenstein said the VSD should be expanded if possible as a complement to VAERS but said that without a single national database, the current system of monitoring vaccine safety is as good as it gets. For Ellenberg, a statistician by training, these are horrible, messy databases. Youre looking for a needle in a haystack. When talking to other epidemiologists and encouraging them to create better systems for analyzing VAERS, Ellenberg said she uses this analogy: If you can reduce the whole haystack to a handful of hay, then that makes your job just a little bit easier. Rose acknowledges the messiness of VAERS, but believes it provides enough information to tell a story of danger. She said that in her analysis, 60% of VAERS reports describe events within 48 hours of vaccine administration one more criteria for causality. Rose said: It isnt on me to prove that these products arent safe, this is on them [CDC, FDA], legally, to prove that these products are safe. And theyre not doing their jobs. On that point, a recent public records request by Josh Guetzkow, Ph.D., and the legal team at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s Childrens Health Defense found that CDC has not been analyzing the VAERS data on COVID-19 shots using its own stated methods. In an email to RCI, the CDC stated, COVID-19 vaccines are undergoing the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history. Speaking at Saturday's Jeddah summit of Middle East leaders the day following his closed-door meeting with Biden, MbS stressed investing in fossil energy but according to "clean techniques" - saying at a moment the war in Ukraine and resulting oil supply crisis is on everyone's minds (or rather the soaring price boomerang in the wake of the West seeking to "punish" Putin), "Its important to reassure investors that the policies adopted dont threaten their investments, to avoid discouraging them from investing causing a shortage in energy supplies." "The kingdom has announced an increase in its energy capacity to 13 million barrels a day. After that the kingdom will have no further capacity to increase production," the Saudi ruler unveiled, per Bloomberg. Saturday Jeddah summit, via Saudi Press Agency (SPA) With the US administration having provided the 'wayward' crown prince a rehabilitating photo op, Biden too now has enough to claim 'victory' and return home proclaiming an ease to the supply problem. Though it remains that not everyone is buying it, even in the mainstream media, with for example The Washington Post, Khashoggi's former employer, on Friday slamming Biden for the "shameful" fist-bump, writing in a statement that it "projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking." And a key distinction that will without doubt get lost in the forthcoming White House talking points... MBS talked about "Production Capacity" and did NOT talk about "production" when he mentioned that they are increasing production capacity to 13 mb/d (from 12 mb/d). #Oil #OOTT #SaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/rmYKUI5PVm Anas Alhajji (@anasalhajji) July 16, 2022 The evening prior to MbS' capacity increase announcement, the kingdom's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir pledged that his country is "committed to stabilizing international oil markets and making sure that the markets are adequately supplied with crude oil." The statement followed Biden's evening meetings with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "We do that by consulting with our Opec and Opec+ partners to assess whether there is a need to bring more oil onto the markets," al-Jubeir said. "These assessments will be made based on what the market needs are. If there is a market need, there will be steps taken to ensure that those needs are met." Just ahead of touching down in Jeddah, Biden appeared to ramp up the pressure on Riyadh, saying he expects the kingdom to take "further steps" to increase oil output in the "coming weeks". Seeking to push back against Washington pressure, FM Jubeir had cautioned: "Oil is not a political weapon, oil is not a tank," said state minister for foreign affairs Adel al-Jubeir. "You cannot point it at someone and fire. Oil is a commodity." He said the kingdom had increased output at various times this year based on demand, and would continue to reassess. "If you say did we promise more oil it means that we see a shortage in oil," he added. "If we see a shortage in oil, there will be more oil produced." Not a "political weapon" perhaps, but apparently it can cover a multitude of sins. 2018: CIA concludes Saudi crown prince directly ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 2019: Candidate Biden vows to make Saudi Arabia pay the price and cast them aside over documented human rights abuses. 2022: pic.twitter.com/HOHV5e6W8v Mahmoud Bennett (@mahmoudbennett) July 15, 2022 Or rather to fix the image... It remains, however, that the crown prince actually did offer some push back when Biden inquired of Jamal Khashoggi's killing and 'accountability'. CNN confirms that MbS "hit back" against soft accusations leveled by Biden: "In response to Biden bringing up Khashoggi, MBS cited the sexual and physical abuse of prisoners at Iraqs Abu Ghraib prison by US military personnel and the May killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank as incidents that reflected poorly on the US, the source said." Biden asked Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman about Jamaal Khashoggi. MBS reportedly responded: "What about Shireen Abu Akleh?" Saudi official gives MBS's response to Biden when he asked about Khashoggi. "You can't impose your values on us by force. Remember Abu Ghraib? What have you done about Shireen Abu Akleh?". Yes MBS literally said that to Biden. https://t.co/9DQDrWVM2L Iyad el-Baghdadi | (@iyad_elbaghdadi) July 16, 2022 For some context, Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, that Saudi Arabia in the past three years only approached its declared maximum production capacity of 12 million barrels per day in one month, casting doubts on the kingdoms ability to quickly up its production to stabilize world markets. According to Bloomberg, such predictions have come from UAE leadership, who together with the Saudis are the only OPEC members who have spare production capacity at least on paper. You will find more infographics at Statista Up until now, the Gulf kingdom and its OPEC allies have been reluctant to make major changes as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. OPEC stuck to its slow production increases that were scheduled to reverse Covid-era cuts between March and June, and only recently agreed to up production quotas faster in the coming months in the light of the dramatic world market developments. Saudi Arabias OPEC production quota for August 2022 stands at 11 million barrels a day more than it has been in a long time and still a whole million barrels a day below the countrys elusive maximum quota. As seen in data by the organization, Saudi Arabia has remained below its production quota prior to the Covid-19 epidemic and only once approached its declared maximum production capacity in April 2020 amidst a row with Russia that saw production quotas go out the window. The following months, the kingdom stood down, accepting lower production quotas than its rival on a voluntary basis. If the Saudis can in fact produce more, they might also not want to. Driving oil production to the edge of what is possible globally holds an inherent risk should another disruption, like it happened recently in Libya due to political unrest, should occur. Since that disruption can then not be compensated at all, it could cause an even more drastic jump in oil prices. An internationally renowned physicist is calling for Australia to take its place among the heavyweights of world science by building a cutting-edge gravity wave detector in our backyard. Distinguished professor Susan Scott was recently elected a fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (ISGRG) the first Australian to ever be elected to the organisation. Distinguished professor Susan Scott says Australia should have a gravity wave detector. Credit:Tracey Nearmy/ANU ISGRG membership, which comprises only about 50 fellows at any one time, has previously included renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and Nobel Laureates Roger Penrose and Kip Thorne. The appointment is recognition that Scott is a world leader in her field, which has been borne out by her extraordinary work up to and including her contribution in 2015 to a project that detected gravitational waves for the first time. As of this weekend, five candidates remain in the race to replace Boris Johnson as UK prime minister. Through a series of ballots, the 358 conservative MPs will continue to eliminate the candidates until two remain. Which then sees a winner selected in a runoff vote by the 180,000 Conservative Party members in the UK. One of the five remaining contenders is Tom Tugendhat, chair of the foreign affairs select committee. The son of a High Court judge and the nephew of a Conservative peer, Tugendhat is decorated veteran who served on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to his election as a member of parliament in 2015, he served as a military assistant and principal adviser to the chief of the defence staff. Nadhim Zahawi (top right), Jeremy Hunt (bottom left) and Suella Braverman (bottom right) have been eliminated from the Tory leadership contest. Still in the running are (top): Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch, and (bottom) Tom Tugendhat and Liz Truss. Credit: While surviving the first two ballots, he is considered an outsider to make the final cut. But the rise of Tugendhat confirms one of Johnsons worst errors, as put by Financial Times Whitehall editor Sebastian Payne, he never appointed the cabinet the country deserved. With a general election due at the latest in January 2025, an opportunity still exists for a renewed government to make their mark. Tugendhat, who exudes a warm authenticity, would be exceptionally suited for a role as defence secretary or foreign secretary. Under Johnson, Tugendhat remained marginalised from ministerial duties due in part to his tough scrutiny of Johnsons foreign policy. Tugendhats reputation flies highest in foreign policy circles among allied and like-minded countries. In August 2021, he managed cut through into the mainstream when denouncing the US led withdrawal from Afghanistan. His raw and powerful speech to the House of Commons gained wide applause and international recognition. Treasurer calls on China to ease sanctions on Aussie goods Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin, who is presently admitted to Kauvery Hospital, will be making a public appearance on Monday, July 18, when he would address a gathering at Kalaivanar Arangam to celebrate Tamil Nadu Day, which is a commemoration of the naming of the State as Tamil Nadu way back in 1967. The resolution to change the name of Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu was moved in the Assembly on July 18, 1967, by the then Chief Minister C N Annadurai and there had been a popular demand to celebrate that day as Tamil Nadu Day, an official press release said. Since Tamil lovers, activists, organisations, scholars and political parties had wanted July 18 to be named as Tamil Nadu Day, Stalin had agreed to that and the government has now organized several functions in Chennai and also New Delhi in connection with that. The events in Chennai will start at 9 am on Monday with the State Planning Commission deputy chairperson J Jeyaranjan presiding over a seminar in which topics like History of the formation of Tamil Nadu, Language based States and the struggle for it in Tamil Nadu, The Martyrs who laid down their lives for Tamil Nadu, The Leader who christened Tamil Nadu and The modern Tamil Nadu created by M Karunanidhi. Winners of the elocution, poetry and essay competitions that were held for school and college students would be given away the prizes on the occasion when a slew of awards instituted by the Tamil Development Department for the year 2021 would also be distributed. Antique artefacts unearthed from excavation sites like Keeladi, Adichanallur, Sivakalai, Mayiladuthurai and Kodumanal would be displayed on the occasion, along with old and historic documents of the Tamil Nadu Survey Department. A souvenir containing the articles by scholars and others related to the history of the Tamil Nadu Day, the resolution passed in Assembly to change the name would be released as part of the celebrations and a sand art to commemorate the event would be installed on the Marina sands by noted sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik, an official press release said. In Delhi, the celebrations will be inaugurated by the Tamil Nadu governments special representative A K S Vijayan at the Tamil Nadu House, where winners of competitions will be presented prizes and art workshops and painting competitions will be conducted. The screening of the Tamil film Rocketry at 1.30 pm and 5.30 pm would also be a highlight of the events in Tamil Nadu House, where exhibitions will also be organized, an official release said. Damaging winds across Victoria over the weekend eased by Sunday evening, but not before the State Emergency Service (SES) received hundreds of calls for help. The SES said most of the calls related to fallen trees, with Emerald, Glen Eira, Narre Warren and Knox among the busiest areas. The wild weather is expected to settle early this week according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), but Victorians will have to endure another chilly day on Monday with a top forecast of just 10 degrees in Melbourne. A blustery weekend in Melbourne is forecast to end with possible blizzards in the alpines. Credit:Jason South As the winds eased across Melbourne on Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) reduced its severe weather warnings for Melbourne by lunchtime and then cancelled them at 5pm. Hundreds of pokie players will soon go cashless at the slots under a long-promised digital wallet trial as the states crime commission warns laws are increasing avenues for criminals to launder illicit cash. The 12-week trial targeted at reducing gambling harm and money laundering is expected to start at Wests Newcastle in the next month, more than a year after the concept was first floated, with support from the gambling lobby. The opt-in wallet will be linked to a players identity and an Australian bank account, and will include harm minimisation protections such as spending limits and real-time spending data. The first digital wallet trial is due to start at Wests Newcastle in the next month. Credit:Louie Douvis Poker machine giant Aristocrat Leisure will oversee the trial of the technology that has been rolled out across 38 of its machines, to be used by at least 300 patrons. In high-end real estate, its all about the address. Which is why a huge sandpit in the salubrious Los Angeles neighbourhood of Bel Air, connected to a Colombian billionaire, is commanding $US45 million ($66.8 million). This excavated site in Bel Air is on the market for $66.8 million. Credit:Compass The vendor, a Florida-based firm controlled by one of the worlds richest men, has been looking for a buyer since May last year, when the dust bowl was launched on the market for $US34 million. Although no ink has been scribbled on a sale contract, the price last month was bullishly lifted by another $US11 million, according to The Real Deal. The only hitch? That is not the way it happened, according to Saudi officials. Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, who was present for the encounter, told reporters that he had not heard Biden blame the crown prince. He basically said that he was not personally responsible for it, Biden recounted to reporters. I indicated that I thought he was. After meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, on Friday for the first time since taking office, Biden insisted that he had pointedly blamed him for the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The White House on Saturday did not back down. The president was very clear about the conversation, and we stand by his account, said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council. Both sides had an interest in spinning the closed-door meeting. Biden has been denounced by rights groups, media organisations and politicians in both parties for meeting with the crown prince, who the CIA said ordered the 2018 operation that killed Khashoggi, a US resident and columnist for The Washington Post. By promoting how tough he was behind closed doors, Biden clearly hoped to defuse some of the criticism for abandoning his campaign promise to make Saudi Arabia a pariah. For their part, the Saudis were eager to present the meeting as a return to business as usual between the leaders of two longtime allies and had every hope of minimising the lasting import of the Khashoggi case. Al-Jubeir confirmed to reporters that Biden had raised the matter but characterised it in less confrontational terms. The last thing the Saudis wanted was the image of a president lecturing their young leader. The president was very clear about the conversation, and we stand by his account. John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council. Indeed, both sides were acutely attuned to the choreography of the encounter. American news photographers travelling in the White House motorcade were given no opportunity to get in place to capture the image of the president greeting the crown prince upon his arrival at a palace here, a picture Bidens aides had dreaded. The Saudi government, for its part, made sure its official photographers were everywhere and snapped myriad shots of the two together, which were promptly posted online. New Delhi: The Opposition parties on Sunday fielded former Union minister Margaret Alva as their joint vice-president candidate for the upcoming elections that will be held on August 6. A meeting of 17 Opposition parties held in New Delhi on Sunday at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar decided to field Ms Alva as their candidate. Announcing the decision, Mr Pawar said that 17 Opposition parties have unanimously decided on Ms Alvas name. Shortly after the announcement, Ms Alva tweeted, "It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint Opposition for the post of vice-president of India. I accept this nomination with great humility and thank the leaders of the Opposition for the faith they've put in me." Endorsing the candidature of Ms Alva, senior Congress leader and partys communications chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "Margaret Alva, former governor, former Union minister, long-time MP and very distinguished representative of India's wonderful diversity, is the common Opposition candidate for Vice-President." The Opposition leaders meeting, which began at 3 pm and continued till 4:30 pm, was attended by Leader of Opposition Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, DMKs T.R. Baalu, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, CPI leaders D. Raja and Binoy Viswam, (MDMK) leader Vaiko, TRS member Keshav Rao, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury, IUML member E.T. Mohammed Basheer, and RJDs Amarendra Dhari Singh. No representative from the Trinamul Congress, which is the second largest Opposition party in the Rajya Sabha, was present at the meeting. The Aam Aadmi Party also did not attend the meeting. Mr Pawar though said that both AAP and TMC will support the joint Opposition candidate. The term of office of the incumbent vice president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, is ending on August 10. This will be the 16th vice-presidential election in the country. The announcement came a day after the BJP-led NDA announced that West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be its candidate. HOLLYWOOD ENDING: and the Culture of Silence Author: Ken Auletta Publisher: Penguin Price: $30 Pages: 466 As you might expect, there arent a whole lot of laughs in Hollywood Ending, Ken Aulettas cradle-to-jail new biography of Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul convicted of third-degree rape and another sex felony in New York and awaiting trial on further charges in California. When Auletta calls Weinsteins relationship with his brother Bob Shakespeare-worthy, he is placing the story squarely in the tragedy column of the ledger. But then the Broadway star Nathan Lane makes a brief appearance, like Puck cartwheeling onto the set of Coriolanus. The year was 2000, and Weinsteins cultural capital was perhaps at its peak. He was still running Miramax, the prestigious studio that he and Bob had started in 1979, albeit now under Disneys incongruous but lucrative oversight. Hed recently founded Talk magazine with the editor Tina Brown, then New Yorks nimblest puppeteer of high and low culture. He was hobnobbing with politicians, co-chairing a lavish birthday party and fund-raiser for then-Senate candidate Hillary Clinton at Roseland Ballroom. And he didnt like some of the jokes that Lane, anyones dream M.C., had written for the occasion. Ill ruin your career, Weinstein threatened, in Aulettas retelling. You cant hurt me, Lane retorted. I dont have a film career. Onstage, Lane tauntingly said: Im going to do all the jokes wanted me to cut. This wasnt the last time that theatre, of a sort, would win the day over the producers preferred medium. Auletta attended every day of Weinsteins trial in 2020, narrating the experience here in four chapters. Trials are not movies, shot under controlled conditions and subject to revision in the editing room, he writes. They are live productions, dependent on the chemistry of their participants, and not a little bit of luck. Books, of which Weinstein is demonstrably fond his media mini-empire included a publishing imprint can be like movies. Auletta effectively, if maybe a little too elegiacally, frames this one in the lengthy shadow of Citizen Kane. Auletta is, of course, Jerry Thompson, the reporter looking for his antiheros Rosebud: The mysterious missing object or influence that will explain his personality. But he is also Citizen Ken, magnanimous and avuncular when he encourages his boss at The New Yorker, David Remnick, to publish the young journalist Ronan Farrows investigation of Weinsteins misdeeds. The New York Timess Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey broke the story five days before Farrows piece was published. The well-connected Auletta draws on the work of those journalists and his own interviews with major players, including many surely fascinating hours with the beleaguered brother Bob. As for Harvey, he emails some terse responses to questions, and his representatives haggle over possible interview conditions before ghosting his biographer but Hollywood Ending also mines an extensive profile Auletta wrote of him 20 years ago, and its outtakes. At that time, he had heard of Weinsteins sex crimes, an open secret for years, but was unable to get victims on the record, and so focused on his subjects bullying and prodigious appetites. Weinsteins reputation for sexual trespass had started early, when he was a concert promoter in Buffalo. As he aged, his influence waned the whole movie industry waned just as he was seeking younger prey, from a cohort that increasingly spent their free time on social networks like Facebook, Auletta reminds, rather than going to the movies. After the producer, then in his 60s, lunged from his office couch at Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, a 22-year-old Miss Italy finalist, in 2015 she did what many previous women who had been in her position, scared of Weinsteins towering power, had been loath to do: She called the police. The fourth wave of feminism had arrived with a big splash, pulling Weinstein and his ilk into the undertow. And yet the male foreman of the jury that convicted Weinstein, Auletta points out, cited the testimony and behaviour of male witnesses, not female victims suggesting, Auletta writes, that believe women may face a steep uphill climb. He proposes instead listen to women; but one key womans voice is cast as soul-crushingly loud. As there was a roving fifth Beatle, so there were a series of Miramax executives nicknamed the third brother loyalists who helped to enable bad behaviour and, chillingly, a sort of conveyor system to funnel women to Weinsteins hotel suites. If youre not interested in the NC-17 and often disgusting particulars of what happened in those suites, nor in the headsmacking convolutions of nondisclosure agreements, perhaps youd prefer one of the disgraced protagonists recommendations from the more tasteful era he worshiped, Elia Kazans autobiography, A Life, or a book Weinstein was often seen carrying during trial preparation: The Brothers Mankiewicz, by Sydney Ladensohn Stern. Herman Mankiewicz is credited with the screenplay for Citizen Kane; his brother, Joe, wrote All About Eve. Recalling those great movies, and even some from Miramaxs glory days in the 1990s, feels dispiriting, as the pictures continue to get smaller. Going along for the ride of Weinsteins slow rise and fall, even with the able Auletta at ones side, can feel even more dispiriting, like getting on one of those creaky roller coasters at a faded municipal play-land. An alive bird was found in the cockpit of Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight on July 15, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said on Sunday. The bird was found in the glove compartment on co-pilot's side when the plane was at 37,000 feet altitude, the officials noted. The plane landed safely in Kochi, they said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the incident, they mentioned. Prima facie, it looks like there was a ground handling lapse at a foreign station, the officials said while talking about the incident. In another incident, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted on July 16 to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in cabin mid-air. did not respond to PTI's requests for statements regarding the two aforementioned incidents. (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.) All-cargo airline Pradhaan Air Express has received its first converted A320 freighter aircraft as part of its plans to operate a fleet of four planes by next year, the company has said. The Delhi-based cargo carrier earlier this month secured the no-objection certificate from the Civil Aviation Ministry to start a cargo carrier. It had also announced that the airline will start operations by this year. Pradhaan Air's first converted A320 cargo plane, named Pehalwan arrived at Delhi Airport on Saturday evening, the airline said in a statement on Sunday. The 21-tons payload capacity cargo plane with a fully palletized main deck will offer charter capacity to domestic shippers and freight forwarders on domestic as well as international routes, it said. The converted freighter will also be available for on-demand cargo charters, the company said. "The arrival of the aircraft marks the completion of another critical phase and brings us closer to our Air Operator Permit to kick start the commercial operations very soon. We look forward to keeping up the positive momentum, aiming at further fleet expansion," said Nipun Anand, CEO & Founder, Pradhaan Air Express. The airline is expected to take the second A320 P2F (passenger aircraft to freighter) by this year-end with further fleet expansion under consideration, he said. "The airline intends to add two A321 freighters to its fleet as well by next year," said Anand. With this key development, Pradhaan Air Express is moving towards leveraging the boom in the air cargo industry, which has rebounded after the pandemic, the airline 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 Union is examining the application to give security clearance to Chief Executive Officer designate Campbell Wilson and the nod will be given once the thorough background check is completed, officials said. The Tata Sons, which took over from the government the loss-making airline on January 27 this year, announced the appointment of Wilson on May 12. The application for security clearance to CEO designate Campbell Wilson is under consideration and the approval will be given once the background check is completed, officials privy to the issue said. Wilson was the CEO of Singapore Airlines' wholly-owned subsidiary Scoot Air. Singapore Airlines is a joint venture partner of Tata Group in full service carrier Vistara. As the security clearance is taking time, Wilson is yet to formally take over the charge of the Air India, industry sources said. A query sent to on Wilson's security clearance and when is he expected to officially join the airline did not elicit a response. Weeks after taking over the carrier, Tata Sons, on February 14, named Turkish Airlines' former Chairman Lyker Ayci as Air India's MD and CEO. However, Ayci, a Turkish national, who was to take over on April 1, declined to join the group amid concerns in certain quarters over his reported close links with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan had taken anti-India stand on several occasions in the past on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Under government rules, clearance of the is mandatory for appointment of key personnel at private-run that include foreign nationals. In a message to Air India employees on June 20, Wilson said the airline's "best years are yet to come" and that the journey to make it a world class airline will require efforts that are "big and small, easy and difficult". Wilson, an aviation industry veteran with over 26 years of experience, started off as a management trainee with Singapore Airlines in New Zealand in 1996. He then worked for the carrier in Canada, Hong Kong and Japan before returning to Singapore in 2011 as the founding CEO of Scoot, which he led until 2016. He then served as the senior vice president sales and marketing of Singapore Airlines, where he oversaw pricing, distribution, e-commerce, merchandising, brand and marketing, global sales and the airline's overseas offices, before returning for a second stint as the CEO of Scoot in April 2020. Through a competitive bidding process, the government in October last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Sons for Rs 18,000 crore. The Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932 and the carrier was nationalised in 1953. (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.) Metals and mining major is seeking shareholder approval for related-party transactions worth Rs 8,661 crore for the ongoing financial year (FY23). Three resolutions have been listed on the agenda of the company's annual general meeting (AGM), to be held on August 10, involving subsidiaries. This includes a related-party deal with Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) in which has a 51 per cent stake. The transaction, worth Rs 4,984 crore, will involve the sale and purchase of goods and services, stores and spares and fixed assets during FY23. The other two transactions, with ESL Steel and Sterlite Power Transmission each, are worth Rs 1,712 crore and Rs 1,965 crore, respectively. has said these transactions are needed to achieve synergies and economies of scale, and have been valued by an independent valuer. The company has also received approval from its audit committee to go ahead with the deals, it said. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had issued a warning to the company for executing related-party transactions worth Rs 1,407 crore without prior approval of the audit committee. The companys independent auditor and secretarial auditor had flagged the issue in the companys annual report for FY21. In the FY22 annual report, no such issue has been flagged off. A day before the start of the of Parliament, the government on Sunday said 32 have been indicated by various departments for presentation in two houses of which 14 are ready, even as it asserted that it wants discussions on all of them in a democratic way. After an all-party meeting here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also said that some of these 32 have already been discussed by standing committees of Parliament. "Thirty two have been indicated by various departments for being presented in this session of Parliament, of which 14 bills are ready, but we will not pass the bills without discussion," he told reporters. Joshi said that the government had invited around 45 parties to the all-party meeting, of which 36 attended it. "I am thankful to them for participating in the meeting. During the meeting chaired by senior minister Rajnath Singh, they demanded some of the issues to be discussed. "Some of the issues that were raised included about the words that have been declared as 'unparliamentary' and it has been clarified that the compilation of unparliamentary phrases is being done every year for a long time," he said. On the listed business for the that will start on July 18 and is scheduled to continue till August 12, Joshi said, "We have listed 32 bills so that they (opposition) are also prepared and therefore we are giving notice in advance. "All we are saying is that 14 bills are ready and we can consider even more. More importantly, we believe in democratically discussing all the bills. We believe in democracy and we are open for discussions on all matters," he added. According to official documents, the bills listed by the government for the upcoming Parliament session include the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to rationalise the government's role in cooperatives and increase participation in the working of multi-state cooperative societies, to increase public faith in them and create a conducive environment for their growth and development. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill seeks to strengthen the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by introducing provisions on cross-border insolvency and certain other amendments for a time-bound resolution of stressed assets while maximising their value. Two separate bills for Constitution amendment to revise the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu are also listed for introduction. The 'Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill' seeks to replace the 155-year-old 'Press and Registration of Books Act' with a simplified version that decriminalises various provisions and brings digital media under its ambit. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide more teeth to the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and amend a law dealing with ancient monuments. It is also aimed at rationalising prohibited areas and other amendments. The most significant aspect of the bill is that it will replace the provision which allows a 100-metre prohibited area for construction activity around centrally-protected monuments with site-specific limits to be decided by an expert committee. Another bill listed during the session is the Kalakshetra Foundation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to amend the Kalakshetra Foundation Act, 1993 to empower the Kalakshetra Foundation to award certificates; diplomas; post-graduate diplomas; degrees to graduate and post-graduate; doctoral and post-doctoral courses; and conduct research in the areas of dance, traditional theatre, drama, Carnatic and traditional music, visual arts, craft education and art education. The Family Courts (Amendment) and Indian Antarctic bills are listed to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Monday, while the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill is listed for consideration and passing on the same day in Rajya Sabha. Also, the Trafficking of Persons (Protection, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2022 seeks to prevent and combat trafficking, especially of women and children. It also seeks to provide for care, protection, assistance and rehabilitation to the victims, while respecting their rights, and creating a supportive legal, economic and social environment for them, and ensuring the prosecution of offenders. According to the draft bill, a person found guilty of trafficking can be imprisoned for a term not less than seven years that may extend to 10 years. The convict shall also be liable to a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh that may extend up to Rs 5 lakh. Severe punishment has been proposed for offences classified as aggravated forms of trafficking. Several anti-human trafficking activists and NGOs have been pushing for the early passage of the bill in Parliament. The Cantonment Bill 2022 is expected to bring in measures to ensure that the civilian population living within the cantonments does not face any difficulties. It seeks to enhance efficiency in running cantonments across the country. At present, 62 cantonments are operating across the country and most of them have a civil-military mix in their demography. The administration of the cantonments comes under the authority of the Ministry of Defence. (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 General Manoj Pande on Sunday proceeded on a three-day visit to to further strengthen defence and bilateral ties between the two nations, the said. The year 2021 marked the Golden Jubilee of the Liberation War of and 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and . India and Bangladesh enjoy robust and multifaceted bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including trade and connectivity, energy and power, water resources, border management, defence and security, culture and people-to-people links. As part of the Swarnim Vijay Varsh, both countries celebrated Maitri Diwas on 6 December 2021 in India and Bangladesh. Maitri Diwas was also commemorated in 18 countries - Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Qatar, Singapore, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. The India-Bangladesh relationship is an important element of India's "Neighbourhood First" policy. The year 2021 was of special significance as both countries celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations, five decades of Bangladesh's independence and the birth centenary of its Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. India and Bangladesh celebrated 6 December 2021 as "Maitri Diwas" (Friendship Day) in New Delhi, Dhaka and 18 other world capitals, to commemorate the day on which India extended diplomatic recognition to Bangladesh in 1971. The cooperation between the two countries is also to be seen in combating the Covid pandemic. India gifted 3.3 million Covishield vaccines to Bangladesh to assist in its ongoing effort to fight the pandemic. This was the largest tranche of Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines gifted to any country by India. (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.) Canadian Police investigating the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, the man who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing case, have identified the vehicle linked to the targeted killing. On Friday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team released a video of a white Honda CRV driving through the area a little while before the 75-year-old Malik was found shot there, according to CBC News. Ripudaman was shot dead in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia province on Thursday morning. Confirming the news, Jaspal Singh, Brother-in-Law of Malik, told ANI, "We are uncertain about who killed Ripudaman. His younger sister is on her way to ." Malik was one of the persons who was accused of playing a crucial role in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 Kanishka. A bomb exploded on Air India Flight 182 "Kanishka" from off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing 329 passengers and crew. This included over 280 Canadian citizens including 29 entire families and 86 children under the age of 12. Ripudaman Malik was allegedly associated with Babbar Khalsa, a terrorist outfit responsible for many terrorist incidents in Punjab and was also a close associate of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the alleged mastermind of the Air India bombing. Babbar Khalsa is an international terrorist organisation and banned by several countries including the US, and India. Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges. Notably, Malik spent four years in prison before his acquittal and later asked for USD 9.2 million as legal fees, however, a British Columbia judge rejected his claims for compensation. The terrorist bombing of the AI Flight 182 remains the worst terrorist attack on Canada to date. The majority of the victims were Canadians, and the bombing was the result of a conspiracy conceived, planned and executed in Canada. (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.) Justice N.V. Ramana on Saturday expressed his concern over the decline in legislative performance and passing of bills without debates. "The country is witnessing a decline in the quality of legislative performance. We have a form of government where the executive is accountable to the legislative. However, space for Leaders of opposition is diminishing in absence of thorough debate and politics has become acronymous. Political opposition should not transform into hostility which is being seen these days which are not signs of healthy democracy," he said. He said this while addressing a seminar on the 75th year of parliamentary democracy organised under the aegis of Rajasthan branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. "Although the Constitution does not specify a minimum number of days for which the state assembly must meet every year but no doubt that citizens will benefit with longer engagement," he added. "In a world as divided as ours, it is you who can hold the society together," he told lawmakers. He further said: "Lack of debate in legislative bodies I mentioned is not criticism. My only concern was the burden imposed on the judiciary because of imperfection of law making. If bills are debated perfectly, we will have better laws." He further said that India is the largest parliamentary democracy in the world. "The role of the judiciary is most important in a democracy. Acting as a bridge between the aspirations of the common people and the truth in the 75 years of independence, the judiciary has written the story of India's growth and transformation as a result of progressive laws and policies. He said that democracy defines our identity, determines our liberties, rights and duties." Calling upon the youth, Ramana said that youth is the basis of democracy and youth is the builder of India's future. Therefore, the youth of today should become aware and knowledgeable and ensure their participation in the democratic system. On the occasion, Justice Ramana inaugurated the Digital Museum and said that this museum displays the rich culture along with political and historical features of Rajasthan. He said that this museum is not just a building but a bridge between our past and our future. This museum will undoubtedly make the youth curious. --IANS arc/pgh (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rain lashed parts of a national capital on Sunday bringing respite from severe heat and rising temperatures. The rainfall brought the temperature dropped to 26.4 Celsius. IMD further predicted that rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning are very likely to occur over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh-Delhi and Uttar Pradesh during the next three days. "Isolated rainfall activity with thunderstorms and lightning very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh-Delhi and Uttar Pradesh during next three days and fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls, thunderstorm and lightning also likely over the region on July 19 and 20," IMD said. On Tuesday, rain in Delhi led to waterlogging and traffic snarls in parts of the city. Earlier, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena inspected Delhi's chronic waterlogging sites, including the Indraprastha WHO stretch, the Railway underpass at Pul Prahladpur and Minto Bridge. The Lieutenant Governor instructed officials to make the water drainage system fool-proof in the city. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As instances of entering Indian airspace continue to be reported from the border regions, the Police on Sunday spotted yet another drone flying near the Samba International Border in . According to the latest input, the drone movement was detected by the security troops last night. Police officials informed ANI today morning, "Late last night, villagers from Mangu Chak village, Samba informed Police of having spotted a drone in the area. Police forces are carrying out a search operation." "Security forces have deployed a drone to conduct a search operation after villagers from Mangu Chak village of Samba informed police about spotting a drone in the area," the officials said. Earlier on July 4, the villagers in the Rajpura area along the Indo-Pakistan international border in the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir are said to have spotted a Pakistani drone. A police official noted on July 4 that according to some villagers, they saw a drone in the Rajpura area during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. "Subsequently, SOG Samba launched a search operation around 5 am and used to scan the area but found nothing," he said. Earlier this year in May, security forces shot down a Pakistani drone carrying seven sticky or magnetic bombs and seven UBGLs (Under Barrel Grenade Launchers) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. The incident took place on Sunday, May 29, 2022, near Rajbagh police station in Kathua district, in the border area of Talli Haria Chak. Seven UGCL grenades and seven magnetic and sticky bombs were discovered in the aftermath of the drone's crash. (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.) Leaders of various parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of "unparliamentary words" at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session. Sources said the leaders were unanimous in their demand for the immediate withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and called for a discussion on important issues like price rise and the status of the economy during the session starting Monday. Addressing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government was open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of Parliament. Leader of in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge asked how 32 bills, lined up by the government, will get passed in 14 days in Parliament and said, "What is the government is trying to do?" "We raised 13 issues including price rise, Agnipath, attack on the federal structure of the country and misuse of investigative agencies such as ED and CBI," Kharge told reporters after the meeting. Leaders from almost all parties including Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh, DMK's TR Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, TMC's Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and NCP's Sharad Pawar, besides BJD's Pinaki Misra, YSRCP's Vijaysai Reddy, TRS' Keshav Rao, RJD's AD Singh and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were present. The government was represented by Union Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, his cabinet colleague and leader of the house in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. "Today, in the all-party meeting, many political parties, including those supporting NDA, pointed out the contradiction in the Modi government claiming credit for its presidential candidate on the one hand and killing off the Forest Rights Act, 2006 on the other hand," Congress' Jairam Ramesh tweeted after the meeting. He earlier raised strong objections over the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the all-party meeting to discuss issues that will come up in Parliament. IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer said every party raised the issue of Agnipath, price rise and the row over the words listed in a new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat that will be considered "unparliamentary". BJD leader Pinaki Misra came out in support of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over the issue, saying he was "unfairly targeted" as listing out such words has been a routine practice in Parliament. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader also pressed for the passage of the women's reservation bill besides demanding a legislative council for Odisha, where the party is in power for many years now. "It is high time we insisted that government should bring the women's reservation bill," said AIADMK leader M Thambidurai. DMK's TR Baalu and AIADMK's Thambidurai also raised the Sri Lankan crisis and said India should intervene to settle the issue. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, however, hit out at the opposition and accused them of belittling Parliament by making issues out of non-issues. He said the opposition is doing so as it had nothing against the government and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being recognised within the country as well as abroad. Condemning the Opposition for creating a row over unparliamentary words and circulars issued in routine for the past several years, he said such a practice is being carried on since 1954, when the first such list was brought out, and the opposition was doing so as it was devoid of any issues against the government. Joshi claimed the government was "doing good work" and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was recognised not just by people within India but also those abroad. "The Opposition is trying to make issues out of non-issues as they do not have anything against the Government... It is trying to belittle the image of Parliament," he said on the row over unparliamentary words. "Actually there is no major issue against the government as it is functioning well under PM Modi's leadership and it is being hailed in may elections," he said. Joshi said presiding officers in previous years also released such a list of unparliamentary words, but the Opposition did not raise it then. He said the words are expunged on the demands made in Parliament and the Chair takes the final call. "No word has been barred from use in Parliament and the Lok Sabha Secretariat has been bringing out such a list of unparliamentary words since 1954," Joshi also said, adding that it is the Lok Sabha Secretariat and not the government that brings out such a list. Similarly, he said a normal circular was issued by Rajya Sabha Secretariat on not holding any dharnas and protests in Parliament, but the Opposition raised it as if it is something new. Such circulars are issued ahead of every session, he said. On criticism over the absence of the prime minister from the meeting, he said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised the issue. "The prime minister never attended all-party meetings before 2014 when the Congress was in power. "It was his good gesture to do this from 2014. They are trying to make an issue that is a non-issue. Our senior colleague Rajnath Singh and deputy leader of the house chaired the meeting," he said. "We are open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of parliament," Joshi said when asked about the opposition demand on the Agnipath scheme. He also stated that the government would hold an all-party meeting on the situation on Tuesday which will be chaired by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar. (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 ministries of External Affairs and Finance will brief the floor leaders of various political parties in on the situation on Tuesday, officials said. Citing an office memorandum, the officials said the briefing by the two ministries has been scheduled for the evening of July 19, the second day of the monsoon session of . The briefing on the present situation in will be attended by the floor leaders of various political parties, the officials added. The monsoon session will begin on July 28 and is scheduled to continue till August 12. Earlier in the day, India assured that it will continue to support democracy, stability and economic recovery in the country, which is at a crucial juncture, amid the unprecedented political crisis and economic turmoil. The assurance was given to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena by India's High Commissioner Gopal Baglay when he called on the Sri Lankan leader. The meeting took place a day after Speaker Abeywardena accepted the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades, with a severe foreign exchange shortage hampering the import of essentials including food, fuel and medicines. The economic crisis also sparked a political crisis in the country after a popular uprising against the government forced Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign as president. Sri Lankan lawmakers met on Saturday to begin the process of choosing a new leader to replace Rajapaksa, who is now in Singapore. The island nation off the tip of southeast India needs about USD 5 billion in the next six months to cover basic necessities for its 22 million people, who have been struggling with long queues, worsening shortages and power cuts. India has been the principal source of foreign assistance to Sri Lanka this year. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat on Sunday reported 644 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 12,42,731, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,954, a state health department official said. The recovery count rose by 500 and reached 12,27,001, which left the state with an active caseload of 4,776, he added. Ahmedabad led with 272 cases, followed by 90 in Surat, 46 in Vadodara, 36 in Mehsana, 32 in Bhavnagar, among other districts, the official said. The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the state went up by 45,912 during the day to touch 11.24 crore, a government release said. No new case or recovery was reported from adjoining Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, leaving the Union Territory with an active caseload of 11, local officials said. Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 12,42,731, new cases 644, death toll 10,954, discharged 12,27,001, active cases 4,776, people tested so far - figures not released. (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.) Another Indian flight, a Hyderabad-bound airliner from Sharjah was diverted to Pakistan's airport after the pilot reported a technical defect. " flight 6E-1406, operating from Sharjah to was diverted to . The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi," said in a press release. It further added that an additional flight will be sent to to fly the passengers to . Notably, this is the second Indian Airline to make a precautionary landing in Karachi in 2 weeks. Earlier, on July 5, a Dubai-bound SpiceJet flight from New Delhi made a precautionary landing in Pakistan's Karachi airport after the pilot developed a technical glitch. "SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Dubai diverted to Karachi. Boeing 737' engine has developed a technical fault. The captain of the aircraft sought a precautionary landing and was given permission. All passengers on board are safe. The call sign of the aircraft is SG11," sources told ANI on Tuesday. According to the Karachi airport officials, the flight was diverted when it was on the way to Dubai. "The plane landed in Karachi 0803 am (local time), 53 minutes after being airborne. It has been on-ground for the past four hours. Passengers are being looked after. The plane has been parked in the designated area where engineers are assessing the problem," Pakistan's civil aviation authority (CAA) official said. The Indian low-cost carrier confirmed the emergency landing of SpiceJet in Karachi this morning. "On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi - Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked," the spokesperson of the airline said. According to SpiceJet, no emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing at Karachi airport. "No emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft. Passengers have been served refreshments. A replacement aircraft is being sent to Karachi that will take the passengers to Dubai," SpiceJet spokesperson 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.) Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that the state government would introduce a new policy and self-assessment property tax system for industries in the state. The Chief Minister in his address at the conference of State and district level commerce and industrial associations said the state government is coming out with a new policy to increase opportunities for the youth and women. "A silent revolution is happening in the state," Bommai said. "The government is encouraging the setting up of high-tech industries in tier-2 cities. The Industrial associations should work with the government to improve the ease of doing business. The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) should take up corporate social responsibility," he said. The Chief Minister said the property tax issue has come to his notice and that immediate action would be taken to resolve it. The grievances related to Goods and Service Tax (GST) will also be discussed in Bengaluru, he assured. The Chief Minister called upon the industrialists to tap the huge opportunities for technology-based industries in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. He said there is an abundance of talent in these places, and FKCCI should take the leak in this regard. "Mega textile parks are coming up in Kalaburagi and Vijayapura, a Pharmaceutical Hub is being set up in Yadagiri, and the Mumbai-Bengaluru industrial corridor would see huge industrialisation of Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Haveri, Dharwad and Belagavi," Bommai said. He further spoke about the ease of doing business and the state has improved in this field as New Industrial Policy has been implemented. A most modern Semiconductor fabrication unit is being set up in the state. The state is also leading in renewable energy as it produces 43 per cent of the total production in the country, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu lifted the Singapore Open Super 500 trophy after outwitting China's Wang Zhi Yi in an intense women's singles final on Sunday. Sindhu managed to stay strong in the key moments to come up trumps against the 22-year-old Wang, the reigning Asian Championships gold medallist. The final scoreline read 21-9 11-21 21-15 in the Indian's favour. India on Sunday reported 20,528 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 43,750,599. With 49 new deaths, the toll from Covid-19 reached 525,709. India's tally of cured cases is at 43,081,441 with 17,790 new additions in last 24 hours.India and China started the 16th round of high-level military talks on Sunday with an aim to resolve the outstanding issues in remaining friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The talks are being held at the Chushul Moldo meeting point on the Indian side of the LAC in the region, official sources said. At least 38 students of a private school in city in have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Sunday. district on Sunday reported 262 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 100 infections from city, taking the overall tally to 5,69,690. The cumulative COVID-19 death toll so far stood at 10,339, as per an official release. "Samples of the students of a private school in Jaitala area in Nagpur city were taken on Friday. As per the test results which became available on Sunday, 38 students have been found infected with coronavirus," a district health official told PTI. Nagpur district has 1,221 active cases. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister will address the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar 'Swavlamban' on July 18, 2022, at 4 A key pillar of Aatmanirbhar Bharat is attaining self-reliance in the Defence Sector, the Prime Minister's Office informed today highlighting the details of the event. To further this endeavour, during the programme, Prime Minister will unveil 'SPRINT Challenges', which are aimed at giving a boost to the usage of the indigenous technology in the Indian Navy. As a part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', NIIO, in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), aims at inducting at least 75 new indigenous technologies/products into the Indian Navy. This collaborative project is named SPRINT (Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R & D through iDEX, NIIO and TDAC). The seminar aims to engage Indian industry and academia towards achieving self-reliance in the Defence sector. The two-day Seminar (18-19 July) will provide a platform for leaders from Industry, Academia, Services and Government to come together on a common platform to ideate and come up with recommendations for the Defence Sector. Sessions dedicated to Innovation, Indigenisation, Armament and Aviation will be held. The second day of the Seminar will witness outreach to the Indian Ocean Region, in line with the government's vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of a string of technical malfunction incidents involving Indian carriers, Aviation Minister held a meeting on safety issues with senior officials of his ministry and regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday, sources said. During the meeting, the minister took a detailed report from the officials about these incidents over the last one month and told them that there should be no compromise over passengers' safety. On Sunday, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precautionary measure after pilots observed a defect in one of the engines. On Saturday night, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air. A day earlier an alive bird was found in the cockpit of the Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight. SpiceJet is under regulatory scanner right now. On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19. The DGCA is currently investigating all these incidents. (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.) It took India 548 days to administer 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to its population of 1.39 billion. On Sunday, it touched the 2-billion milestone - the only country in the world to do so. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted that "17th July 2022, a day to remember forever" The first 500 million doses were administered in 202 days after the worlds second most populous country started its vaccination drive on January 16, 2021. The second and third 500-million doses were achieved in quick succession of 76 and 79 days, respectively, as India battled through second and third waves led by the Delta and Omicron variants. The journey from 1.5 billion to 2 billion doses was rather a slow one as India inched towards the flag post in 191 days. Over two-thirds of Indias population above 15-years is fully vaccinated. The next ambitious target is to vaccinate everyone with a precautionary dose or a third shot. India has a long way to go before it comes within shouting distance of achieving 100 per cent booster dose coverage. Only 3.9 per cent of Indias eligible population has received a booster dose, compared to 77.6 per cent in Singapore, or 37.7 per cent in the US. Centres latest campaign Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence is showing results. On day 1 of the free boosters for all adults, India administered 2 million doses, of which 1.49 million shots were precautionary doses a jump of 95 per cent over the previous day. With the government's free booster dose campaign, the offtake in the 18-59 years age group is picking up ahead of the festival season. The move is expected to liquidate the inventory of vaccines nearing the end of shelf life. Experts say regular boosting is not practical or feasible Shahid Jameel, senior research fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford University, told Business Standard that 2 billion doses is a big achievement, even though our large population limits the percentage coverage. Its just a number, and the strategy does not change, Jameel said, adding that India needs to continue its focus on increasing second dose and booster dose coverage. He also emphasised that continued surveillance, especially of sewage water, genomic sequencing to learn about new variants, is critical. One needs to continue to keep an eye on hospital admissions and capacity and also communicate clearly that the pandemic is not over so any non pharmaceutical interventions should be continued voluntarily. A future with regular boosting is neither feasible nor practical. A drug is needed for severe infections. Paxlovid shows some use, though not as much as initially reported. The need is to clinically test other potential drugs, Jameel said. Experts also suggest that it's time to move away from homologous boosting the third shot is of the same vaccine as the first two. Use global (including Indian) evidence to move away from homologous boosting. Its not the best use of vaccines, Jameel added. Gagandeep Kang, microbiologist and professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore agreed. We probably need boosters for the elderly and co-morbid, but which boosters and when is not clear. Homologous boosting does not seem to make sense based on available data for any vaccine other than mRNA. Even for mRNA vaccines, we should evaluate whether boosting with other vaccines and at different intervals gives longer and broader protection, she pointed out. The experts said that it's time to shift focus on other communicable diseases. Anish T S, associate professor of community medicine at Government Medical College, Manjeri in Kerala, said: We have to shift our focus from Covid-19 to other burning health issues. Vaccination may be continued for elderly and people with comorbidities for the booster dose. Epidemiological and virological surveillance for Covid should also be continued. But the system should focus more on 'what it learnt from the pandemic'. The professor added that the health system has to be equipped to fight against new communicable diseases, chronic diseases and sequence of post-Covid morbidities. In a sign of worry for the countrys aviation sector, as many as three made emergency landings after witnessing technological glitches. Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held a meeting on safety issues with senior officials of his ministry and regulator Directorate General of (DGCA) on Sunday, sources said. During the meeting, the minister took a detailed report from the officials about these incidents over the last one month and told them that there should be no compromise over passengers' safety. In an incident that occurred on July 15, a bird was found in the cockpit of Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight, officials of aviation regulator said on Sunday. The bird was found in the glove compartment on co-pilot's side when the plane was at an altitude of 37,000 feet, the officials noted. The plane landed safely in Kochi, they said. In another incident, an Indigo flight from Sharjah to Hyderabad was diverted to Karachi as a precaution on Sunday after pilots observed defect in one of the engines, officials said on Sunday. "The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi. An additional flight is being sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad," it added. In the third incident, a Dubai-bound Air India Express flight was diverted to Muscat on Saturday night after a burning smell was observed in cabin mid-air, officials of the aviation regulator said on Sunday. The burning smell was coming from one of the vents in the forward galley and pilots, therefore, diverted the plane to Muscat and landed safely, the officials said. The aviation regulator also informed that three of International made emergency landings in the last 48 hours. The official informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday. The share of inward remittances from Gulf nations dipped sharply during 2020-21 on account of the economic stress created by the COVID-19 pandemic, said an RBI article. On the other hand, advanced economies like the US, the UK and Singapore emerged as important sources for the country for remittances, accounting for 36 per cent of the total payments in 2020-21, the article said citing an RBI survey. To analyse the factors contributing to the resilience of remittances and to understand to what extent the pandemic has changed the underlying dynamics of remittances flow, the conducted the fifth round of the Survey on Remittances for the year 2020-21. "...the share of remittances from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region in India's inward remittances is estimated to have declined from more than 50 per cent in 2016-17 (last surveyed period) to about 30 per cent in 2020-21," said the article prepared by the officials in the Department of Economic and Policy Research, RBI. The central bank, however, said the views expressed in the article are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the . Overall, notwithstanding headwinds of COVID-19, India's inward remittances have proven to be a resilient source of current account receipts, the article published in the RBI's July bulletin said. The decline in remittances from the during 2020-21 reflects a slower pace of migration and a larger presence of Indian diaspora in informal sectors which was hit the most during the pandemic period. As a result, the proportion of small size transactions in total remittances increased in 2020-21. The US surpassed the UAE as the top source country, accounting for 23 per cent of total remittances in 2020-21. This corroborates with the World Bank report (2021) citing an economic recovery in the US as one of the important drivers of India's remittances growth as it accounts for almost 20 per cent of total remittances, the article said. The share of the traditional remittance recipient states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which had strong dominance in the GCC region, has almost halved in 2020-21, accounting for only 25 per cent of total remittances since 2016-17, while Maharashtra has emerged as the top recipient state surpassing Kerala. "Apart from the host country dynamics, reducing wage differentials, changing occupational patterns in these states with increasing white collar migrant workers to GCC region and entry of low-wage semi-skilled workers from other states and Asian countries may have led to this compositional shift," it said. By contrast, migration from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal to the has increased in recent years. According to the Ministry of External Affairs data, more than 50 per cent of the approved emigration clearances for the GCC region in 2020 were for these states. With the dominance of low-wage unskilled labourers, however, their share in remittances has remained significantly low while the share of Maharashtra and Delhi has increased significantly in 2020-21, it said. The article also concludes that the majority of the remittances continue to be routed through private sector banks, followed by public sector banks although foreign banks have witnessed a marginal increase in remittances transactions, particularly from Singapore. It also noted that stressed income conditions are discernible from small size transactions gaining a share in total remittances during the pandemic period. "Notwithstanding, India is the second cheapest remittance receiving market in the G20 group after Mexico, the cost for certain remittance corridors has been consistently higher than others," it said. Policy measures need to be undertaken that expand the scope of the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) in high-cost corridors, it said, and added that remittance service providers need to adapt to the changing times by investing heavily in digital technologies. (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 money sent home by Indians from West Asian countries took a beating in 2020-21 due to the pandemic. On the other hand, overseas Indians in advanced nations the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore emerged as important sources of remittance, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) survey. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and the US President discussed cooperation between the two countries, the repercussions of the global food crisis, and the disruption of energy supplies, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. Sisi and Biden met in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Saturday, where they also participated in a joint conference later in the day with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, as well as the Jordanian king and the Iraqi Prime Minister. This was the first meeting between the Presidents of US and Egypt, Xinhua news agency reported. During the meeting, Sisi underlined Egypt's keenness to strengthen cooperation with the US and the importance of the Egypt-US partnership in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East region, according to the statement. For his part, Biden affirmed his government's aspiration to activate the frameworks of bilateral cooperation and enhance the existing coordination and consultation between the two countries. The Egyptian President also stressed the need to help regional countries through crises and reach a just and comprehensive solution that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of their independent state, according to the statement. On the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that also involves Sudan and Egypt, the Egyptian leader demanded to reach a binding legal agreement for the process of filling and operating the dam, in a manner that preserves Egyptian water security and achieves the common interests of all the three countries. --IANS int/khz/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In late 2021, was cornered by one man in his innermost circle, Jared Birchall. It was about money Musks money to be precise and how the worlds richest man was choosing to spend a vast part of it. Birchall, the 48-year-old wealth manager who rose to become Musks top deputy and the head of his family office, had growing concerns about a new power player in the CEOs orbit, The Wall Street Journal reported. Musk was increasingly relying on a new advisor, a 34-year-old, Russian-born ex-professional gambler named Igor Kurganov. Musk and Kurganov chatted late into the night about how the worlds richest person might use his fortune to help shape the planet through a giving strategy known as effective altruism, when the latter spent some of the pandemic sleeping in Musks home. Kurganov had no experience in finance or security but was suddenly a central figure in both areas for Musk. Not long after, the CEO told Birchall that he was so taken by the younger mans ideas that he wanted to leave him in charge of his charitable giving, dispersing funds from Musks vast private fortune, currently around $230 billion, as he saw fit. Elon, Birchall told his boss, according to three people briefed afterward. You cant. The clash between the two men, and their dueling efforts to gain the upper hand with Musk, provides a peek into the often tumultuous private workings of Musks inner circle. Last winter, Musk came to a compromise between the two. He allowed Kurganov to oversee $5.7 billion in shares that the CEO pledged late last year to eventually donate to charity. The rest of Musks overall fortune remained under Birchalls purview. That decision wasnt, however, the end of the fracas. Though Musk is known to favour his own counsel most of all, the man in charge of his foundation since 2016 has been Birchall, one of the longest standing in his inner circle. Kurganov first became friendly with Musk socially. Born in Russia but raised in Germany from age four, he gained a level of fame as a professional poker player. By last August, two years after retiring from poker, Kurganov had an official email address at the Musk Foundation and was heavily involved in the charity. That month, he corresponded with Chris Carberry, CEO of the non-profit Explore Mars. The group was looking to raise $600,000 to spirit an Afghan girls robotics team out of the war-torn country. Kurganov was skeptical about the cost. To Birchall, that was an untenable situation. He was legally head of the foundation, and as he saw it, Kurganov was a newcomer who suddenly had immense influence on what to do with Musks money, he told people. Birchall also learned that a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent had begun making preliminary inquiries into Kurganov as part of his job to watch for foreign interference in US companies, people familiar with the matter told The Journal. Birchall, alarmed that Musk could be drawn into a federal investigation, this spring again pressed his internal case against Kurganov, people familiar with the matter said. During this period, Birchall helped line up billions of dollars in financing and spoke to shareholders and investors on Musks behalf about the future of Twitter. Birchall in May asked Musk to remove Kurganov from his post at the foundation. Musk agreed to let Kurganov go, the representative of the foundation said, with none of Musks money ultimately spent on projects related to effective altruism. Tesla CEO is against Twitter's request to fast-track a trial over his decision to end USD 44 billion takeover deal. As per Fox Business, Musk, on Friday, filed a motion seeking to delay the court hearings. Musk's lawyers said Twitter's "unjustifiable request" to rush the merger case to trial in two months should be rejected. The filing was done with the Delaware Chancery Court. A few days ago, sued Musk after he decided to back out of the USD 44 billion takeover deal. As per The Verge, the lawsuit was filed in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday, accusing Musk of hypocrisy." brings this action to enjoin Musk from further breaches to compel Musk to fulfil his legal obligations and to compel consummation of the merger upon satisfaction of the few outstanding conditions," wrote in the lawsuit. The lawsuit marks the beginning of what could be a protracted legal battle as Twitter seeks to hold Musk to his deal to pay USD 54.20 per share for the company. Twitter, which is being repped by M & A powerhouse law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, alleged that Musk looked for an escape from the deal, which required a "material adverse effect" or breach of contract." Musk had to try to conjure one of those," the lawsuit stated. Musk announced the termination of a USD 44 billion Twitter purchase deal in a letter sent by Musk's team to Twitter last week. Musk decided to suspend the deal due to multiple breaches of the purchase agreement. In April, Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at USD 54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately USD 44 billion. However, Musk put the deal on hold in May to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter's claim that less than 5 per cent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam. Back in June, Musk had openly accused the microblogging website of breaching the merger agreement and threatened to walk away and call off the acquisition of the social media company for not providing the data he has requested on spam and fake accounts. Musk alleged that Twitter is "actively resisting and thwarting his information rights" as outlined by the deal, CNN reported, citing the letter he sent to Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde. Musk demanded that Twitter turn over information about its testing methodologies to support its claims that bots and fake accounts constitute less than 5 per cent of the platform's active user base, a figure the company has consistently stated for years in boilerplate public disclosures. (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.) Experts were poised to search the site of an in northern early on Sunday to determine what kind of cargo it carried. The An-12 cargo plane, which took off from the city of Nis, Serbia, on Saturday, and was headed to Amman, Jordan, crashed shortly before 11 pm local time, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kavala Airport. Minutes before, the pilot of the plane, which was operated by Ukrainian cargo carrier Meridian, had told air traffic controllers, that there was a problem with one of his engines and that he had to make an emergency landing. He was directed to Kavala airport but never made it there. The plane is a Soviet-era four-engine turboprop cargo carrier. Greek media reported there were eight people on the plane and that it was carrying 12 tons of dangerous materials, mostly explosives. But local officials said they had no specific information on the cargo and provided slightly varying numbers of people on board. Drone footage shows that small fragments are all that is left from the plane, which crashed in fields between two villages and dragged a small distance on the ground. Local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash. A plume of white smoke was still rising from the front end of the plane on Sunday morning. Firefighters who rushed to the scene in the night were prevented from reaching the crash site by smoke and an intense smell which they feared might be toxic. Nearby residents were told to keep their windows shut all night, to not leave their homes and to wear masks. Authorities say they do not know if there were dangerous chemicals on the plane, including those contained in batteries. The teams of explosives experts which will soon operate onsite will be augmented by experts from Greece's Atomic Energy Commission, authorities said. The fire service has cordoned off the area at a radius of about 400 meters. (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.) Germany's Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach on Friday recommended a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for people under the age of 60, contradicting the advice from a relevant national commission. Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends a second COVID-19 booster shot with a mRNA vaccine, such as the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, only to people aged over 70, residents in care facilities, people with immunodeficiency and medical staff. "If someone wants to enjoy the summer and not run the risk of getting ill, then I would recommend vaccination even to younger people in consultation with their family doctor," Lauterbach told the Spiegel magazine. A vaccine adapted to Omicron is expected to come out in late August or early September, but Lauterbach said people who are aged 60 and over "should definitely not wait for the new vaccine," as the protection they need against serious illness or death is already provided by the current vaccines. Of the 69.4 million adults in aged 18 and older, around 85 percent are vaccinated against COVID-19. About 72 percent have received one booster vaccination, while almost 9 percent have received two booster doses, according to official figures. Although is hit by a COVID-19 summer wave, its vaccination campaign remains slow. "It must not be forgotten that the most important and effective measure is and remains vaccination," said the chairman of the German association of general practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, who called for a renewed vaccination campaign last week. The country's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate on Friday stood at around 720 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, after around 700 last week, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. Since the beginning of June, the number of cases has been rising steadily. "We will have a very difficult fall," Lauterbach warned. (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.) Dozens of Iranian hard-liners rallied on Saturday at a square in downtown Tehran, burning US and Israeli flags and denouncing President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East. The small crowd also erupted in chants of Death to America" and Death to Israel", typical at anti-American rallies in . The demonstrators also protested against the normalisation of ties between and several Arab nations that started under the previous US administration. Biden said at a wider regional summit in Saudi Arabia on Saturday that the US would not walk away from Middle East's security and leave a vacuum that Russia, China or could try and fill. Separately, announced on Saturday that it was imposing sanctions on 61 Americans, including Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, and John Bolton, the former national security advisor, over their support for foreign-based dissident Iranian groups. Iran has in recent years imposed several times such symbolic measures on Americans who says are acting against Iran. In June, an Iranian court also ordered the US government to pay over USD 4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years. (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.)